CSM students immerse themselves in Native American culture during trip to Pine Ridge
For most college students, spring break is a chance to get away or maybe even hit the beach. But for some College of Saint Mary (CSM) students, the time away from the classroom was an opportunity to immerse themselves in another culture.
Seven CSM students, led by Craig Zimmer, director of campus ministry, and Dr. Dee Acklie, associate professor of education, traveled to Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota for an immersion trip from March 12-16.
“I call this an immersion trip purposely as opposed to a service trip,” Zimmer said. “Even though there are a couple of service components, it’s mostly learning about the culture, learning about life on the reservation.”
The group stayed with Families Working Together, which is a nonprofit organization that supports and serves the Oglala Lakota community on the reservation, distributing food, furniture and household items and clothing.
During the trip, the students visited the school, donated prom dresses and clothing to the students, helped harvest cedar, and experienced cultural foods like fry bread and buffalo stew.
Sophomore Makayla Hall, an education major, said visiting the school was difficult. She spent the day in a sixth-grade classroom, and at one point, the teacher disappeared for more than an hour. “There was not much teaching going on. It really pulled at my heart,” she said. “There are these sixth-graders who I’m sure are really smart, but they’re not given that outlet to success.”
CSM students also toured the reservation, seeing some poor living conditions.
The trip hit close to home for junior Rosario Chaclan, a biology major. Chaclan is half Native American, a member of the Omaha and Winnebago tribes, though she wasn’t raised with a cultural background.
“It was such a crazy insight to be able to see that. This is a reservation that’s inside the United States of America, and the way they’re living is happening in our country,” she said. “It’s just hard because people tend to go help other countries when there are people needing our help here.”
Chaclan said the trip left her wanting to learn more. “I don’t know or put myself into much of the government and politics, but I came home, and I started researching a bunch of things, and how some treaties affected it or what they’ve signed in the previous year’s that’s affected how they’re living,” she said. “It just opened my eyes to see the Native American culture and world and what I can read to see how they’re living and why they’re living like that.”
Zimmer said he hopes the trip allowed students to get a broader perspective of the world.
“Students at College of Saint Mary come from all different kinds of backgrounds, no doubt, but I still think this gives you a glimpse into a world that most of us just don’t know,” he said. “It’s just that wider perspective on the world and trying to approach it with a sense of empathy and compassion.
“That was something Dr. Acklie and I talked about numerous times. We are not coming up here to save anybody or have all the answers because that’s not how it really works. What we are here to do is to see, to listen and to learn about this very beautiful but tough place,” he added.
