At St. Joseph's Indian School, our privately-funded programs for Lakota (Sioux) children in need have evolved over 90 years of family partnership, experience and education. Because of generous friends who share tax-deductible donations, Native American youth receive a safe, stable home life; individual counseling and guidance; carefully planned curriculum based on Lakota culture and individual student needs and tools to help build confidence, boost self-esteem and improve cultural awareness. All of this helps children to live a bright, productive, possibility-filled future.
On All Souls Day, lost loved ones are remembered at St. Joseph’s Indian School with a prayer tie.
The following is a personal reflection by LaRayne, the Native American Studies teacher at St. Joseph’s Indian School.
The smell ofčhaŋlí pȟaȟtá — tobacco offerings — made my heart feel many emotions as I quietly tied the prayers of the St. Joseph’s Indian School students, staff and donors together for the All Souls Day prayer service.
I cannot take a photo of what I describe (as it is a sacred process), but I will explain it from my heart in a way that I hope you can see, feel, smell and have a small taste of how we combine our Lakota, Dakota and Catholic traditions together for the good of our students. Continue reading “St. Joseph’s Indian School Remembers Loved Ones on All Souls Day”
Curriel showed students how to sketch their model, Dignity, using the photograph he took.
When he arrived in town, Hector Curriel went for a walk as he pondered the subject for his artist’s residency with grades 3 through 5 at St. Joseph’s Indian School the following week. Coming upon Dignity, he snapped a photo of her against the turbulent South Dakota sky and knew at once he had met his model for the week’s classes. Continue reading “Visiting Artist and Students Bring Dignity to Life through Artwork”
October was a busy month at St. Joseph’s Indian School! Let’s dive into what happened.
October is the month of the year that his Servant of God, Nicholas Black Elk called the, “Moon of the changing seasons.” As the weather continues to change, one thing that never changes is that I am keeping you all — our benefactors, staff and students — in my prayers.
As I continue to place all of you in my thoughts and in my prayers, I thought I would share with you a few wonderful events that have been happening at St. Joseph’s Indian School. Continue reading “From the Desk of Fr. Greg: October 2021”
With hope in their hearts, students remembered lost loved ones with memorial lanterns.
The sun was not yet awake as a group of high school girls and houseparents from St. Joseph’s Indian School made their way to the Missouri River’s edge. The sky was a dark navy, matching the blue of the waves slapping the pier. As the vehicle’s headlights clicked off, darkness of the early morning surrounded them.
Students, grades 1-8, participated in not just one day of celebrating their Native American culture. Instead, St. Joseph’s celebrated all week!
As the sun peaked over the dark eastern horizon, bright shades of red and yellow, fringed by the white edge of a band of stratocumulus clouds spelled out “This is Native American Day,” in the traditional colors of the Lakota people. Thirty minutes after the sun rose, St. Joseph’s Indian School students and staff gathered at the school’s Wisdom Circle to pray the Four Directions Prayer.
An Animal Blessing took place at St. Joseph’s to celebrate the Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi.
Mimicking the movement of the birds circling above Wisdom Circle on October 4, students and staff at St. Joseph’s Indian School did the same below on the dewy morning grass.
Getting students back in the classroom doesn’t mean they’ll be sitting behind a desk.
“Please take your seats” is not a phrase you will hear very often anymore in the computer classroom of St. Joseph’s Indian School.
Instead, children are taking a stand … thanks to the classroom’s newest feature: standing desks. Gina, our school’s computer teacher, made the switch to standing desks to modernize her classroom and get kids up and on their feet more throughout the school day. Continue reading “St. Joseph’s Students Take a Stand in New Classroom Set-up”