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.
After a lot of planning, five staff members of St. Joseph’s Indian School have left their office space in the Nagel Business Office and relocated to a new Personal Care Center at 111 S. Main Street in Chamberlain. The space was previously the home of the St. Joseph’s Thrift Store, which moved further north on Main Street into a much larger space with adjacent receiving space for donated items.
The staff members include our first four Personal Care Specialists and our first Major Gift Officer, but we know them simply as Tina, Marge, Shirley, Shawn and Brian. They are excited to start this new adventure!
Shirley, Tina, Brian and Marge are looking forward to visiting with you!
The addition of the Personal Care Center is another step in the development of our Major Gifts Program and an important part of our Decade of Transformation and strategic plan.
The Personal Care Center staff will focus their efforts (phone calls, letters, e-mails, personal visits) on St. Joseph’s top donors. Each and every gift counts, but the efforts of the staff at the Personal Care Center will focus on top donors who have made, or may have the ability to, make larger gifts.
To continue to meet the needs of the Native American students at St. Joseph’s and plan for the future, we need to focus on developing deeper relationships with these donors. Our first step will be to reach out to these generous supporters to let them know their support is appreciated and is making a difference in the lives of our Lakota (Sioux) students!
The Personal Care Center has room for 12 staff but, for right now, five is a great start. We’re looking forward to visiting with you!
Have you ever traveled roughly 2,000 miles in ten days and never left your state?
These Native American boys spread the word – free books!
You would have if you traveled along on the St. Joseph’s Indian School Bookmobile! This is one of my favorite activities of the summer. We travel to 32 communities on reservations in South Dakota giving out books, both new and gently used.
My name is Mary Jane. I am the Outreach/Alumni Coordinator at St. Joseph’s. For the last several summers, I have traveled with the bookmobile giving out free books, meeting new folks as well as former students of St. Joseph’s.
This summer we started our journey heading north to the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation. We visited 13 communities.
White Horse, South Dakota, was the smallest community we visited. There, we had 15 children total. When we drove in to town, we were spotted by three Lakota girls out riding their bikes. They followed us and picked up a few friends on the way.
The girls were so happy to see us and to learn that they could pick out their own FREE books and that they got to KEEP them!! As we left, they told us to come back again. They would be waiting! J
In Eagle Butte, South Dakota, we saw the most children – well over 100 in three separate stops.
The girls are so excited to choose their books!
The following week, after reloading the van, we headed south to the Rosebud and Pine Ridge Indian Reservations, visiting 16 communities and distributing 1140 new books and 1710+ used books.
Mission, which is on the Rosebud Indian Reservation, was one of our biggest stops. There were over 50 children at the local Boys & Girls Club. Some were busy planting a garden, but were eager to take a break and pick out their books.
Our smallest stop this trip was in Kyle, South Dakota, on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. There we saw six children and two adults. A Native American father brought his two young children to choose their books. He was so excited to be able to have something to read to them! Luckily, we had some books for very small children packed away in a ‘special’ box. We made sure he had a bag of books for him and his two young girls. He was very grateful.
As he got off the bookmobile, he reached out to shake our hands and said, “Keep up the good work. You are doing a wonderful job. Thank you!”
The Lakota children are always happy to see St. Joseph’s Bookmobile!
All along our journey, we distributed boxes of used books, crayons, notebooks, construction paper and some dictionaries to various Boys & Girls Clubs, daycares and others who were in need of these items for their programs.
What’s the best part of this summer adventure? Meeting new people as well as former students and seeing children’s eyes light up when they get to have their books!
Summer break at St. Joseph’s Indian School is half over, which means St. Joseph’s Facilities Crew is full speed ahead! The facilities crew schedules most of their larger projects during the summer months, when most of the Lakota children are home with their families. Here are a few of the projects we are working on:
St. Joseph’s Health Center was one of the key areas with drainage issues to be repaired this summer.
ü Phase II Drainage Project – Those of you who read the blog on a regular basis may remember that Phase I was completed last summer. There are three key areas on campus where new concrete will be laid to help with some of the drainage issues we have – around the Health Care Center, the school building, and Central Offices. The work began in mid-June and will be completed by the first part of August.
As we come to the home stretch of the Alumni and Historical Center addition to the Akta Lakota Museum & Cultural Center, the grounds crew has begun landscaping around the building.
ü They have added some planters with flowers and some large river rocks as an accent to the base of the Medicine Wheel Garden of Healing. They continue to smooth out areas that were torn apart due to construction and will begin planting grass and more landscaping designs.
If you happen to be on campus, you may notice things are a little dusty around Central Offices!
ü We are doing some tuck-pointing on the building. This requires the seams in the brick to be ground out where there is cracking and then refilled with new mortar. Due to the dust floating in that area I think we should of offered a car wash service for our employees! J
The facilities crew has also started the last phasing of St. Joseph’s home renovations.
ü The Afra (first through third grade girls) and Raphael (first through third grade boys) Homes are the last to be worked on. These two homes are located in the Benedictine Building. Demolition work began at the end of the school year. The facilities staff has met with the home coordinators and the plans have been set in place for the home.
Some of you may also remember the school getting new carpet last summer. Again this year we have carpet projects taking place!
Large river rock was placed around the outside of the Medicine Wheel Garden of Healing.
ü Tipi Press Printing and Central Offices received new carpet this summer. Both buildings are already completed, and the projects took approximately two weeks.
Another major project the crew has been working on is the renovation of our old thrift store building.
ü This building is now our Personal Care Center! The crew did some basic cosmetic work on the interior and now the building is ready to house some additional office space for St. Joseph’s Indian School. A ribbon cutting with the Chamberlain/Oacoma Area Chamber of Commerce will be held at the end of July.
Pilamaya – thank you – for helping us take care of our campus so we can provide the Lakota boys and girls a safe place to live and learn!
By now, you have probably heard that with Fr. Steve’s election to be our new Provincial, I have been asked to oversee operations until a more permanent replacement can be found. I have been in touch with you before, when Fr. Steve has been away on donor luncheons. We may also have crossed paths at St. Joseph’s powwow celebrations over the last four years. I look forward to sharing what is happening here on campus at St. Joseph’s Indian School.
This past Thursday was Independence Day and we had lots of visitors in our South Dakota town, camping and fishing out on the Missouri River. Many also stopped by to visit the Akta Lakota Museum & Cultural Center, and our new addition, the Tokéya uŋkí nájiŋpi Alumni & Historical Center. A few alumni stopped by as well.
The big event of the evening was the fireworks display over the river. Fr. Jose and I had intended to watch them from our residence here on campus, since we have a beautiful view of the river, but the bugs and mosquitoes had other ideas! We went up to the rest area out on Interstate 90, which overlooks Chamberlain, and sat in the car to avoid being eaten alive. While there were some beautiful explosions during the 20-minute program, the locals also were putting on a great show before and after.
Every year, the Race on the River is part of the 4th of July activities in Chamberlain, and it usually starts here on campus and then heads into town. We had to re-configure the route this year since much of the campus is undergoing some repair and fix-ups, which required our roads being torn up at this time. As a result, there was no way to make a complete circle around campus. We hope to have everything up and running by the start of the school year on August 12.
Fr. Anthony visits with St. Joseph’s summer students on the playground.
The Lakota students still on campus for our summer program went to Mitchell, South Dakota, last week for an outing and decided to stay for the double feature at the local drive-in theater. When trying to enjoy such a treat, we pay for it by being at the end of the line for the Central Time Zone. The Mountain Time Zone is about a hundred miles west, so our evenings tend to stay light for a long time. Sunset comes around 10 PM and the movie had to wait until the skies darkened completely. They saw Monsters’ University and Despicable Me 2; but they did not get home until nearly 3:00 AM since Mitchell is over an hour away. Needless to say, there was a sleep-in the next day.
While I was home for a brief vacation about two weeks ago, I had the chance to concelebrate Mass at the parish nearest to where my mother resides in the San Antonio area. The people were very friendly and asked where my parish was, but when I told them I was from South Dakota and served as chaplain at St. Joseph’s Indian School , several said ‘I’ve been there’ and/or ‘I contribute to your school.’
They are excited to meet someone in the flesh from St. Joseph’s, and I am happy to interact with some of our benefactors and answer any questions they may have and assure them that our students and staff our very grateful for their generosity and that we keep you all in our prayers.
Speaking of prayers, a benefactor from Oklahoma recently sent in a request that we keep the people of Norman in our prayers due to the destruction from the tornadoes that went through the area recently. I feel it is important to pass along since, as I was driving down and back from Texas, I went through the Norman area on Interstate 35 and you could still see the effects of the storm. It was amazing to see some homes gone completely and other homes right nearby that had very little damage at all. Please say a prayer or two that we can rally to help support and encourage our fellow citizens who have a long road to recovery ahead of them.
I hope your 4th of July weekend went well and that you enjoyed whatever activities you and your family and friends took part in! May we not just celebrate, but also be good citizens and help our country be the best it can be as a model of freedom, justice and peace.
Have a great week ahead and may the Great Spirit bless and reward you.
Sincerely,
Fr. Anthony Kluckman, SCJ
Chaplain
PS Fr. Steve made it home from his most recent donor luncheons in Michigan and Indiana. He also had some time to squeeze in a brief visit with his family. Please continue to keep him in your prayers that the Holy Spirit will guide and strengthen him as he prepares to assume the responsibility of guiding our Province into the future for the next three years.
We just finished our donor luncheons in Grand Rapids, Michigan and Merrillville, Indiana! Our two Lakota (Sioux) students who told folks about their life at St. Joseph’s were Selena, who just graduated from eighth grade and will enter Chamberlain High School in the fall, and Chandler, who just finished her seventh grade year.
On the shores of Lake Michigan.
When I asked the girls to share about their hopes and dreams for the future, Selena spoke about going into law enforcement to help make life better for the people at home – the Lower Brule Indian Reservation.
Chandler shared that she wanted to go into nursing, possibly as a midwife. Then she added that a dream of hers was to attend college at the University of Notre Dame. On the way from Michigan to Merrillville, we took a slight detour, and went to South Bend!
The university was a lot bigger than she imagined. Rather than scaring her off, this excited her more!
Whether or not Notre Dame becomes her final decision, when our Native American youngsters talk about college, we try to encourage them to think big and then to prepare themselves by working hard.
We took a few pictures by the Golden Dome, and bought some souvenirs in the bookshop.
Our time in Michigan included a visit to the Gerald Ford presidential museum, just a few blocks from our hotel. In the evening, we ate at a fun family center that included a pizza buffet, go-carts and bumper car rides. Selena was the daring racer who lapped everyone else, flying by with the biggest grin on her face!
After our luncheon on Sunday, we headed up to Chicago. My religious community’s formation house is in Chicago, and with students gone for the summer, there was plenty of room to make that our home base. We spent the next day touring the Windy City.
I attended college and graduate school in Chicago, so know and love the city well. It’s always fun to see the sights anew through the eyes of newcomers, and Selena and Chandler were enchanted everywhere they turned. We spent the evening touring the Hyde Park neighborhood, including the University of Chicago and getting our feet wet in Lake Michigan. Even on a hot summer’s day, the water is always icy cold. Then, we picked up some deep dish Chicago pizza and came home to enjoy the feast.
Monday, we made our way around the loop, and up the Magnificent Mile. As we walked past a silver statue, the street performer came to life and jumped up next to Selena, who almost jumped over the Wrigley Building!
They laughed and got their picture taken with him. Lunch was at Ed Debevic’s. At first, the girls didn’t know what to make of the intentionally rude waiters. But they laughed and enjoyed the outing, especially when our server sang and danced on the table. We made our way to Lincoln Park Zoo. Our staff members were surprised that such a nice a zoo could be free, and enjoyed the lovely scenery and animal antics.
Selena and Chandler were startled by a street performer.
Besides the girls’ first plane ride on the trip out, they also experienced their first city bus and subway/el rides, and then took a spin on the Navy Pier Ferris Wheel for a great view of the city. The best view we had was standing by Buckingham Fountain in the evening, with patriotic music playing, the mist shooting high into the night, and the city lit up all around us.
These were my last two donor luncheons. Most folks have gotten word via email that I will be moving on at the end of the month, so the days were nostalgic and bittersweet. I got so many hugs and congratulations, and cherished the people who care so much about St. Joseph’s Indian School and want to make sure the good work continues. With our committed, passionate staff, I assured them that it would. There are no doubt greater and more exciting things to come after I’ve completed my time there.
I have truly loved and enjoyed the chance to meet the people across the country who make the work we do at St. Joseph’s Indian School possible. So many folks make great sacrifices that allow us to run our programs. So many people have never gotten the opportunity to visit up close and personal, so it is a joy to let them meet the students and find out more about all we’re doing.
Besides being a blessing to the school, our donors have been a blessing to me personally.
Many folks have been praying for my health. A week ago, I was back at Mayo Clinic for my 6-month check in with the oncologists. I’m happy to report a continuing clean bill of health. After running the comprehensive battery of tests, the doctor told me that I can now wait a full year before needing to come back – thanks be to God!
The girls get their first glimpse of Chicago-style deep-dish pizza!
Welcome to the lofty heights of St. Joseph’s Summer Home! I mean this in a literal sense, as over the last weekend we took the Lakota (Sioux) children on a camping trip to South Dakota’s Black Hills!
Thirteen Native American students, two St. Joseph’s houseparents and one intern (Genevieve) camped out for two nights.
We spend the first in the South Dakota Badlands, where we shared a campground with the buffalo and South Dakota’s infamous “gumbo” in the morning after a rainy night.
The second night, we camped at Center Lake in Custer State Park. Genevieve commented that the campground looked like a postcard or like it was out of a TV commercial.
The highlight of the trip was the hike up Harney Peak, the highest summit in the United States east of the Rocky Mountains. The kids did an amazing job on the two-hour hike from Horse Thief Lake to the fire tower on the summit of Harney Peak. These summer home kids are some tough kids!
The kids were impressed that you could see Wyoming to the west, the Badlands to the east, Nebraska to the south and Bear Butte to the north all from the fire tower! On the way down, we shared the trail with a mountain goat and some marmots.
The Summer Home is a great time for the Lakota students to get some adventure and travel in that they don’t get in the school year. We are thankful to all you donors who make these important times possible!
Before the end of the school year, we learned about the poetry the Lakota students were working on in Linea’s classroom. You asked to see their work, and here are some “I Am” poems.
Deavontay
Deavontay and Melvina both graduated with St. Joseph’s eighth-grade class in May and will attend Chamberlain High School next year.
Stay tuned for more poetry later this week!
I Am Poem
I am Quiet and Intelligent
I wonder about my own future
I can hear my grandchildren laughing
I see the future
I want to be forever youthful
I am Quiet and Intelligent
I pretend to be old
I feel as young as a newborn foal
I touch the warm sun
I worry about world peace
I cry for my people
I am Quiet and Intelligent
I understand the hardship of the world
I say Wakan Yeja (Children are Sacred)
I dream of tomorrow
I try and try again
I hope to be successful
I am Quiet and Intelligent
by Deavontay
I am…
Melvina
I am creative and a dreamer
I wonder what it is like to be famous
I hear fans yelling mine and Chandler’s names
I see millions of people in the crowd at our concerts
I want to be famous
I am creative and a dreamer
I pretend I am a superstar when I’m alone
I feel excited about the future
I touch the sky and let my dreams take me where they may
I worry about child abuse and people that have to suffer
I cry when I think about Shauntae
I am creative and a dreamer
I understand it takes hard work to get to the top
I say “Thank you America!” when I get done singing to myself
I dream about someday performing at Madison Square Garden
In honor of the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker on May 1, the older Lakota children at St. Joseph’s Indian School used their Religion class to take on a building project.
The Lakota tradition teaches that we are all related. In the Catholic tradition, this truth is called the communion of saints. For the Lakota (Sioux) people, this concept extends to all of creation. Our brother St. Francis and the Catholic Celtic tradition of Ireland also affirm the belief that God is present in earth, wind, fire, water and indeed all of creation.
When Jesus went to return to the Father, he unleashed his Holy Spirit in the world in a new and remarkable way. And through that Holy Spirit ̶ present in each and every one of us ̶ we share in a special communion. In the same way, we share in that togetherness with all of the people who have gone before us. We are all related.
Because of this wonderful connection, Catholics turn to the holy ones who lived before us, like St. Joseph, and we ask them to pray for us. We also keep their memories alive and look to them as role models. Our role model, St. Joseph, understood that all people were his relatives, too, and worthy of love and respect.
So, when he could have, by law, had Mary punished for being with child, he chose not to. And when he was encouraged by an angel to take her in, he did not hesitate. Because of his generous heart, he opened his life to her and her unborn son. He became the foster father to Jesus and I imagine that, while he taught him his trade as a carpenter, he also schooled him in seeing all people as related to him and worthy of love and respect. Perhaps that became the foundation of Jesus’ teaching, “Whatever you did for the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”
Inspired by St. Joseph’s trade as a carpenter and his generosity, we built a shed, which we donated to the Missouri Valley Crisis Center in Chamberlain. The center responds to the needs of our brothers and sisters in the world who find themselves in need of special help, not unlike Mary when she faced uncertainty in her life before Joseph took her in.
Hello everyone! My name is Kelli, Planned Giving Summer Intern at St. Joseph’s Indian School.
A Lakota boy imitates his favorite animal—a snake!
A few days ago, I was able to spend some time with the youth of the Lower Brule Indian Reservation at the St. Joseph’s Rising Eagle Day Camp here in Chamberlain, South Dakota. On this particular morning, they were imitating animal movements and practicing summersaults and cartwheels on the football field. Their giggles and smiles made me take a trip down memory lane to two years ago when I was a camp counselor at the St. Joseph’s Rising Eagle Day Camp.
Although every day brought many joys and wonderful experiences, one day in particular still stands out in my mind.
On this particular day, one of our St. Joseph’s staff was reading a Native American children’s story to the kids. While The Rough-Face Girlwas being read, nearly all of the children were listening quietly, but one little boy was not following the rules and was being disruptive to everybody else.
Feeling like he may need to burn some energy, I grabbed a plastic bag and told him to follow me outside—we were going to go pick up some trash.
For the first few minutes, the young boy was quite unruly. However, when he saw how much fun he could make the situation, he began to laugh, smile and run around—the first time I had ever seen this young boy so alive and carefree.
His smile and laugh were contagious and I began to get into the game he created out of his own imagination. “Kelli, hold the trash bag really high!” I would hear, so I would hold it above my head and he would aim, shoot, and SCOREEEEEE! A silly celebratory dance and lots of cheering would always follow.
Two young Lakota girls practice partner log rolling.
After about 20 minutes or so, I asked the young boy if he would like to go back inside and be on his best behavior.
He replied yes, gave me a huge hug, began to cry, and thanked me for spending time with him because “no one ever spends time with me.”
This little boy was my best friend the remainder of the Rising Eagle Day Camp. He was usually one of the first ones on the bus bright and early and one of the last to walk back to his house. He was my right-hand man and was often given certain ‘duties’ to help me with.
The young boy who had multiple disciplinary problems on his first day never had an issue again.
Thank you for allowing me to pick up trash and spend quality time with young Lakota Sioux children. Although picking up trash is a messy and sometimes stinky job, I am so grateful for this young boy and the opportunity I had to make a little friend that changed my life forever.
