Author: St. Joseph's Indian School

I traveled to Sioux Falls, South Dakota today, where the diocese rededicated St. Joseph’s (good name!) Cathedral. It has been closed for renovations for almost two full years. For me the most intriguing part of the blessing of the altar came after the relics were set under the altar stone, and workmen brought up trowels and mixed some cement on the spot and sealed the marble. With restored sculptures and murals, the warmer original colors make for a bright and inspiring space.

At the luncheon, I sat across from a couple of diocesan priests that I didn’t know so well, but enjoyed the conversation. One had a couple of encounters with Mother Theresa as a seminarian, and she has continued to serve as such an inspiration to him. The other works as a prison chaplain. While the Native American population is about 8% of the state, those in the correctional system is much higher, perhaps 25% of the population. That’s another reason to recommit ourselves to the efforts at St. Joseph’s Indian School – to guide our students away from such troubles and towards a better path.

After reading Joseph Marshall III’s book “Walking With Grandfather” I had the chance on the drive back to listen to the CD commentary included with the book. He gives an insightful overview of his Lakota heritage, and the lessons of wisdom he learned from his grandfather. He also wrote, “The Lakota Way”, a book I also recommend for anyone interested in Lakota lifestyle and culture.

Things are getting back to “normal” now that I and much of the support staff are all on campus. I had a run of five meetings, which covered the gamut from finances, to the Akta Lakota Museum & Cultural Center, to student admissions, to strategic planning. A committee I’ve been working with is looking at suggestions for how to improve our collaboration with parents,  local schools, alumni and mentors. Our goal is collaboration and finding new ways to network with the good things already going on in the community. We’ve gotten input and good brainstorming ideas from a wide range of staff and caring people outside the school. Now we begin to prioritize and look at which will make the biggest positive impact on our students.

The facilities crew has been working hard all summer. Lately the heat waves, high water and humidity have made for trying conditions. But they took a break from all that and shared a meal downtown at the Anchor Grille as a way of saying thanks for all they have accomplished. HR did a little skit and passed out gloves with each worker’s name spelled out in glitter. After lively conversation, it was time to get back to all the projects, as the countdown to the start of school is ticking ever closer.

We had a board meeting for the Sacred Heart Center in Eagle Butte. The adolescent program can serve up to 18 Native American youth, ages 11-19, and for the past seven months it has been running over 90% capacity. The program underwent changes and revamping, and the different social service agencies are pleased with what is happening in terms of service plans and reintegration of young people into the community, so placements are up. Unlike St. Joseph’s Indian School, which doesn’t receive tuition or service income from student placements, the Sacred Heart Center does receive per diem monies, and with a full house comes better financial stability for the program. But the best news was the positive reports about the kind of care these youth have been getting.

Another bright spot came from the staff member in charge of community outreach. She herself was a client in the women’s shelter several years ago, seeking escape from her own difficult situation of domestic violence. She is now an advocate for those going through similar struggles, and in great demand to speak to school and community groups.

While there is heart wrenching problems on the Indian reservations, there are a lot of good people striving to make things better.

Fr. Anthony and I sat down with calendars and began to map out our schedule of liturgical responsibilities for the semester. We have many times and types of prayer throughout the year and we want to make sure to be able not just to cover them, but have some time to prepare. As chaplain, Fr. Anthony oversees the majority of home prayer and when my duties don’t take me away from St. Joseph’s Indian School’s campus, we try to split up most of the rest.

But afterward, I was on the road again. Today my travels took me through Pierre and Fort Pierre, South Dakota. Those towns have suffered much from the flooding along the Missouri River, far more than Chamberlain has. (Watch this video of aerial footage of flooding along the Missouri River in Pierre and Ft. Pierre, South Dakota.) Several hundred people have been evacuated from their homes and the flood waters are still quite high and not expected to go down any time soon. Crews worked feverishly to construct earthen levees between the river and town, and sandbags and standing water are everywhere. Much of the country suffers from drought, and here we have the opposite problem.

This morning, about 20 of our staff took part in another strategic planning session. Besides preparing for the future, I’ve enjoyed the chance the past two days to see and catch up on the summer activities that have been going on around campus and in people’s lives.

This afternoon, I went to maintenance shop for break. After being gone for several weeks, I’ve been very impressed to see the progress the crew has made in fixing and renovating the St. Joseph’s Indian School’s campus. It’s easiest to notice the home remodeling and new paint jobs. There’s a lot of unseen preventative maintenance that goes on over the summer that is no less important.

Our hot weather continues, and I saw Mark and Gary on the roof at different times. They are unplugging vents and making sure the air conditioning systems don’t overheat. But the triple digit temperatures made for hot feet while on the roof. Everyone has been asked to drink plenty of water and take frequent breaks. The crew has gone hard at the home remodeling project during the morning hours, but once the heat starts to climb, they have to shift to different jobs elsewhere. Unfortunately, with the remodeling, one of the first things to come out of the homes is the heating and cooling system so a better, energy-efficient one can be installed.

Our Admissions Board began meeting today. Over the next week, we will review case files, applications and determine which students will be accepted into St. Joseph’s Indian School’s upcoming school year. We also prioritize the waiting list so that if one child ends up not coming, we can quickly invite someone else. We try to service many on the waiting list, but can only take as many students as we have room for in the Homes. We look to be full for the start of the year.

At 5:00, as I drove west to Lower Brule, the thermometer peaked at 104 degrees. With all the water on the river and moisture in the soil, it’s also unusually humid for South Dakota. Instead of spending the evening in a cool place, I was in the sunshine on a hill overlooking the prairie. I attending a ceremony to dedicate and bless a tombstone for a family cemetery. A Lakota prayer leader blessed the site with sweetgrass and an eagle feather. I sprinkled Holy Water and used some traditional prayers of the church, before offering words of support and comfort to the family. When it is extremely hot or cold I think God understands when my prayer style speeds up a bit, and my reflections get a little shorter and more concise. Perhaps a hundred family and friends gathered to remember their mother and grandmother on what would have been her birthday. Afterward, we gathered in a shady spot in the backyard for a meal – frybread, soup and many delicious side dishes.

I arrived back in Chamberlain, South Dakota Friday evening. The first thing I noticed is how high the Missouri River is from the flooding – higher than anyone here has ever seen it. The road leading to the campground south of St. Joseph’s Indian School is now being used as a boat ramp, since the campground itself is completely submerged. One of our pumping stations near the campus is under water, but we are high enough up to have escaped any further damage so far.

Today, I went downtown to the parish to welcome Fr. Guy, who is the new pastor at St. James. We lived in community together years ago when I was in college and he was finishing his theological studies. I tried to treat him to brunch after mass, but when I went to pay the bill we learned that one of his parishioners already picked up the tab for both of us!  Apparently they wanted to welcome him as well. While taking care of parish duties, Fr. Guy will also be part of our local religious community, so we’ll regularly see him on St. Joseph’s campus for prayers, meals and other events.

I stopped by the Akta Lakota Museum & Cultural Center, where travelers are steadily visiting our campus. I met a retired couple on a large circular tour of the national parks, a young navy family moving from Illinois to Washington State and a Wisconsin youth group headed to the Lower Brule Indian reservation to begin a week’s service project.  I enjoy hearing of people’s connection with St. Josephs’ Indian School and what brought them out our way. Besides giving information about the campus, I sometimes also serve as a travel guide, with recommendations of what to see and do further down the road.

An intimidating part of returning from an extended time away is going through all the mail and messages waiting in the office. The past couple of days I made a solid start, yet it’s easy to get discouraged at what remains to be done. And the more I do, the more connective threads I see of things that can be done.  I’m reminded of the slogan that slow and steady wins the race, but I have many laps to go.