A school where students can be ‘unapologetically Indigenous’

The Oceti Sakowin Community Academy is allowing youth to reclaim knowledge and culture taken from their ancestors

The faces of over a dozen first-grade students light up as they’re asked to sing the ABCs in Lakota, eager to show off the language skills they’ve learned at the Oceti Sakowin Community Academy.

At this school, Lakota language and culture aren’t an afterthought or addition to the school’s curriculum, it’s what the curriculum revolves around. Now, as the school makes its way through its second year, staff and administrators continue to Indigenize learning.

The Oceti Sakowin Community Academy first opened its doors September 2022, marking itself as Rapid City’s first Indigenous-led school. In addition to lessons in math, social studies, and reading, students learn Lakota stories, many of which were almost forgotten after the boarding school era.

Mary Bowman, Oglala/Hunkpapa Lakota and the founder of the academy, was raised steeped in her culture, but at school, not so much. Working in education for over 15 years, Bowman realized that a lot of kids don’t have parents who know about their culture, or schools that teach it.

“A lot of the things our people are facing these days can be traced back to generational trauma from boarding schools, not knowing who you are, or where you come from, that’s painful,” Bowman said.

At the academy, Bowman isn’t called Principal Bowman. She’s Unci (grandma) Mary. Her goal as principal is to empower students and allow them to be “unapologetically Indigenous.”

“I feel like I have the best job,” Bowman said.

Oceti Sakowin Community Academy is part of a larger network of schools, the NACA (Native American Community Academy) Inspired Schools Network. A majority of schools are in New Mexico. Local community members such as Bowman wondered how this initiative could be brought back to Rapid City.

With private funding from NDN Collective and NISN, the academy opened its doors last fall in the St. Andrews Episcopal Church building. The school is currently located in He Sapa New Life until a new facility is built on the school’s future grounds on the north side.

The future facility will be able to accommodate grades K-12 with powwow grounds, a garden and more.

A major aspect of the academy is to combat low graduation rates among Indigenous students. On a national level, Indigenous students have the lowest high school graduation rate amongst all races at 75 percent. In South Dakota, an average of 45 percent of Indigenous students complete high school.

“Public education for Indigenous people began with the boarding school era, and a lot of our generational trauma can be traced back to that,” Bowman said. “As a person who graduated from Rapid City Area Schools, never seeing yourself in what you’re learning can be painful, and sometimes the portrayal of your people is very negative, and that’s painful.”

The school is starting students off strong by immersing them in their culture and allowing them to see not only themselves but also their families and ancestors in the lessons they’re taught, Bowman said.

Indigenous teachings and culture are built into the academy’s standardized lessons. Last year, students learned about geometry and math using the Lakota Star Quilt. Pieces of the star quilt are built from rhombuses added and sewn together to create a meaningful piece of art.

“If you look at the data and the research, culturally responsive pedagogy works for students of color,” Bowman said. “One thing I learned being an OSEU (Oceti Sakowin Essential Understandings) educator, I’d walk into the classroom and man these Native kids were so excited to learn about themselves.”

The OSEU community standards program incorporates Lakota teachings into existing state standards. These standards have been incorporated into other Rapid City Area Schools such as North and South middle schools. A bill to require all South Dakota schools to teach OSEU standards failed in the South Dakota House by one vote last year.

The Oceti Sakowin Community Academy differs because the entire school curriculum is built around Indigenous teachings and knowledge, rather than these teachings being implemented later on.

While the school focuses on Lakota values, students are not required to be Lakota or even Indigenous. There are no criteria used to admit students, and enrollment had to be capped this year due to the popularity of the program.

Bowman said non-Indigenous families have sent their children to the academy after learning about the academy’s emphasis on kindness and Wotakuye, the foundational Lakota concept that we are all related.

Students at the academy refer not only to Bowman as Unci (grandma) but call their teachers Thuŋwíŋ and Lekší (aunt and uncle, respectively) and fellow students cousin. Students are encouraged to treat each other as a family.

With an emphasis on Lakota language, Bowman finds herself learning new words and phrases. Bowman grew up with a base knowledge of Lakota but said her knowledge was nowhere near the ability that the academy students possess.

“I’m learning with these kids,” Bowman said. “They say kids’ brains are sponges and they really are, these kids are microprocessing in Lakota and English, they’re learning two languages.”

Last year, the school only taught kindergarteners, but has now expanded to include first graders and next year will include second grade.

Currently only 17 kindergarteners and a little more than 20 first-graders attend the academy, almost all of the first-grade students returned from last year.

Last year, students traveled to sacred sites such as Pe’Sla, Mato Tipila (Devils Tower) and Black Elks Peak. At Black Elks Peak, students were taught traditional ceremonies for welcoming back the thunder, placing prayer flags, and traditional songs. Bowman said after their prayers at Black Elks Peak it rained for days.

“It was so beautiful to hear those little boys and girls sing,” Bowman said. “Their prayers are so sacred.”

Last year, an academy student was asked to sing a prayer song for the White House. To her it was no big deal, she sang that song every day, but for the elders and community members watching her song meant everything.

“I don’t know another six-year-old who would be brave enough to do that,” Bowman said.

Students were also invited to sing at the inaugural NDN Collective Indigenous People’s Day celebration in downtown Rapid City on Oct. 9. A group of students stood strong on the bandshell and sang a prayer song to over 100 onlookers.

Students can not only sing and pray in Lakota but can also introduce themselves.

“I’m amazed at how much they’re strengthened in their cultural identity. A lot of us don’t know those sacred stories,” Bowman said. “They’re proud of who they are, they’re being unapologetically Indigenous.”