Ex-boarding school for Native children owning up to its past

KIFI

Published December 15, 2021 9:06 AM

By PETER SMITH
Associated Press

PINE RIDGE, S.D. (AP) — The Red Cloud Indian School in South Dakota has undertaken a reckoning with its troubled past. The Catholic institution located on the Pine Ridge Reservation was originally part of a network of boarding schools across North America where Native children were required to attend to assimilate them into the dominant white, English-speaking, Christian culture. The school is very different now. Lakota language, staffing and culture are central to its current mission. Still, it has a legacy that has alienated many. The school’s Truth and Healing process includes listening to former students’ stories, delving into archives and searching for unmarked graves.

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