AUTHORS, PHOTOGRAPHERS, AND SCHOLARS AMONG THE JESUITS, FRANCISCAN SISTERS, AND NATIVE CATECHISTS/ CLERGY IN SOUTH DAKOTA AND WYOMING

Many of the photographs, papers, and recordings by and about the Jesuits (priests and brothers of the Society of Jesus) and Sisters of St. Francis are dispersed and co-mingled among several archival collections at Marquette University, which reflects the provenance of the documents prior to their transfer to Marquette. The bulk of these separated papers are included in the records of the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions, Holy Rosary Mission and Red Cloud Indian School, St. Francis Mission, and St. Stephen's Mission. For comprehensive searching -- see -- Search the Collections.

The following chart provides names, birth/death years, and the years these persons were assigned to specific Indian ministries as an aid to navigating the documents. Although the Jesuit ministries in South Dakota and Wyoming have been administered by the German, Missouri, and Wisconsin Jesuit Provinces, not all Jesuits involved have belonged to these provinces.

Plainview (Howes) & Rapid City, South Dakota --The Sioux Spiritual Center, Mahpiya na Maka Okoigna, Plainview (Howes), South Dakota, is a Catholic Native American retreat and training center of the Diocese of Rapid City, and Mother Butler Center and St. Isaac Jogues Church, Rapid City, South Dakota, is a Catholic Native American community center and parish. The Jesuits have administered these institutions with primarily with assistance from Lakota deacons and laity.

Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota -- Holy Rosary Mission/ Red Cloud Indian School and the Pine Ridge Reservation Catholic parishes.  The Jesuits have administered these institutions primarily with assistance from the Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity and Lakota deacons and laity.

Rosebud Reservation, South Dakota -- St. Francis Mission and School and the Rosebud Reservation Catholic parishes. The Jesuits have administered these institutions primarily with assistance from the Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity and Lakota deacons and laity.

Wind River Reservation, Wyoming -- St. Stephen's Mission and School and/or the Wind River Reservation Catholic parishes. The Jesuits have administered these institutions primarily with assistance from the Sisters of St. Francis of Penance of Philadelphia and Shoshoni and Arapaho deacons and laity.

Elsewhere -- The chart only includes assignments in South Dakota and Wyoming. 

Sources: Catalogs of the German, Missouri, Wisconsin, and combined U.S.A. Provinces of the Society of Jesus; New Lakota Dictionary, Jan Ullrich, editor, www.lakhota.org, 2008; House Chronicles of the Franciscan Sisters of Penance and Christian Charity in Series 2 Reports, Holy Rosary Mission/Red Cloud Indian School Records, and in Series 2 Reports, St. Francis Mission Records; and Series 1 Author Index to Correspondence, Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions Records, all at Marquette University.

See also -- Guide to Catholic Records about Native Americans in the United States, which provides histories, collection summaries, and contact information to archival repositories of the Jesuits, Sisters of St. Francis, and other pertinent sources.

Ministerial Assignments in South Dakota and Wyoming

Biographical Notes on Selected Persons

Archambault, Sister Marie Therese (Ida) (1939-2007) (Hunkpapa), O.S.F.: Sister Marie Therese graduated from St. Francis Mission High School in 1957 and joined the Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity. She taught at Red Cloud Indian High School (then called Holy Rosary Mission High School) and later she studied in Rome. and served in Denver and the Tekakwitha Conference National Center as well as on the Pine Ridge Reservation.

Black Elk, Nicholas W. (Nick) (1866-1950): Born into Big Road's Band on the Little Powder River in Wyoming, which settled on the Pine Ridge Reservation in 1880. As a child, he received a great vision from Wakantanka, which heralded a lifelong spiritual quest. Between 1885 and 1889 he dictated letters published in Dakota in the newspaper Iapi Oaye [Word Carrier]. On December 6, 1904 (Feast of St. Nicholas), Father Joseph Lindebner, S.J., baptized him at Holy Rosary Mission. Soon he became a catechist, and initially to 1917, he served on the Pine Ridge, Rosebud, Yankton, and Wind River reservations with his good friend Father Henry Westropp, S.J. Then he served with other Jesuits, including Father Eugene Buechel, S.J., 1927-1929. In so doing, he wrote letters in Lakota published in Šina Sapa Wocekiye Taeyanpaha [Catholic Dakota-Lakota Herald], 1906-1017, and used the Pictorial Catechism (Two Roads), which influenced his subsequent narrations about his life and traditional Lakota beliefs and life ways.  See also, The Life and Holiness of Nicholas Black Elk.

Buechel, Reverend Eugene (1874-1954), S.J.: Father Buechel was born Eugen Büchel in Schleida (now Schleid) Germany. He entered the Jesuit Society in 1897, immigrated to the United States in 1900, and was ordained a Catholic priest in 1906. Buechel was dedicated to converting Native Americans to Christianity and transforming their lives. But also he was dedicated to preserving their Lakota language and cultural heritage by collecting and compiling substantial documentation and objects on Brulé and Oglala language, beliefs, and traditions. (See Marie Therese Archambault, "Eugene Buechel, S.J.: Sinasapa, "Blackrobe," 94-108, in "Back to Back": Roman Catholicism among the Brulé at St. Francis Mission, South Dakota, 1995.)

Between 1902 and 1954, Buechel created over 24,000 Lakota and Dakota word entries on slips of paper for a bilingual Lakota dictionary. Approximately 18,000 came from the work of Stephen R. Riggs, several thousand came from his conversations with native people, and a few came from the works of Emil Perrig and Ella Cara Deloria. In collaboration with Ivan Stars and other Lakota catechists, Buechel collected oral histories, now published bilingually, and cultural objects with related information, now preserved at the Buechel Memorial Lakota Museum, St. Francis, South Dakota, which he founded in 1947. In his Bible History in the Language of the Teton Sioux Indians (1924), Buechel used the Riggs spelling system whereas in his A Grammar of Lakota (1939) he used Deloria's newer system, which added distinctions for aspirated and plain stops. His dictionary was published first as, A Dictionary of the Teton Dakota Sioux Language (1970) and then as Lakota Dictionary, Lakota-English/English-Lakota (2002); Father Manhart edited both editions, the latter of which includes controversial editorial decisions.

Between August 14, 1922 and ca. 1945, Buechel created over over 10,000 photographic images with a Kodak No. 3 camera, which were developed and printed by O'Neill Photo Company in O'Neill, Nebraska. He controlled backgrounds, sought softer light for portraits (when available), clarity for each face in large groups (figure-field relationships), consistent respect-for-the-subject, and consistent respect-for-the-medium. He subjects reflected the diversity of people on the Rosebud and Pine Ridge Reservations. (See David Wing, Father Buechel, S.J.: Rosebud and Pine Ridge Photographs, 1922-1942, 1974.)

Cunningham, Reverend Leo C. (1888-1965), S.J.: Father Cunningham served on the Pine Ridge Reservation. However, his photograph album pertains primarily to the Rosebud Reservation, 1917-1919, 1921-1922, before his years on Pine Ridge. Most images are duplicates with verso captions identifying and dating subjects, events and localities.

Jutz, Reverend John B. (1838-1924), S.J.: Father Jutz led the founding of Holy Rosary, St. Francis, and St. Stephen's missions. Thereafter he taught at Canisius College in Buffalo, New York.

Nunlist, Brother Ursus (1847-1928), S.J.: Brother Nunlist assisted Father Jutz in founding Holy Rosary, St. Francis, and St. Stephen's missions.

Schlaghecken, Reverend Mother Kostka (1850-1932), O.S.F.: Mother Kostka led the establishment of the communities of the Sister of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity at Holy Rosary and St. Francis missions and served as the first superior of both communities.

Scott, Reverend John M. (1913-2007), S.J.: Father Scott taught math and general science at Holy Rosary Mission, 1938-1941, and physics at Campion Jesuit High School, Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, 1948-1978. He wrote several articles and pamphlets pertaining to the South Dakota Jesuit missions.

Sifton, Reverend John B. (1871-1940), S.J.: Father Sifton began his Native American ministry in Montana and Wyoming. He transferred to the Jesuit missions in Alaska by the late 1920s.

Smet, Reverend Pierre-Jean de (1801-1872), S.J.: Father de Smet began visiting the tribes along the Missouri River in 1839. In 1851 and 1868, he brought together the representatives of the tribes and the United States for the Fort Laramie Treaties. He also made commitments regarding the future establishment of Catholic schools within their respective reservations.

Steinmetz, Reverend Paul B. (1928-), S.J.: Father Steinmetz studied Lakota religious traditions in comparison with Christian traditions, which is reflected in his pastoral work, writings, recordings, and photography. Notable photographic subjects were U.S. Senator Robert "Bobby" Kennedy's Pine Ridge visit, 1968, Ben Black Elk, ca. 1970-1971, and a Pine Ridge Sun Dance, 1968, the images of which were captured at the request of Chief Frank Fools Crow, the presiding medicine man.

Steltenkamp, Reverend Michael F. (1947-), S.J.: Father Steltenkamp taught at Red Cloud High School where he met Lucy (Black Elk) Looks Twice. She recruited him to write a comprehensive biography of her father, Nicholas Black Elk, which he did with her support. He published Black Elk: Holy Man of  the Oglala, 1993, and Nicholas Black Elk: Medicine Man, Missionary, Mystic, 2009. He also served as pastor of St. Isaac Jogues Church, Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan, 1990-1993, and as professor of anthropology and religious studies, Wheeling Jesuit University, 1993-2019.

Stolzman, Reverend William (Bill) F. (1938-) [formerly S.J.]: Father Stolzman left the Society of Jesus and became a priest of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. As a Jesuit from 1973-1978, he was active in pastoral ministry to Native Americans and in so doing, he chaired the Medicine Men and Clergy Meetings at St. Francis Mission. The meetings were a theological dialogue with 85 sessions between Brulé and Oglala Indian medicine men (with spouses and associates) and Jesuit priests. From them, Father Stolzman wrote The Pipe and Christ: A Christian-Sioux Dialogue, 1986, a comparative analysis of Catholic and Native belief and ritual. Stolzman also created Lakota language teaching aids with Reyes Hernandez (Oglala).

Westropp, Reverend Henry I. (1872-1952), S.J.: In 1905, Father Westropp was ordained a priest at St. Francis Mission. At various times he served on the Pine Ridge, Rosebud, and Yankton reservations, often in concert with catechist [Nick] Black Elk, who became a close friend. In 1917, following the expulsion of German Jesuits in India, Father Westropp, and other U.S. Jesuits, transferred there to help staff those missions.

Zimmerman, Reverend Joseph A. (1885-1954), S.J.: Joseph Zimmerman entered the Jesuit society in 1907 and was a college student in formation from 1916 to 1921. During vacations and semester breaks he was known to visit intermittently at St. Francis Mission and he taught grades 6-8 there from 1914 to 1919. Throughout his career he created thousands of still photographs pertaining to the Lakota of the Pine Ridge and Rosebud reservations and Rapid City. Those attributed to him date from between 1916 and 1947, but he may have created some at an earlier date. As late as the early 1920s, he captured his images with glass-plate negatives. He favored dramatic staging, and when working with native subjects, he preferred individuals with dramatic "full-blood" surnames. Consistent lighting control on his subjects was common problem in his early photography. Two motion pictures from 1949 were also credited to Father Zimmerman.

Zuern, Reverend Theodore (Ted) F. (1921-2007), S.J.: Father Zuern was ordained a priest in 1957. He served Native Americans through pastoral ministry in three states -- Kansas (Our Lady of the Snows Church, Potawatomi Reservation, Topeka), South Dakota, and Minnesota (Native Ministry, Archdiocese of St. Paul, St. Paul/ Minneapolis) -- and national advocacy in Washington, D.C. (Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions, as Associate Director, 1979-1987, and Legislative Assistant, 1995-2001).