St. Elizabeth's Boarding School for Indian Children, also known as St. Elizabeth's Mission School, was an American Indian residential school located in the Wakpala area of the

Standing Rock Reservation The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North & South Dakota controls the Standing Rock Reservation (), which straddles the border between North and South Dakota in the United States, and is inhabited by ethnic "Hunkpapa and Sihasapa bands of Lakot ...

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state, state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Dakota people, Dakota Sioux ...

. It was established in 1886 and remained in operation until 1967. The school was

co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

and affiliated with the Episcopal Church. Students ranged in age from six to 17 years of age, and there were typically 45-60 students boarding at any one time. This school was one of many operated as part of a national effort to assimilate Native Americans into the dominant Anglo-American culture.

History

Foundation and construction

The school originated as a small day school in the St. Elizabeth's chapel. Under the guidance of Bishop William Hobart Hare, construction of the boarding school began in 1885. It was the first Episcopal school on the

. The project was supported by Lakota Chief

Gall Galls (from the Latin , 'oak-apple') or ''cecidia'' (from the Greek , anything gushing out) are a kind of swelling growth on the external tissues of plants. Plant galls are abnormal outgrowths of plant tissues, similar to benign tumors or war ...

, who believed education was essential for Indian advancement. His daughters attended St. Elizabeth's, and Gall was baptized in the Episcopal faith. He was also buried in the parish cemetery. The first priest for the congregation and the school was Reverend Philip Joseph Deloria, a member of the

Yankton Sioux Tribe The Yankton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota is a federally recognized tribe of Yankton Western Dakota people, located in South Dakota. Their Dakota name is Ihaƞktoƞwaƞ Dakota Oyate, meaning "People of the End Village" which comes from the p ...

. His daughter Ella, who attended St. Elizabeth's and later became principal of it, described her father as "very strict", and that he had "tried to eliminate old Indian ways as fast as he could — ceremonies, dances, dress and languages." Philip Deloria was later assisted by Reverend Herbert Welsh (not to be confused with

Herbert Welsh Herbert Welsh (1851–1941) was a United States political reformer and worker for the welfare of the indigenous peoples of North America. Biography Herbert Welsh was born in Philadelphia, the youngest of eight children of John Welsh, a prosperou ...

of the

Indian Rights Association The Indian Rights Association (IRA) was a social activist group dedicated to the well-being and acculturation of Native Americans in the United States. Founded by non-Indians in Philadelphia in 1882, the group was highly influential in American Ind ...

), a Sioux clergyman who had attended an Episcopal reservation school as a boy.

Fire and rebuilding effort

In the winter of 1897, the school caught fire. Mary Francis, then the principal of St. Elizabeth's, was burned attempting to extinguish the fire, and ultimately the entire building was destroyed. The adjacent church associated with the mission survived. The local

Lakota Lakota may refer to: *Lakota people, a confederation of seven related Native American tribes *Lakota language Lakota ( ), also referred to as Lakhota, Teton or Teton Sioux, is a Siouan languages, Siouan language spoken by the Lakota people of ...

community raised $400 to rebuild, and this in combination with the insurance money and support from the Episcopal church allowed for the school to be re-constructed the following year.

Disease outbreaks

In 1913, the

United States Public Health Service The United States Public Health Service (USPHS or PHS) is a collection of agencies of the Department of Health and Human Services which manages public health, containing nine out of the department's twelve operating divisions. The assistant s ...

identified

trachoma Trachoma is an infectious disease caused by bacterium '' Chlamydia trachomatis''. The infection causes a roughening of the inner surface of the eyelids. This roughening can lead to pain in the eyes, breakdown of the outer surface or cornea ...

, an infectious disease that can cause

blindness Visual or vision impairment (VI or VIP) is the partial or total inability of visual perception. In the absence of treatment such as corrective eyewear, assistive devices, and medical treatment, visual impairment may cause the individual difficul ...

if left untreated, as widespread on reservations. Risk factors included poverty, crowded conditions, and a lack of clean water. As part of a national effort to survey the problem, Native Americans from across the country were assessed. At St. Elizabeth's, 61.3% of the students examined were found to have

. There was no

potable water Drinking water or potable water is water that is safe for ingestion, either when drunk directly in liquid form or consumed indirectly through food preparation. It is often (but not always) supplied through taps, in which case it is also calle ...

at St. Elizabeth's at this time; it had to be hauled in buckets from Wakpala by mission workers and students. The prevalence of trachoma at reservation schools led to the Snyder Act of 1921, which authorized funds to improve healthcare services for

federally recognized tribes This is a list of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States. There are also federally recognized Alaska Native tribes. , 574 Indian tribes are legally recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) of the United States.

. The school also had a

typhoid Typhoid fever, also known simply as typhoid, is a disease caused by ''Salmonella enterica'' serotype Typhi bacteria, also called ''Salmonella'' Typhi. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often ther ...

outbreak in the mid-1910s. In response, the Lula Owl Gloyne, a

Cherokee The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...

- Catawba nurse working at the school, started boiling water to prevent future infections.

Decline and closure

In 1955, Ella Deloria, daughter of Reverend Philip Joseph Deloria, was asked by Bishop Conrad H. Gesner to lead St. Elizabeth's. She and her sister Susie agreed to take the position on a temporary basis, until someone else could be found. Ella Deloria was director from 1955 to 1958. She described a school in a state of decline. There was a lack of funds, a lack of qualified teachers who were willing to relocate to the remote area, and a school district had recently been established nearby in Wakpala. Ella Deloria believed the Episcopal Church could provide structure and support to Indian people. In ''Speaking of Indians,'' co-written with

Vine Deloria Vine Victor Deloria Jr. (March 26, 1933 – November 13, 2005, Standing Rock Sioux) was an author, theologian, historian, and activist for Native American rights. He was widely known for his book '' Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto' ...

in 1944, she argued that "the greatest interference with education was and always has been kinship and its duties." However, it cannot be said that her goal was to erase Indian culture and tradition, as she had also worked with anthropologist

Franz Boas Franz Uri Boas (July 9, 1858 – December 21, 1942) was a German-American anthropologist and ethnomusicologist. He was a pioneer of modern anthropology who has been called the "Father of American Anthropology". His work is associated with the mov ...

to document and preserve the

Lakota language Lakota ( ), also referred to as Lakhota, Teton or Teton Sioux, is a Siouan languages, Siouan language spoken by the Lakota people of the Sioux tribes. Lakota is mutually intelligible with the two dialects of the Dakota language, especially Dakot ...

, as well as Sioux myths and dialects. William McKissack Chapman succeeded Ella Deloria as director. A former Time-Life correspondent and journalist from

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, Chapman took the posting in hopes that the air would be beneficial for his son with asthma. He was director from 1958 until 1960, and later wrote a memoir about his experiences at the school. Although he expressed admiration for the resilience of the

Lakota people The Lakota (; or ) are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people. Also known as the Teton Sioux (from ), they are one of the three prominent subcultures of the Sioux people, with the Eastern Dakota (Santee) and Western D ...

and awareness of the effects of

colonization 475px, Map of the year each country achieved List of sovereign states by date of formation, independence. Colonization (British English: colonisation) is a process of establishing occupation of or control over foreign territories or peoples f ...

, he was unable to connect with the culture of those attending the school or the community at large. St. Elizabeth's permanently closed in 1967.

School life and conditions

Student body and attendance

The school had between 45-60 pupils, all boarders, during any given year. Both boys and girls were educated at the school. They ranged in age from six to 17 years of age.

Daily life and curriculum

Indian boarding schools generally taught the same subjects as schools for white children. The main areas of study were reading, writing, mathematics, and geography. All classes were held in English, because the

Commissioner of Indian Affairs The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States List of United States federal agencies, federal agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior, Department of the Interior. It is responsible for im ...

required it. Since the boarding school was a Christian institution, students also studied catechism and religion. As federal contracts became less plentiful in the 1890s, mission schools became dependent on the labor of their students to support the school's upkeep. Students at St. Elizabeth's spent at least an equal amount of time performing chores and physical labor than working on academic studies. The assignment of work details and chores differed on the basis of sex. Girls performed "bread-making, cooking, laundering, housework, sewing, mending, dressmaking, and fancy work," while the boys did the "farming, gardening, splitting wood, and hauling water."

Impact and legacy

A 2005 doctoral thesis about the school's legacy concluded that “those who attended and lived at St. Elizabeth’s gained an education, became Christian, but... did not lose important cultural foundations which defined them as Lakota, or in a broader context, as Indian.” In 2021, mass graves of hundreds of Native children were discovered at the

Kamloops Indian Residential School The Kamloops Indian Residential School was part of the Canadian Indian residential school system. Located in Kamloops, British Columbia, it was once the largest residential school in Canada, with its enrolment peaking at 500 in the 1950s. The sc ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. Kamloops operated between 1890 until the late 1970s. Although the American and Canadian systems of reservation schools were not identical, the incident led to renewed media attention and scholarship devoted to the study of reservation schools in the United States.

References

{{reflist Wikipedia Student Program Native American boarding schools in South Dakota Native American history of South Dakota Educational institutions established in 1886 1886 establishments in Dakota Territory 1967 disestablishments in South Dakota Educational institutions disestablished in 1967