Trumpet Call - Spring 2015 - St. Augustine Indian Mission

St. Augustine Indian Mission
the
SPRING 2014
C e l e b r at i n g 1 0 6 y e a r s
o f E d u c at i o n , T r a d i t i o n a n d Fa i t h
A Message From Father Dave
There is a lot of excitement
in Winnebago these days!
Last week, at the writing of
this article, our Winnebago
boys high school basketball
team won the Class C1
Nebraska State Basketball
Championship! It was the first
basketball championship for
Winnebago since 1940... 75
years! I am so happy for our
boys! All five of the starters:
Cory Cleveland, Isaiah Medina,
Kobe Smith, and Matthew and
David Wingett, along with two
contributors off the bench, Levi
Blackhawk and Bart Kennedy,
all attended St. Augustine
Indian Mission at some point
in their grade school years.
Their first-year head coach, 26
yr. old Jeff Berridge, attended the Mission from kindergarten
through 8th grade. We are so proud of all of them!
They ended up rated in the top 10 of all schools in the State,
which is an amazing feat, given the fact that they have an
enrollment of only 153 students in the high school! They won
the hearts of many people across the state during their three
magical days down in Lincoln. The Omaha World Herald
printed very nice articles each day, which tried to tell the
significance of this team’s accomplishments, and what it means
to this small reservation town. But I feel the media fell short
in capturing the immensity of what this team means to this
Tribe and community. Their impact comes not only from their
success, but from the WAY they played, and from the way that
they carry themselves off the court. They are good boys! It was
obvious watching them that they had love for each other and
love for their coach.
All starting five players came to Mass the Sunday after winning
their District Championship, earning their trip to the State
Tournament. I blessed them using the Eagle Feather and the
Cedar Smoke, and told them to come back next week, same
place and same time, but to bring their gold medals with them
and I would offer a blessing for them as well. The day after
winning the State Championship, five of those boys came to
church wearing their gold medals for me to bless.
They came back for our school Mass in the middle of the week,
and this time their coach could join them. It tried to put this
in perspective for all our students. After all, being a good
basketball player won’t help us get to heaven! But their faith in
God, and living their Christian faith while they play the game of
basketball will. I was filled with joy to put the example of these
former students on display for our current students!
I would like to think that the influence St. Augustine Indian
Mission had on these boys had something to do with their
success. Not in their basketball skills, but in their teamwork,
their commitment to hard work, their respect of each other,
their coaches, their officials, and their opponents. Those are the
lessons we strive to teach here.
Thank you for your prayerful and financial support that has
allowed us to be a place where these types of lessons can be
lived and shared.
Blessings,
2015 Circle of Dreams
The 2015 Circle of Dreams event was held on Friday, April
10th at the Mutual of Omaha Dome in Omaha. The event
not only helps raise funds to support St. Augustine Indian
Mission School, it also helps increase awareness of the
Mission school. This year’s event was chaired by Amy
and Jeff Schmid of Omaha, and the major event sponsors
were Mutual of Omaha and Mutual of Omaha Bank. Amy
and Jeff welcomed guests and gave some history of the
strong relationship that exists between Mutual of Omaha
and St. Augustine. Master of Ceremonies for the event
was Charlie Moon, professional auctioneer and member
of St. Vincent De Paul Church in Andover, Kansas, sister
parish to St. Augustine Mission.
Fr. Dave shares stories of hope with the crowd
Fr. Dave presents Honorary Chairs Amy
and Jeff Schmid with a gift of thanks
Nearly $300,000 was raised through the event through
table sponsorship, donations, the sale of specially-made
ornaments by national glass artist Peggy Karr, and a live
auction. The event included a cocktail hour, dinner, and
entertainment by local comedian, Mary Maxwell.
The event also recognized the talents of St. Augustine
graduate, Jeff Berridge. Jeff, at age 26, is the head coach of
the 2015 Nebraska C-1 State Champion Winnebago Boys
Basketball Team. A special video by Peter Soby chronicled
Coach Berridge’s history and his goal to leave Winnebago
to get a college education, but more importantly to return
to his home and make a difference. The boys basketball
program had not won the state tournament in 75 years.
The video showed highlights of the state tournament and
also featured the five starters from the team, all who are
also alumni of St. Augustine Indian Mission School.
C-1 State Basketball Champions,
Winnebago Boys Basketball Team
Guests enjoy comedian Mary Maxwell
“I am humbled by the support we received for this event.
Not only is it our largest attendance, but this is the most
we have ever raised”, said Fr. Dave Korth. “The story of
hope that is coming from the Winnebago community is
one that needs to be told and we were able to tell that
story to nearly 500 people that night.”
Check out our website! www.staugustinemission.org
Auction helps raise nearly $70,000
for the Circle of Dreams
Traditional Native American TeePee
on display at Circle of Dreams
Relatives,
I want to share with you about a time in my life that made
me stop for a while and reflect. Around ten years ago while
I was at a high school basketball game, I was approached by a
Catholic priest whom I didn’t know. This was Father Dave. He
told me that my older brother, Nate, advised him to speak to me
about planning a traditional Sweat Lodge Ceremony. First of
all, this wasn’t the place or way to request such a thing. I mean
at a basketball game. I heard him out, and I agreed to have four
Sweats.
That is our traditional way of doing these things. It was
my understanding that this request was for healing and
reconciliation between our Native people who may have left
the school with bad feelings. St. Augustine’s was celebrating
100th years of being in service to the Native peoples of this
area. As a former student, I felt that I understood the gesture
and felt this kind of healing was way overdue.
In 1964, I was left at St. Augustine’s by my parents. Children
who attended school were left there in late August. Children
never saw their parents again until after Mid-night Mass on
Christmas Eve. After that short break we returned in January
after New Years. We stayed in school there until late May and
then spent our summer months at home in Macy on the Omaha
reservation. Being home was very difficult for my brothers and
I. We were “mission kids” and so we were seen as outsiders.
During the school year we learned about the Christian way
of life. I received several sacred rites as a Christian such as
Communion, Confession and Confirmation. I was baptized as
an infant in Macy. I was happy to be at the Mission because
I had older brothers there. I was excited to meet other kids.
I believe that because of some of the things that I witnessed,
when I did leave, I never had a desire to look back. For many
years I walked here on Mother Earth without a meaningful
relationship with any higher power. For the last 24 years
I’ve been working on walking the “RED ROAD” and I have
established myself to a
very plain and simple
way of life. Spirituality:
the Omaha way.
While preparing for the
first of the four Sweats
I had time to pray and
think about my position
in doing this for the
Catholic Church. I could
have very well lived the
rest of my life without
having anything to do
with any religion or church. Today I consider it a blessing that
I met Father Dave. My first prayers were for the ones that had
bad experiences at the Mission. I expressed to Father Dave that
I could not speak for the ones that were not present. The most
important thing that is expressed at our Sweat is that, it’s all
about healing and forgiveness. I realized that this was a true
test to my own way and beliefs.
My thoughts were that if I wasn’t able to fully find my own
personal forgiveness to the church, I couldn’t continue being
here in this traditional Sweat. Walk the talk, I heard it said.
Thankfully, on the fourth Sweat I did remember all the good
things that happened while at the Mission. I remembered
laughing, skating, sleeping in a nice safe bed and a full stomach.
It was revealed to me that I was very fortunate to have been
taught about Wakonda Zinga, (Little God) in our language.
Once, because of my behavior at the Mission I was shaved bald
headed. After I left the mission I never cut my hair and always
grew it long. Only after dealing with this in the Sweat I was able
to go to the barber and get fully assimilated.
So, as of today, I’ve been to church a few times and even took
my grandson with me. After all these years I’ve accepted Jesus
Christ back into my life. Thank you Father Dave.
An Alumni Perspective: Pierre Merrick
St. Augustine Indian Mission
C e l e b r at i n g 1 0 6 y e a r s o f E d u c at i o n , T r a d i t i o n a n d Fa i t h
Message From The Principal
Greetings Friends:
It is hard to believe that we are in
the fourth quarter of our school year
already. It seems like just yesterday that
snow covered the ground and we were
celebrating Christmas. When I think
of the spring, I think of the warmer
temperatures, green grass and blooming flowers. I also
begin to think about the great group of young people that
will soon be graduating. Many of the young people in our
graduating class have been with us since kindergarten
and it is always a little sad to see them leave but at the
same time we are filled with hope for the things they will
accomplish in their lives.
I recently had the opportunity to visit with some of our
previous graduates about what they are doing and I am
excited to report that we have alumni who are tribal
leaders, educators, business men and women, law
enforcement personnel, athletic trainers, and medical
professionals. We also have artists including video
production professionals, sculptors and painters.
I just wanted to share how proud I am of all our graduates
and the ways they are contributing to their communities
and say thank you to all of you for continuing to make it
possible for our young people to get a solid foundation on
which to build their lives.
Catholic Schools Week Celebrated at St. Augustine Mission
In the past several months we have had many reasons
to celebrate as a school. In January and February we
celebrated Catholic Schools Week with the rest of the rest
of the Catholic schools across the country. During the
week, students participated in service activities across
the community and collected food for our local pantry.
The students also took extra time to pray for one another
and our benefactors. The
students and teachers had
fun too while celebrating by
dressing up with different
themes including dressing
like Disney characters and
wearing neon colors. The
Missionary
Benedictine
Sisters also joined in the
fun and wore neon colored
wigs on top of their habits.
We also celebrated the
100th day of school be
dressing up like “100
year olds” and Dr. Seuss’
birthday by dressing like
Dr. Seuss characters and
having a school wide free
reading celebration with
students taking time to
read to each other.
We also took time to celebrate one of the days that make
St. Augustine’s extra special. We took the time to celebrate
the feast day of St. Katharine Drexel with Archbishop
George Lucas. Archbishop Lucas traveled to Winnebago
and celebrated Mass with the students sharing with them
the story of St. Katharine and how blessed they were
to be able to celebrate such an incredible saint as their
foundress.
St. A u g u s t i n e I n d i a n M i s s i o n B o a r d o f A d v i s o r s
Rev. David Korth • Rev. Dan Wittrock • Dave Baumert • James Bausch • Anne Burnett • Steve Burroughs
Robert Cox • Jason Hince • Steve Knolla • Darla LaPointe* • Nate Merrick* • Joan Neuhaus • Ryan Schroer • Dr. Barbara Schweiger
Terry Sibbernsen • Sarah Snake* • Kellie Snow* • Justin Vossen • Leon Weiland
*denotes tribal representative
How to contact us at the Saint Augustine Indian Mission:
www.staugustinemission.org
St. Augustine Indian Mission
PO Box GG, 1 Mission Road South, Winnebago, NE 68071• (402)-878-2402