Thursday, May 13, 2010

St Joseph's Indian School

My maternal grandmother was a proud DAR member. With documented proof of her ancestors who fought in the American Revolution, she moved up the ranks to become Regent of her chapter. (I became a card-carrying member just to act as a silent supporter for her!)

As a member there were opportunities made available to which ladies could make financial contributions and one of these was the St Joseph's Indian School in Chamberlain, South Dakota. At that time (in the 70's and 80's) it was an all-girl school. And my grandmother received a quarterly newsletter which she saved just for me when she had finished reading it.

I poured over that publication. The high school classes were very small and the girls mostly went to vocational or community colleges when they graduated, becoming nurses aides, teaching assistants, office staff, etc, through those programs. I would absorb all the info in every single article I read concerning their field trips, their academic classes, special visitors and the arts/crafts projects.

But you want to know the most wonderful part of this cultural interfacing -- all the way from the western plains to the Ohio Valley, from the tribe of the Lakota to a midwestern urban student? Their names. Their beautiful last names. Like Running Bear and Soaring Eagle and Shining Star and Whispering Winds. I was positively enthralled with those vibrantly descriptive, 'visual' names. I thought those girls were so so so lucky. And because of those very names I was able to follow some of them on their educational journey as I traveled along mine.

St Joseph's still exists, still educates, still contributes....and my heart is still touched by the ancient heritage and deeply rooted traditions illustrated by those young women with those incredible surnames which, in turn, had enlarged and enriched the dimensions of the world for a very lucky granddaughter.