A tragic history

By Amy Dalrymple | Editor

By Amelia Schafer, ICT

A 2022 federal report on federal involvement in Indian Boarding Schools sent shockwaves through Native communities across the country, including Milwaukee where the history was all but lost.

“There was a collective and audible reaction,” said Mark Denning, who is Oneida, Menominee and Stockbridge-Munsee. “I had never ever heard of a boarding school … in this community.”

Three miles northwest of downtown Milwaukee, a Catholic-run reformatory school called Good Shepherd Industrial School served as a federally funded Indian Boarding School.

Researchers made a disturbing finding: the school owned a plot in the historic Calvary Cemetery in Milwaukee dedicated to the “Indian girls” of Good Shepherd but a majority of graves are unmarked or possess non-descriptive markers.

Now, an ICT investigation has revealed the graves of 14 students who died while attending Good Shepherd from 1884-1891. Those students – all girls – are buried in the Calvary Cemetery. The ICT research further reveals that at least 11 of the 14 deceased students came from the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians.

By Shauneen Miranda

Dozens of President Donald Trump’s nominees remain held up amid Sen. Kevin Cramer’s outrage over a Biden-era rule dealing with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wetland easements that Cramer says harm his state’s property owners.

Those nominees on hold include Kari Lake, the 2024 Republican nominee for a U.S. Senate seat in Arizona, as ambassador to Jamaica and Sean Kaufman to serve as assistant secretary for preparedness and response for the Department of Health and Human Services, among others.

Aside from Keith Sonderling for Labor secretary, Cramer — generally a stalwart Trump ally — has only allowed Chris Klomp’s nomination to serve as deputy secretary of HHS to move forward.

“No other holds have been lifted, because my landowners need results, not commitments,” Cramer said in a statement.

By Michael Achterling

Gov. Kelly Armstrong presented Theodore Roosevelt Rough Rider Awards Thursday to two of North Dakota’s most acclaimed wrestlers and coaches.

Terry and Troy Steiner, twin brothers born and raised in Bismarck, received the awards for their individual wrestling achievements and their work as coaches and ambassadors for the sport over the past 40 years, according to the Governor’s Office.

“Troy and Terry have carved a place for themselves in the pantheon of wrestling greatness,” Armstrong said during a ceremony at the Capitol. “As coaches and ambassadors, their impact and influence on the sport of wrestling cannot be measured. They have inspired countless men and women to pursue the sport of wrestling.”

During the ceremony, the brothers announced the establishment of the Steiner Rough Rider Foundation to help under-resourced young people in the state “move forward through sport.”

Three Republican Party officials this week filed a petition to the North Dakota Supreme Court challenging the eligibility of four legislative candidates.

Reporter Jack Dura joins host Craig Blumenshine to talk about the arguments in the court case and the secretary of state’s position.

Also, Monitor deputy editor Jeff Beach talks about the power demand for a proposed Cass County data center, and editor Amy Dalrymple describes the Monitor’s Voter Guide.

A Closer Look with the Monitor is a partnership with Prairie Public's Main Street.

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