The Red Shirt Project

For two weeks late in the summer of 2005, nine students from the S.E.A. Charter School (Montebello, East Los Angeles, Norwalk, South Gate, and Hollywood sites) joined S.E.A. Program Coordinator Martin Bautista to visit the village of Red Shirt on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. The trip was organized by The Reverend Robert Two Bulls, Program Officer for Native American Ministries and Michael Cunningham, Missioner for Administration and Mission Congregations of the Los Angeles Episcopal Diocese. The people who went all worked on various projects that benefited the people of the village, and more importantly, the people who made the journey.  This project is primarily concerned with the positive effects that living in community as a multi-cultural group and serving our brothers and sisters, regardless of race, origin, economic circumstance or background has on those who serve and those who are served.  According to Mr. Bautista, our students were greatly affected by the trip: “What amazed me most is how their mentality changed.  They went there thinking they were the ones who had it bad, then they saw how the native Americans were living in such poverty without running water and many of the bare essentials of life.  For the first time in their lives, they were in the position of giving help. Instead of looking for role models, they became role models for the young Native Americans they worked with.”