St. Francis Mission

St. Francis Mission is a Roman Catholic mission complex on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in St. Francis, South Dakota, among the Lakota (Sioux) Native Americans. The mission was founded in 1886 by Jesuits, who were welcomed by Bishop Martin Marty. They soon developed a large collection of buildings to serve the Lakota at this reservation. Most of the buildings were destroyed by a fire in 1916, but many were soon rebuilt. 
The mission complex includes 26 buildings, the most prominent of which are St. Charles Borromeo Church and the 1916 Drexall Hall, the latter a multi-function structure providing classrooms, meeting spaces, and residential spaces. The complex also includes one of two known copies of a statue of Native American saint, Kateri Tekakwitha, by Joseph-Émile Brunet. The complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.
History.
Jesuit Fr. Peter DeSmet, S.J., was welcomed here in the 1840s by the Plains Indians on a mission from Saint Louis, Missouri, during which he had contacts with the Lakota. Based on DeSmet's reputation as a man who could be trusted, and on the Jesuit reputation as educators, in 1877, Chief Sinte Gleska (Spotted Tail), leader of the "Sicangu Lakota", and Chief Red Cloud, leader of the "Oglala", obtained permission from President Rutherford B. Hayes "to get Catholic priests. Those who wear black dresses. These men will teach us how to read and write English." 
A Jesuit Father and brother reached the reservation soon after 1881 and, with financial help from St. Katherine Drexel, accomplished construction of a large building in 1886. In 1888, Franciscan Sisters Kostka, Rosalia, and Alcantara came to teach in the school, which they named after St. Francis. Jesuit Fr. Florentine Digmann, who had come with the sisters, worked with the Lakota and established a total of 37 mission stations on the Rosebud Reservation. 
Since 1974, the tribe has run the school, locally called "Sapa Un Ti" ("where the Black Robes live"), independently from the Jesuit mission. The many chapels have been replaced by six parishes on the reservation.
Current programs.
In 2016, three Jesuit priests, along with Jesuit Volunteer Corps members, were serving the Mission. They were assisted by Lakota: a deacon, several commissioned lay ministers, and numerous volunteers, all of whom worked among the 20,000 Lakota who reside on the reservation. The Mission supports high school equivalency (GED) and adult education, the "Icimani Ya" Waste Recovery Center, the White River Recovery Center, the CYO Religious Education Center in Rosebud, and the "Wiwila Wakpala" after-school center in Spring Creek
The following programs are conducted at the Mission Center: