RAPID CITY, S.D. – Hundreds turned out for today’s (October 10) Remembering The Children Memorial Walk events.
The fifth annual event included an opening program at the Sioux Park flower gardens and included remarks from family members, a greeting and proclamation from Mayor Steve Allender, traditional prayer and the reading of names of the children who died at the Rapid City Indian Boarding School.
In his remarks, Mayor Allender indicated the proclamation honoring the grandmothers who have carried the history of what happened at the Boarding School and honoring the memories of the children lost, is one of the most important proclamations he delivers each year.
One of the major events included the Memorial Walk, paying tribute to the children who died while attending the Rapid City Indian Boarding School from 1898-1933.
The walkers marched from the Sioux Park flower gardens to the area west of the football field of West Middle School and by Canyon Lake Methodist Church. Council members Laura Armstrong and Bill Evans were among the walkers, joining tribal officials, members of the Rapid City community and tribal communities, elders, board school survivors and families and descendants of the Boarding School children.
After the Walk, participants gathered in the field west of Rapid City West Middle School and near the site of the Remember the Children Memorial site.
Construction for the memorial is expected to begin this fall with completion in May of 2024.
At the site, children who died while attending the Boarding School were remembered.
Stories were shared by family members and participants shared in a traditional meal among other activities.
