logo
    • Magazine
    • Membership
    • Donate
  • Racial Justice
  • Economic Justice
    • Collections
  • Climate Justice
  • Health Justice
  • Leadership
  • CONTENT TYPES
  • Subscribe
  • Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
    • Complimentary Webinars
    • Premium On-Demand Webinars
  • Membership
  • Submissions

Jesuit Mission Gives Up Colonial Approach, Returns Land to Native American Tribe

Michael Wyland
May 24, 2017
Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print
By Elevatorrailfan (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons

May 19, 2017; Indian Country Today

The Jesuit St. Francis Mission announced that it is relinquishing 525 acres of unused land within the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota. The federal land grant to the mission, made when the tribal reservation was established in the late 1880s, was intended to support the mission’s educational activities serving the Sicangu Lakota people living on the reservation. The St. Francis Mission will continue to hold land on the reservation where it has active operations.

Indian Country Today reports, “It’s now time to give back to the tribe all of those pieces of land that were given to the church (by the federal government) for church purposes,” said Rev. John Hatcher, president of St. Francis Mission, in a YouTube video. “We will never again put churches on those little parcels of land.”

Sign up for our free newsletters

Subscribe to NPQ's newsletters to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

The Jesuits are a Catholic order of priests officially known as the Society of Jesus. Founded in France in the 16th century by St. Ignatius of Loyola, Jesuits are evangelical missionaries heavily involved in education, healthcare, and social justice activities.

The Rosebud Sioux Tribe and the Mission have been in land negotiations for five years. Hatcher points to the transfer as a declaration that “we’re out of the property business, and we’re out of a colonial approach to the work of mission.”

Russell Eagle Bear, Tribal Historic Preservation Officer of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, was involved in the land transfer negotiations. He said, “We’ve got to hand it to the Catholic organization for doing this. It’s a big thing, just the idea of returning land. We’ll see if some of the (other churches) will follow suit.”—Michael Wyland

Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print
About the author
Michael Wyland

Michael L. Wyland currently serves as an editorial advisory board member and consulting editor to The Nonprofit Quarterly, with more than 400 articles published since 2012. A partner in the consulting firm of Sumption & Wyland, he has more than thirty years of experience in corporate and government public policy, management, and administration.

More about: nonprofit real estateCatholic ChurchNative AmericansNonprofit NewsPhilanthropy

Become a member

Support independent journalism and knowledge creation for civil society. Become a member of Nonprofit Quarterly.

Members receive unlimited access to our archived and upcoming digital content. NPQ is the leading journal in the nonprofit sector written by social change experts. Gain access to our exclusive library of online courses led by thought leaders and educators providing contextualized information to help nonprofit practitioners make sense of changing conditions and improve infra-structure in their organizations.

Join Today
logo logo logo logo logo
See comments

Spring-2023-sidebar-subscribe
You might also like
Get That Money: A Conversation with Rhea Wong
Isaiah Thompson and Rhea Wong
Beyond Identity Funding: Rethinking Social Justice Philanthropy
Catherine Hyde Townsend and Diana Samarasan
Leadership Is Voice
Cyndi Suarez
Action Steps to Grow Climate-Driven Philanthropy in Rural Communities
Ann Mei Chang and John Simpkins
Toward a New Philanthropy: Advancing the Genius of Black-Led Change
Lulete Mola, Repa Mekha and Chanda Smith Baker
Living Beyond the Constructs: A Conversation with Cyndi Suarez and Marcus Walton
Cyndi Suarez and Marcus Walton

NPQ Webinars

June 14th, 2:00pm ET

Remaking the Economy

Race for Profit

Register Now
June 22nd, 12:30 pm ET

Making Co-CEOs Work

Insights from Leaders Sharing Leadership Successfully

Register Now
July 12th, 2:00 pm ET

Remaking the Economy

Tenant Organizing in Unexpected Places

Register Now
You might also like
The interviewee’s book, “Get That Money, Honey!: The No-Bullsh*t Guide to Raising More Money for Your Nonprofit” lying on a white surface
Get That Money: A Conversation with Rhea Wong
Isaiah Thompson and Rhea Wong
A mural of blue hands tinkering with the ropes of a net
Beyond Identity Funding: Rethinking Social Justice...
Catherine Hyde Townsend and Diana Samarasan
Leadership Is Voice
Cyndi Suarez

Like what you see?

Subscribe to the NPQ newsletter to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

See our newsletters

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

NPQ-Spring-2023-cover

Independent & in your mailbox.

Subscribe today and get a full year of NPQ for just $59.

subscribe
  • About
  • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Copyright
  • Careers

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

 

Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.