Jesuits and Boarding Schools:

Truth, Reconciliation, Responsibility

December 7, 2021

This conversation followed up on last year’s online dialogue “Native American Communities and the Clerical Abuse Crisis,” bringing together a Jesuit who has been deeply involved in this question along with two speakers who are leaders at, and in one case a graduate of, the Red Cloud Indian School, now several years into a Truth and Healing process. The panel sought to address the pressing question of what it means for today’s Jesuit institutions (and their employees, students, and graduates) to take responsibility for the full legacy of the Jesuits in North America.

Panelists:

Tashina Banks Rama, Indigenous Woman, Mother, Daughter, Wife, Niece, American Indian Movement, hereditary lifetime member
Oglala Lakota & Leech Lake Ojibwe, Boarding School Survivor Descendent, Oglala Sioux Tribe Land Caretaker, Lakota Language Learner, Truth and Healing Seeker, Oglala Sioux Tribal Member, Lakota Spirituality Centered, 7th Generation Member, Community Advocate, World Traveler, History Learner, Storyteller.

Ted Penton, SJ, Secretary of Justice and Ecology at the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States.

Sarah White, Director of Education Equity at the NDN Collective. She is Oglala Lakota from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and a graduate of Red Cloud Indian School, where she has recently joined the board.