MCLAUGHLIN, S.D. 鈥 Naomi Johnson was devastated, she said, when she saw what her girls were carrying off the bus that transported them home to the Standing Rock Indian Reservation from the Flandreau Indian School: 鈥渂ig bags of medicine.鈥澨
鈥淲hen I seen those pills, I cried,鈥 Johnson said.听鈥淚 really cried. I said, 'Why are they doping up our children like this? Why do they deserve to do this?' I said, 'It's not back in the 18th century.'鈥澨
It was the start of Christmas break during the 2023-2024 school year, Johnson said, and she was shocked by the amount of medications her granddaughter and niece had been prescribed while at the school, without, she said, her knowledge or consent 鈥 and under threat of punishment.
Other parents and guardians also told Lee Enterprises that they were surprised and concerned when they discovered their children had been prescribed medications, including psychotropics, while attending Flandreau, which is one of just federally operated off-reservation boarding schools for Native American students.
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Former staff members corroborated these claims, saying they were aware of students who were medicated without their guardians鈥 consent.
The Flandreau Indian School Student and Parent handbook explicitly states, "Failure to take prescribed medication is a Health and Safety issue and can result in FIS disciplinary action.鈥
But concerns about the -operated boarding school鈥檚 medication policies are not limited to claims about a lack of parental and guardian consent.听
In interviews for this series, former students, guardians and staff claimed that students were punished for not taking prescribed medications and that staff administered medications to students without receiving training.听
These are issues that the BIE has known about since the fall of 2023, when a parent filed a lengthy complaint with the federal government. But it remains unclear what actions, if any, the bureau has taken in response.听
鈥楴o protocols鈥
Richard Hockett worked in various roles, including as a teacher and as home-living director, at Flandreau over a 22-year career that ended with his retirement in 2023. During that time, he said he knew of numerous guardians who hadn鈥檛 been informed that their children had been medicated while attending the school.听
He said there were 鈥渘o protocols鈥 that directed staff to inform parents of a change in medication. As a result, Hockett said, 鈥渘obody鈥 was doing it.听
鈥淭he nurse was not. The dorm staff managers were not. That was not part of their job description,鈥 Hockett said.听
Sometimes, Hockett said, guardians came to school to attend a meeting about special-education services for their child and 鈥渨ould find out that they had been put on Adderall for ADHD.鈥澨
鈥淪ome of the parents said, 'I was not even aware of this. I was not informed of it. I don't agree with it,鈥欌 Hockett said.听
Hockett said school officials would 鈥減ush鈥 the responsibility for contacting parents about medication changes onto the Indian Health Service or the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribal Health Center, where Flandreau Indian School students receive health services.听
This happened, Hockett said, despite the fact that through what's known as an听in loco parentis provision the school was 鈥渟tepping in as authority for the parent while the students were on campus.鈥澨
Cynthia R. Jacobs, chief executive officer of the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribal Health Center, did not answer a list of questions about whether clinic staff properly medicate Flandreau Indian School students, including whether clinic staff contacted the parent and guardians to obtain written or verbal consent before prescribing medications to FIS students.听
鈥淲e cannot share protected health information about students or comment on BIE policies,鈥 Jacobs wrote.
An Indian Health Service public affairs officer responded similarly, saying they 鈥渃annot comment on the processes and procedures used at this site鈥 and referring questions to the BIE.听
A BIE spokesperson, however, placed primary responsibility for obtaining guardian consent on prescribing providers like the clinic, who 鈥渕ust contact the parent or guardian.鈥澨
鈥淭he staff at Flandreau Indian School rely on the prescribing provider to communicate with the parent or guardian to secure consent for prescription medication,鈥 the bureau spokesperson added in an emailed response to questions. 鈥淚f the provider cannot reach the parent or guardian, FIS will attempt to connect the parent or guardian with the provider.鈥澨
Rogene Crawford, who worked at Flandreau from 1999 until 2022 as an academic secretary and as a staffer in the girls鈥 dormitory, said 鈥渁 lot of鈥 students were 鈥減ut on meds鈥 shortly after counseling sessions.
鈥淭hey would immediately be put on meds as soon as they鈥檇 get there,鈥 said Crawford. 鈥淭hey鈥檇 set up appointments through (Indian Health Service), and they would claim that they were depressed 鈥榗ause of their home life. But not all of the kids have a bad home life.鈥澨
Crawford acknowledged that she has not trained as a counselor and doesn鈥檛 鈥渒now what they look for鈥 to diagnose mental-health disorders, but after working at the school for almost her entire adult life, she was concerned by how many students were being medicated 鈥 and she wondered why.听
鈥淚 would hand out meds before bedtime, and a lot of them were those antidepressants,鈥 Crawford said. 鈥淏ut they never seemed like they were depressed when they got there. I don鈥檛 know that, because I鈥檓 not a counselor, so I don鈥檛 know what they look for and signs of it. But they seemed fine to me when they got there. Then all of a sudden, they鈥檙e all depressed?鈥澨
And Crawford said she didn鈥檛 think parents and guardians knew their kids were medicated.听
鈥淚n fact, I can tell you right now they probably still aren鈥檛 notified until they get home,鈥 she said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e on their buses right now going home, and that鈥檚 when the parents find out. 鈥榃ell, when did they give you this? When did they start handing out this med to you? What is this for?鈥 I鈥檓 sure that鈥檚 the questions they get asked when they get home.听
鈥淎nd the kids, they don鈥檛 know. They only do what they鈥檙e told because if they don鈥檛 they get threatened with being written up and then they can鈥檛 do anything.鈥澨
'In loco parentis' consent
Johnson doesn鈥檛 dispute that she signed what is known as an in loco parentis consent when she sent her niece, K鈥檒yn Ducheneaux, and her granddaughter, Santana Vazquez, to Flandreau.听
Johnson, who is the guardian of both girls, said she even knows off the top of her head exactly where that consent is: on page 19 of the Flandreau Indian School application.听
There, in bold, school officials have defined the Latin phrase in loco parentis as a 鈥渢erm used in situations where another individual or agency is acting in place of a parent on behalf of a minor.鈥澨
鈥淭he term is used in legal settings to assign the rights, duties and responsibilities of a parent to another parent or agency,鈥 the application for the 2024-2025 school year continues. 鈥淎lternatively, the term has been used in less formal references to describe the role played by an educational institution, such as a boarding school, college, or university in supervising minors and young adults.鈥
The application also requires guardians to consent to allowing school staff and healthcare providers 鈥渢o arrange for or to provide 鈥 health services鈥 for students.鈥澨
鈥淎ll Flandreau Indian School staff are authorized to act in Loco Parentis (sic) for the students at the Flandreau Indian School,鈥 the application says. 鈥淭he FIS staff has authority to sign all paperwork required for emergency, medical or hospital care at any medical facility.鈥澨
But federal regulations suggest that not even this in loco parentis consent gives the school the right to prescribe medications without parental consent.听
Those regulations are included in what鈥檚 known as the , a detailed document that lays out the federal government鈥檚 鈥渃urrent operational policy鈥 for Indian-related programs.听
In a entitled 鈥淢edication Administration at BIE-Operated Schools and Dormitories,鈥 the manual states that parents must sign an authorization to allow school staff to administer medication to students.听
鈥淣o medication will be administered in school or during school-sponsored activities without the parent鈥檚/guardian鈥檚 written authorization 鈥︹ the rules read.听
The manual also explicitly mandates guardian consent to medicate students at boarding schools like Flandreau.听
鈥淚n boarding schools or dormitories, where a parent is not on campus for extended lengths of time, and the school acts in loco parentis, some protocols may differ based on the home living staff training and health services agreements with local health care providers who prescribe the child鈥檚 medication,鈥 the Indian Affairs Manual reads. 鈥淭herefore, written documentation that the prescribing provider has contacted the parent/guardian by telephone and consent has been obtained, may be acceptable in lieu of the parent/guardian signature.鈥
A BIE spokesperson did not directly answer specific questions about whether Flandreau Indian School 鈥渉as obtained and documented such parent/guardian consent in all cases at FIS.鈥
Instead, the spokesperson wrote that the school 鈥渇ollows the Medication Administration at BIE-Operated Schools and Dormitories policy.鈥澨
鈥淲hen students request medical care, FIS staff will attempt to contact the parent or guardian to obtain permission and explain that the healthcare provider will follow up with the outcome and any additional needs,鈥 the spokesperson added. 鈥淭he provider will attempt to contact the parent or guardian to discuss results and obtain consent for prescribed medications. In emergent situations, FIS may invoke in loco parentis, prioritizing students' welfare in close collaboration with parents and guardians.鈥澨
, a professor emeritus of psychiatry at the University of Texas Medical Branch, said it鈥檚 considered 鈥渁 best practice to involve a patient's guardian in treatment planning and decision making.鈥 Even if a young patient is hospitalized, Thomas said, 鈥渢he parents will be involved in the treatment planning, and, yes, they would be contacted if medications were going to be used, and certainly informed about the treatment.鈥澨
Ira Burnim, for the Judge David L. for Mental Health Law, said it was difficult to understand a school鈥檚 rationale for making medical decisions about children without their guardians鈥 direct involvement.听
鈥淲hat's, to me, so remarkable about this is I can't imagine a school that wouldn't tell the parents,鈥 Burnim said. 鈥淓ven if you didn't get consent up front, how do you operate a school with minors where you're not telling the parents that you're requiring the kid to be on medication?听
鈥淚t just seems completely inappropriate to me, and I can't imagine a school doing it. I can't imagine a medical provider doing it.鈥
鈥楴ever had my permission鈥
While Johnson said that she never got a call from the school or the clinic about her girls鈥 medical treatment and prescriptions, the girls did report some of their concerns directly to her.听
One of the girls, her niece, sent her a voice message from the school and told her the medicines she鈥檚 been prescribed and forced to take were making her feel 鈥渓ike a zombie,鈥 Johnson said.听
鈥淪o I told her, I said, 'You need to talk to someone, and I'll call in the morning,'鈥 Johnson said. 鈥淪o I'd been calling, calling. I'd leave messages.鈥
Days later, she said, a staff member returned her call.听
鈥淚 said, 'And what is the protocol on this, all this medication that you guys are giving these children? What's the protocol?'鈥 Johnson said. 鈥淎nd he goes, 'I don't know.' 'So you couldn't give me a straight answer on that too?' I said, 'Why is my granddaughter and my (niece) taking all this stuff?' I said, 'What's the protocol?' I kept on saying to him. He did not answer. 鈥 And we were upset, me and my daughter, and I had tears coming down when I talked to him too. I said, 'You guys are giving them way too much medicine,' I said.鈥澨
That conversation happened soon after Ducheneaux started at the school in 2019, Johnson recalled. But the school continued to prescribe more medications to Ducheneaux, she said.听
After another child in Johnson鈥檚 custody 鈥 her granddaughter Santana Vazquez 鈥 started at Flandreau as a 13-year-old freshman in 2022, Johnson said she too was prescribed medications and given iron infusions without her knowledge and consent.听听
Johnson was not the only guardian of a Flandreau student who said they never consented to allow their students to be treated and medicated and were never informed by the school that such prescriptions had been written.听
Areonna Grey Bear said she didn鈥檛 realize her daughter Mariah Fassett had been prescribed an antidepressant at Flandreau until her daughter was suspended from school, returned home to North Dakota鈥檚 Spirit Lake reservation and began to act strangely, talking excitedly and emotionally but 鈥渘ot making sense.鈥澨
鈥淚t was really scary,鈥 Fassett said. 鈥淚 felt like I had powers or something.鈥澨
After questioning her daughter, Grey Bear said she found Fassett had been prescribed a 20 milligram dose of prozac at Flandreau and had been taking it irregularly since coming home.
Grey Bear didn鈥檛 want her daughter on the medication, especially without her knowledge, and was stunned to find out she hadn鈥檛 been told about the prescriptions.
鈥淚 thought they would have asked me,鈥 Grey Bear said.听
When she called the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribal Health Center to attempt to get her daughter鈥檚 medical records, Grey Bear said a staff member put her on a prolonged hold and then told her that she couldn鈥檛 provide them because Fassett was over age 18 at the time, even though she was 17 when the medications were initially prescribed.听
Grey Bear said she then went online, found the records-release paperwork, printed it out, had her daughter sign and faxed the documents in.听
鈥淎nd I never got anything,鈥 Grey Bear said.听
In the time since her daughter left Flandreau, Grey Bear said Fassett has continued to struggle with her mental health and that a doctor told her he suspects the psychotropic medication prescribed at Flandreau may have triggered a 鈥渃hemical imbalance.鈥澨
Areonna鈥檚 cousin, Lorenda Grey Bear, said she found out her daughter was on antidepressants when she came home from Flandreau for Christmas break in 2022 and had a 鈥渓ittle baggie鈥 that contained medication. She asked her daughter what it was for.听
鈥淪he said she was depressed,鈥 Lorenda said. 鈥淎nd I was like, 鈥楧epressed?鈥 I said, 鈥榃hat you depressed about?鈥 She was like, 鈥業 don't know.鈥 I said, 鈥楾here was nothing wrong with you when you went down there.鈥 So I said, 鈥榃hat's wrong with you?鈥 I said, 鈥業f you want to talk to somebody, you come home to talk to somebody. You don't take those pills.鈥欌澨
When Lorenda sent her daughter back for the second semester at Flandreau, she thought she had stopped taking the antidepressant.听
鈥淚 thought she listened to Mom,鈥 she said.听
But near the end of the 2022-2023 school year, Lorenda recalled, a school staff member called to complain that her daughter 鈥渢akes forever to come up and get her meds.鈥澨
鈥淎nd I was like, 鈥楳eds?鈥欌 Lorenda said. 鈥淚 was like, 鈥榃ell, what kind of meds is she taking? Like I told her at Christmas time, she don't need to be taking nothing.鈥欌澨
When she told the staff member she didn鈥檛 want her daughter to be medicated, Lorenda said she was told to contact the school鈥檚 superintendent or the school nurse.听
鈥淚 was like, 鈥榃ell, why am I going to call (the superintendent) and let him know that I want you guys to stop giving my kids meds when you guys didn't call me and ask me if she could start them?鈥 Lorenda recalled. 鈥淚 said, 鈥榊ou guys never had my permission.鈥欌澨
Only two weeks were left in the school year, Lorenda said, and she was so frustrated with 鈥 and distrustful of 鈥 the school鈥檚 response that she didn鈥檛 try to contact the superintendent or nurse. Instead, Lorenda said, she spoke directly with her daughter every day for those final weeks and encouraged her not to take the medication.听
鈥楲ike savages鈥
Over the past few years, since Deb Haaland became the and took charge of the U.S. Department of the Interior, the federal government has begun to with the ugly, assimilationist history of the federal system for educating Native American children.听
That history started in the 1800s, persisted through the 1960s and continues to be felt in the generational trauma that is pervasive in Indian Country today.听
But while that system has changed radically and undergone significant reform, it hasn鈥檛 entirely disappeared. It persists to this day in the altered form of the Bureau of Indian Education, which funds and oversees 183 day schools, residential facilities and boarding schools that serve some 45,000 Native American students across the country.
Many of these schools are tribally controlled, but the federal government continues to operate 55 of these schools, including Flandreau, which has been around .听
And those BIE schools have repeatedly been the subject of intense media, parent and lawmaker scrutiny for student welfare at various schools, for shrouding of student and for failing to respond to requests for documents and information, even when those requests have come from U.S. .
Dorothy McLean, who worked in the dormitory at Flandreau from 2014 until 2021, knows the horrors of the old boarding school system firsthand. She attended one of those schools on the Rosebud Indian Reservation beginning in 1959, when she was just six years old, she said.听
Even today, she has difficulty discussing that experience and the physical and emotional abuse she survived.听听
鈥淚 have a hard time telling people,鈥 she said through tears, 鈥渂ecause I was hurt so bad.鈥澨
McLean acknowledged that Flandreau was 鈥渨ay different鈥 from the boarding school she attended as a child, but she also said that some of that trauma and fear resurfaced during her years working at Flandreau.听
At Flandreau, McLean said, she said she saw staff 鈥渉ollering鈥 at students and knew of a former staff member who 鈥減hysically harmed鈥 students. She said she saw a lack of 鈥渄ue process鈥 for students facing disciplinary action. And after she filed complaints on behalf of students and about her own concerns, McLean said administrators 鈥渋ntimidated鈥 and bullied her.听
鈥淚 felt like this little听child in boarding school,鈥 McLean said.
Asked about claims of staff yelling at, berating and emotionally abusing students, the BIE spokesperson wrote, 鈥淪taff members receive de-escalation training in collaboration with the BIE Behavioral Health and Wellness Program. Any engagement by staff in such situations is thoroughly investigated, and staff may receive retraining on effective student interaction as needed.鈥澨
Some of the staff she worked with, McLean said, had 鈥渓ost their compassion along the way, or their spirit. The kids, they couldn鈥檛 do right. They (the staff) wouldn鈥檛 listen to the parents.鈥
McLean said she was aware of students being medicated without guardian knowledge or consent.听
鈥淭hey kept these kids on uppers and downers like Prozac and trazodone,鈥 McLean said. 鈥淚 don't think the parents were informed, period.鈥
At Flandreau, the school鈥檚 handling of antidepressants, sleep aids and psychotropic medications has made some question the school鈥檚 practices and policies.
Fassett said Flandreau 鈥渓iterally treated us like savages鈥 by putting students 鈥渙n medications when they're so young without their parents even knowing.鈥澨
鈥淲hen I was on those meds, I had no emotion,鈥 Fassett added. 鈥淢y mind just completely felt blank. I couldn't hold conversations. I wasn't myself at all. And I feel like that's what they wanted: for us to be quiet and calm and not acting out. Not acting like kids.鈥澨
Lorenda Grey Bear 鈥 who, in addition to being a Flandreau parent, is Fassett鈥檚 aunt 鈥 said the use of psychotropic medication meant staff missed opportunities to talk with students and families 鈥渁bout what the real issue is or what's really bothering you.鈥澨
鈥淚nstead it's kind of like, 鈥楬ere's some meds, you'll be okay,鈥欌 Lorenda said.听
Annabel DeMarce, Lorenda鈥檚 aunt and Mariah Fassett鈥檚 grandmother, believes medications were a convenience for staff who didn鈥檛 鈥渨ant to deal with鈥 normal forms of teenage rebellion and who used medications to make the students more manageable.听
And Naomi Johnson said her niece鈥檚 and granddaughter鈥檚 experience being medicated broke her heart and violated her culture鈥檚 veneration for children.
鈥淲hen they were telling me what was going on over there, I really cried with them,鈥 Johnson said. 鈥淎nd I said, 鈥業 didn't bring you guys up to be a project, to be tested like a rat,' I said. And I didn't want that to happen to them. I said, 'We're Lakotas.' I said, 'We cherish our children so much,' because I grew up that way.鈥澨
What Johnson wants, she said, is for Flandreau and BIE administrators to treat the students in their care with the dignity they deserve, to give them opportunities that were hard to come by at Standing Rock.听
鈥淚 wanted them to get a good education,鈥 Johnson said. 鈥淚 wanted them to be self independent, to do stuff, because I'm getting old now. I'm 64 years old, and I'm trying to prepare them so they could be on their own. And instead of that, they were getting doped up. And I didn't approve of that at all.鈥
Contact us: Ted McDermott is a reporter for the Public Service Journalism Team at Lee Enterprises. He can be reached at ted.mcdermott@lee.net.
Up next: Former staff members of the Flandreau Indian School say they weren鈥檛 trained to medicate school children 鈥 but did so anyway.