“Their families didn’t forget them, but this community did. This community forgot that at least 50 children died while attending a school here. That’s part of the division and differences in community members or people not understanding why things are the way they are.”      -Amy Sazue,  executive director of Remembering the Children

In May 2024, dirt work was just beginning. Photos by Dave Stucke, Dakotas Conference.

Directly next to Rapid City Canyon Lake United Methodist Church, on the western edge of Rapid City, South Dakota, a somber memorial is taking shape. The church sits on land that once legally belonged to the Indigenous people of the Sioux Nation (Oceti Sakowin). Through city annexation and a congressional land transfer over 70 years ago, the church and the Dakotas Conference became owners of approximately 10 acres of the original 1,200 acre area of the Rapid City Indian Boarding School.

Construction of the Remembering the Children memorial site began earlier this summer, and was finished enough to recently host the participants of the annual Remembering the Children Walk from Sioux Park to Rapid City. The memorial site is adjacent to Canyon Lake UMC, and the entrance to the memorial traverses church property thanks to an understanding between the memorial committee, the Canyon Lake congregation, and the Dakotas Conference. The memorial honors the 50 children (and perhaps more) who are known to have perished through the operation of the Rapid City Indian Boarding School.

"This land with the unmarked graves was placed into the trust of the Oglala, Cheyenne River, and Rosebud Sioux Tribes to protect the graves of these children in perpetuity, and these tribes have approved this beautiful memorial to honor all our children."  -Remembering the Children website

The Rapid City Indian Boarding School was operated for over three decades, from 1898-1933, near the site of the unmarked graves. Construction of the original school began in 1896, just six years after the Wounded Knee Massacre. Now, most of the once expansive property is occupied by a middle school and the recently completed Oyate Health Center. It was built on the spot where the Rapid City Indian Boarding School, and later a tuberculosis sanatorium, once stood. On the west perimeter of the land a hillside rises to the treeline where the unmarked graves of the children have been discovered and now preserved by the tribes.

The painful knowledge of the atrocities committed are still very real for the living survivors of Indian boarding schools in North America and their descendants. Many relatives of those families come to the memorial walk each year, carrying simple signs bearing the names of the children who died as a result of the school's indoctrination efforts.

The entrance road to the memorial faces east, a significant direction for the Sioux culture. This photo from Ausust 14, 2024, also shows progress on the winding footpath to the top of the hill, where memorial scaffolds will be erected.

The seventh annual walk on September 30 culminated with a program, prayers, and a traditional meal to honor the children who died at the Rapid City Indian Boarding School. The event also serves each year to strengthen the memory of the relatives who live with the trauma of their ancestors who suffered and perished here. The Staff and members of Canyon Lake United Methodist Church are honored to cooperate on this project with the committee of the Remembering the Children Memorial reinforcing their commitment to healing a broken world. 

Lee Strubinger, reporting for South Dakota Public Broadcasting, published this story about the Remembering the Children Memorial Walk, which was held on Sunday, September 30, 2024. The Remembering the Children Memorial website contains a wealth of material and media for further education about the children and the process of honoring their memory.

Rapid City Indian Boarding School. Photo Courtesy of Remembering the Children website.