ST. JOSEPH’S INDIAN SCHOOL
Evidently going by web-scrapers, a mission-school scam got my address and sent me a letter. You know the kind — in the humane society world they are mocked as “send me five dollars or I’ll kill this puppy” with a photo of an appealing little pup. The letter I got is full of photos of young “Indian” children that the writers have learned to call Lakota, since the term “Indian” is in question. Returning the favor, I googled St. Joseph’s Indian School. (It’s not in India.)
https://nonprofitquarterly.org/st-joseph-s-halts-fundraising-scheme-but-admits-no-wrongdoing/
November 24, 2014; Indian Country Today
“NPQ recently wrote about the nonprofit boarding school in South Dakota that has been employing an ethically questionable “poverty porn” scheme for the past several years, using letters ostensibly written by children describing the hardships of their lives to solicit donations. St. Joseph’s Indian School, a school working with troubled students and families of Native American descent, has accumulated more than $100 million from 2013 to 2014 in unrestricted contributions through direct mailings. After significant backlash over the revelation that these “children” are fictitious amalgams, St. Joseph’s has come forward saying they will suspend the mailings, yet does not admit any kind of wrongdoing.
“While the school has been profiled in the past for the fundraising campaign, a report from CNN last week seems to have caused the story to go viral, bringing an end to the questionable mailings. Following the report by CNN, the school’s attorney, Steven Smith, told the Indian Country Today Media Network (ICTMN), “Fundraising letters like this will never, ever be part of their fundraising approach again. A great lesson was learned. It has caused some pretty intense introspection.”
“ . . . ICTMN also delves into the financial aspects of the mailing, which has generated $51 million in contributions in 2013, according to the annual report, and another $51 million this past fiscal year. An analysis by the Better Business Bureau (BBB), a nonprofit that reviews organizations to further community trust, found that St. Joseph’s failed three of the BBB’s standards for accountability. Along with the misleading mailings, BBB also took issue with the proportion of the school’s expenses that are used for program services. BBB requires that 67 percent of the total expenses be used for program services. The most recent financial report from 2014 indicates that only 54 percent of the total expenses are used for program services, which include education activities and cultural education as well as expenses for the prayer program.”
This is very much in the same pattern as humane society scams and that of Mother Theresa, who even managed to mislead Pope Francis I. First, present hardship and poverty suffered by the innocent. Second, propose that money will fix the problem. Third, divert the money that comes in. Fourth, claim personal virtue (a religious affiliation and certification) and act horrified if caught. Wait a while — go back at it again.
This time the hustle was little more sophisticated. A packet of junk arrived. Inside were trinkets including a supposed “dream catcher”, cheaply made of poor components. Dream catchers are a popular spin-off of anthropological investigations in the 19th century that judged and defined autochthonous items on European terms. Curiosities with superstitious qualities. They are popular “pan-Indian” items that have become widespread. Some are rather fabulous, made of fine materials and cleverly designed. Not the one in this packet. I didn’t even read the materials.
So now comes a follow-up, complete with coupons for the amount of money to send. Here’s another blog reaction much like mine:
https://percysowner.tumblr.com/post/87538206424/so-i-got-a-guilt-mailing-yesterday-from-the-st/amp
What Father Kluckman, SCJ (a Jesuit) does not know is that I have an MA in Religious Studies and served as a Unitarian Universalist minister for ten years. Neither does he (or the person claiming to be him) know that Chamberlain, S.D., is close to the places (Faulkton and Cresbard) where my father’s family homesteaded shortly after the Brule “Sioux” had been thrown off the land. I have no illusions about this place or the reasons why the children suffer. Children everywhere are in poverty, land everywhere is seized, one privileged group overruns another more vulnerable one all the time. I’m far more likely to respond to an appeal for justice than by being “guilted” through pity reframed as compassion.
I have no illusions about religious affiliations nor the notion that they are more virtuous that anyone else. Too often they are a cover for something rotten and selfish. God can be a scam, just like grinning little Lakota kids.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Joseph%27s_Indian_School
This source of information includes abuse cases, including sexual abuse. The school is residential and deliberately separates children from parents, converting them to Catholicism. No doubt there is a lot more to know, including their historical connection with European missions intent on the notorious mission schools that have been blamed for destroying indigenous cultures and their relationships to their own relatives. The feeling about this on reservations is very strong and not positive.
This school is not like the Blackfeet Boarding School which is now simply housing when needed — the kids are bused into Browning for classes. But it is like a modern version of what was once the storied Holy Family Mission School on Two Medicine River. The Victorian institution, once meant to teach skills for working class people, fell into ruin and the buildings were burned. This Lakota school is also not like the Community College movement which teaches all ages the skills for modern well-paid jobs.
In short, St. James Indian School is outmoded, predatory, politically offensive, patronizing, and hiding behind religion. They won’t get money from Made in China dream-catchers from me.
