The school was founded as a Catholic mission school in 1927 by German Roman Catholics. It is owned and operated by the Priests of the Sacred Heart, non-Native Americans. As a residential school, it provided dormitories for a range of Native American children, primarily from the Lakota and Sioux reservations on the Great Plains. The school was originally directed to assimilate Native American children to the majority United States culture, influenced by European traditions. They were encouraged and forced to speak English and to practice Catholicism. In the 21st century, approximately 200 Native American children attend the residential school. Today students live in family-style group homes with other students.
Abuse
In 2010, a lawsuit was filed against St. Joseph's Indian School in the South Dakota Supreme Court. Eight former students are charging abuse by the priests, when they were children at the school. Additionally, "the Congregation of Priests of the Sacred Heart, which runs St. Joseph’s Indian School in Chamberlain, is the defendant in numerous sex-abuse cases." Prosecuting the cases has in some instances been difficult as the individual perpetrators are in many cases dead, and lower court rulings have addressed whether the cases can proceed against the church despite this. The situation was described by attorneys on both sides of the cases as "convoluted" and "difficult", but that the 2010 ruling, and proceedings since then, have potentially set some precedents for how these types of cases will be handled in the future.
Fundraising
In the 2010s, St. Joseph's School has been investigated for several issues related to its fundraising practices. In 2013 the school failed to meet the give.org standards for charity accountability. In 2014 it was the subject of investigative reports by CNN and Indian Country Today. The school sent out mass mailings featuring offers of made in China dreamcatchers and fictional, emotional letters from nonexistent students. These tactics have been called, "the worst of poverty porn." Cooper went on to report, "A school run by non-Indians is raising a fortune off of racial stereotypes." The school has been criticized by the Better Business Bureau for sending out a letter claiming they had insufficient funds to heat the school. At the time of this claim, the school had millions of dollars free to spend. In 2014 the school's attorney told Indian Country Today that they would "never, ever" send any more of the fictional letters. But in 2017, the school made $51 million from donors, still using the mailings by "fake children" and "made in China" dream catchers. As of November 2018, the school continues this aggressive direct mail campaign, sending tens of millions of pieces of junk mail a year.
