Great Falls Public Schools is asking for the community’s help after thieves stole canvas coverings from two school lodges earlier this week, leaving students without a key cultural learning tool. The theft happened between 2:00 and 2:20 a.m. on Monday, September 29, at Chief Joseph and Loy elementary schools. Surveillance footage shows two people removing the coverings, though both concealed their identities.
VIDEO OF THE THEFTS:
The stolen canvases are stamped “Property of Great Falls Public Schools.” Each cover costs about $1,000, and a full lodge set, including poles, ropes, and stakes, runs as high as $1,600. Still, district officials stress that the theft is far more than a financial hit.
Dugan Coburn, director of Indigenous Education for GFPS, says, “Two of our lodges were stolen, and it denies the kids at those schools the opportunity to learn more about Indigenous people. We’re asking the public to help us track those down and get them returned.”
Aneesa Coomer reports - watch:
Great Falls Public Schools maintains 20 lodges across its schools including at their early learning facility. Teachers use them for reading circles, storytelling, art projects, and English lessons, while also teaching culture like how to enter a lodge and how it is built. The district began expanding lodge use a decade ago, and in the past six years, has ensured every school has one.
The lodges are also incorporated into lessons on history and culture. Students learn about the different stories tribes tell about how lodges were given, the materials used to build them, and the significance of items like buffalo hides and lodge poles. Teachers sometimes bring in buffalo robes so students can sit on them inside the lodges, creating a tactile experience of traditional life.
Coburn says the lodges connect today’s students to a deep cultural history, saying, “It was the home, it was where families would meet, where education happened. Sharing that knowledge with our modern kids connects them back to their heritage.”
One in six GFPS students identifies as Native American, representing more than 75 tribes. More than 1,650 Indigenous students are enrolled across the district. Montana state law requires all public schools to teach about the state’s 12 tribes, and Coburn says the lodges are a crucial tool in that effort.
“These are a teaching tool. They show culture. They benefit every student in our community, and they’re an important reminder that this is Indigenous land,” Coburn said.
The theft comes at a busy time for the district’s Indigenous Education Department. On October 13, schools will mark Montana’s first official Indigenous Peoples Day, with four days of activities including guest speakers and cultural events.
Later in October, more than 800 fourth graders will take part in an Indian Games Day at Great Falls College MSU. The district is also preparing for its first fall powwow on November 22, coinciding with Native American Heritage Month.
Despite the incident, Coburn says Indigenous education is making progress. Graduation rates for Native American students in Great Falls have steadily climbed, from just 5 percent three decades ago to 70 percent today.
Anyone with information about the missing lodge canvases is asked to contact School Resource Officer Stadel at 406-268-6517, send a private message to GFPS, or submit an anonymous tip through P3TIPS.com.
School leaders say bringing the stolen canvases back would restore more than fabric, it would restore a key link between students and Indigenous culture.
