We serve and teach, we receive and learn.
With the start of the 2022-23 school year, St. Joseph’s Indian School began celebrating our 95th anniversary!
Ninety-five years is quite a triumph, and we are humbled to know we have been caring for Native American children and families for over nine decades — especially considering our very humble beginnings. Continue reading “Celebrating 95 Years of Service to Native American Families”
There’s something to be said about an empty piece of land. While the eye may gaze upon it and not see anything, sometimes your mind’s eye sees beyond the emptiness. It sees what it could be, and a dream takes root. Continue reading “St. Joseph’s Dedicates Equine Therapy Center”
Staff, students and animals in the school’s programs came together at the center of St. Joseph’s Indian School’s campus on October 4, Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of animals and the environment. Even the squirrels paused their high-speed food-stashing activity for the morning’s observance. Continue reading “Blessing the Animals Says Mitákuye Oyás’iŋ at St. Joseph’s Indian School”
St. Joseph’s Indian School recently announced $115,970 in fall-semester scholarships for Native American students across the nation, bringing the total awards for the calendar year Continue reading “St. Joseph’s Sets New Record for Scholarships Awarded”
The 46th Annual St. Joseph’s Indian School Wačhípi – Powwow – marks the return to a public powwow for the students for the first time since the onset of the pandemic. September 17 marks the long-awaited powwow comeback. Students have been hard at work practicing dance since their August 16 return to campus. Continue reading “St. Joseph’s Indian School Announces Powwow Royalty”
Hot sun and hotrods were the recipe for this year’s American Island Days in Chamberlain, S.D, on August 20, 2022.
Adding some flair and beauty to the afternoon, eleven St. Joseph’s Indian School dancers and eight drummers enjoyed displaying the powwow dance styles of their cultural heritage to festival-goers. The school’s drum group, Pahá Makȟásaŋ Lowáŋpi (the Chalk Hills Singers), provided the heartbeat of the people at the event. Continue reading “St. Joseph’s Indian School Students Demonstrate Powwow Dances at American Island Days”
Michele and Jim thought they were coming to Chamberlain, SD, in the summer of 2021 purely as a way to enjoy a road trip away from their Iowa home. They were in search of relaxation and connection with nature, which they found, but they also found something else — something else with which they would soon form a connection …
St. Joseph’s Indian School.
They were staying in a quaint Airbnb hosted by Maija, a St. Joseph’s employee who enjoys hosting visitors in her free time apart from her work at St. Joseph’s. A fluid conversationalist, Maija likes talking to her guests and making them feel at home. Because Maija displays some items from St. Joseph’s within her cabin, more often than not, the topic of St. Joseph’s comes up. She tells visitors about our students, programs, services and all the reasons why our campus is such a special place.
Hearing Maija talk about St. Joseph’s resonated with Michele and Jim. So much so, that it prompted Michele with an idea. An idea she couldn’t wait to share with her mother, Flo. Continue reading “First Time Donor Tackles Big Project to Make Big Difference: ‘We chose to learn how to quilt to do this’”
What happens to St. Joseph’s students during the summer? Where do they go? Do they have what they need? Will they eat every day?
We receive those questions quite often at St. Joseph’s. They are important questions, and questions we have designed outreach services around to address. Continue reading “Tackling Hungry Tummies this Summer All Over South Dakota”
The highly anticipated return of Rising Eagle Day Camp felt like a trip back in time to 2019 when things seemed so much simpler — like a breath of fresh air, as they say.
The first two weeks of camp served 372 children, ages six to 14 from the Crow Creek Reservation. The second two weeks of camp served 358 children from the Lower Brule Reservation. Calculate those together, and the total attendance this year was 730 children. If we do more math, that includes over 3,100 miles traveled and over 2,100 meals and snacks provided to reservation children in four weeks.
What did children do while they were here? A lot of cool stuff! Continue reading “The Return of Rising Eagle Day Camp was Amazing!”
For a hospitalized child, receiving a message from children their age can be extra special. It brightens their day. It lets them know someone is thinking about them. For a moment, it lifts their spirits as they undergo their unique battles.
Surely, messages with words are wonderful. However, the thing about art is it is a universal language. There are no words to comprehend — only a feeling to be shared. Continue reading “St. Joseph’s Indian School Students Spread Kindness to Hospitalized Children”