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Kate Pine, Dianna Williams, and Kendra Woodenlegs
drag Shalane Burns to class after lunch on a recent spring afternoon
at St. Labre Indian School. |
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Curtis Yarlott, executive director of St.
Labre Indian School, believes the best way to affect longstanding
change is through education. "Painting all these houses won't
fix the problem, it'll just put a new coat of paint on it,"
he says. "We show what's possible; we need to work toward what's
possible - the potential." |
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During the campaign for tribal president,
Eugene Little Coyote simply said that the St. Labre matter would
be "resolved." With the Northern Cheyenne lawsuit against
the school, many say he is making good on that promise.
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Joe Little Coyote represents the last of
the Northern Cheyenne tribal members who speak their language in
everyday communication. He says the St. Labre Indian School is responsible
for the "cultural genocide" of the Northern Cheyenne people.
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St. Labre Chapel was constructed in 1971 to resemble
an Indian lodge or tipi. Traditionally, the beam that stretches
out in front of the tipi holds things of importance to the family
that resides in that lodge, such as a shield or medicine bundle.
Today, some Northern Cheyenne view the cross of the St. Labre Church
as representing the burden they carry as a people, brought on by
St. Labre during the boarding school era. |
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Cedar, an agent used to purify and protect Plains
Indians, is available to Catholics attending the St. Labre Church. |
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Beaded crosses are just one of many things that
St. Labre has done to try to incorporate Native American elements
into the church. |
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Eugene Little Coyote, left, Drew Elkshoulder, and
Frank Rowland make plans to rebuild the Northern Cheyenne Indian
Tribe. Rowland is a member of the Independence Task Force, a group
that looked into the operations of St. Labre. |
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Middle school students at St. Labre Indian School
patiently stand in line waiting for lunch. |
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Joe Little Coyote looks out over his family's ceremonial
grounds. Every year, he and his extended family camp out for a year
in the hills of his ancestors and partake in rituals and ceremonies.
I even take a portable basketball hoop and a volleyball net, he
says, and we just let the kids run wild through the hills. |
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