The Remembering the Children Memorial is a community-led initiative in Rapid City, South Dakota, dedicated to honoring the children who were taken from their families and placed at the Rapid City Indian Boarding School between 1898 and 1933. Many of these children never returned home, and their stories remain largely absent from mainstream narratives, including local history. The Memorial represents a historic act of acknowledgment, healing, and justice, situated on land directly tied to the dispossession of Indigenous children and families.
Developed through years of grassroots advocacy, tribal partnership, and civic collaboration, the Memorial is designed as both a reverent space for reflection and a public educational site. Its purpose is twofold: to honor the lives of the children who were lost or impacted by the boarding school system, and to ensure future generations understand the broader history of Indigenous dispossession, resilience, and survival. Key elements of the project include interpretive panels, public art, and gathering spaces that elevate Indigenous voices and provide opportunities for cultural learning, ceremony, and dialogue.
The construction of the Memorial has also served as a process of community healing. Indigenous leaders, descendants, civic partners, and allies have worked together to confront a painful legacy while building new pathways of understanding and cooperation. By centering Indigenous leadership and storytelling the project seeks not only to restore memory and dignity to the children but also to strengthen the community. The project aims to strengthen the community by restoring memory and dignity to the children, with a focus on Indigenous leadership and storytelling.
Remembering the Children is among the first Indigenous-led public art and memorial site in western South Dakota and is meant to serve as a powerful symbol of remembrance and responsibility. The site itself stands as a testament to the resilience of Indigenous people, the power of truth-telling, and the ongoing work of reconciliation, providing a space where healing, education, and justice converge.
About Amy:
Amy Sazue (Sicangu/Oglala Lakota) is the Executive Director of the Remembering the Children Memorial in Rapid City, South Dakota, where she leads efforts to honor the children of the Rapid City Indian Boarding School and advance community healing. She brings nearly two decades of experience in Native-led nonprofit leadership, with a focus on Indigenous youth, education equity, and systemic reform. Amy holds multiple degrees in education, a Certified Fund Raising Manager (CFRM) credential from the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, and is pursuing a Master’s in Nonprofit Management and Leadership. She also serves on several civic and organizational boards, grounding her professional work in personal commitment, cultural identity, and community accountability.
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