Red Cloud Indian School
On Saturday, March 2nd, Red Cloud High School students left the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota to visit Cristo Rey St. Martin (CRSM) Jesuit High School located in Waukegan, IL, a suburb of Chicago. Met with snow and freezing rain during their travels, our students arrived 14 hours later to begin the four-day cultural exchange program between the two high schools. Later in the month during their spring-break, Cristo Rey students traveled to Red Cloud for a reciprocal visit to learn about Lakota culture and contemporary life on the Pine Ridge Reservation.
This cultural exchange program, which is in its third year, not only allows students to become ambassadors of their cultures here in Pine Ridge (Lakota) and in Waukegan (Latino), but offers an opportunity for shared experiences that foster new friendships and nurture cultural understanding for students from vastly diverse communities.
At Cristo Rey, students participated in Lakota-Spanish language lessons and also shared immigration stories and discussed the current struggle for immigration rights. Students’ families hosted dinners for Red Cloud visitors each night. Cristo Rey visitors to Red Cloud were treated to a campus tour and also visited the Heritage Center Art Gallery to view the Native art collection, learn about social justice and share their ideas through an artwork collaboration.
Later in the month on Red Cloud’s campus, CRSM and RCHS students packed sandbags to help support relief efforts in the wake of the recent devastating flooding that affected community members across the Pine Ridge Reservation. With more rain expected that week, students really demonstrated their “spirit of service” and worked together to support and care for the community. One student from Cristo Rey said of his experience: “Friendships, learning, prayer together, and memorable experiences that will last a lifetime. God is good!”
