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MEMORIAL DESIGN
The government took our children – to force them to forget who they were
This memorial is for them – so they know we never forgot who they are
This memorial is for us – so we never forget what they did
* * * Remembering the Children * * *
This memorial and its design has been a collaborative process over many years. Input was gathered for the memorial from the families of the deceased, descendants of the survivors, THPOs, community members, tribal leaders, elders, and spiritual advisers for this simple and beautiful design. The design is meant to leave a light footprint on the land and regenerative practices regarding Indigenous plants and medicines are included.
The Remembering the Children Memorial is a community-led initiative to honor the lives of at least 50 children who died at the Rapid City Indian School (1898–1933) and whose stories were nearly erased from public memory. Located on approximately 24 acres of tribal trust land in western South Dakota, the Memorial is designed as a sacred and educational site rooted in Lakota values. It includes walking trails, food and medicine gardens, public art space, a storytelling space, and areas for ceremony and reflection, all created with ongoing community input and guided by Indigenous leadership, including collaboration with the Cheyenne River, Rosebud, and Oglala Sioux Tribes.
The Memorial addresses the lasting trauma of the federal boarding school system and serves as a place for truth-telling, healing, and reconciliation. It centers oral history, art, land, and place-based education as tools to foster understanding between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities. As the first Indigenous-owned public art space in the region, it is a transformative response to historical injustice, reconnecting community with memory and land while building a foundation for generational healing and a more truthful public narrative.
DESIGN ELEMENTS DESCRIPTIONS
Boulders with the Names of each Child: An individual boulder will be engraved with the name of each of the over fifty (50) children that passed away at the Rapid City Indian Boarding School (that have been identified thus far). The boulders are symbolic as rocks (inyan) are sacred in Lakota culture, they represent the “grandfathers” and are central in the inipi/sweat lodge cleansing ceremony. By using individual boulders, we will also be able to add more children as more of the names are identified in the future. Each boulder will be placed alongside the walking path at the top of the memorial. These boulders honor the lives of the children that were lost and the graves that were not found.
Traditional Foods & Medicines Landscaping:The “landscaping” will entail reintroducing traditional foods and medicines throughout the memorial including covering the hill, so that the land provides prayer and nourishment available for all. The hope is to cultivate indigenous plants such as chokecherries, buffalo berries, currants, wild plums, timpsila, sage, mullein, bergamot, yarrow, prairie rose, and cheyaka, etc.
Prayer Path: An unpaved pebble covered walking path will be the primary access to the scaffolds and the children’s burials at the top of the hill. With the challenging slope of the site the walk is intended to be a purposeful and intentional journey of reflection and prayer on the way to the burials.
Story Boards: Along the walking prayer path a series of story boards shall be placed that share the history of Native Americans in Rapid City, the Rapid City Indian Boarding School, the students and their families, and the Sioux Sanatorium.
Reflection Benches: Placed periodically along the walking path to provide rest and reflection.
Beverly Stabber Warne "Hante Win" Memorial Plaza: This area is where most people will meet and congregate when arriving at the site. The plaza will be paved in the colors of the four directions. While standing here visitors will feel a sense of awareness as they view the nearby memorial wall.
We were heartbroken at the news in April 2024 of Unci Bev Warne's passing from this world and extended our condolences to her family, friends, and all those that knew her and loved her. She was foundational in the design, planning, and construction of the Remembering the Children Memorial and we are honored to carry on this work in her memory.
We would like to share that the plaza of the Remembering the Children Memorial will be named the "Beverly Stabber Warne Memorial Plaza" in honor of her contributions to this project and the Mni Luzahan community. When asked if she approved of this, she smiled with tears in her eyes, and said yes. The plaza will be a place to bring people together and learn about the history of our community and the impact that history has on the present day. It is everything she represents to the project and the community. She was an avid advocate of community relations and the Mni Luzahan community was a better place because of her.
