A Native American history scholar said Indigenous boarding schools run by the Catholic Church in Oklahoma were uniquely different from their counterparts in other parts of the country.
That’s because the schools were often embedded in Native American communities and not far away from the students’ families like similar schools in places like South Dakota and other states. Bryan Rindfleisch with Marquette University said such information will be incorporated into a new book as a result of research he conducted for the Oklahoma Catholic Native Schools Project.
“What happens in Oklahoma because it’s Indian Territory is that there’s a relationship or leverage that Native communities exercise over these schools that you don’t see in all of these other boarding schools because they’re usually away from reservations — off the beaten path,” Rindfleisch said.
Rindfleisch was hired by the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, Tulsa Diocese and St. Gregory’s Abbey to conduct the research as part of the Native Schools project launched by the faith groups in fall 2021. Along with Rindfleisch’s scholarly research, the project has included listening sessions held at various churches around the state and the collection of the oral histories of Native Americans who attended the boarding schools and their descendants.