Native American – Page 16 – St. Joseph's Indian School

Learning about the Dakota 38+2

Good afternoon! I am LaRayne, St. Joseph’s Native American Studies teacher.

Runners lead the Dakota 38 Memorial riders for the first 10 miles. — “Freedom Runners” ran from the starting point in Lower Brule across the Missouri River Fort Thompson, South Dakota – approximately 10 miles.

Before Christmas break, St. Joseph’s seventh and eighth grade classes learned about the Dakota 38+2 Memorial Ride – what it is for, why it is done and what we could do to help. These thoughts spilled over into campus-wide education, sharing, and giving from the hearts of our students and staff.

The Dakota 38+2 Memorial Ride commemorates the 38 Dakota (Sioux) warriors who were hung in Mankato, Minnesota, following the Dakota War of 1862 – the largest mass hanging in our nation’s history. Two more warriors were hung later, in relation to the same conflict. The ride of reconciliation was inspired by one man’s vision to heal the brokenness between cultures.

Two of St. Joseph’s family service counselors, Scott and Rob, brought in riders to speak to our older students and showed the movie about the Dakota 38+2 (the link to YouTube is at the end of this post).

Students discussed, questioned, learned and reflected on different aspects of this historical event, which created motivation to support the riders financially. The students set out to raise money to help defray the costs of food and shelter

Riders on horseback journeyed from Lower Brule to Mankato, South Dakota for the Dakota 38 Memorial Ride. — The riders participating in the 2013 Dakota 38 Memorial Ride.

for riders and horses, as well as occasional police escorts on busy roads between Lower Brule, South Dakota and Mankato, Minnesota.

Out of respect for our donors, we wanted this money to come from our personal pockets – not from the generous gifts of those who support St. Joseph’s. With the help of students and staff, our efforts raised more than $1,200 from a penny war, a raffle, “Jeans Because” money and a soup and salad lunch for staff campus-wide. It was great to see the different acts of generosity and downright competitions that came alive at St. Joseph’s Indian School to support this cause!

Our littlest children (first, second and third graders) brought in little bags of coins to add to their pickle jar for the penny war. Staff members could add coins to any age group, and this is where the competition began. During the last minutes of the penny war, it was evident that the staff was just as competitive as the kids in wanting to win the penny war and give to a great cause!

St. Joseph’s students and staff were at the send off on December 10, 2013. — St. Joseph’s seventh and eighth graders, along with several staff, attended the send off ceremony for the Dakota 38 Memorial Ride.

The purpose behind teaching this historical event to our students is to help them understand the events of the past and how they are linked to their ancestors. Because we want our students to understand who they are, they must learn and understand where they come from. This is just one example.

The culmination in learning about the Dakota 38+2 was to be a part of the send off ceremony for the riders who departed from Lower Brule, South Dakota on December 10. Taking full advantage of the opportunity, we made this day a class field trip for the seventh and eighth graders.

Several adults accompanied 38 students for this great day. We were honored to be a part of smudging, singing, honoring, listening, praying and building.

Our Lakota students built relationships with one another. They built relationships with other communities, people, youth, Lakota leaders, other adults and the horse culture.

We were honored to be in the presence of Arvol Looking Horse, the 19^th generation pipe carrier of our sacred cannunpa – pipe – blessed with prayer while a female elder and several male singers sang prayer and horse songs for the ceremony.

We had four young men from St. Joseph’s take advantage of running a few miles with other representatives from Lower Brule and Crow Creek to serve as runners for freedom. Next year, we hope to have many of our students and staff help send our Dakota 38+2 horse riders off by running with the pack.

As staff, we hope this day will live in the memories and lives of these kids for years to come. In the meantime, we will do our part to honor who we are and where we are going in mind, body, heart and spirit.

Learn more about the Dakota 38 by watching the trailer for the documentary on YouTube.

Visions of sugarplums?

Dear Benefactors,

I’m not sure if ‘visions of sugarplums danced in their heads,’ but the eyes of our Lakota students were wide and happy last weekend as they came to the Christmas Store to pick out gifts for their family members at home.

St. Joseph’s Christmas store allows the Lakota children to share a gift with their families. — Shakia found stuffed animals for her younger siblings!

Each year, St. Joseph’s receives items that can’t be used on campus for one reason or another, or we have enough to go around – things like baby clothing, stuffed animals, knick-knacks or blankets. These items can be ‘purchased’ by the students during our Christmas Store.

With guidance from an older student or staff member, they find their treasures and volunteers help wrap. Students have their pictures taken with Santa and there are goodies for everyone. It’s a wonderful day!

We are so grateful for your generosity in providing gently used gift items! Your kindness allows us to teach our students to be kind and generous to others. The children are so thrilled to be able to share a gift, and that is a lesson that truly lasts a lifetime. We wish you could have seen the joy! Read more about the Christmas Store.

As Christmas draws closer and preparations for presents and parties are made, we also remember the reason we celebrate – the birth of Jesus. St. Joseph’s pastoral staff is offering an Advent Reconciliation Prayer Service to give our students the opportunity for the Sacrament of Confession or – for those who are not Catholic – to have the chance to talk about their relationship with God if they wish.

We try to remind our students that Advent is a time of preparation – not just making plans for Christmas but also getting ourselves ready inside so that there will be room for the Christ child in our hearts.

On the sports front, we had the end of the girls’ basketball season as the 7^th and 8^th grade girls’ teams journeyed to Miller, South Dakota last night. The 7^th graders won in overtime and the 8^th graders fell by 4.

Wrapping presents and Christmas treats finish out the day! — Older students and staff volunteers helped the Lakota children wrapped their gifts.

High school basketball has started and there are 14 St. Joseph’s boys on the Chamberlain High School basketball team this year! Last week, they held a Red & White scrimmage at St. Joseph’s gym for everyone to come and watch.

The coach is very excited about the commitment of St. Joseph’s players. He spoke to our younger Native American students, urging them to focus on their studies and basketball skills so they too might be part of the team someday. The high school basketball season kicks off tonight with a trip to Gregory, South Dakota – Go Cubs!

This past Sunday was also the end of the boys’ inter-city basketball league. Inter-city is a mixture of players from St. Joseph’s and the local Chamberlain area. The championship game was a nail biter! It came down to the final seconds with the victors winning only by one point. There will be an inter-city season for the girls after Christmas break.

Weather permitting, I hope to be able to head to Texas to visit my mother for Christmas, so this may be my last blog for a week or so. I want to take this opportunity to extend best wishes for a very Merry Christmas and a blessed, healthy and Happy New Year to you and yours from all the students and staff at St. Joseph’s Indian School! May the Great Spirit reward and bless you all for your generosity!

Sincerely,

Fr. Anthony Kluckman, SCJ

Chaplain

Cold weather has arrived!

What a difference a week makes! You may recall how I was saying it was still nice weather-wise here at St. Joseph’s. However, the bottom fell out this past week.

Fr. Anthony and the Lakota children. — Fr. Anthony spends time with St. Joseph’s students.

We got over 5 inches of snow and the temperature went down, down, down…

The Daily Republic, a daily newspaper in Mitchell, South Dakota (about 70 miles from Chamberlain), leads off the news the other day with an article on how the area has set low temperatures that broke a 105-year-old record.

Chamberlain was even mentioned on the radio when we hit 14 degrees below zero. The cold has had an effect on some of our water lines and has brought about a drip in the rec center ceiling. Our Lakota students do not seem to mind, however, and love to be out sledding as long as they can.

A big thank you goes out to our maintenance crew on campus! They are quick to clear paths so our students can get to school and staff can get to work when we have snow.

We moved our regular Sunday Mass to Saturday evening so the Dancing Dolls & Dudes had Sunday morning to get ready for their recital in the early afternoon. There was a great turnout for the dance presentations, which includes kids from the Chamberlain and surrounding communities; dancers as young as 3 and 4 year olds up through sixth graders took part.

When I drove up to the National Guard Armory, where the performance was held, I felt like St. Joseph’s Indian School was a visiting basketball team. So many of our Native American students were participating and watching, we had our large yellow bus and one or two of our smaller buses parked in from of the Armory!

Seems hard to believe, but our girls’ basketball season is drawing to a close. Our last home games for our younger grades are this week. Last Saturday, the 8^th grade girls hosted their annual basketball tournament. The snow prevented some of the teams from coming, but the rec center hosted a round robin tournament and we came in third.

Hope you all have a great week and that you are able to take advantage of the Advent Season and prepare the way of the Lord.

Fr. Anthony Kluckman, SCJ

Chaplain

Where we going?

Where we going?

This is an interesting question that can be answered in many different ways. On this particular

The Lakota children decorated a Christmas tree at the South Dakota Hall of Fame. — Jacob and his classmates helped make small drums and drumsticks to use as decorations for the Christmas tree.

day at St. Joseph’s Indian School, the answer was to decorate a Christmas tree at the South Dakota Hall of Fame. This is about 4 miles from campus, right along Interstate 90.

South Dakota leaders and luminaries are honored here – it is a great stopping point along I-90. Each year, the Hall of Fame invites community leaders and organizations to decorate Christmas trees in the Hall of Fame. St. Joseph’s was one of the first organizations to arrive and picked a choice spot to put up our tree.

We took six of our younger Lakota students from Student Leadership Committee to help. They were all excited and couldn’t wait to help. The first challenge was matching all limbs to the right spot on the trunk of the artificial tree. We had to make sure to spread out the branches to make the tree look full and big. The students did a great job of keeping the branches separate and sticking them in the right holes. The tree looked full and big by the time we fluffed all the branches out!

Then, up went the lights! I helped string the lights from the top of the tree to the bottom with two of the girls guiding me around the tree and ensuring I had enough lights to make it the tree look bright. Once we finished putting the lights up we plugged them in to make sure they worked.

To our surprise, the lights twinkled and blinked. We didn’t remember the lights flashing last year… but hey, what a bonus! The students thought it was neat; they oohed and aahed, mesmerized by the lights.

After the lights were checked and the students refocused, they started to hang small hand drums up and down the tree. The drums have St. Joseph’s logo on them and the students help make them. Then we pulled out small dreamcatchers, a few wooden flutes and drumsticks for the students to hang. The last ornaments to go up were homemade snowflakes with pictures of the students in the middle. The final touch was small wooden teepee to top of the tree. After a few alterations, the tree was finished and looked great!

The students helped clean up the mess and put the tree in place. We loaded in the mini bus once again and headed back to campus. The students were in a great mood and sang a few bars of Jingle Bells on the way, only they changed the verse to “Jingle Bells, Frank smells…”

We had a good laugh over their version of a classic Christmas song.

All the fun aside, where are we going? can be a very hard question to answer.

But on this day, we were blessed to be able to tell the students, “we are going to spread the Christmas spirit and share our school with the rest of the community.”

St. Joseph’s tree at the South Dakota Hall of Fame was decorated by younger Lakota students. — St. Joseph’s younger students helped decorate the Christmas tree at the South Dakota Hall of Fame.

On this day, we were blessed to give the students a firsthand lesson about citizenship, generosity and belonging. On this day, we were blessed to teach a lesson about life. On this day we were blessed to help our Native American students learn a little bit more about where they are going and who they will become. Life lessons and teachable moments happen every day, and we are blessed to put them to good use!

Here is hoping you all have a great Christmas season full of family and blessings.

Merry Christmas!

Frank W.

6-8 Residential Coordinator

Learning? No, that was just fun.

We Serve and Teach. We Receive and Learn. This is our motto at St. Joseph’s Indian School. Here we are dedicated to lifelong learning and nurturing the whole child. That is why teaching and learning expands well beyond the classroom.

Problem solving and teamwork are a few of the many lessons youth learn at St. Joseph’s Indian School. — The Native American children at St. Joseph’s learn life skills, like teamwork and problem solving.

Today is Wednesday night, so typically that would be an Enrichment night, except that our Lakota students have gone home for Thanksgiving break. Every Wednesday night, St. Joseph’s homes have activities to round out student learning.

The skills students learn can be intangible—like building healthy relationships and dealing with peer pressure— or more concrete tasks—managing money or addressing envelopes. The activities are age-appropriate. High school students have Sons and Daughters of Tradition, a culturally based group with a talking circle and visiting Lakota (Sioux) elders. The younger homes have workbooks chock full of lessons and activities.

I love doing activities with the kids. One week we talked about hygiene: why we work so much at keeping homes and bodies clean, and some of the issues that come up with poor hygiene practices. For example, sharing eyeliner can cause an outbreak of pinkeye. L

Another week we talked about the difference between being assertive and aggressive. The lessons tied together pretty well – if you have to approach a peer about a hygiene issue, how can you do that it in an assertive, non-shaming way. “Umm, would you like a breath mint? Or perhaps some perfume?”

Honestly though, the Masters of Enrichment are our Rec center staff. It is one thing to talk to kids about cooperation. The students can brainstorm lists and fill out worksheets in the home, but when it comes to actually practicing the skill, no one makes it more fun than Brian, Andy and Shoney.

I remember one particularly rough week with the 6-8^th grade girls. We had done some worksheets on friendships and qualities we look for in a friend. This didn’t stop them from bickering and foot-dragging when it came time to help a peer with a kitchen task. “It’s not myyy joooooobbbbb!”

After our designated hour of class time in the home, we had a special hour of learning at the Rec center. Shoney and Andy took them outside for some friendly competition. They were given the task of standing shoulder to shoulder and foot to foot, and walking about 10 yards while keeping their foot touching their neighbor’s. It was the Stevens girls versus the Pinger girls in a race against time. They shouted encouragement. They strategized. They coaxed. They urged. They kept it together.

The next task was to fit all 12 girls into the circumference of a hula-hoop without touching the ground outside the hoop. Suddenly their differences became assets, and their ability to get close to each other became critical. The tallest girl stood in the middle and the smaller girls hung off her like a maypole. The others squeezed and tugged and balanced on one foot to make it work. In less than 20 seconds, they accomplished what an hour of “talking” about friendship failed to do. The girls pulled together. They didn’t leave anybody out of the circle.

At prayers that night, the girls shared that they liked doing the activity. Did they realize it was all about learning? No. I think it was more like putting cheese sauce on broccoli. All they knew was that they liked it, and that they would try it again if it were offered again. Works for me.

Last night we cleaned the homes as the kids prepare to go home for break. Laundry! Dusting! Cleaning out the fridge! Not as exciting as relay races, but important things to learn nonetheless.

We have so much to be thankful for in the upcoming days. We’re looking forward to a nice break and visits with family and friends. I hope that all the friends of St. Joseph’s also have an enjoyable Thanksgiving. Wopila tanka – many thanks! Claire

Getting ready for Thanksgiving

Dear Benefactors,

From all the students and staff here at St. Joseph’s Indian School, best wishes to you and yours for a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Each of us has so much to be grateful for. May you have the chance to share the day with family and friends!

The Native American children at St. Joseph’s celebration Family Night every year. — The Lakota boys and girls made “trees of thanksgiving” to take home to their families.

St. Joseph’s students are getting in the Thanksgiving spirit as they took part in the National Family Week project this past Wednesday. They joined with siblings and cousins to make decorations to take home for their families on Thanksgiving. You can see our photos on Facebook!

They created a “tree of thanksgiving,” with leaves the students wrote messages on, expressing what they are grateful for. Thanks to a grant from the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community in Minnesota, each family receives a gift card for their local grocery store to help provide food for the Thanksgiving meal. In the past, students took food boxes home with them, but the new system works wonderfully.

Three of our Lakota (Sioux) students had the chance to visit Washington, D.C. last week. Their family was honored by the United States for the role their great-grandfather played as a code-talker during World War II. As you might know, during that time Native American radio operators spoke in their native tongues so that German or Japanese troops listening would not understand what military information was being passed from one unit to another.

While these students were in Washington, D.C., another group of our students and staff were in the Houston, Texas, area to take part in a donor luncheon this past weekend. Kayla and Hope, two of our eighth graders, made the trip to share the impact St. Joseph’s has had on their lives. Our next two luncheons are January 18-19 in Los Angeles, California and February 22-23 in Cocoa Beach, Florida. If you would like to attend, you can register here.

I attended an ecumenical Thanksgiving prayer service held at St. James Catholic Church in downtown Chamberlain. It was nice to gather with others and be thankful. On Thanksgiving Day, the parish will host a Thanksgiving meal for anyone in the Chamberlain area who wishes to attend.

On Friday night, the day after Thanksgiving, there will be a presentation on Thanksgiving from a Native American viewpoint. The presenter will be Deacon Bud Jetty’s son, who is an educator from Montana. Deacon Bud serves on St. Joseph’s Board of Directors, and he and his wife are long-time friends of the school.

Last week we received word that 129 visitor-related businesses in South Dakota had been awarded the Great Service Star. The program is sponsored by the South Dakota Department of Tourism to recognize South Dakota businesses that show exceptional customer service to guests, customers or visitors. I am happy to inform you that St. Joseph’s Akta Lakota Museum and Cultural Center received the award. Visit their Facebook page to congratulate them!

Have a great Thanksgiving! May the holidays bring many blessings to you and your loved ones!

Fr. J. Anthony Kluckman, SCJ

Chaplain

Visiting with a St. Joseph’s alum

Greetings from South Dakota!

First of all, our thoughts and prayers are with those in the Midwest who experienced such awful weather over the weekend. The loss of life and destruction are truly tragic.

Chamberlain High School presented their annual play this past weekend, Father of the Bride. Two of St. Joseph’s high school students were in the cast and four were part of the stage and lighting crew. As an added bonus, St. Joseph’s students Amber and Ashley created the set designs! In Dramatic Arts class, the director divided students into teams of two and let them come up with design ideas for the play. Amber and Ashley’s design was chosen – way to go, girls!

Basketball season is underway at St. Joseph’s, and the Lakota girls in 4^th through 8^th grade have taken to the hardwood courts. On Saturday, the 4^th, 5^th and 6^th graders played their counterparts from Chamberlain Elementary. There was a good turnout of family and friends on both sides to cheer them on.

The Chamberlain girls had some tall players, but St. Joseph’s girls had some real spunk and a ‘never say die’ attitude that helped them come back from early deficits and secure victory in the 4^th and 6^th grade games by one point each. The 5^th graders, unfortunately, came up just 4 points short. This week, all our teams will be on the road playing schools in the local area.

I had a nice surprise during the basketball games on Saturday. I got to visit with the mother of a current student who was a student here herself in the late 1990’s. Fancee was a star basketball player at St. Joseph’s. Now, she is married with four children and works as a police detective on the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation.

She shared that her time at St. Joseph’s Indian School really prepared her for working with the Native American youth whom she now encounters in her profession. It was truly great to visit with her and hear how her years at St. Joseph’s helped her prepare for the future!

I hope each of you has a great week and that God’s blessings remain with you. Pilamaya – thank you – for your concern and generosity towards the Native American students at St. Joseph’s Indian School. Know that you and your intentions have been remembered in our Novena of Masses, November 11-19.

It’s never too early for Christmas songs!

I know that some people cringe at the thought of listening to Christmas songs from Thanksgiving to Christmas, but I’m not one of them! My XM radio already has at least two holiday channels (my favorite is Holly, Channel 17, but Holiday Traditions, Channel 4, isn’t bad, either) and since I commute 2 hours, 3-4 days a week, I have ample time to enjoy holiday music. I can’t get enough of the holidays, the site, sounds, tastes and smells of the holidays never get old to me!

This is our favorite and busiest time of the year in the Development Office at St. Joseph’s Indian School, too! Yesterday an ‘all hands on deck’ e-mail went out, asking that anyone who could help sort mail, please report to our Mail Processing area – we received 123 trays of mail!

We are indeed grateful for the holidays and the generous gifts that it brings from many of our supporters.

Geri, Director of Major Gifts, visits with a St. Joseph’s donor. — Geri has the opportunity to make personal visits to donors as the holidays approach.

But, not only is our Mail Processing Department busy this time of year, our Major Gifts Staff is equally as busy. We reach out to donors that we’ve come to know personally with a phone call, holiday card or personal visit.

It’s not always an easy time of the year for many of our donors who have lost loved ones and are facing loneliness during the holidays.

These personal outreaches are the ones that bring me the most joy in my job – I can take the time to visit with our supporters about how they’ll spend the holidays and share all of the activities and celebrations we have planned for the Lakota students at St. Joseph’s.

Indeed, the holidays are a time of gratitude for all of us at St. Joseph’s Indian School. We are grateful to work for a great organization and help carry out a mission that is changing the lives of Native American children and their families, and we’re grateful for our generous supporters who make our mission possible!

We wish you a blessed holiday season (now go turn on some Christmas music, while you still have time)!

Thank you to our Veterans

Good afternoon from a snowy South Dakota!

We had a little dusting of snow early this morning. With the leaves still on the ground, it makes for a slippery situation. I’m sure the students were not in mad dashes across St. Joseph’s campus today.

First of all, Happy Veterans Day! A big pilamaya – thank you – to all who made the commitment to serve in the Armed Forces of our country to keep us protected and free.

There is a Veterans’ Day powwow in Lower Brule today. LaRayne, our Native American Studies teacher, took 10 drummers and 5 dancers to take part. The Summerlee Home (4^th and 5^th grade girls) went up yesterday to join in the festivities and enjoy a meal with the community.

Friday night, several of our staff represented St. Joseph’s Indian School in a fundraiser for the Chamberlain School District Foundation. It was loosely based on an Old Fashioned Community Spelling Bee. Nine different teams took part in the event at the city civic center, which was recently rebuilt.

It was an open house for the new facility and a chance to raise some money for an outdoor classroom for the Chamberlain school system. The teams had fun as they competed in spelling, puns, scrabble and penmanship. While the MC stated ‘this might be the first and last spelling bee,’ it seemed everyone had fun and even the audience was able to take part.

I hope you all have a great week. We continue to keep you in our prayers, asking God to bless and reward you for your generosity to the Lakota children at St. Joseph’s.
Fr. Anthony Kluckman, SCJ

Chaplain

A Job of the Heart

Greetings from St. Joseph’s Indian School! My name is Julie H and I am a Family Service Counselor at St. Joseph’s, working with girls in grades 6-12. I recently had celebrated my 12^th anniversary as an employee here. Can you believe it?

Julie and Native American students make fry bread together. — Julie helps Kezrai and Angela make fry bread for the meal following an Inipi ceremony, which is the rite of purification in Lakota tradition.

My first two years at St. Joseph’s, I was a houseparent for the Lakota students in sixth, seventh and eighth grades. My next two years I was a Case Coordinator, and for the last eight years I have been a Family Service Counselor. My, how time flies!

As I look out my window today and see a bit of snow in the air, I am in a contemplative mood. I have had the question posed to me, more often lately, what brought me to St. Joseph’s and why I choose to stay?

The answer is really simple, actually. It’s the students.

The opportunity to work with kids brought me here, and that is what keeps me here.

I have said, since I came to St. Joseph’s, that working here is not a job – it is a calling. God reached into my heart and my life and brought me here to this wonderful place. There is really no other explanation.

I will be honest… this job can bring a person to tears. Tears of JOY when a student succeeds, tears of sadness when a student leaves, hurts, or struggles. Working at St. Joseph’s is a calling of the heart. And the human heart is a fragile thing. Working with our students can put your feet on a cloud, but it can also bring you to your knees.

Why? Because it is a job of the heart.

We, the staff of St. Joseph’s, lead with our heart. We want what is best for the students and their families. We rejoice when our families rejoice, we weep when our families weep. We celebrate when a student gets an A on a test, our hearts break when a student is disappointed or let down.

We only want what is best for our Native American students, but we all know life isn’t always fair and sometimes bad things happen to good people. When that happens, we put our hearts into it and support our families and students the best we can.

I am feeling truly blessed today that my calling has been to work with the families and children at St. Joseph’s. The good days outnumber the bad, the tears of joy outnumber the tears of sadness and saying “I work at St. Joseph’s Indian School,” always leaves my heart feeling full and happy.

This is a calling…but I could not fulfill my calling without the prayers and support of you, the benefactors of St. Joseph’s Indian School Without your support, we would not be able to offer the programs, stability, and safety we offer to our students. Without your support, we would not be able to offer the support we do for our families.

So while my job is a calling, your support is a calling as well. And I thank God every day that you have been called to be part of the St. Joseph’s family.

I send blessings and prayers your way as we move into the holiday season. May God bless you abundantly and fill your heart with joy for being called to St. Joseph’s.

Sincerely,

Julie