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Two babies were welcome to the faith community of Our Lady of the Sioux Catholic Church in Oglala, South Dakota, on Sunday, January 13, in a Baptismal ceremony steeped in an aged-old Catholic and Lakota tradition. Babies are typically wrapped or clothed in white Baptismal garments to represent their receiving of the Holy Spirit. However, at Our Lady of the Sioux, as it is a Lakota Catholic Church, a special tradition is added: The babies are wrapped in a white sateen star quilt.
Quilting on the reservation began with the implementation of government programs and boarding schools, according to Anne Marie Shriver, writer of "Star Quilts: A Thing of Beauty" in the summer 2004 issue of Points West Magazine. Men were taught scholastics and farming, and women domestic skills. She continues to say that there is argument as to whether the star pattern used in the baptisms was borrowed from the Star of Bethlehem design originally found in Pennsylvania, or if it was developed from the patterns found on early buffalo hides.
The design on buffalo hides is thought to come from the morning star, an important figure in the Sioux ceremonies, as it represents the direction from which spirits travel to the earth and is a link between the living and the dead, thus symbolizing immortality. (Shannon Grooms is a member of Our Lady of the Sioux Church. She taught Religion at Red Cloud Elementary School for four years until the birth of ther daughter. Shannon, her husband, and her daughter live on a ranch nine miles north of Oglala, SD.) Join us in our mission of educating the mind and spirit of the Lakota people, now and for future generations. Please consider an online gift. |
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Parish News: Two baptisms provide history lesson on Lakota quilting