Children protest at Red Cloud

Pine Ridge Reservation – In mid-October, an event organized by local members of the International Indigenous Youth Council (IIYC indigenousyouth.org)  issued a statement regarding a planned protest at Red Cloud Indian School, formerly known as Holy Rosary Mission, on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

Eleanor Ferguson, a local organizer of this specific event issued the following statement, “Our gathering today is called “Children Back”. Our main goal is to have Holy Rosary Mission/Red Cloud Indian School start a Ground Penetrating Radar search. Our main goal is to bring awareness to what is happening at these facilities, not only here, but all over the U.S. and internationally. ”

The event began on the Pine Ridge Indian reservation powwow grounds at 1:30 p.m. and ended at 4:45 p.m. at the location of Holy Rosary Mission/Red Cloud Indian School on October 16, 2021.  Protesters were escorted by the Oglala Sioux Tribal (OST) Police.

Carson, O’Rourke, a participant of the event stated, “Holy Rosary/Red Cloud Indian School is just the start. Our main focus is to bring our people back to us. We need to make sure they are remembered.”

International Indigenous Youth Council (IIYC) has targeted all reservation boarding schools.  IIYC was organized, according to their website, during the Standing Rock Indigenous uprising in 2016.  Their mission is to protect “the elements and aspire to empower youth to become leaders in their Indigenous communities”.

IIYC’s purpose, according to their website is to protect land, water, and treaty rights; to practice and protect all indigenous culture and ceremonies; to empower youth for social justice; to act through non-violent direct action and community organizing; to inspire young people, globally, to become leaders in their indigenous communities.  IIYC further looks to the following virtues to guide youth:  prayer, honor, wisdom and love.

A co-organizer, Phillip Iron Shell said, “What we want to do here is address the issues that have been happening in our Indigenous community and hold people accountable. Seeing this today is part of our healing process. We also want this to start a fire in other communities so they can start organizing. It starts here to heal the trauma of boarding schools. ”

Present at the event were elders who spoke including the following:  Bryan Brewer, Alex White Plume, Basil Braveheart, Hazel Stands, and Don “Cooney” Dog.

When the protesters reached Holy Rosary/Red Cloud Indian School, horseback riders who led the procession circled the Holy Rosary Church.

The group organizing the event made the following demands of Holy Rosary/Red Cloud Indian School and the Jesuits at the school.  Some of the Jesuits and administrators of the school were present at the protest.

The demands are as follows: return property from defunct churches; create cultural revitalization spaces and rehabilitation spaces; teach students about the history of the boarding school, and mass should be made optional.

For more information contact IIYC and local organizers and chapters or redshirtphd@gmail.com

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