Tag: St. Joseph’s

When I was traveling with the girls, they were usually coming to the bus at the last minute, or fashionably late. The boys, however, packed up the bus and were ready to roll 20 minutes early, so we got a head start on our 350 miles to Fort Laramie.

Nate, a St. Joseph’s staff member, had been talking with various site officials along the way, explaining that we were trying to give our Lakota (Sioux) students a better sense of their tribal history and culture. The Fort Laramie staff was especially helpful. The park superintendent and a seasoned ranger both came out to greet us. They spent over two hours walking us through the buildings and helping us to imagine the hustle and bustle of the Fort during the 1800’s.

Fort Laramie was strategically located one-third of the way on the California and Oregon trails, and at the halfway point of the Mormon Trail. Thousands of wagons passed through at the height of the drive westward. Settlers and their livestock disrupted the migration paths of the buffalo and took up precious resources as they grazed, hunted and gathered along the trail. This lead to inevitable conflict.

I was surprised that the fort had no stockade fence around the perimeter, and was open like any town would be. The ranger compared it to a modern shopping center, where people traded and mingled freely. She told us, “no one would want to burn down the Walmart of their day.”

The boys were enthralled by military things – barracks and cavalry uniforms, shackles and ball and chains placed on those in the guardhouse. An armory displayed the weapons used by the frontier army. A strong sadness overcame me when I saw the type of Hotchkiss canons that were opened up on Native American women and children at the Wounded Knee massacre.

Three tipis were set up in the pasture near the fort. That was likely the general area the treaties of 1851 and 1868 were signed.

We drove another three hours back into South Dakota and camped in Hot Springs for the night. After a day of travel and touring, our teenagers were ravenously hungry. It was too wet to cook outside, so we settled for a Chinese buffet. That wasn’t available in the 1800’s, but it sure was tasty and hit the spot before we called it a night.

St. Joseph’s seventh graders have embarked on their annual trip to learn more about Lakota (Sioux) culture. Fr. Jose and I gave them a day’s head start, and then caught up with them in Sturgis, South Dakota, after they had climbed Bear Butte with prayer ties – a cultural and spiritual pilgrimage.

Fr. Jose hails from Portugal, and this is his first visit to the Black Hills. He has read much about the history and culture of the Native American people in this area while working on his thesis – he is excited to take in as much as he can.

After he saw so many billboards along the way, we had to stop at Wall Drug for him to experience that piece of Americana. He had his picture taken by the 20-foot jackelope and had a 5 cent cup of coffee – I had a signature free ice water – and we continued on the journey west.

We met one of St. Joseph’s white mini buses pulling into the grocery store in Sturgis. The boys told us of their time on Bear Butte, a sacred prayer hill that is the northeastern gateway to the Black Hills. The journey helped bind them more closely together and they were calling themselves “Brothers of Heritage.”

It’s our hope that bonding like this helps prepare them for leadership as they begin eighth grade next year.

Kevin Costner, the actor, was planning to build a hotel and resort in Deadwood that never came to fruition. He commissioned huge and magnificent bronzes of the tatanka (buffalo) showing Native American hunters chasing them over a buffalo jump, so their people could have food to live and grow strong.

Instead of a resort, Costner built a visitor center that tells the story of these magnificent creatures. It was my first time visiting.

A guide spoke to us about the medicine wheel. It’s a symbol we’re very familiar with at St. Joseph’s Indian School. However, she expanded my understanding by explaining some of those values that people learned from observing tatanka.

Bravery – when hunters tried to decimate the historic herds with rifles, they thought the buffalo were stupid because the ones in the front of the herd did not flee. What they were doing was standing their ground, protecting the ones behind them. They would not back down, but faced the danger with courage.

She also told of how during a blizzard, mother buffalo would dig though up to four feet of snow to find the grass underneath and provide food for the herd. Again, they persevered with great fortitude and did not give up during hard times – a good lesson for us all to learn.

We came back to the campground for a meal with the girls, and then celebrated mass in one of the cabins. Fr. Jose teased that it was the smallest chapel he’d ever celebrated mass in. It made for a more homey, intimate setting and each of the girls added their own personal prayers during the petitions.

We have the students take quiet time to journal each day of the trip. Besides preserving memories, we want them to reflect on their experience and see what they have learned. As the sun set, we gathered around picnic tables outside the cabins and had a talking circle. The girls shared things they remembered from the day, lessons learned, and why they are on this trip.

Some of the girls also spoke of anxiety about going home for the summer due to family struggles. Knowing that is part of what they face in life, giving them a strong grounding in the values that can see them through hard times is even more critical.