Museum Of The Rockies To Feature Local History

Wolf Point High School’s Isabelle Crawford told the

Northern Plains Independent

that her grandmother’s lesson book from the Carlisle Indian Boarding School will be part of a new American Indian section at the Museum of the Rockies opening in spring of 2024.

Crawford said the lesson book, previously displayed at WPHS, dates to the early 1900s with entries by her great-great grandmother, Josephine Janese. Janese made her entries by hand in the lesson book at Carlisle prior to 1902.

Crawford said having the book on display at the school for the past year has been a good opportunity for students to interact with the item physically.

Janese was born in Pine Ridge, S.D., in 1879, three years after the Battle of the Little Bighorn and she was the niece of Oglala Lakota Chief Red Cloud. She was around 12 years old when the Wounded Knee Massacre happened, killing many of her relatives. According to the family, Janese hid in an unheated basement during a blizzard for three days after the slaughter was over.

Crawford, who credits WPHS Native American studies teacher Tressa Welch with helping to bring the lesson book to the public, stressed her grandmother’s emphasis on education.

“She often said to my family, ‘you can’t beat the white man without an education,’” said Crawford.

For more information about the upcoming installation, call 406-994-2251 or visit museumoftherockies.org.