Sioux

1920 · réf. 12734 — Fort Thompson SD 1920. Albumen photograph 7.5 x 9.75 inches on a slightly larger plain mount manuscript title at bottom right "Fort Tompson sic S.D. Indian School." Some staining surface wear and edge wear bottom left corner a bit chipped mount worn at corners. Notations in marker and pen in verso reading "Ft. Tompson sic Indian School D OKonnor Collection" and "Dixie O'Connor Collection." Good condition. A striking group photograph featuring the students and teachers of the Fort Thompson Indian School more commonly known as the Crow Creek Tribal School in the early-20th century. The image shows about 120 students arranged in three rows split almost evenly into two groups with half the students dressed in black on the left and the other half of the students dressed in white at right. Between the students are over a dozen teachers and staff members. All of the students faculty and staff are posed in front of a large three-story brick building. The indigenous school at Fort Thompson was started in the late-1880s by Father Pierre DeSmet. The school remains open today serving the population of Crow Creek Sioux on their reservation on the east bank of the Missouri River in central South Dakota. The present photograph remains a stark visual reminder of the U.S. government's assimilationist activities among Native Americans over the past two centuries. unknown