Red Cloud, His Jesuits And The Sisters Of St. Francis

Chief's grave inspires visitors' pilgrimage

By Mary Garrigan, Journal staff

PINE RIDGE -- High on a windblown hill overlooking the Red Cloud Indian School here, one Lakota name stands out among the gravestones in the Holy Rosary Church cemetery.

Chief Red Cloud, the Lakota warrior for whom the Jesuit-run educational mission is named, is buried in the school's historic cemetery. The school, and its annual art show, draws more than 10,000 visitors each year, many of whom make the pilgrimage up a path to pay their respects at Red Cloud's grave, said Tina Merdanian, director of institutional relations for the mission.

"That is Red Cloud's final resting place," Merdanian said of the gravesite that is often decorated with tobacco pouches, trinkets and other tributes to the Lakota leader. "A lot of visitors leave their prayers, mementos and some sense of themselves with him."

Red Cloud was born in 1822 and died at the age of 87 on Dec. 10, 1909. He converted to Catholicism later in life, sometime around 1900, Merdanian said.

The parish cemetery also contains the graves of members of the mostly Lakota congregation, as well as the priests, brothers and sisters (Sisters of St. Francis) who belonged to the Society of Jesus and the other religious orders who staffed Holy Rosary Mission when it first opened in 1888. The church and cemetery were founded one year later, and the school eventually changed its name to Red Cloud Indian School, in honor of the man buried on the hill.

Link (here) to the full story

The Life of Fr. Jean-Pierre de Smet, S.J. (here)