Cante Sica [shan-tay she-cha]
Lakota expression, literally “heart bad”; refers to a person’s devastating sorrow
History
Beginning in the late nineteenth century, the American government instituted a system of boarding schools with the goal of indigenous cultural and linguistic erasure. Over nearly a century, these schools removed children from their families and suppressed the already threatened cultural identities of Native Americans.
Who We Are
The Cante Sica Foundation’s mission is to create opportunities for healing, understanding and reconciliation around the legacy of the Native American boarding school system, the U.S. Government’s policy of forced assimilation of indigenous peoples between 1879 and 1975.
What We Do
Visual History Collecting
Visual History Archive
Visual History Curriculum
The Cante Sica Foundation is a 501c3 foundation whose purpose is to implement the Boarding School Stories visual history project. The Cante Sica Foundation also develops content and shares resources for related artistic projects including museum exhibitions, documentary films, books, and theater projects. This project was made possible with support from California Humanities, a non-profit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities, Vision Maker Media, and the Kalliopeia Foundation.
Contact us at info@cantesica.org