St. Labre Indian Catholic High School

The founding of St. Labre Indian School in 1884 was one of the first efforts to care for Native Americans who had been displaced as a result of homesteading. George Yoakum, a former soldier who had been stationed near Miles City, Montana, recognized the hard times experienced by the Northern Cheyenne. He contacted John Brondel, Bishop of Helena, and told him of Indian people who were roaming the Tongue River Valley without homes or land—a reservation had not yet been set aside as their land. Land was purchased by the Bishop, and on March 29, 1884, St. Labre Indian School, named for St. Benedict Joseph Labre, became a reality.[1]

The school has an unrated profile on Charity Navigator (https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.profile&ein=810244542) and has found itself the subject of litigation (brought against it by the Northern Cheyenne Tribe). The Northern Cheyenne Tribe questions the school's use of millions of dollars while in service to a limited number of actual tribe members (http://citizensalliance.org/charities). The Tribal Council settled litigation with St. Labre School for annual payments of $65,000 from the school, which members of the tribe have claimed the Tribal Council misappropriated. There have been demonstrations and protests by Northern Cheyenne Tribe members against its Tribal Council. (https://missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/northern-cheyenne-protesters-say-council-mishandled-million-settlement-with-st/article_63f3388b-ed7c-5bc1-b262-e59d347ba794.html)

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