Sinsinawa
Spectrum
A Congregation News Magazine
What Bright Future Dawns for We-Ha-Kee?
by Mary Paynter, OP
Mary We-Ha-Kee LaBatteThis story is the second in a three-part series about Mary We-Ha-Kee LaBatte and the first Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters in Faribault, MN.
The annals of St. Clara convent for Oct. 13, 1869, record the following:
Sister Alberta Duffy returned from Faribault bringing little We-Ha-Kee LaBatte, whose mother is a Sioux and whose father a Frenchman was killed in the late Indian uprising. We-Ha-Kee’s mother came to the Sisters in Faribault, telling her a sad story, and Sister Alberta’s great heart was so touched that she brought the little girl to St. Clara where she is to be educated.
Why didn’t the Sisters at Bethlehem Academy keep We-Ha-Kee there, closer to her mother and her brothers and sisters?
The principal of Bethlehem, Sister Gertrude Power (Mother Emily’s sister), OP, undoubtedly weighed that possibility, but decided to ask Sister Alberta Duffy, OP, who was there visiting at the time, to take We-Ha-Kee to the Academy at Sinsinawa. And the memoir of Sister Angelico Dolan, OP, tells us that Sister Alberta “asked permission of Mrs. LaBatte to take her to the Mound in June when school had closed.” We know that Sister Gertrude and the other Sisters in Faribault, following the example of Father Samuel, had welcomed Sioux children into their classrooms. The Sisters had arrived in 1865 and the earliest annals of Bethlehem state, The pupils of the parish school were of all creeds and nationalities and included native full-blooded and half-breed Indians.
However, the Sioux uprising in 1862 had decimated the native population and had bred mistrust and antagonism between the local whites and the Sioux. Wisely, Sister Gertrude knew that if We-Ha-Kee stayed in Faribault, she would probably face racist resentment from the white children and their parents. Also, recognizing the talents of We-Ha-Kee, the Sisters realized that the well-established St. Clara Academy could offer more advantages for her development. So, after securing her mother’s permission, Sister Alberta arranged to bring the little 7-year-old girl to Sinsinawa, at a distance from the tensions of Faribault.
As a minim―a young pupil at St. Clara―We-Ha-Kee’s name appears for the first time in the accounts of 1870. The Galena studio photo of her shows a solemn and beautiful little girl, dressed in gingham, with high button shoes, and holding a favorite pull-toy animal. In the honors list at the close of the year 1872, she achieved second place in her class in reading, arithmetic, orthography, and geography―remember that she probably knew little English when she arrived at the Mound. In June 1873, she merited “First Premium” in vocal, and “Second” in piano. Her remarkable abilities and natural gifts were quickly developed at St. Clara, especially under Sister Alberta’s musical tutelage and warm nurturing.
From 1874 on, We-Ha-Kee’s name appears again and again achieving first or second place in her class in various subjects, especially in music―in voice, in piano, and in harp. A delightful showcasing of her talents was evident in 1875, when she played harp for the entrance procession at commencement, a harp solo, Annie Laurie, and was one of six (on six pianos!) performing Irish Diamonds and Les Huguenots. She was then barely 13, but she shone at St. Clara, her second home, where Sister Alberta had become her second mother and where student reminiscences record that “she was favorite in her class, and the girls loved her.”
What a brilliant future seemed to lie ahead for We-Ha-Kee, but dark clouds were gathering on the horizon just eight years after her arrival at St. Clara.
To be continued in the next issue of Sinsinawa Spectrum!