Full Description
Lakotas, Black Robes, and Holy Women makes available in English a rare collection of eyewitness accounts by German Catholic missionaries among the Lakotas in the late nineteenth century. German missionaries played an important role in the early years of the St. Francis mission on the Rosebud Reservation, and the Holy Rosary mission on the Pine Ridge Reservation, both in South Dakota. Although the accounts reflect the dominant perspective and attitude of missionaries and white teachers in the period of assimilation policy, they also offer firsthand accounts of the Lakotas in the early reservation years by Jesuits who saw themselves as friends and defenders of the Indians against a government policy they considered inappropriate and harmful. During the watershed years of 1886-1900, the German missionaries witnessed and participated in key events in the history of the American West, including the Ghost Dance, the Wounded Knee massacre, the Drexel Mission fight, the repression of Lakota rituals, and the growing importance of Catholicism for many Lakotas. The volume also describes the role of women in the mission and the process of converting and schooling Lakotas.
Contents
Preface
Encounter on the Prairie
The Accounts
Acknowledgements
Translator's Notes
Introduction by Raymond A. Bucko, S.J.
I. About the History of the Catholic Missions Among the Sioux
1. Founding of the Mission Schools and the First Years (1886-1890)
The Lakotas and the "Black Robes"
Mission Work in the Schools and Parishes
Relationship to the Language and Culture of the Lakotas
2. Ghost Dance, Wounded Knee, and the Aftermath (1890-1891)
A Missionary's Meditation Attempt
The Holy Rosary Mission Between Two Fronts
3. Catholic Community Structures Versus Government Policies (1891-ca. 1900)
A "Kulturkampf" on the Prairie
The St. Joseph and St. Mary Societies
The "Congresses of the Catholic Sioux"
4. Outlook into the 20th Century
II. Documentation of the German Reports from the Missions
Section 1. From the Chronicles of the Missions and from the Annual Reports of the
Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity
List of Illustrations
Illustrations
Section 2. News and Reports from the Journal "die katholischen Missionen"
Map: Sioux Reservations 1890
Members of the Order Serving at St. Francis and Holy Rosaryl style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"Bibliography
Index of Persons
