St. Joseph's Indian School

What a weekend to be a child!

Fr. Anthony, St. Joseph's Chaplain — Fr. Anthony, St. Joseph’s Chaplain

Good day from St. Joseph’s Indian School!

What a weekend to be a child! Our students made the rounds trick-or-treating on campus Friday and then had the chance to dress up again on Halloween itself and make the rounds in Chamberlain. There were a wide variety of costumes and I had a hard time judging my favorites! The weather cooperated as well.

Several of the high school homes made the trip to Sioux Falls, South Dakota to take part in haunted houses and scary corn mazes. On Friday, the National Honor Society students sponsored a dance for the 7^th and 8^th graders from St. Joseph’s and the Chamberlain community. The price of admission was a non-perishable food item to be donated to the local food pantry.

Lakota (Sioux) students walk around St. Joseph's campus. — Our Lakota students enjoyed dressing up!

St. Joseph’s National Honor Society has been busy helping local Special Olympics athletes during bowling practices and will be traveling with them this Friday to Aberdeen, South Dakota for the final bowling tournament of their season.

Each of our St. Joseph’s homes are asked to do some sort of outreach every year. The Ambrose Home (boys in grades 1-3) decided to go to St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Fort Thompson and help pass out coffee and treats after the Mass. They enjoyed the fellowship, as did the parishioners!

As the year continues to roll by, new sports and activities commence for the Lakota students to enjoy. The girls’ basketball season opens this week as we host PILC (Pierre Indian Learning Center) and then travel to Crow Creek later in the week.

The intercity basketball program for 6^th, 7^th and 8^th grade boys is also underway. St. Joseph’s students combine with Chamberlain area kids to learn the basics of basketball and get some experience on the court. Coaches from both St. Joseph’s and the Chamberlain school district are assisting.

Lakota (Sioux) students at St. Joseph's Indian School — Our students participated in a costume contest!

Other activities for our Lakota (Sioux) youth include martial arts, wrestling, archery and swimming lessons. Several of our older students are practicing their skills in Lakota Hand Games. You might remember that our hand games team took first place at the annual Lakota Nation Invitational last year. They are practicing twice a week for this year’s competition. We’ll keep you informed about how they do this year!

At our Mass on All Saints Day at Our Lady of the Sioux Chapel, we had a tree at the front of the chapel decked out with red ribbons. These ribbons bear the names of family and friends who have passed away and are now walking the Red Road. It is our way of keeping them in prayer, asking the Great Spirit to have mercy on them and welcome them into the Heavenly Kingdom. We’ll have the tree up all month as we keep the dearly departed in mind.

Hope you’ll have a wonderful month and that you did not overdo it on any Halloween candy you gathered. May God’s blessings continue to be with you, and thank you for your ongoing support of St. Joseph’s Indian School.

Fr. Anthony Kluckman, SCJ

Chaplain

Exciting happenings at St. Joseph’s!

Good day from St. Joseph’s Indian School!

The weather has gifted us with several sunny, beautiful fall days. This past weekend was an exciting time for the Chamberlain area.

On Saturday, I went to Sioux Falls to watch the State Cross Country races because Ella, a Chamberlain High School freshman and daughter of one of our grade school teachers, was a favorite in Class A and the Lower Brule boys’ team had great success in their Region to qualify for State. Ella dominated from the start and won by 20 seconds, becoming Chamberlain’s first girls’ cross country champion. The Lower Brule boys came in 5 out of 16 teams.

On Sunday, 21 young people received the Sacrament of Confirmation at St. James Parish, the Catholic Church in Chamberlain, from Bishop Paul Swain.

Here on St. Joseph’s campus, the students have all been preparing for Halloween! Several homes went to a local pumpkin patch and picked out pumpkins—some of which will be decorated and entered into a contest! To celebrate Halloween, St. Joseph’s students participate in a Grand March of costumes on Friday after the local trick or treating around campus and a trip through the haunted hallway in school.

Wendy, the lady in charge of our distribution center, is the most popular person on campus during Halloween! She has access to the room where all the necessary ingredients for putting the perfect costume together can be found.

Lakota (Sioux) students dressed up. — The Dennis home is dressed for halloween at school today!

A few weeks ago, two of our senior girls, Mia and Katie, attended the Siena 8^thAnnual Take Charge Conference in Tucson, Arizona, which is a program for Native American youth. The featured speaker was Matene Jerome from Littleton, Colorado who stood up to elected officials and fought to keep the topics of slavery and treatment of Native Americans in school curriculum.

St. Joseph’s students are taking part in Red Ribbon Week, the oldest and largest drug prevention campaign in the country. The program serves as a vehicle for communities and individuals to take a stand for the well-being of children through drug prevention programs, education and personal commitments to live drug free. The program commemorates the ultimate sacrifice made by DEA Special Agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena, who died at the hands of Mexican drug traffickers while fighting against illegal drugs.

Each day of the week has a different theme. Students wore pajamas to class, tie red ribbons around campus and wore crazy caps and mismatched or loud socks while also taking part in trivia contests. St. Joseph’s kicked off Red Ribbon Week last Friday with a Sobriety Carnival complete with inflatables and obstacle courses.

I hope you and yours have had a great week and a wonderful and exciting weekend. Know we are praying for you and your special intentions as our way of saying pilamaya—thank you— for your support of St. Joseph’s Indian School.

Fr. Anthony Kluckman, SCJ

Chaplain

What a great time we had!

Hello from St. Joseph’s Indian School!

My name is Odis. Theresa and I currently serve as houseparents in the Cyr Home, working with boys in grades 4-6.

We want to tell you about the trip we took to the South Dakota State Fair this year! The bus trip to Huron, South Dakota took about an hour and a half. Upon our arrival, the boys ran to the carnival rides! The Zipper and the Ring of Fire were the most popular rides– we were surprised to see how brave our fourth graders were as they all went on the scary rides.

After several hours of enjoying the carnival, it was time to see the livestock barns and petting zoo.

The Lakota(Sioux) students enjoyed feeding the camel. — One of St. Joseph’s students in front of a camel!

At the petting zoo the boys fed camels, lamas and other exotic animals. Some of them had never seen a cow being milked and the dairy farmers were more than willing to show us how it worked and where our milk comes from.

We also went through the swine, horse, goat and rabbit barns. The rabbit barn is always a favorite. We then took the boys to Farm Implement Row! Even though they are always anxious to get back to the rides, we had to pull them away from trying to climb on and sit in every tractor and combine.

After walking through some of the exhibit tents, we went back to the rides and the fair food. One courageous soul even gave the mechanical bull a try! All the other boys were impressed, but did not want to brave it themselves.

South Dakota State Fair day is one of the highlights of the year for our home! The Cyr Home would like to thank you all for your support. Know that we and the Cyr boys pray for you every day.

A new ‘season’ has begun…

Greetings from St. Joseph’s Indian School.

As I was driving home from the Chamberlain High School football game last Friday, I noticed several of the local motels had ‘no vacancy’ signs lit. I couldn’t figure out why so many people were in town …and then it hit me—pheasants.

The South Dakota pheasant season opened Saturday at noon and the color of the day is now blaze orange. This is a very big source of income for the State of South Dakota and local guides. We offered a prayer at Sunday Mass asking the Great Spirit to keep all hunters safe.

Saturday evening, St. Joseph’s sponsored a concert by Mr. Shane Heilman of The Psalms Project at the Our Lady of the Sioux Chapel on St. Joseph’s campus. The Psalms Project is a group of forty musicians who are working to put all 150 Psalms to music with artistic excellence, Scriptural integrity, and cultural relevance—a marriage of King David’s vision with modern music.

Thus far, they have recorded the first 20 Psalms and are preparing to release their third album with Psalms 21-30. During the concert, Mr. Heilman talked about the project and explained the meaning of the Psalms he performed. Mr. Heilman also helped out with the music at our Sunday liturgy. To find out more about the project, you can visit their website, thepsalmsprojectband.com.

Last week saw the end of the football and volleyball seasons here on campus. There is no downtime, however, for the Lakota students at St. Joseph’s! Our girls and boys began basketball, martial arts, gymnastics and archery practices this week.

Lakota (Sioux) students with German students — Our Lakota (Sioux) students enjoyed learning from our visitors through the German Exchange program.

Our four German exchange students and their chaperone finished their visit to St. Joseph’s Indian School last week after attending a few days of school at Chamberlain High and then touring the Black Hills, the Badlands, Wall Drug and Mount Rushmore. They were also able to take part in a powwow in Rapid City on Native American Day (observed as Columbus Day elsewhere).

They ended their stay with a presentation to our high school students about their hometowns, their families, their hobbies, what sports they like and their favorite foods. Our students hosted a farewell party at the end of the presentation complete with a cake shaped like a piece of luggage. Our guests stopped in Chicago for a few days to visit the SCJ’s college program for our seminarians before heading home. The visit was enjoyed by all.

May each of you have a wonderful week as we see the beauty of nature continue to unfold with the changing of the leaves. May we be grateful for the beauty and continue to do our part in protecting Mother Earth. May God’s blessings be with you now and always.

Fr. Anthony Kluckman, SCJ

Chaplain

A time of dance at St. Joseph’s Indian School!

Melanie works with the Lakota (Sioux) chidren in Chamberlain, South Dakota. — Melanie, Artist in Residence

Good afternoon from St. Joseph’s Indian School!

Today’s blog post comes from Melanie, a recent Artist in Residence at St. Joseph’s. Enjoy!

It has been such a blessing to dance with the students of St. Joseph’s through the Artist in Schools program with the South Dakota Arts Council. I was very grateful for the opportunity to be in this incredible gem of a state!

Pam, St. Joseph’s Personal Living Skills Instructor, was a great help in pulling it all together and having the residency run so smoothly! She was very supportive and helpful and made a world of difference!

With the first through eighth grades, we explored the world of dance from many perspectives! We danced to music from all of the over the world, from Ireland to Jamaica, Sweden to Oceania, India to Cuba and many other places.

Lakota (Sioux) students learning ballet moves. — Our students enjoyed learning from Melanie!

We explored ballet as a wonderful way to stay in peak performance shape, avoid injuries, build strength, flexibility and balance and respectfully warm up our bodies in the process! We released some of our pre-conceived ideas about ballet and learned that many professional athletes use ballet in their training.

The dancers also took the ‘ballet class’ taught in the language of ballet, which is French. They learned that by listening and watching, they could discern much of another language without speaking it.

The dancers explored how to embrace the RESPECT that a dancer is required to have for him/herself, for all others and for all of our environment. We spent much of our time with creative movement and learning to tap into our own creative spirit, moving through a space filled with other dancers who were also spontaneously improvising…. without bumping into one another!

A St. Joseph's student learns how to dance with props. — A St. Joseph’s student learns how to dance with props.

I LOVED seeing smiling faces of the Lakota children in each class!

We also explored many different props such as cotton bandanas, silk scarves, stretchy loops and silk streamers while we challenged ourselves to dance with others by mirroring or shadowing their movements. We learned that being a leader of movement means that we are responsible to our followers.

I am very impressed by and appreciative of the “Circle of Courage” that is emphasized at St. Joseph’s Indian School. I experienced generosity of spirit, independence in creativity, mastery of attempting difficult ‘moves’ and lastly, relationships broadening as they danced together in a new way throughout the residency.

I was sad to leave the wonderful staff, faculty and students, but delighted that I have been blessed by the opportunity to dance with the students at St. Joseph’s Indian School!

Thank you kindly.

Melanie

Artist in Residence

Fall is in the air at St. Josephs…

Good day from St. Joseph’s Indian School!

Fall is in the air at St. Joseph’s. Leaves are changing and the students are enjoying the fall days as the football season comes to an end.

On Monday, when most of the country was celebrating Columbus Day, the State of South Dakota celebrated Native American Day. There was a large powwow in Rapid City on October 10 and a good number of our students participated in the event. They were wonderful representatives of St. Joseph’s!

Monday also saw the start of the school’s second quarter. We started the day with a Prayer Service enhanced by Native American activities at Our Lady of the Sioux Chapel. The service began with the entrance of our powwow royalty accompanied by the Chalk Hill Singers’ drum group. Several students led us in the Four Direction prayer. There were also readings from the Gospel of Luke and Joseph Marshall III, a member of the Sicangu Lakota Tribe.

Our artist in residence, V.R. Janis, made presentations in the classroom during the rest of the day. Our students learned a lot!

This past Saturday was the 16^th Annual River City Band Festival in downtown Chamberlain. Our 4^th, 5^th and 6^th grade students helped carry banners in the parade. After the parade, the bands gathered at the local athletic field to perform their field shows. St. Joseph’s drum group, the Chalk Hill Singers presented the Lakota Flag Song after the National Anthem to begin the afternoon festivities. I believe this is their first public performance outside of a powwow setting — they did a fantastic job!

A Lakota(Sioux) student participates in Explorers. — Kyle, one of St. Joseph’s students, is the new Explorers Secretary!

The local members of the Chamberlain Middle School Explorers elected their officers for the year recently and one of St. Joseph’s eighth graders, Kyle, was elected secretary. The Explorers are a service club for sixth thru eighth grade boys that meet every Thursday at 7:30 AM at Chamberlain Elementary School. This year seven St. Joseph’s students are taking part and four of them are new members.

The Explorers raise money through a variety of projects during the year and then donate the money for someone in need or to the Chamberlain community to help fund various projects. Last year, they contributed to the new Chamberlain swimming pool complex. They also focus on civics and various lessons called ‘man stuff.’

The group also travels to Pierre to visit the State Capital and meet the Governor. The year ends with a trip to a major league baseball game.

Two of St. Joseph’s students, Ramez and Tayeden, had a great time meeting donors at the luncheons in the Dallas, TX area. After the luncheons, they had the chance to visit the Texas State Fair and take a VIP tour of AT&T stadium, the home of the Dallas Cowboys. They even had the chance to visit the Cowboys’ locker room and have their pictures taken in front of the locker of their favorite player, Dez Bryant.

Last week saw the end of the golf season. Chamberlain High School’s team won multiple invitationals and had all members qualify for the state tournament. Out of the 16 teams that took part, the Cubs came in 8^th. Danny, one of St. Joseph’s students, placed in the top 25 as a junior. We are excited to support him next year!

Thank you for your generosity. YOU make everything we do possible.

Fr. Anthony Kluckman, SCJ

Chaplain

Deep in the heart of Texas…

Brian, St. Joseph's Major Gifts Officer — Brian, St. Joseph’s Major Gifts Officer

Hello from St. Joseph’s Indian School!

This past weekend, three of our staff and two of our middle school boys, Tayeden and Ramez, represented St. Joseph’s at our donor luncheon in Westlake, Texas. The students did an outstanding job and our donors were delighted to learn more about all the exciting programs and activities we have here at St. Joseph’s.

A Lakota (Sioux) student prepares for the donor luncheon. — Preparing for the donor luncheon!

After Saturday’s luncheon, the boys spent the afternoon experiencing the fantastic sights, sounds and amusement rides at the State Fair of Texas. The aroma of Fletcher’s Corny Dogs filled the air and our stomachs on the beautiful 85 degree day in Dallas, Texas. The Texas State Fair is the largest of its kind in the United States with over 2.6 million patrons visiting during its twenty four days of endless activities.

Sunday’s luncheon went equally as well and the students were in for another treat. St. Joseph’s staff and students made the thirty minute trip to Arlington for a VIP tour of AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys. Our group was mesmerized and in awe as we received a behind-the-scenes look at the $1.3 billion stadium. Some of the places we toured were the press box and the “owner’s perch,” where Jerry Jones watches his Cowboys.

A student stands in front of a Cowboy player's locker. — Taking advantage of a photo opportunity in the Cowboy’s locker room!

Other stops included a personal suite and most exciting- the Dallas Cowboys’ locker room! Both Tayeden and Ramez had their picture taken in front of their favorite player’s locker, Dez Bryant. What a wonderful once-in-a-lifetime experience for these two fine young men.

None of this would have been possible if not for the generosity and kindness of our benefactors. We are grateful and blessed to have you as part of our Tiospaye-extended family.

Thank you for helping fulfill the dreams of two of our students.

From Deep in the Heart of Texas!

God Bless,

Brian

Major Gift Officer

It’s a time of preparation here at St. Joseph’s!

Good day from St. Joseph’s Indian School!

This past week, two SCJ visitors from India visited St. Joseph’s to tour our campus and the surrounding reservations. Fr. Michael and Fr. Dharma were escorted by Fr. Dominic Peluse, SCJ and his associate, Pam Milczarski, from the Priests of the Sacred Heart office in Hales Corners, Wisconsin. Our guests came to visit since they are in the process of setting up a fundraising office in India to raise financial support for the SCJ ministries there. They have been traveling around the Province to see how our various offices send out mailings and stay in touch with Benefactors.

We began our Sacrament Classes this past Monday. Some of our students are preparing to receive all three of the Sacraments of Initiation—Baptism, 1st Communion and Confirmation! Our second graders who have already been baptized will prepare for 1st Communion. Some may even make a Profession of Faith and join the Church. Please keep these students in your prayers.

Fr. Anthony with three Lakota (Sioux) students at Our Lady of the Sioux Chapel in Chamberlain, SD. — Last year’s celebration of the Sacraments of Initiation was a success!

During this year’s powwow, visitors and friends who attended were able to write prayer requests. St. Joseph’s staff and students will pray for each and every request throughout this school year. Currently, the requests have been placed before the statue of the Sacred Heart in our Blessed Sacrament chapel. When I make out the prayer list for each month, I’ll take some of the requests and add them to requests for prayer that come in over the year from other Benefactors. We are always happy to pray for any specific prayer request you may have since it is one way our students can say ‘thank you’ for your generosity.

St. Joseph’s was also happy to welcome the members of our Parent Advisory Council who gathered on the Monday after the powwow. They gather regularly to review policy and offer suggestions so we can keep fine tuning the programs we have here at St. Joseph’s.

As always, thank you for your kindness and generosity. We keep you in our prayers!

Have a great week!

Fr. Anthony Kluckman, SCJ

Chaplain

Our roots of honor and goodwill remain…

“We no longer hunt buffalo with a bow or live in tipis, but our roots of honor and goodwill remain. While fire purifies and allows new life to begin, water is cleansing and brings us nourishment. Coming from all directions, the wind provides movement.

The powwow also has a purpose. Today we live in a culture of distraction. A place must be kept that pushes back against the distractions. A place that understands the culture because it embraces its individuals…”

St. Joseph’s 39th annual wacipi — powwow — was a success! People from across the country gathered on our campus to help hundreds of Lakota (Sioux) children celebrate their Native American culture and heritage. As we look to future celebrations, we thank you for sharing in our work and helping Lakota children in need reach for a brighter future!

Watch our 39^th Annual Powwow video HERE.

“The day comes to a close. Many thoughts run through my mind. I think the highest form of thought is gratitude. But silent gratitude isn’t much use to anyone… so thank you to those who share this vision.”

A time for reflection…

Greetings from St. Joseph’s Indian School!

We have finally had some time to reflect on our 39^th Annual Powwow.

What a wonderful few days we had! The festivities began with a bus trip to the Crow Creek and Lower Brule Indian Reservations. I had a chance to meet with donors taking part in the tour to offer a prayer for safe travel before they hit the road. It seems that they all had a great time!

On Thursday evening, St. Joseph’s Indian School had a Meet & Greet. Several staff members and students met with guests to explain the programs offered at St. Joseph’s and answer any questions our visitors had. We had two of our high school seniors and an alumnae who is currently working at St. Joseph’s share the impact our school has had on their lives.

Friday morning began with the announcement of our powwow royalty–Eagle Staff bearer Treshawn; Junior Miss St. Joseph’s Aurelia; and Miss St. Joseph’s Frederika. As our students headed off to class, our guests enjoyed breakfast and tours of the Nagel Business Office to see how our mailings are prepared and how envelopes with donations are handled.

From there, our donors and friends went to the Rec Center to make their own dreamcatcher and attend a demonstration of Native American children’s games.

On Friday afternoon, guests were able to tour the school with some of our students as their tour guides. A great time was had by all; students really enjoyed getting to talk with people from all over the country.

Over 400 guests and friends attended our Tiyospaye Banquet Friday evening. The highlight of the evening– besides the drawing for a star quilt– was the show of hands as to how many were attending their very first powwow. It seemed that 75-80% of the hands went up! We were so honored that they chose St. Joseph’s as the place to experience their first powwow.

Though Friday was rainy and cool, Saturday dawned clear and pleasant. Early risers had the chance to visit several of the

Lakota boy dances fancy dance in the powwow. — A St. Joseph’s student dances in the 39th Annual Powwow.

homes on campus to see where our students live. Prior to the Grand Entry, several of our grass dancers came out to bless the powwow grounds. The Grand Entry began with a presentation of the colors, which all veterans present were invited to take part in. The veterans in attendance were followed by the royalty from other Native American tribes and entities in the area and the many dancers who had come to take part in the powwow.

It is interesting to note that 102 St. Joseph’s students took part in the various dance categories, which enabled them to win some categories and place in others. The weather was wonderful, the colors magnificent and the dance moves intricate. Returning alumni were honored. Guests were invited to take part in tribal dances which are open to anyone in attendance.

We culminated the day with Mass at Our Lady of the Sioux Chapel and a complimentary meal prior to announcing the winners of the dance contests and drum competition. As things wound down, there were many compliments and ‘ohs’ and ‘ahs’ over what had taken place that afternoon.

We were honored to have so many guests, dancers, drum groups and staff all interacting in an enjoyable manner to make this one of the best powwows yet! If you would like to see some of what happened, you can take a look at the video one of our staff members put together.

We were blessed to have great weather on Saturday and we thank you for your prayers to help make that possible. I’m sure that many of those attending this year are already looking ahead to 2016. As a quick reminder, St. Joseph’s annual powwow always takes place the third weekend in September. We look forward to many powwows in the future and hope you can join us!

Fr. Anthony Kluckman, SCJ

Chaplain