MN 3604 - Pine Ridge Indian Reservation

Immersion experience at the Lutheran Lakota Shared Ministry at Pine Ridge Retreat Center on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Students explore Native American concerns and build bridges of understanding through transformational ministry. Students will work on community projects, be present and engaged with the children who come for afternoon activities, and visit key cultural/historical sites (such as Red Cloud Indian School, Wounded Knee, Lakota College, Lakota Fund, SuAnne Big Crow’s Boys’ and Girls’ Club, and Pow Wows). Speakers share their artwork and discuss their life experience on the Rez, their hopes and views about economic and housing issues, and the impact of the Wounded Knee massacre in 1890 and occupation of 1973. Students attend Sunday worship services, midweek young peoples’ worship at the Sanctuary program, and other significant family celebrations of life, which might include wakes and/or funeral services. Days usually conclude with devotions, reflection and talking circle.

Credits: 3