St. Benedict's Mission, White Earth Indian Reservation (White Earth Band of Ojibwe). The complex of buildings comprising St. Benedict's Mission in White Earth as viewed from the lake in the early 1890s. By 1895, the mission had reached the peak of its development because that year the federal government reversed its policy of giving aid for education on the reservations and set 1899 as the final date after which no more public money would be given. [SBMA]
St. Benedict's Mission, White Earth Indian Reservation (White Earth Band of Ojibwe). The various American Indian bands living in Canada and the Northwest Territory fought among themselves and the white settlers as Indian hunting grounds continued to be lost. The Dakotas finally settled farther west and the Ojibwe made land treaties with the U.S. government which reserved land around specific lakes in northern Minnesota for them. However, in 1867, the U.S. government ordered the Ojibwe to give up their scattered settlements and gather in one large reservation at White Earth. The reservation was then divided into agencies with government officials placed in charge. The bishop of the Northwest Territory sent Father Ignatius Tomazin to serve the Catholics at White Earth. Father Tomazin was a missionary from Yugoslavia who had worked among the Ojibwe for some years in the Crow Wing area and was known for his zeal in protecting their rights. While he was courageous in protesting the evils of discrimination practiced by the government agents, he perhaps lacked patience and diplomacy in his confrontations. As a result, Father Tomazin was forced off the reservation and transferred to Red Lake. In 1878, Abbot Rupert Seidenbusch, OSB, who had been appointed bishop of the newly-formed Northern Vicariate, asked St. John's Abbey to provide a priest and St. Benedict's Convent to provide teachers for White Earth. Fathers Aloysius Hermanutz and Joseph Buh from St. John's and Sisters Philomena Ketten and Lioba Brau from St. Benedict's were sent to meet the challenges of White Earth. Six days after they arrived, the sisters opened a day school for 15 pupils (12 girls and 3 boys), which increased to a total of 40 during the following week. (*The American Indian band in northern Minnesota prefer the name Anishinabe -- "Anishinaabeg" meaning "First People" -- while the French settlers called them Ojibwe, which is the more familiar name used in these records; and the government referred to them as Chippewa.) The sketch of the mission shown here is mounted on a card with the name, L. Bergman, Louisville, Kentucky, stamped on the back (SBMA, McDonald, pages 227-232), Pamphlet: "St. Benedict's Mission History, White Earth, MN, 1878-1978, as told by Benno Watrin, OSB (Printed by St. John' Abbey), 1978]
This image is by Arthur Adams, Minneapolis high school teacher, local historian, and photographer. Adams traveled throughout Minnesota, taking photographs to augment his lectures. His studio was located at 3648 Lyndale Avenue South in Minneapolis.Site of the warehouse robbed by Dakota at Yellow Medicine Agency during the Dakota Conflict of 1862.
Historical marker commemorating the Vineland battle near Duluth, Minnesota, in which the Chippewa permanently drove the Sioux into southern Minnesota. This image is by Arthur Adams, Minneapolis high school teacher, local historian, and photographer. Adams traveled throughout Minnesota, taking photographs to augment his lectures. His studio was located at 3648 Lyndale Avenue South in Minneapolis.
A small building and a stone placard marking the site of the Traverse des Sioux treaty. The treaty occurred on July 23, 1851, in Nicollet County, Minnesota, on the Minnesota River, just north of St. Peter. The site was once a state park and is now a State Historic Site. This image is by Arthur Adams, Minneapolis high school teacher, local historian, and photographer. Adams traveled throughout Minnesota, taking photographs to augment his lectures. His studio was located at 3648 Lyndale Avenue South in Minneapolis.
Two monuments commemorating the Redwood Agency Massacre of August 18, 1962, located near the site of the Redwood Ferry on the Minnesota River. This image is by Arthur Adams, Minneapolis high school teacher, local historian, and photographer. Adams traveled throughout Minnesota, taking photographs to augment his lectures. His studio was located at 3648 Lyndale Avenue South in Minneapolis.
Site of the murder of Little Crow, located 8 miles north of Hutchinson, Minnesota. Little Crow was chief of the Mdewakanton Dakota and led the conflict against white settlers during the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862. This image is by Arthur Adams, Minneapolis high school teacher, local historian, and photographer. Adams traveled throughout Minnesota, taking photographs to augment his lectures. His studio was located at 3648 Lyndale Avenue South in Minneapolis.
Site of the Redwood Ferry as seen from Franklin Road on the Redwood Agency. This image is by Arthur Adams, Minneapolis high school teacher, local historian, and photographer. Adams traveled throughout Minnesota, taking photographs to augment his lectures. His studio was located at 3648 Lyndale Avenue South in Minneapolis.
A group of people at the site of the Dustin Massacre, where four members of the Dustin family were murdered by a party of Dakota during the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862. It is believed, though never proved, that the attack party was led by members of Little Crow's party. This image is by Arthur Adams, Minneapolis high school teacher, local historian, and photographer. Adams traveled throughout Minnesota, taking photographs to augment his lectures. His studio was located at 3648 Lyndale Avenue South in Minneapolis.
Two monuments commemorating the Redwood Agency Massacre of August 18, 1962, located near the site of the Redwood Ferry on the Minnesota River. This image is by Arthur Adams, Minneapolis high school teacher, local historian, and photographer. Adams traveled throughout Minnesota, taking photographs to augment his lectures. His studio was located at 3648 Lyndale Avenue South in Minneapolis.
Site of Myrick's Trading Post in the Redwood, or Lower Sioux, Agency. Andrew Myrick, post operator, refused to give the Dakota help they requested, stating "Let them eat grass." After an attack nearby the trading post, Myrick was found dead. This image is by Arthur Adams, Minneapolis high school teacher, local historian, and photographer. Adams traveled throughout Minnesota, taking photographs to augment his lectures. His studio was located at 3648 Lyndale Avenue South in Minneapolis.
Site of Indian burial mounds in Saint Paul, Minnesota. This image is by Arthur Adams, Minneapolis high school teacher, local historian, and photographer. Adams traveled throughout Minnesota, taking photographs to augment his lectures. His studio was located at 3648 Lyndale Avenue South in Minneapolis.
St. Benedict's Mission, White Earth Indian Reservation (White Earth Band of Ojibwe). Survival was the sisters' prime challenge during those first years of exposure to cold and scarcity of food in White Earth. But even so, they took two orphan girls (the younger one only four years old) into their home. The care of orphans was to become an important work for them at St. Benedict's Mission as White Earth developed. Sisters Philomena and Lioba, unlike in temperaments, proved to be well-suited to work together among the Ojibwe. Sister Philomena, young and vivacious, had volunteered for missionary work; Sister Lioba, deliberate and more conservative, was fearful of venturing that far into the northern region. They learned to rely on each other's strengths and persevered through 50 years of mission work at the White Earth Indian Reservation (White Earth Band of Ojibwe). Records indicate that, when a fire destroyed the school just a few weeks after their arrival, Sister Lioba felt justified in going back home, but Sister Philomena suggested fixing up the barn to serve as the school, which they did at a cost of $35.00. [SBMA, McDonald, pp. 232-237]
St. Mary's Mission, Red Lake Indian Reservation (Red Lake Nation). Sisters and students pose on the porch of the convent/school. In 1889, with a donation received from the Drexel sisters, a convent/boarding school was built. Upstairs were sleeping quarters for the sisters and girls; downstairs contained the kitchen, recreation room, and refectory for serving meals. At the time there were five sisters, 35 boarding students of ages six to eighteen, and 25 day students. It proved to be so successful that it had to be enlarged within two years. A house was purchased to be the dormitory for boys and the temporary church (built in 1891) served as the dormitory for boys after a new church was completed in 1893. [SBMA; Lindblad, pp. 41-43]
St. Benedict's Mission, White Earth Indian Reservation (White Earth Band of Ojibwe). After the missionaries had settled in White Earth and had begun to build a new church and school, the Ojibwe of Buffalo River (Callaway), eight miles away, asked Father Aloysius Hermanutz to send them teachers for their children. Rather than refuse, Father Aloysius promised he would do so if they built a school. He believed that they would be unable to provide a building. However, when they did offer a place for the school, Sister Philomena saved Father Aloysius' embarrassment by offering to ride daily to Buffalo River to teach if Father would lend her his pony. After some mishaps in riding strange horses when Father Aloysius needed his, Sister Philomena begged for a pony of her own which she received. She was also able to convince the bishop to provide her with a saddle. [SBMA, McDonald, pp. 237-238]
St. Benedict's Mission, White Earth Indian Reservation (White Earth Band of Ojibwe). Sister Lioba Braun, at the organ, leads the sisters at St. Benedict's Mission in song. Sister Lioba, one of the first sisters to help establish St. Benedict's Mission at White Earth, brought her gift of music and singing and soon had a choir that was able to sing at the religious services. The sister to the immediate right of Sister Lioba is identified as Sister Meinrad Burrell and the sister to Sister Meinrad's right as Sister Basilia Cosgrove. [SBMA]
Sister Laura made inroads into life of reservation by making friends with the Ojibwe children who loved the treats she brought when she visited Mille Lacs Indian Reservation (Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe).
Sister Laura Hesch befriended a 100-year-old Ojibwe woman who lived alone on the Mille Lacs Indian Reservation (Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe). It was through such relationships that she won the hearts of the Ojibwe.
Before Sister Laura Hesch could establish a mission center on Mille Lacs Indian Reservation (Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe), she taught Ojibwe children at their homes. Her motherly affection for children soon won their hearts.
Sister Laura Hesch had a way with children at the Mille Lacs Indian Reservation (Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe). She often treated them with a lunch when she taught them.
Until Sister Laura Hesch was given a larger mission center for her activities Mille Lacs Indian Reservation (Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe), she met with Ojibwe children wherever she found them.
During her first year at the Mille Lacs Indian Reservation (Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe), Sister Laura Hesch was given a car, a 1936 Plymouth, for her mission work.
In return for her hospitality, Sister Laura Hesch is invited by an Ojibwe woman to share a meal at the Mille Lacs Indian Reservation (Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe).