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Pine Ridge Reservation
South Dakota

The breathtaking, expanse of prairie sky in southwestern South Dakota.

Welcome to Pine Ridge Reservation, on the prairie in South Dakota. For thirty years, sisters of the Congregation of Notre Dame have been "walking in beauty" here among the Lakota people. With them we lost our home in the tornado of June 1999; with them we rejoiced as our new parish buildings were dedicated two years later.

Lakota grandmother with children
in parish van.

Oglala is a place of paradoxes:

cultural richness in this poorest county of the United States
spiritual resilience amidst profound alcohol-related despair
a refreshing simplicity and complex cultural questions

a delight in children, while mourning the tragic deaths of too many young people.

The 4 CND sisters. From left:
Kathy, Ann Marie, Margaret and Mary Jane.

Sister Kathy with kindergarteners.

Sister Kathy Madden in her Montessori class,
Sister Ann Marie Levangie in the business office,
Sister Margaret Giroux as she responds to donors,
Sister Mary Jane Hebert in her Middle School religion classes,

Together we weave a beautiful star quilt of CND liberating education.

What a privilege to collaborate with the Jesuits and Lakota people in realizing the mission of Red Cloud Indian School:

"to develop and grow as a vibrant Church through an education of the mind
and spirit that promotes the values of the Lakota culture."

Wotitakuye - Kinship
Wacintaka - Fortitude
Wacantognaka - Generosity

Last Modified: 04 December 2001