American Indian School Fundraising Draws Criticism

CHAMBERLAIN, S.D. (AP) — St. Joseph's Indian School in the southeastern South Dakota town of Chamberlain is catching more flak than dreams with a fundraising effort using dream catchers.

The issue is that the dream catchers are made in China.

Dream catchers are an item of Lakota culture. The webbed hoops are made to filter dreams — trapping bad ones and allowing good ones to pass through.

The Capital Journal reports that retired art teacher Robert Blunk has questioned why the school doesn't have its Lakota students make the dream catchers.

The school says that's not practical. The school is funded fully through donations, and sends out 3-4 million mailings with dream catchers each year.

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