In a historic moment, the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration have completed the first known land transfer nationwide from a Catholic institution to a tribal nation in the name of reparations.
The move is an attempt to repair and reckon with the painful legacy of colonialism and federal Indian boarding schools, where many Native American children were forcibly removed from their homes and forced to assimilate. Nearly 1,000 tribal youth died at those schools, including children from Lac du Flambeau and other tribes in Wisconsin.
In a ceremony Friday, the Catholic order marked the transfer of its Marywood Franciscan Spirituality Center in Arbor Vitae to the Lac du Flambeau tribe. The Band purchased the property from the Franciscan Sisters for $30,000, which is the original price the sisters paid when they acquired the land in 1966.
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“This return represents more than the restoration of land — it is the restoration of balance, dignity, and our sacred connection to the places our ancestors once walked,” Lac du Flambeau Tribal John D. Johnson, Sr. said in a statement.
“The Franciscan Sisters’ act of generosity and courage stands as an example of what true healing and partnership can look like,” Johnson continued. “We are proud to welcome Marywood home, to ensure it continues to serve future generations of the Lac du Flambeau people.”
Sister Sue Ernster, president of the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, said it became clear in the last several years that they were no longer stewards of the land and that the property should be returned to its original caretakers.
“We do see this as the beginning of deepening the relationship and really helping to heal our part of the trauma,” Ernster told WPR.
The Franciscan Sisters first purchased the land from the McAllister Resort owned by Clara Baughman. Spanning just under two acres, the property hosts six buildings that include a main office, lodge and four cabins. The property long served as the provincial or regional headquarters for nearly 300 sisters until it became a full-time spirituality center in 1992, hosting guests for retreat and spiritual renewal.
While the property was never a boarding school, the Franciscan Sisters ran St. Mary’s Indian Boarding School on the Bad River reservation, which operated from 1883 until 1969. On the Lac du Flambeau reservation, tribal youth faced physical and verbal abuse for speaking the Ojibwe language at a state-run boarding school operated there from 1895 until 1935, according to Native News Online.
Bishop James P. Powers of the Catholic Diocese of Superior said in a statement that the transfer is a “tangible act of justice and reconciliation.”
“Following in the spirit of Pope Francis’s own commitment toward repentance, we pray this action will help build on a future of mutual respect and trusted relationships with the Lac du Flambeau Tribe, acknowledging their connection to this land,” Powers said.
The Franciscan Sisters worked with the nonprofit group Land Justice Futures, which helps religious landowners with land transitions with racial and ecological justice in mind. Brittany Koteles, co-founder and director of Land Justice Futures, said the group started working with the sisters three years ago on their reckoning with the boarding school legacy.
“This is the first time that we’ve seen any order of Catholic Sisters return land to an Indigenous nation, and it’s the first time we’ve seen Catholic land return in the name of healing and repair for boarding schools,” Koteles said.
Koteles said she was only aware of one other land transfer by the Jesuits, which returned more than 500 acres to the Rosebud Sioux Tribe. The land had been held by the Jesuit-run St. Francis Mission, according to news outlet ICT, formerly Indian Country Today.
The property could be used as housing for tribal employees or a community center.
“We don’t necessarily have a plan for it right now, but we do have a lot of great ideas that kind of focus around these aspects and growing the property,” Zach Allen, marketing manager with the Lac du Flambeau Business Development Corporation, said.
Araia Breedlove, a spokesperson for the tribe, said the groups had been working on the land transfer since late 2023. Breedlove said the transaction was accomplished with “respect and kindness.”
“I’m a big fan of Sister Sue and all of them for their kindness and their willingness to acknowledge the trauma that happened here on our reservation,” Breedlove said.
WPR’s Robin Washington contributed reporting to this story.
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