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Jesuits to return 525 acres of South Dakota land to Rosebud Sioux
Samantha Jones of the Sicangu Lakota band of the Rosebud Sioux, left, and Casey Camp of the Ponca Nation are seen in Washington in this 2014 file photo. The Jesuits are returning more than 500 acres in South Dakota to the Rosebud Sioux. (CNS photo/Jim Lo Scalzo, EPA)
By Catholic News Service • Posted May 8, 2017
ST. FRANCIS, S.D. (CNS) — The Jesuits are returning more than 500 acres in South Dakota to the Rosebud Sioux. The formal return of the property is expected to be complete sometime in May.
The property had been given by the U.S. government to the Jesuits in the 1880s for use for churches and cemeteries, according to remarks in a YouTube video by Jesuit Father John Hatcher, president of St. Francis Mission.
"At the beginning of the mission, we had 23 mission stations," Father Hatcher said. "But over the years as the people moved off the prairie and into cluster housing, those churches were closed because they were considered unnecessary." Other properties never had churches built.
"It's now time to give back to the tribe all of those pieces of land that were given to the church for church purposes," Father Hatcher added. "We will never again put churches on those little parcels of land. But it's an opportunity to return land that rightly belongs to the Lakota people," of which the Rosebud Sioux are a part.
The property, totaling about 525 acres, is dotted throughout 900,000 acres on a Rosebud reservation in the south-central portion of the state, bordering both the state of Nebraska and the Missouri River.
Rodney Bordeaux, chief operating officer of St. Francis Mission, said that when he started work there five years ago, the land transfer, having been initiated by Father Hatcher, was "stalled." He attributed it to finding the right office within the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs to follow through.
"It was just a matter of someone doing it," Bordeaux told Catholic News Service during a May 4 telephone interview. "We did it on our end, but finding the right office to carry it out — it's just a cumbersome process."
With the land back in the Rosebud Sioux's hands, "it might just be used for agricultural purposes like it is now, for grazing. It might be used for community development. It might continue to be used for religious purposes," said Harold Compton, deputy executive director of Tribal Land Enterprises, the Rosebud Sioux's land management corporation. "It's because they're so scattered, I think each one will eventually evolve due to their own location."
There are about 25,000 people enrolled with the Rosebud Sioux, 15,000 of whom live on the reservation.
Compton told CNS, "It's the symbolism of returning. This land was categorically reserved by the government for the church's use. So, the church returning this to the tribe is a plus for everybody." He added, "The symbolism far outweighs" but then caught himself. "Land is valuable. Land everywhere is valuable. Land around here is worth $1,000, $2,000 or more an acre."
Contributing to this story was Mark Pattison in Washington.
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Hank Adams says:
Extract from (Adams 2017) "Rationale for Israel – None for Indians": The Constitution, per se, provides no enforceable protections to Indians or Indian tribes under its First Amendment and its "shall make no law establishing a religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof" language. The Supreme Court's 1908 decision in Reuben Quick Bear v. Leupp, 210 U.S. 50, has (inappropriately) stood up against – or with – all American tests of time and manipulations of law and conscience. In Leupp, individually and as a class, Rosebud Sioux Indians claimed that the Government's use of Sioux Treaty Funds and Sioux Trust Funds (controlled by the Government) were wrongly being used in contracting and paying the Catholic Church (or Bureau of Catholic Missions) to operate Catholic parochial or sectarian schools for Indian students in violation of both statutory restrictions and the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. The Court determined that the Treaty and Trust monies were not government or restricted "public funds" but rather the private property of the Tribes and Indians being "applied to the education of the Indians in the schools of their choice." The prior century's overriding and express government policy of acting "to insure the civilization of the Indians" ["civilization" being referenced six times in the decision] makes it abundantly clear that "the Indians" were allowed virtually 'no choice' in these matters. The parceling out of Indian tribes and reservations nationally to a range of Christian churches of varied denominations in the post-Civil War adoption of "The Grant Peace Policy" retained no room for Indians' "free exercise" of their own respective indigenous religions in accord with their own spiritual beliefs. In fact, the national history had become one of overt suppression and near absolute prohibition of Indian religions, rituals and expression of beliefs. Prohibiting regulations were issued – and enforcements ranged from withholding of rations and goods obligated under treaty provisions to the use of deadly military campaigns, force and killings. Failing to provide these Indian monies to the Catholic Church, the Court 'reasoned' nonetheless, "would be … to prohibit the free exercise of religion amongst the Indians." That statement was followed by an oft unobserved gold standard in trust doctrine: "The cestuis que trustent [beneficiaries] cannot be deprived of their rights by the trustee in the exercise of power implied."
Rugeirn Drienborough says:
So the church accepted land from the United States back in the 19th century. Never mind that the land didn't belong to the United States. The church then kept it for over a century. Now, having decided they don't want it any more, they're giving it back to the rightful owners, over 100 years too late. And this is praiseworhy? Mighty damn low bar!
John Strohl says:
A low bar is better than the stonewall that has existed for the better part of that 100 years.
Elizabeth Davis says:
Let us hope that this move spurs more returns of the land. Let us pray it will lead to the Holy Father formally abolishing the Doctrine of Discovery, that centuries-old policy that hangs over the heads of Indigenous People worldwide.
Michelle Mazuros says:
Amen!! Encouraging news and an important step in moving the Catholic Church forward. Returning the land to the Rosebud Sioux people is the RIGHT and just thing to do.
Cathi Close says:
Thank you for setting this precedent. It means a lot to many of us who are not Native to see this is being done in the name of righting wrongs.
Edie Gail says:
This is amazing and certainly sets the example for all of our United States.
It is high time the land is being returned to rightful owners!
Lisa Fury says:
Great news, God bless Rosebud
StephenVerchinski says:
As a person brought up in the Roman Catholic faith I found this gesture encouraging, especially by the Jesuit order. Wish that Obama had been more of a man to go up against big oil and given the Teapot Dome fields back instead if selling it to the oil interests doing what Albert Fall was sorta caught trying to sell off in the days of Warren Harding.
Peace warden says:
When does the church plan to return all you stole from Africa?
Linda Larson says:
To Rugeirn and "Peace Warden", These are your sorry responses to something positive, that is trying to heal?
What have either of you done in the past week that has donated something other than your unfortunate attitudes. "Peace Warden" (that's an oxymoron, right) what in the heck are you even talking about?
Carol Para says:
Thank you for returning the land to the tribe. May God bless you.
Veronica Ceszynski says:
As it should be. Finally honoring the treaties made with American Indians, the first citizens of this land. This is good.
Ukumbwa Sauti says:
All too much land to be given back from the original Doctrine of Discovery, manifest destiny theft and genocide. And clearly Compton still has a colonial conception of the value of land. This is a good move amongst what must be more good moves…all the land must be returned to the indigenous peoples and nations. That is the right thing to do. The catholic church has a long way to go in this effort. And please repeal and rescind and repair the racist, genocidal papal bulls of the 1400's that caused this travesty of justice against indigenous peoples of Turtle Island and African peoples.
Rev. Dr. Susan Kains says:
Good! Finally! The Congregationalists didn't, now the Catholics, which denomination is next?
Sandy Costa says:
Did you mean to say that the Congregationalists​ "did it" instead of "didn't", Rev.?