Eugene Buechel
Encyclopedia
Eugene Buechel * October 20, 1874 in Schleida, now Schleid
, in Thuringia
, Germany
, † October 27, 1954 in O'Neill, Nebraska
, was a Roman Catholic priest and missionary, linguist and anthropologist among the Brulé
or Sicangu Lakota or Sioux
on the Rosebud Indian Reservation
and the related Oglala Lakota
or Sioux
on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
in South Dakota
.
(1886–96) followed by three semesters in the Fulda diocesan seminary (1896–97).
On October 12, 1897, he entered the noviciate of the German Province of the Society of Jesus
(Jesuits), which then was located in Bleijenbeek
(Netherlands
) due to the expulsion of the Jesuits during the Kulturkampf
of the German Reich. After completing this two-years-probation period and further humanistic studies at Exaeten (Netherlands) he was sent to the United States to continue his studies in July, 1900.
From August 1900 to May 1902 Eugen Büchel studied philosophy at the Jesuits' Sacred Heart College in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin
. In May 1902 his superiors sent him to St. Francis Indian Mission in the Rosebud Indian Reservation
of the Sicangu or Brulé Lakota in South Dakota
. This mission and the Holy Rosary Mission among the Oglala Lakota
in the neighboring Pine Ridge Reservation had been founded in 1886 and 1888, resp., by Jesuits of the German Province with collaboration from the German Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity
. From 1902 to 1904 Büchel worked as an educator at the boarding-school and a teacher of religion and music while also studying the Lakota language. In September 1904 he began to study theology at Saint Louis University
in St. Louis, Missouri
, and on June 28, 1906, he was ordained a priest. After another year of formation (tertianship
) in Brooklyn, Ohio
, Father Büchel returned to the Lakota in August 1907, first as a teacher at Holy Rosary Mission School in Pine Ridge
, and then in 1908 as its superior for eight years.
On December 10, 1909, Father Superior Büchel buried Oglala-Chief Red Cloud
in the cemetery of Holy Rosary. Over thirty years earlier, Red Cloud had demanded "Black Robes" and "Holy Women," i.e. Catholic priests and nuns, for the Oglala from the U.S. authorities. On September 25, 1914, Büchel became an American citizen and changed the spelling of his name to Eugene Buechel.
In October 1916 Buechel moved to St. Francis to become superior there for six years. From 1926 to 1929 he was sent returned to Holy Rosary as a missionary, and in 1929, Buechel transferred back to St. Francis again, where he stayed until his death. After suffering a stroke he died at St. Anthony’s Hospital, O'Neill, Nebraska
, on October 27, 1954. He lies buried at St. Francis.
and Red Cloud Grade School), Pine Ridge Reservation. On both reservations Wanbli Sapa (Black Eagle), as he was called, collaborated closely with native catechists, among them Nicholas Black Elk
(of Black Elk Speaks).
Buechel was dedicated to converting the Lakota to Christianity and transforming their lives. But also he was dedicated to preserving their Lakota language and cultural heritage. Already during his first stay at St. Francis (1902–1904) Buechel wrote down stories of the Lakota. In collaboration with Ivan Stars and other Lakota catechists, Buechel collected oral histories, now published bilingually, and cultural objects with related information, now preserved at the Buechel Memorial Lakota Museum, St. Francis, South Dakota, and first displayed at the Mission in 1921. With the Sicangu Lakota , he also collected names of plants and their use and he took photographs of the people on the reservations to document their lives. Between 1902 and 1954, he compiled over 24,000 Lakota (and Dakota) word entries on slips of paper for a bilingual dictionary of the Lakota language
, which included approximately 18,000 from the work of Stephen Return Riggs
, several thousand from his conversations with native people, and a few from the works of Emil Perrig, S.J., and Lakota anthropologist Ella Cara Deloria
.
In 1924, Buechel published his first notable work in Lakota, his Bible History, which included a selection of texts modeled after the German Biblische Geschichte. In 1927 the Jesuit missionaries, with Buechel playing a major role, published Sursum Corda, a Lakota-language book of prayers and hymns, and in 1939, Buechel published his main work, A Grammar of Lakota. Meanwhile, he gained recognition as a linguist through his correspondence with anthropologists like Franz Boas
and Lakota Ella Cara Deloria
. Buechel was not able to finish his dictionary himself; it appeared in print long after his death, as did other books building upon his collections.
In 1947, on the occasion of Buechel's 50th anniversary as a member of the Jesuit order, Joseph Schwart (born Josef Schwärzler in Austria) a Jesuit religious brother, constructed a separate museum building for the ethnological collection. When Buechel died, it contained 661 objects, each with a name and description (most often in Lakota) written by him, and a catalogue number. During the following decades it grew to about 2,200 at present.
Buechel's linguistic work today is recognized and used as one of the most important sources for the Lakota language
by all who want to learn it or have a general concern in its preservation and development. Many Lakota remember him as a man who respected their personal dignity and their traditional culture. Among the Jesuits today, he is increasingly perceived as a role model because of his respectful attitude towards the Lakota as a people and as individuals.
Schleid
Schleid is a municipality in the Wartburgkreis district of Thuringia, Germany....
, in Thuringia
Thuringia
The Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, † October 27, 1954 in O'Neill, Nebraska
O'Neill, Nebraska
O'Neill is a city in Holt County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 3,733 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Holt County.-Geography:O'Neill is located at ....
, was a Roman Catholic priest and missionary, linguist and anthropologist among the Brulé
Brulé
The Brulé are one of the seven branches or bands of the Teton Lakota Sioux American Indian nation. They are known as Sičháŋǧu Oyáte , or "Burnt Thighs Nation," and so, were called Brulé by the French...
or Sicangu Lakota or Sioux
Sioux
The Sioux are Native American and First Nations people in North America. The term can refer to any ethnic group within the Great Sioux Nation or any of the nation's many language dialects...
on the Rosebud Indian Reservation
Rosebud Indian Reservation
The Rosebud Indian Reservation is an Indian reservation in South Dakota, United States. It is the home of the federally recognized Sicangu Oyate, also known as Sicangu Lakota, the Upper Brulé Sioux Nation, and the Rosebud Sioux Tribe , a branch of the Lakota people...
and the related Oglala Lakota
Oglala Lakota
The Oglala Lakota or Oglala Sioux are one of the seven subtribes of the Lakota people; along with the Nakota and Dakota, they make up the Great Sioux Nation. A majority of the Oglala live on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, the eighth-largest Native American reservation in the...
or Sioux
Sioux
The Sioux are Native American and First Nations people in North America. The term can refer to any ethnic group within the Great Sioux Nation or any of the nation's many language dialects...
on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is an Oglala Sioux Native American reservation located in the U.S. state of South Dakota. Originally included within the territory of the Great Sioux Reservation, Pine Ridge was established in 1889 in the southwest corner of South Dakota on the Nebraska border...
in South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
.
Life
He was the tenth and last child of his parents. His father was a farmer whose father and grandfather had been village mayors; several of his relatives had emigrated to America. When Eugen was born, four of his parents’ earlier children had died. In 1881 Eugen's father and in 1882 his mother died. After grade-school (1881–86), he attended the boarding-school for boys of the Roman Catholic Diocese of FuldaRoman Catholic Diocese of Fulda
The Diocese of Fulda is a diocese in the north of the German state of Hessen. It is a Suffragan Diocese of the Archdiocese of Paderborn. The bishop's seat is in Fulda Cathedral.-History:...
(1886–96) followed by three semesters in the Fulda diocesan seminary (1896–97).
On October 12, 1897, he entered the noviciate of the German Province of the Society of Jesus
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
(Jesuits), which then was located in Bleijenbeek
Bleijenbeek
Bleijenbeek is a small hamlet in the Dutch province of Limburg. It is located in the municipality of Bergen, about 2 km east of Afferden....
(Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
) due to the expulsion of the Jesuits during the Kulturkampf
Kulturkampf
The German term refers to German policies in relation to secularity and the influence of the Roman Catholic Church, enacted from 1871 to 1878 by the Prime Minister of Prussia, Otto von Bismarck. The Kulturkampf did not extend to the other German states such as Bavaria...
of the German Reich. After completing this two-years-probation period and further humanistic studies at Exaeten (Netherlands) he was sent to the United States to continue his studies in July, 1900.
From August 1900 to May 1902 Eugen Büchel studied philosophy at the Jesuits' Sacred Heart College in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin
Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin
Prairie du Chien is a city in and the county seat of Crawford County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 5,911 at the 2010 census. Its Zip Code is 53821....
. In May 1902 his superiors sent him to St. Francis Indian Mission in the Rosebud Indian Reservation
Rosebud Indian Reservation
The Rosebud Indian Reservation is an Indian reservation in South Dakota, United States. It is the home of the federally recognized Sicangu Oyate, also known as Sicangu Lakota, the Upper Brulé Sioux Nation, and the Rosebud Sioux Tribe , a branch of the Lakota people...
of the Sicangu or Brulé Lakota in South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
. This mission and the Holy Rosary Mission among the Oglala Lakota
Oglala Lakota
The Oglala Lakota or Oglala Sioux are one of the seven subtribes of the Lakota people; along with the Nakota and Dakota, they make up the Great Sioux Nation. A majority of the Oglala live on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, the eighth-largest Native American reservation in the...
in the neighboring Pine Ridge Reservation had been founded in 1886 and 1888, resp., by Jesuits of the German Province with collaboration from the German Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity
Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity
The Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity is a Roman Catholic religious congregation for women.-History:The international congregation was founded in 1835 in the Netherlands by Mother Magdalen Damen . In 1874, the first three missionary sisters, accompanied by General Superior...
. From 1902 to 1904 Büchel worked as an educator at the boarding-school and a teacher of religion and music while also studying the Lakota language. In September 1904 he began to study theology at Saint Louis University
Saint Louis University
Saint Louis University is a private, co-educational Jesuit university located in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1818 by the Most Reverend Louis Guillaume Valentin Dubourg SLU is the oldest university west of the Mississippi River. It is one of 28 member institutions of the...
in St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
, and on June 28, 1906, he was ordained a priest. After another year of formation (tertianship
Tertianship
Tertianship is the final formal period of formation in the Society of Jesus. The Provincial usually invites men to begin Tertianship three to five years after finishing Formation or Graduate Studies...
) in Brooklyn, Ohio
Brooklyn, Ohio
Brooklyn is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. The population was 11,169 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Brooklyn is located at ....
, Father Büchel returned to the Lakota in August 1907, first as a teacher at Holy Rosary Mission School in Pine Ridge
Pine Ridge
Pine Ridge may refer to:*Pine Ridge , of northwestern Nebraska and southwestern South Dakota*Pine Ridge Indian Reservation of southwestern South Dakota*Pine Ridge Campaign of the United States Army*Pine Ridge, Alabama...
, and then in 1908 as its superior for eight years.
On December 10, 1909, Father Superior Büchel buried Oglala-Chief Red Cloud
Red Cloud
Red Cloud , was a war leader and the head Chief of the Oglala Lakota . His reign was from 1868 to 1909...
in the cemetery of Holy Rosary. Over thirty years earlier, Red Cloud had demanded "Black Robes" and "Holy Women," i.e. Catholic priests and nuns, for the Oglala from the U.S. authorities. On September 25, 1914, Büchel became an American citizen and changed the spelling of his name to Eugene Buechel.
In October 1916 Buechel moved to St. Francis to become superior there for six years. From 1926 to 1929 he was sent returned to Holy Rosary as a missionary, and in 1929, Buechel transferred back to St. Francis again, where he stayed until his death. After suffering a stroke he died at St. Anthony’s Hospital, O'Neill, Nebraska
O'Neill, Nebraska
O'Neill is a city in Holt County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 3,733 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Holt County.-Geography:O'Neill is located at ....
, on October 27, 1954. He lies buried at St. Francis.
Work
During most of his career, Buechel served as an itinerant missionary who lived among the Lakota and frequently stayed in the homes of Lakota parishioners. At various times he also served as the superintendent of the St. Francis Mission school, Rosebud Reservation, and the Holy Rosary Mission school (now Red Cloud High SchoolRed Cloud High School (South Dakota)
Red Cloud High School is a private, Roman Catholic high school in Pine Ridge, South Dakota. It is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rapid City and serves Oglala Lakota Native American children on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.-Background:...
and Red Cloud Grade School), Pine Ridge Reservation. On both reservations Wanbli Sapa (Black Eagle), as he was called, collaborated closely with native catechists, among them Nicholas Black Elk
Black Elk
Heȟáka Sápa was a famous Wičháša Wakȟáŋ of the Oglala Lakota . He was Heyoka and a second cousin of Crazy Horse.-Life:...
(of Black Elk Speaks).
Buechel was dedicated to converting the Lakota to Christianity and transforming their lives. But also he was dedicated to preserving their Lakota language and cultural heritage. Already during his first stay at St. Francis (1902–1904) Buechel wrote down stories of the Lakota. In collaboration with Ivan Stars and other Lakota catechists, Buechel collected oral histories, now published bilingually, and cultural objects with related information, now preserved at the Buechel Memorial Lakota Museum, St. Francis, South Dakota, and first displayed at the Mission in 1921. With the Sicangu Lakota , he also collected names of plants and their use and he took photographs of the people on the reservations to document their lives. Between 1902 and 1954, he compiled over 24,000 Lakota (and Dakota) word entries on slips of paper for a bilingual dictionary of the Lakota language
Lakota language
Lakota is a Siouan language spoken by the Lakota people of the Sioux tribes. While generally taught and considered by speakers as a separate language, Lakota is mutually understandable with the other two languages , and is considered by most linguists one of the three major varieties of the Sioux...
, which included approximately 18,000 from the work of Stephen Return Riggs
Stephen Return Riggs
Stephen Return Riggs was a Christian missionary and linguist who lived and worked among the Dakota Indians....
, several thousand from his conversations with native people, and a few from the works of Emil Perrig, S.J., and Lakota anthropologist Ella Cara Deloria
Ella Cara Deloria
Ella Cara Deloria , also called Ąnpétu Wašté Wįn , was an educator, anthropologist, ethnographer, linguist, and novelist of Yankton Sioux background...
.
In 1924, Buechel published his first notable work in Lakota, his Bible History, which included a selection of texts modeled after the German Biblische Geschichte. In 1927 the Jesuit missionaries, with Buechel playing a major role, published Sursum Corda, a Lakota-language book of prayers and hymns, and in 1939, Buechel published his main work, A Grammar of Lakota. Meanwhile, he gained recognition as a linguist through his correspondence with anthropologists like Franz Boas
Franz Boas
Franz Boas was a German-American anthropologist and a pioneer of modern anthropology who has been called the "Father of American Anthropology" and "the Father of Modern Anthropology." Like many such pioneers, he trained in other disciplines; he received his doctorate in physics, and did...
and Lakota Ella Cara Deloria
Ella Cara Deloria
Ella Cara Deloria , also called Ąnpétu Wašté Wįn , was an educator, anthropologist, ethnographer, linguist, and novelist of Yankton Sioux background...
. Buechel was not able to finish his dictionary himself; it appeared in print long after his death, as did other books building upon his collections.
In 1947, on the occasion of Buechel's 50th anniversary as a member of the Jesuit order, Joseph Schwart (born Josef Schwärzler in Austria) a Jesuit religious brother, constructed a separate museum building for the ethnological collection. When Buechel died, it contained 661 objects, each with a name and description (most often in Lakota) written by him, and a catalogue number. During the following decades it grew to about 2,200 at present.
Buechel's linguistic work today is recognized and used as one of the most important sources for the Lakota language
Lakota language
Lakota is a Siouan language spoken by the Lakota people of the Sioux tribes. While generally taught and considered by speakers as a separate language, Lakota is mutually understandable with the other two languages , and is considered by most linguists one of the three major varieties of the Sioux...
by all who want to learn it or have a general concern in its preservation and development. Many Lakota remember him as a man who respected their personal dignity and their traditional culture. Among the Jesuits today, he is increasingly perceived as a role model because of his respectful attitude towards the Lakota as a people and as individuals.
Writings
- Wowapi wakan wicowoyake yuptecelapi kin. Bible history in the language of the Teton Sioux Indians. Benziger, New York, 1924.
- Sursum Corda. Lakota Wocekiye na Olowan Wowapi. Sioux Indian Prayer and Hymn Book. Central Bureau of the Catholic Central Verein of America, St. Louis, Missouri, 1927.
- A Grammar of Lakota: The Language of the Teton Sioux Indians. John S. Swift, St. Louis, Missouri, 1939.
- Lakota-English Dictionary. edited by Paul Manhart, S.J., 1st ed.: Pine Ridge, South Dakota: Holy Rosary Mission, 1970; 2nd ed.: University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln and London, Nebraska, 2002.
- Rosebud and Pine Ridge Photographs, 1922-1942. Grossmont College Development Foundation, El Cajon, California, 1974.
- John A. Anderson, Eugene Buechel, S.J., Don Doll, S.J.: Crying for a Vision. A Rosebud Sioux Trilogy 1886-1976. Morgan & Morgan, Dobbs Ferry, New York, 1976.
- Lakota Tales and Texts. Red Cloud Indian School, Pine Ridge, South Dakota, 1978.
- D. J. Rogers: Lakota Names and Traditional Uses of Native Plants by Sicangu (Brulé) People in the Rosebud Area, South Dakota: A Study Based on Father Eugene Buechel's Collection of Plants of Rosebud around 1920. Rosebud Educational Society, St. Francis, South Dakota, 1980.
- Lakota Tales and Texts In Translation. 2 vols., translated by Paul Manhart, S.J., Tipi Press, Chamberlain, South Dakota, 1998.
Literature on Eugene Buechel
- Karl Markus Kreis, ed.: Ein deutscher Missionar bei den Sioux-Indianern. Der Sprachforscher, Ethnologe und Sammler Eugen Büchel / Eugene Buechel (1874–1954). Materialien zu Leben und Werk. Fachhochschule Dortmund, Dortmund (Germany), 2004.
- Raymond A. Bucko: Father Eugene Buechel, S.J. And the Lakota - Images and Imagination. In: American Catholic Studies 116:3 (2005) pp. 83–88.
- Raymond A. Bucko: Buechel, Eugene (1874–1954), in: H. James Birx (ed.): Encyclopedia of Anthropology, vol. 1. Sage Publ., Thousand Oaks, CA, 2005, pp. 428–29.
- Raymond A. Bucko and Kay Koppedrayer: Father Buchel's Collection of Lakota Materials. In: Material Culture, 39:2 (2007) pp. 17–42.
- Karl Markus Kreis: Von der Rhön in die Prärie. Der Missionar Eugen Büchel SJ aus Geisa-Schleid, in: Jahrbuch für mitteldeutsche Kirchen- und Ordensgeschichte, Cordier, Heiligenstadt, 4 (2008), pp. 151–178.
See also
- Lakota languageLakota languageLakota is a Siouan language spoken by the Lakota people of the Sioux tribes. While generally taught and considered by speakers as a separate language, Lakota is mutually understandable with the other two languages , and is considered by most linguists one of the three major varieties of the Sioux...
- Lakota mythologyLakota mythologyHere is a list of articles pertaining to Lakota mythology, a Native American people of North and South Dakota:#Anog Ite#Anoliy#Anpao#Canotila#Capa#Cetan#Haokah#Ictinike #Inyan#Iya#Ptehehincalasanwin #Skan#Tate...
- Marquette University Special Collections and University ArchivesMarquette University Special Collections and University ArchivesThe mission of the Department of Special Collections and University Archives of Marquette University is to collect, arrange, describe, preserve, and service records of enduring historical value for research, instructional, and administrative use...
External links
- Father Eugene Buechel, S.J., A Visual Biography, http://puffin.creighton.edu/bucko/projects/review/index0007.html
- The Indian Sentinel, http://digitalmarquette.contentdm.oclc.org/IS/index.html
- New Lakota Dictionary, Lakota Language Consortium, http://www.lakhota.org/
- Buechel Memorial Lakota Museum, http://www.sfmission.org/museum/