Red Cloud Country: Blending Faith

posted June 25, 2015




If you were to visit Red Cloud Indian School, chances are you would be treated to a tour by Rilda Means '08 or Jimi LaPointe '03. You might start your tour in the award-winning Holy Rosary Church. And after a walk back through time, recounting notable events in the life of Chief Red Cloud and his interactions with the Black Robes, you would learn about the unique Stations of the Cross lining the perimeter of the circular church.

Local Lakota artists were commissioned to create each station depicting Jesus through his journey toward crucifixion—and later resurrection. Unique to this collection, though, is the imagery that beautifully marries Catholic and Lakota spiritualities.

Roman soldiers, often shown in metal armor are depicted in some paintings as Crow warriors. In others, they are 7th Cavalry soldiers, also known as General Custer’s men. Both the Crow warriors and 7th Cavalry soldiers are traditional enemies of the Lakota people. You will also notice Jesus depicted as a Lakota man.

In a church with walls lined in Black Hills Pine and stained glass windows resembling star quilts, the stations are just one of the many ways Red Cloud Indian School honors its Lakota-Catholic heritage.

An Infusion of Spirit

Easter and Lenten celebrations are hallmarks of the Catholic faith and take place in communities around the world. While all Catholics celebrate the resurrection of Jesus and catechumens receive the same sacraments of initiation, many communities infuse their own spirit into celebration and prayer. Red Cloud’s Lakota-Catholic parish of six active churches is no exception.

Here on the Pine Ridge Reservation congregants will also hear the sound of a traditional Lakota drum and smell the earthy, purifying aroma of prairie sage.

“I think the beauty of the Lakota-Catholic tradition is simply that you can be both,” says Ann-Marie Amiotte, parishioner at Our Lady of the Sioux Church in Oglala. “Many of us incorporate traditional Lakota ways into the Catholic ceremonies—like smudging with sage to bring in the season of Lent. You’ll also see star quilts on the altar and you’ll likely hear the Lakota language spoken.”

At Amiotte's parish, a small but beautiful church nestled into the nearby community of Oglala, Jesuit priests open with prayers spoken entirely in Lakota. “I’ve noticed Fr. De Marco has been adding a little more Lakota at the beginning before the Sign of the Cross,” says Amiotte. “The language is very much a part of all the Catholic Masses here—it feels inclusive.”

Just south of the Red Cloud campus in the heart of the town of Pine Ridge, Pastoral Associate and Office Manager Angie Stover says her team works with elders to determine the most respectful ways to incorporate Lakota and Catholic traditions. “We have spoken with our elders and have recently decided to do a ‘call to prayer,’ sung in Lakota by a young man,” says Stover. “It’s a traditional Lakota song that says to come and pray at the tree—this image is similar to the cross and the song harkens to that.”

Stover, who has served Sacred Heart Church for 13 years, says that parishioners are always singing hymns in Lakota—hymns that are inserted right into their books, side-by-side with their English counterparts. But for many of the parishioners, there is something special about hearing it sung in Lakota. “When we hear a traditional Lakota song being sung we immediately quiet ourselves and pay respect,” continues Stover. “We put ourselves in a place of sacredness and holiness; a mode of reverence. The songs are easy to learn in Lakota. A lot of our elders like to hear those songs—and we’re really good at [singing them]! Come visit and you’ll hear that everyone really sings!”


READ MORE!

Read more in the spring issue of Red Cloud Country

Pastoral Ministry: Year in Review

 


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