PORCUPINE, S.D. – Two new school buildings on the Pine Ridge Reservation is almost too good to be true, but in two years the Porcupine Day School will have a new facility designed with culture in mind and built for efficiency and safety. It will compliment a new school building that was recently dedicated at Red Shirt, northwest of Porcupine on Pine Ridge.
The Porcupine school is a BIA facility; the Red Shirt School is part of the Shannon County School District.
The request for a new kindergarten through eighth-grade school at Porcupine has been on the BIA new construction list for years. It took congressional intervention, along with the dedication of the Porcupine school board, to bring the school to reality. The ground was recently blessed and turned to begin the construction.
“In my lifetime I’m happy to see something good for the children,” said elder Isaac White Face at the ground blessing ceremony. White Face is the oldest male in the community.
“We always talk about the children, and this new school is coming to a reality. This is the first step in their lives,” White Face said.
White Face graduated from Porcupine in 1942, a time when Lakota was not allowed to be spoken in schools. He said the only two phrases he knew in English were “good morning” and “goodbye.”
Financing the school took an effort from the South Dakota congressional delegation, which at that time included former Sen. Tom Daschle. But once Congress approved the expenditure, the process moved quickly due to the dedication of the school board and congressional staff support of the school administration.
“When Congress appropriated funds for the grant process, the funding for this school was done in record time,” said Emerson Eskeets, chief of the Division of Program Planning and Implementation for the BIA.
The architectural design was awarded to Encompass Architects P.C., an American Indian-owned firm from Lincoln, Neb. “The design was finished in record time,” Eskeets said.
Owner Tammy Eagle Bull is from the Porcupine District of the Pine Ridge Reservation. Encompass was one of six firms that bid on the contract. Five of the firms were American Indian-owned.
“[Eagle Bull] showed leadership,” said Paul Iron Cloud, president of the Porcupine school board.
“It makes me feel good that we have someone from this district.”
Eagle Bull said her firm sought input from the students to determine what design or amenities the facility should have and what it should look like. She said the basic design brings together a culturally historic foundation into a modern world.
The school design will use the family, or tiospaye, approach to learning, with four pods or family houses that will be used as classrooms and gathering locations. The family houses will include flex-classrooms that may resemble a living room.
The lighting of the media center will resemble a dream catcher, the floor of the dining room will be painted with the image of a star quilt, and murals and hallways will display cultural objects and images.
Outside the building will be a natural playground with trees and rocks. A large outdoor cement slab will lend itself to chalk art. The outdoors will also be a learning center including butterfly gardens and an area that will attract birds. Special gardens will grow cultural herbs and other plants, and the design will also include a campfire pit.
“The idea is to stimulate the senses: taste, touch, see, hear, and smell,” Eagle Bull said.
“It will provide an interaction with nature, and there will be activities to challenge themselves athletically,” she said.
The 70,000-square-foot building will be energy-efficient. Natural light will be able to enter and one light source will highlight a mural located in the center of the building.
Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., joined the efforts for Porcupine Day School after he replaced Sen. Daschle. Thune was present at the dedication for Porcupine Day School.
Thune said his wife visited the school during his 2002 campaign and she recognized the need for a new building.
In a message to the community, Thune said, “Make learning a priority.
“We all want the same thing for our children – get them educated. It is a community’s responsibility.
“There is a lot of potential in this room. If you like sports, give it your best; if academics, give it your best.
“Education equalizes that playing field,” Thune said.
Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., and Rep. Stephanie Herseth, D-S.D., sent staff members and letters.
Herseth visited the school last spring with Rep. George Miller, D-Calif. Iron Cloud said that visit was very touching: “It was an honor to have her here,” Iron Cloud said.
The Porcupine Day School provides a culturally based curriculum and, like most schools on the reservation, has a language program.
“We talk about education: it is a weapon for our future livelihood,” said White Face.
“In the tipi days the boys were taught by their fathers and grandfathers, and the girls by their mothers and grandmothers. Today, you [students] have teachers and all the employees here are patient with the children. We show we are interested in the children’s education,” White Face said.
