While South Dakota is a very rural and out-of-the-way state, we get a lot of visitors at St. Joseph’s Indian School who are passing through in the summer on their way to visit the Badlands, Black Hills and Mount Rushmore. There is also a great interest in Native American culture, and our Akta Lakota Museum and Cultural Center receives a few hundred visitors each day during the summer.
We’ve noticed many visitors from Europe but recently, a groups of six Spanish-speaking tour guides stopped in to look at our museum. There is a great interest in travelers from South America as well, and they plan to bring folks from there our way this summer.
I dusted off my rusty Spanish to welcome them and say a few basic things about campus, which made them feel more at home. A guide from Argentina studied with the Jesuits, and shared that his best teacher was Jorge Bergolio, now Pope Francis. I called Fr. Jose over to the museum since he is fluent in several languages and he spent more time helping them tour and become familiar with what we can offer visitors.
I have the privilege of sharing what’s been going on at St. Joseph’s Indian School over the last few days since Fr. Steve is away on a donor luncheon to Dover, Delaware and the northwest side of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, near King of Prussia and Valley Forge.
Last Wednesday, a severe weather drill was held for the whole State of South Dakota.
We work hard to keep the Lakota boys and girls safe. It’s important to be aware of what sounds would be used should an actual tornado be in the area. We also practice fire and lockdown drills with our Native American students to keep everyone prepared for any situation.
Friday was our 18th Annual Sobriety Walk and the weather was perfect. The program started with a presentation by Sheltered Reality, a group founded in 1996 to help young people. After their fine presentation, the students and staff made their walk through downtown Chamberlain urging everyone to say NO to drug and alcohol abuse.
Saturday was also busy as Chamberlain High School’s Native American Club sponsored their 6th Annual Powwow in the Chamberlain Armory. They had a good turnout with royalty and drum groups. The event began with 55 dancers and kept growing! Several St. Joseph’s students and staff took part. CONGRATULATIONS to St. Joseph’s high school students who are officers in the club and did a great job in organizing and running the event.
Sunday was also a beautiful day and gave everyone the chance to get outdoors after a long winter that did not seem to want to end. We had over 10 inches of snow in the last two and a half weeks, so warm, sunny days were a welcome change.
Fishermen were out in force on the Missouri River. There were so many boats in the water that it looked like airplanes in a holding pattern as they came off the water to load their boats.
Chamberlain was hosting a baseball game downtown and some of our older students were active in a softball game here on campus. The younger students had gotten their bikes out and were pedaling all over the campus. I think everyone is ready for warmer weather.
Over at the Akta Lakota Museum & Cultural Center, the new displays are in place. Thanks to the effort of Split Rock Studios, the overhaul of the displays in the museum and the addition of our historical and alumni center are now complete. We hope you’ll have the chance to visit and see all the changes!
Hope your weekend went well too. We keep you in our prayers and are very grateful for the generosity you show the Lakota children attending St. Joseph’s Indian School. May the Great Spirit bless you and yours this week and always. Pilamaya!
Here we are at the end of April, and May is almost upon on us. In South Dakota, we have been blessed this April with much needed moisture and we even had a snow day at St. Joseph’s Indian School!
The month of May brings many changes in weather, landscape and fashion (bye bye snow boots, gloves, hats… hello flip-flops and sunscreen)!
May also brings many changes to the Akta Lakota Museum & Cultural Center and our new Historical Center, Tokéya uŋkí nájiŋpi (We Stood Here in the Beginning).
Construction on the historical center began in October 2011 on St. Joseph’s campus.
New summer staff will begin, the finishing touches of the renovation are being completed in the museum and historical center, the dedication for the historical center is set for May 12, and our summer hours begin!
Beginning May 1, operating hours at the Akta Lakota Museum are:
Monday through Saturday, 8:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Sunday, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Would you like a campus tour during your visit?
Campus Tours Options:
A self-guided audio tour to use in your car as you drive around campus
An mp3 player for a walking tour
Guided tours are at 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday. This is approximately a 1-mile walking tour, (transportation is available if needed).
A private guided tour for a different day or time is available by appointment only.
All options are free of charge.
To schedule a guided tour, or if you have any questions, please contact Charleen at muscd@stjo.org or call 800-798-3452. All tours begin at the Akta Lakota Museum. For the safety of the Lakota (Sioux) children who live on our campus, we ask that all visitors please check in at the reception area at the Akta Lakota Museum upon their arrival. Get directions.
An unpredictable South Dakota spring brought lots of snow, but mild temperatures.
As St. Joseph’s Indian School starts to wind down for the year, several factors have come in to play this spring. It is unbelievable the amount of snow we have received in South Dakota for the month of April!! St. Joseph’s even missed a day of school due to the weather – that rarely happens since our Lakota students live on campus. The students truly enjoyed being outside to play in the snow as the temperature was in the low 30’s, which is relatively warm.
St. Joseph’s track team has been diligently practicing, either in the Recreation Center because of snow or outside when the weather is clear. Needless to say, with all the snow, our track meets have been canceled so far. We are hoping that the next one on Monday will take place as the temperatures are suppose to be in the 70s. Hurrah for the Glorious South Dakota Sunshine!!
Last week, I was involved with the Mr. Relay For Life Pageant that St. Joseph’s Relay For Life hosted at the Oacoma Community Center. The pageant was a spin-off of the Miss American Pageant, but with gentlemen of the community participating as contestants.
It was awesome to see the wonderful turnout from the community to support us in our endeavor to raise money for the fight against cancer! Of course, it really helped that our gentleman were such great sports with their choice of evening wear, talent and interview questions for the night’s competition. It was an evening enjoyed by many family and community members.
I would like to thank all of St. Joseph’s donors for your support and donations throughout the school year. You are a blessing to our school and the Native American students.
“Wealth and honor come from you O’Lord; you are the ruler of all things.
In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all.
–Chronicles 29:12–
A mild April day is perfect for making a snow dinosaur!
On a slushy, icy morning this week, a garbage truck knocked over an electrical pole in downtown Chamberlain and knocked out power to St. Joseph’s whole campus just as school was beginning. Teachers had to scramble with their lesson plans, and go back to pre-technology activities like reading poetry and solving math problems with pencil and paper. The classrooms have enough windows and natural lighting to get by, but the littlest Lakota students were reluctant to go into the darkened bathrooms and were very relieved when the lights finally came on an hour later.
Over the weekend, the Hogebach Home (HS girls) made a trip to the Twin Cities in Minnesota. I stopped by their home for supper to hear all about their adventures. For many, their favorite event was shopping. I’ve been to the Mall of America before and was overwhelmed by too many choices. But they loved the variety, and were even happy window shopping before making a choice. Most of the students in this home work part time jobs, so they had saved up money to buy some fashions not easily found in our small South Dakota town.
When our St. Joseph’s homes travel as a group, we ask them to include some educational or vocational activity during their time.
Erika, one of our seniors, has been accepted to an art school in the Twin Cities, and made a special visit to campus to receive more information and orientation. She and houseparent Robb were impressed and pleased by what they heard and saw.
Many of our students come from low-income families and often qualify for grants and financial aid. St. Joseph’s also helps with some scholarships. I tell our students that if they have the perseverance to stay in school and do well with their studies, we will help them find the funds to make it through.
Some of our donors generously remember St. Joseph’s Indian school in their estate planning. A couple of times since I’ve been here we’ve actually been willed a home, which we then sell and put the funds toward our endowment.
We recently received word that we were left a house in Germany! I’m sure there will be a few more complications selling that property than we’re used to, but the gift is greatly appreciated and will go to a good cause – helping the Lakota (Sioux) children.
Our network of support continues to astound and amaze me.
The Lakota children will love a new outdoor basketball court!
Our newest staff members from our Donor Care Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, were recently on campus for orientation. While some people who work phones and answer email have high turnover rates, my hope is that they stay for the long term like so many other staff. Though they won’t work directly with the Lakota (Sioux) children and will be more in touch with our donors, they are very much an important part of our mission at St. Joseph’s. I look forward to getting to know them as we work together to accomplish great things.
Later in the day, I spoke to a donor who found out we are planning to build an outdoor basketball court this summer. He offered to pay for the whole thing as a memorial to his brother. I know our Native American students will love it when that goes up next to the junior high homes! Our Planned Giving office frequently helps people who want to give memorial gifts.
Wopila tanka – many thanks – for sharing so generously with the Lakota children!
The other day while I was cooking I felt a tap on my arm. I looked down and saw Arthur (one of our first graders).
“Right Luisa that humans can’t walk on water?” he asked.
“Right!” I responded. Before I could say anything else he hurried away back into the toy room.
[3 minutes later]
“Luisaaaaaa!!! Tell Uriah to stop lying to me. He keeps saying he can walk on water. Tell him he can’t!”
Arthur was back in the kitchen clearly upset that Uriah was making false claims. Uriah trailed in right behind him.
“Yes huh, I can walk on water!”
I asked Uriah why he was lying to Arthur.
“Only Jesus can walk on water, please don’t lie to Arthur anymore ok?”
“Nuh uh!” he responded. “What about lizards?!?!”
That’s when it hit me. I was so busy being a logical and reasoning adult who does important adult things that I couldn’t think like a child. It never crossed my mind that Uriah might have been playing a game.
“You’re right! I’m sorry. Arthur. Uriah is just pretending to be a little lizard.”
I knew about basilisk lizards, but what’s striking is that little Uriah learned about them somewhere and did not forget.
Uriah tries out the space suit at the museum the Lakota boys visited on a weekend trip.
Boys: one moment they are superheroes and another they are basilisk lizards! Their minds are so inquisitive. They inspire me on a daily basis to keep creating, trusting, exploring, believing, learning, and of course: to not turn into a grumpy adult.
This past weekend during our three days off, Jachin and I tagged along with the other set of house parents on a home trip with the boys. The destination was Sioux Falls, South Dakota, which is only about two hours away.
They took a St. Joseph’s mini bus and we drove behind them in our car. We took them to Falls Park, they swam their hearts out at the hotel’s pool, and we visited Chuckie Cheese as well as the Washington Pavilion. Needless to say, the boys had a blast.
One of my favorite parts of the trip was going to the Washington Pavilion of Arts and Sciences. There, we visited the Kirby Science Discovery Center, which has more than 100 interactive, hands-on exhibits. I was amazed by how interested and entertained the boys were. They looked like little explorers on a mission!
After the Mission Education conference on St. Joseph’s campus, the Board of Directors meeting went off as scheduled. Half the folks had to phone in since winter storm Walda closed Interstate 90 in South Dakota from Sioux Falls all the way to Rapid City, a distance of 350 miles!
Fr. Tom, our SCJ provincial, finished his 3-year terms on our board; we showed our appreciation by gifting them with a Lakota star quilt.
The dynamics of a meeting change considerably when you can’t view power point presentations. After reports from Child Services, Development and Human Resources, we heard from those groups who work so hard to make a difference on the reservations.
The main work of the day was to consider and vote on next year’s budgets. Fr. Tom, our SCJ provincial, and Fr. Jack finished their 3-year terms on our board, and we showed appreciation to them by gifting them with a star quilt.
The generous support we receive from our donors makes the wide range of our programs for the Lakota children and their families possible.
After the meeting, I ran into James and Marion, two such donors, touring the museum. They were on their way home to Montana and were stranded in Chamberlain by the storm. At first, they were just looking for something better than watching TV in their hotel room. It was their first time St. Joseph’s Indian School, so I took them on a tour of the school. They were delighted to meet students and staff, and see the students’ campus homes. They said the stop was far more than they expected, and a highlight of their trip.
Back in class after the storm, St. Joseph’s students were busy with Dakota Step testing, and the school halls were again very quiet.
Fr. Jack receives his Lakota star quilt.
The SCJ novices from Chicago stayed with us a few days after the Mission Education conference. They were originally hoping to hear South Dakota reflections from the priests and brothers who’ve served many years on the Indian Reservations here, but the snows limited them to our crew at St. Joseph’s. We shared around the supper table and they reflected on what they had learned and observed from the conference. Hopefully, in a few years when their schooling is complete, we can interest them in this great work.
Fr. José, an SCJ from our Portuguese province, recently arrived at St. Joseph’s Indian School to begin a four-month stay with us. He is finishing a Masters degree in the area of Economy and International Action at Catholic University in Paris. He is studying human rights as it relates to minority communities and we will be very interested to hear his observations about life in South Dakota.
A significant part of his time here will be devoted to research and study. But, he also wants to improve his conversational English. Children are wonderful language teachers because they have a limited and simpler vocabulary. Where adults are often too polite, kids will laugh when you use the wrong word and correct you. We ate supper in the Dennis Home (1st-3rd grade girls) and the Lakota girls helped Fr. Jose make sure he knew the names of all the foods, plates, utensils and condiments on the table.
We had some fun moments on the playground with the kids. We didn’t quite know how to translate “Red Rover” into Portuguese! The girls had fun trying to break through clasped arms. Fr. Jose also had his first attempt at tetherball. To me, it is a monotonous game, but our younger kids love to play it for long stretches at a time.
When the kids asked Fr. José to say something in his language, they sat spellbound as they heard the Lord’s prayer for them in Portuguese, and the Hail Mary in French. Then they in turn began teaching him some of their bedtime prayers.
Friday, our Native American drum group had a practice scheduled in the church, and I took Fr. Jose for his first experience of a Lakota drum song. I could see him tapping his foot in time to the drum beat. Drum music truly is contagious, and you can almost feel your heart beating along.
Hi! I am Dianne G., Administrative Assistant at the school. I haven’t blogged for awhile so I will fill you in with my news. I actually have missed quite a bit of work in January and February—my husband received a kidney transplant on January 3 and he was hospitalized in Omaha, Nebraska, for a total of 30 days. Our prayers were answered and e is now doing well and recuperating at home!
I was totally out of the loop for awhile, but now am back!
Earlier this fall, I was selected along with one of our houseparents to accompany three of our Lakota students on a trip to Washington, D.C. — a fantastic gift from one of St. Joseph’s donors!
We left early on a Saturday morning (we got up at 4:00 a.m.!!) and flew to D.C. Two of the girls had never flown before so it was a new experience for them, as was the entire trip to everyone but me (I went to D.C. last June with my son and his family).
I was so glad that I had been there before as it helped me to plan the itinerary for the trip. We were five very busy people. As soon as we got to our hotel and unloaded our luggage, we walked to the Hard Rock Café and had a scrumptious supper along with a fun-filled dining experience. We then went to Union Station to pick up our tickets for the Moonlight Monument Tour.
D.C. is a beautiful sight at night—all the memorials that were lit up were awesome. We also drove past Arlington National Cemetery, the Pentagon, the Capital, the Supreme Court and made stops at three of the memorials. The girls were amazed how large Lincoln’s statue was in his memorial.
While touring we saw the President’s helicopter flanked by two other helicopters heading for the White House! Our tour guide provided us with historical facts and trivia questions. Such a great time!
The next day, we went to the Holocaust Museum which made such an impression on the girls—we all had tears in our eyes. Then on to the American History Museum where we saw Dorothy’s ruby red slippers, Kermit the Frog, the flag that the Star Spangled Banner was written about and so much more!
We walked around the White House and took tons of pictures. We went to the P.O.V. Terrace, which is at the top of the W Hotel, where we could see all of Washington from above.
Later on, we dressed up for dinner, which was fun, and ended up eating hamburgers and fries!! Our girls gave their uneaten fries to a homeless person who they saw outside the restaurant.
On our last full day, we went to the National Museum of the American Indian, where the girls played interactive games and crafts and received stamps on their “passports.” We had a little snack there after seeing an awesome movie about the different tribes and then walked to the Dirksen Building (in the rain).
We went to South Dakota Senator Thune’s office, where we had scheduled a tour of the Capitol and hoped to meet Senator Thune. We had a great tour guide and learned a lot of the history of the capitol, along with some fun information like the whispering spot where we could hear our guide from across the room! We did not get to meet Senator Thune as he had flown home to South Dakota when the Senate recessed. We were disappointed about that.
After that we headed to Union Station where we ate some delicious sandwiches and rested our feet for a little while. We then caught a taxi and headed for the Spy Museum where we were involved in solving a mystery! Wow! After all this activity we were T-I-R-E-D.
We spent the rest of the evening packing our things and resting our weary bones. We flew out the next day and spent a lot of time in airports—seeing the sights there also. All of us had such a great time but were ready to come home and see our families. Heidi and I took the kids home after arriving in Chamberlain around 10:00 p.m., so it was a late night for us.
What a wonderful experience! We are very thankful for such a great trip!
Vilencia sits at the President’s desk in the Oval Office!The girls dressed up for their tour of the Capitol Building.A highlight of the trip was the National Museum of the American Indian.
