REMEMBERING THE CHILDREN

Like many other Indian Boarding Schools, many children passed away either at the Boarding School, traveling to or from the Boarding School, or trying to escape from the Boarding School. Poor health and nutrition conditions as well as abuse contributed to the mortality rate.

Unfortunately, the Rapid City Indian Boarding School did not keep records of the children who passed or where they were buried. Our volunteer team has combed through decades of school correspondence, enrollment records, newspaper articles and oral histories to identify as best as we can some of the children who passed away and where they are located.

So far, we have found approximately fifty (50) children and infants. We are certain the number is larger, as many years of school records are missing, including the earliest years which likely had higher mortality rates.

Seven of the children are buried, at what was a forgotten plot that our volunteers found, at the Mt. View Cemetery in Rapid City, SD. Some of the children are buried at home near their families. And some of the children are buried in an unmarked grave near where the boarding school was located.

The primary goal of the Rapid City Indian Lands Project has always been to honor the lives, memories and spirits of the children and relatives who passed away at the Indian Boarding School.

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