Native American Day was observed as a day off of school as usual for many Sioux Falls School District students, but several student groups took the Monday off as an opportunity to celebrate their culture and identity in the seventh annual Native American Day Parade.
Sioux Falls’ Garfield, Laura Wilder, Rosa Parks, Terry Redlin elementary schools; Edison, George McGovern, Memorial and Whittier middle schools; and, Lincoln, Roosevelt and Washington high schools, all had a visible presence in the parade.
Here’s what the event meant to students at those schools.
Parade helps students ‘feel respected,’ seen
Shalita Bartlett and her son Jaxon Bartlett, a 10-year-old student at Laura Wilder Elementary School, have come to watch the parade every year and were excited to share their pride and culture as members of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe in the parade this year for the first time. Jaxon said he was glad to carry the flag, and has liked getting to learn more Lakota words and numbers at school.
Rhayn Medrano, a 10-year-old student at Rosa Parks Elementary School and daughter of Dawn Marie Johnson, the first Indigenous woman on the Sioux Falls school board, said it felt good to walk in the parade with her Indigenous peers.
Medrano said she’s had the opportunity to teach her classmates at Rosa Parks about the significance of her jingle dress and ribbon skirt before. She said she loves the traditions of her culture, and walking in the parade reminded her of eating traditional foods and hanging out with her friends and family.
Adrianna Miller, an eighth grader at Whittier Middle School, and Mianna Mousseaux, a seventh grader at Whittier Middle School, carried the sign for their school’s Očéti Šakówiŋ Owauŋspe group together. OSO is a program in the district that connects Native American students to their culture in school.
Miller said it makes her “feel respected in some type of way to be able to walk in something like this.” She wore a shawl made by her mother to commemorate the epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous women (MMIW). Mousseaux said she was happy to hand out candy in the parade and liked supporting her culture.
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Washington High School’s Okichiyapi Club has participated in the parade each year since it began in 2018. Club member and WHS senior Rosalia Szameit, who is Oglala Lakota, said it was really cool to see everyone coming together to celebrate Native American Day. She said she was also proud to see lots of her current and former teachers watching the parade.
Szameit wore a jingle dress made by her mother, and jewelry she made herself. She explained that the jingle dance is healing, and as she dances, she is praying for people and wafting prayers up to the Creator. She’s been dancing since she was a baby, and it’s really important to her.
Szameit and some of her peers organized another walkout Thursday last week in recognition of MMIW, but she said there wasn’t as large of a crowd in the walkout as there was last year. She said it’s important to talk about bringing awareness to the MMIW epidemic, and to remember “we care about them, too.”
More: Washington High student walkout calls attention to missing, murdered Indigenous women
Students from multiple other schools around the state walked in the parade this year, too, including Marty Indian School, St. Joseph’s Indian School and student groups from the Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps from Lower Brule.
Why the ‘Seven Generations’ theme is significant
Monday morning being the seventh parade was significant, as the No. 7 is sacred to Očéti Šakówiŋ Oyate (Seven Council Fires), referred to by settlers as the “Great Sioux Nation.” This year’s overarching theme was “Seven Generations,” recognizing what’s done today affects the next seven generations.
Očéti means council fire, Šakówiŋ is the No. 7, and Oyate means the people/tribe/nation, according to the West River Eagle. The seven nations that make up the Očéti Šakówiŋ Oyate are Lakota, Santee, Wahpeton, Wahpekute, Sisseton, Lower Yanktonai and Upper Yanktonai.
Photos: The first Sioux Falls Native American Day Parade in 2018
The day’s events included a 9 a.m. prayer at Lyon Park, fun run at 10:45 a.m., the parade down Phillips Avenue starting at 11 a.m., food at the Multicultural Center at noon, and a social wacipi at 1 p.m. at Falls Park starting.
This year’s grand marshal was Ellen Medicine Horn of the Ihanktonwan Nation. Medicine Horn served on the board of the Sioux Falls School District Office of Indian Education for many years. Previous grand marshals were Opal Stars in 2023, Barb Jens in 2022, Reid Wendel in 2021, Theresa Henry in 2020, Karla Abbott in 2019 and Tim Giago in 2018. Parades in 2020 and 2021 were canceled, or celebrated remotely, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
More: Native American Day Parade makes comeback to Sioux Falls after 2-year hiatus
This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Sioux Falls Indigenous students walk in Native American Day Parade
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