Powwow Weekend has Officially Begun at St. Joseph’s!

Fr. Anthony, St. Joseph's ChaplainGood Day from St. Joseph’s!

St. Joseph’s Powwow Weekend has officially begun! We are enjoying welcoming visitors, donors and friends to campus and look forward to Saturday’s powwow.

The sports program here at St. Joseph’s is off to a flying start.

This week, our 6th-8th grade Cross Country team has had three meets—one in White River, another in Pierre and the third here in Chamberlain.

Our 6th-8th grade girls’ volleyball teams hosted Todd County on Tuesday and the 7th-8th grade teams participated in an all-day tournament last Saturday.  The 6th grade team is currently 1-0, the 7th grade team is 3-1 and the 8th grade team is 1-3 after losing some close matches.

The 7th-8th grade football team kicked off their season last night by hosting Todd County.  On Monday evening, there was flag football practice for St. Joseph’s and Chamberlain’s 1st-3rd grade students. Instead of them going the length of the field for 100 yards, coaches have the young teams travel sideline to sideline so several teams can play at once.  The Chamberlain High School football team has an away game this week, which should give them a bit of a test.  They are currently 2-0 and have won both games by the ‘mercy rule’—being ahead by 50 points or more by halftime.

If you read last week’s blog, you are aware that ‘Flat Francis (Pope Francis)’ is visiting campus this semester.  This past week, he spent time in the Dennis Home playing basketball, jumping rope, hula-hooping, visiting the pool, giving Amilia a blessing for her pretend illness and visiting McDonald’s for ice cream.

‘Flat Francis’ has this week off to enjoy the powwow festivities. Next week, he will be visiting another home. We’ll keep you posted on his adventures!

Our National Honors Society (NHS) Chapter recently elected their officers for the 2016-2017 school year.  They newly elected officials are preparing for their installation next week.

Those serving in elected positions this year are:

  • Thalia- President
  • Tayeden- Vice-President
  • Nevaeh- Secretary
  • Diamond- Treasurer.

The officers for the National Elementary Honor Society are Nevaeh -President, Jada -Vice-President and Julianna – Secretary.

St. Joseph’s National Honors Society members meet during lunch time once per week to plan activities.

This year, our NHS leaders are seeking to make a real effort to encourage their fellow students to make sure they get assignments in on time and do their best in class. Ultimately, they are looking to inspire our students to be named to the Honor Roll.

Tomorrow, in addition to St. Joseph’s powwow, there will be a dedication of ‘Dignity’, a 50-foot sculpture of a Native American woman receiving a star quilt at the Lewis and Clark Visitor Center on Interstate 90 here in Chamberlain. The sculpture weighs 1,100 pounds and is 23 feet wide.  The statue is a gift to the State of South Dakota from the Norm and Eunable McKie family of Rapid City, South Dakota.

The dedication ceremony will go throughout the day and end with a special lighting ceremony in the evening.  Once in place, the statue will act as a beacon of light for travelers on Interstate 90 and will be a highlight of the heritage of South Dakota’s Native people.

I hope each of you have a wonderful week.  I’ll be sure to share a recap of some of our powwow events in next week’s blog. We hope to have a powwow video ready for your enjoyment by Thursday of next week as well!

May God continue to bless each and every one of you.

Fr. Anthony Kluckman, SCJ
Chaplain

Author: St. Joseph's Indian School

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.

13 thoughts on “Powwow Weekend has Officially Begun at St. Joseph’s!”

  1. Congratulations to those newly elected officers in the NHS.. May you all have a wonderful PowWow.. on my bucket list 🙂

  2. Thank you always for all that is done for these precious children and I will be sending some loving money on my behalf soon.  It is with regret that I cannot attend  the pow wow.Put planning on going on Sunday nite 2 hrs. North to one.Again thank you always Deborah ♡♡

    Sent via my Samsung Galaxy, an AT&T 4G LTE smartphone

  3. Sent from my iPad. Hi I wanted to let you know I got my gift package , however I’m short on money as i am on a budget , i will send a donation as soon as I am able to . Thanks for understanding this . Sandi

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  4. I am so glad to see the children putting on a Pow-Wow and keeping tradition going. It is no matter if they are Lakota, Dakota, Cherokee, Comanche, etc……we are all related as American Indian brothers and sisters. I am sure the children are having a good time. They are on my mind. Nuh~wah~doe~he~yaw~duh…

  5. O~si~yo/hello, While I am thrilled to receive the address labels, I see just 1 flaw on them. My last name is Mc(C)ormick…..not Mc(c)ormick. First “c” is small, second “C” is big/capitalized. Other than that, I LOVE the labels, the Dreamcatcher, the bookmark, etc.  I appreciate the children doing this.  I will also be sending another donation in the next couple days. Wa~do again for taking such good care of the children. With much sincerity, Little-Feather McCormickcherokee_lady_72433@yahoo.com

  6. I love the children, but how do we, that donate, know that the donations are actually going to the children? I don’t mean to be offensive, but it IS a question I have. Thank you, Little Feather

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