IUSD Global Service Learning (GSL) returned to the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota, south of Badlands National Park, this summer. IUSD sent two teams, one in June and the other in early July.
Other than during the COVID shutdown years, GSL has traveled annually since 2015 to the St. Francis Mission Dental Clinic on the reservation to donate dental supplies and services to the native Lakota population. According to an American Dental Association study, 90% of the Lakota people on the reservation suffer from chronic tooth decay or gum disease.
According to IUSD graduate Dr. Amanda Clemons (DDS’17), one the co-founders of the IUSD service-learning trips to Rosebud, a myriad of factors impact the area’s dental health. Rosebud is located in one of the poorest counties in the country. Transportation to the only dental clinic on the reservation is inconsistent, sometimes nonexistent. And substance use disorders are disproportionately high compared to the general population. The clinic receives no government or tribal funding and is unable to hire an in-house dentist.
The clinic relies on volunteer dentists, hygienists, and dental assistants to provide the majority of oral health care, supporting the two permanent on-site staff. Dental visits are scheduled one year in advance to maximize the number of reservation residents treated.
In June 2024, an IUSD team of 12 student volunteers and one staff member, led by Clinic Directors Drs. Ashok Das and James Oldham, traveled to the reservation to support the local community. The clinic has only four operatories, and the team treated an estimated 16 patients per day over their four days volunteering.
Most patients are children and young adults, but occasionally the local jail will send a patient for treatment. With only four days of treatment, complex restorative care possible in IUSD clinics over several visits is not feasible on the reservation. Any treatment plan implemented must be started and finished on the same day, due to the uncertainty of the next available appointment.
“We want to do all we can, but there’s only so much we can do during our time there,” said Dr. Das, after returning from his second GSL trip to Rosebud. “The biggest challenge is delivering the appropriate care under the circumstances.”
IUSD volunteers are housed in two double-wide trailers across from the clinic, where they cook meals with the groceries they bring with them. The nearest grocery store is almost an hour’s drive. The closest airport is three hours away. The only other notable building in town is a large pink church that houses a museum.
The museum offers another core facet of the GSL trips – cultural understanding. All the items on display are family heirlooms donated by residents. When the museum curator spoke about Lakota history, a few IUSD students became emotional when learning of the atrocities committed against the indigenous population, Dr. Das said.
Not all history is sorrowful. At the end of the week, the Lakota gathered to celebrate the anniversary of the tribe’s victory at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876, commonly referred to as Custer’s Last Stand. Despite all of the hardships endured on the reservation, the Lakota have endured on the land, preserving their historical perspective and culture.
“I see students grow more in those four days than any other time of the year,” Dr. Das said. “By the time they leave, the students have developed a much higher level of cultural humility, and they form unbreakable bonds with one another.”