Geraldine Charbonneau Dubourt, 73, a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, walks the grounds of the former St. Paul’s Indian Mission School, where she alleges she was raped and abused as a student in Marty, South Dakota, U.S., September 11, 2021. The local Catholic diocese for years has contended in court proceedings that it’s not responsible for any purported harm because it didn’t operate the school or have direct oversight of the priests and nuns who staffed it. REUTERS/Callaghan O'Hare SEARCH "O'HARE YANKTON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY 

Glenn Drapeau, 47, director of the Dakota Language Department at the Marty Indian School, poses for a portrait outside his home in Lake Andes, South Dakota, U.S., September 12, 2021. He blames the old federal Indian boarding school system for upending Native American families by isolating children from their parents and tribes. "We pray our elders’ truth will be known," Drapeau said. REUTERS/Callaghan O'Hare SEARCH "O'HARE YANKTON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES 

Julia Gonzalez, 64, who was a student at the former St. Paul’s Indian Mission School, sits at her dining room table near Lake Andes, South Dakota, U.S., September 12, 2021. She has given up on legal efforts to seek damages for sexual abuse she says she endured at the Catholic-run boarding school. The local Catholic diocese for years has contended in court proceedings that it’s not responsible for any purported harm because it didn’t operate the school or have direct oversight of the priests and nuns who staffed it. REUTERS/Callaghan O'Hare SEARCH "O'HARE YANKTON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY 

Julia Gonzalez, 64, who was a student at the former St. Paul’s Indian Mission School, holds her grandchild Julia, two months old, near Lake Andes, South Dakota, U.S., September 12, 2021. "Having somebody really listen to us about what happened, that would be a type of justice for me," said Gonzalez, who alleges she was sexually abused at the Catholic-run school. The local Catholic diocese for years has contended in court proceedings that it’s not responsible for any alleged harm because it didn’t operate the school or have direct oversight of the priests and nuns who staffed it. REUTERS/Callaghan O'Hare SEARCH "O'HARE YANKTON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY 

Julia Gonzalez, 64, who was a student at the former St. Paul's Indian Mission School, holds her granddaughter Julia, near Lake Andes, South Dakota, U.S., September 12, 2021. REUTERS/Callaghan O'Hare SEARCH "O'HARE YANKTON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES 

Juanita Selwyn, 4, and Gregory Selwyn, 2, play on a trampoline at their grandmother's house near Lake Andes, South Dakota, U.S., September 12, 2021. Their grandmother, Julia Gonzalez, 64, in 2003 was part of a failed class-action civil lawsuit filed on behalf of tens of thousands of former Native American boarding school students against the federal government seeking damages for physical, sexual and mental abuse they allege they suffered at those institutions. A judge dismissed that lawsuit on procedural grounds. REUTERS/Callaghan O'Hare SEARCH "O'HARE YANKTON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES 

Stacks of paper covered in bird droppings are seen inside St. Therese Hall, an abandoned building that used to be part of the former St. Paul’s Indian Mission School in Marty, South Dakota, U.S., September 11, 2021. REUTERS/Callaghan O'Hare SEARCH "O'HARE YANKTON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES 

A dirt road cuts through the Yankton Indian Reservation near Marty Indian School, formerly known as St. Paul’s Indian Mission School in Marty, South Dakota, U.S., September 11, 2021. REUTERS/Callaghan O'Hare SEARCH "O'HARE YANKTON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES 

Birds fly inside St. Therese Hall, an abandoned building that used to be part of the former St. Paul’s Indian Mission School in Marty, South Dakota, U.S., September 11, 2021. In the 1970s, St. Paul’s changed its name to the Marty Indian School and control passed to the Yankton Sioux Tribe, which constructed a new school nearby. REUTERS/Callaghan O'Hare SEARCH "O'HARE YANKTON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY 

Sunlight shines through broken windows in St. Therese Hall, an abandoned building that used to be part of the former St. Paul’s Indian Mission School in Marty, South Dakota, U.S., September 11, 2021. REUTERS/Callaghan O'Hare SEARCH "O'HARE YANKTON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES 

Former students Julia Gonzalez, 64, and Geraldine Charbonneau Dubourt, 73, who say they were abused at the former St. Paul’s Indian Mission School, walk the old school grounds in Marty, South Dakota, U.S., September 11, 2021. The local Catholic diocese for years has contended in court proceedings that it’s not responsible for any purported harm because it didn’t operate the school or have direct oversight of the priests and nuns who staffed it. REUTERS/Callaghan O'Hare SEARCH "O'HARE YANKTON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES 

Geraldine Charbonneau Dubourt, 73, a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, walks the grounds of the former St. Paul’s Indian Mission School, where she says she was raped and abused as a student in Marty, South Dakota, U.S., September 11, 2021. The local Catholic diocese for years has contended in court proceedings that it’s not responsible for any purported harm because it didn’t operate the school or have direct oversight of the priests and nuns who staffed it. REUTERS/Callaghan O'Hare. SEARCH "O'HARE YANKTON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES 

Hawk Bair, 18, tries to calm a doll for a class assignment on parenting at Marty Indian School, a tribally controlled school on the Yankton Indian Reservation, after a football game in Marty, South Dakota, U.S., September 10, 2021. REUTERS/Callaghan O'Hare SEARCH "O'HARE YANKTON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES 

Long Thunder Chases The Wind watches a football game at Marty Indian School, a tribally controlled school on the Yankton Indian Reservation in Marty, South Dakota, U.S., September 10, 2021. REUTERS/Callaghan O'Hare SEARCH "O'HARE YANKTON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES 

Darwin Alfredo Cano Solis, 19, and Kobe Cano Solis, 12, whose grandmother, Frances Hart, was a student at the former St. Paul’s Indian Mission School, play chess in her backyard in Wagner, South Dakota, U.S., September 10, 2021. REUTERS/Callaghan O'Hare SEARCH "O'HARE YANKTON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES 

Perry Little rides a horse near the Marty Indian School on the Yankton Indian Reservation in Marty, South Dakota, U.S., September 10, 2021. Control of the school, a former Catholic-run institution known as the St. Paul’s Indian Mission School, transferred to the Yankton Sioux Tribe in the 1970s. REUTERS/Callaghan O'Hare SEARCH "O'HARE YANKTON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES 

A poster representing former students Geraldine Charbonneau Dubourt, 73, and her eight sisters, all members of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, is held by Dubourt outside the Fort Randall Casino and Hotel on the Yankton Indian Reservation in South Dakota, U.S., September 9, 2021. The elderly siblings, three of whom are now deceased, say they were sexually abused as children at the former St. Paul’s Indian Mission School in nearby Marty, South Dakota. The local Catholic diocese for years has contended in court proceedings that it’s not responsible for any purported harm because it didn’t operate the school or have direct oversight of the priests and nuns who staffed it. REUTERS/Callaghan O'Hare SEARCH "O'HARE YANKTON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES 

Graffiti reading "Die" is written on the walls inside St. Therese Hall, an abandoned building that used to be part of the former St. Paul’s Indian Mission School in Marty, South Dakota, U.S., September 9, 2021. REUTERS/Callaghan O'Hare SEARCH "O'HARE YANKTON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES 

Billboards advertising the Marty Indian School, St. Paul's Catholic Church and Yankton Sioux tribal chairwoman candidate Karen Archambeau, stand in a field next to a road that cuts through the Yankton Indian Reservation near Marty, South Dakota, U.S., September 9, 2021. REUTERS/Callaghan O'Hare REUTERS/Callaghan O'Hare SEARCH "O'HARE YANKTON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES 

Family and friends gather to celebrate the birthday of Frances Hart at the Fort Wagner Casino and Hotel on the Yankton Indian Reservation in South Dakota, U.S., September 9, 2021. Hart, 70, was a student at the former St. Paul’s Indian Mission School on the reservation. She is among dozens of former students who have alleged they were sexually abused at the Catholic-run institution. The local Catholic diocese for years has contended in court proceedings that it’s not responsible for any purported harm because it didn’t operate the school or have direct oversight of the priests and nuns who staffed it. REUTERS/Callaghan O'Hare SEARCH "O'HARE YANKTON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES 

The sun rises over a Catholic monument near Wagner, South Dakota, U.S., September 9, 2021. REUTERS/Callaghan O'Hare SEARCH "O'HARE YANKTON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES 

Robin Bair, 55, calls on spirits through song during a tour of the grounds of the former St. Paul’s Indian Mission School in Marty, South Dakota, U.S., September 9, 2021. Dozens of elderly former students of the old Catholic school have alleged they were sexually abused there by priests and nuns who staffed it. The local Catholic diocese for years has contended in court proceedings that it’s not responsible for any alleged harm because it didn’t operate the school or have direct oversight of those who worked there. REUTERS/Callaghan O'Hare SEARCH "O'HARE YANKTON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES 

A mother holds her child following a birthday party for Frances Hart at the Fort Wagner Casino and Hotel on the Yankton Indian Reservation in South Dakota, U.S., September 9, 2021. Hart, 70, filed an unsuccessful civil lawsuit seeking damages for sexual abuse she allegedly suffered as a child at a Catholic-run boarding school on the reservation. The local Catholic diocese for years has contended in court proceedings that it’s not responsible for any purported harm because it didn’t operate the school or have direct oversight of the priests and nuns who staffed it. REUTERS/Callaghan O'Hare SEARCH "O'HARE YANKTON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES 

Frances Zephier, 55, a member of the Yankton Sioux Tribe, walks through an abandoned gymnasium that used to be part of the former St. Paul’s Indian Mission School during a tour of the school grounds in Marty, South Dakota, U.S., September 9, 2021. REUTERS/Callaghan O'Hare SEARCH "O'HARE YANKTON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES 

Crosses stand in the graveyard of St. Paul’s Catholic Church on the Yankton Indian Reservation in Marty, South Dakota, U.S., September 8, 2021. REUTERS/Callaghan O'Hare REUTERS/Callaghan O'Hare SEARCH "O'HARE YANKTON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES 

Frances Hart, 70, who attended the former St. Paul’s Indian Mission School in her youth, poses for a portrait in Wagner, South Dakota, U.S., September 8, 2021. She is one of dozens of former students to file unsuccessful civil lawsuits seeking damages for sexual abuse they say they experienced at the school. The local Catholic diocese for years has contended in court proceedings that it’s not responsible for any alleged harm because it didn’t operate the school or have direct oversight of the priest and nuns who staffed it. REUTERS/Callaghan O'Hare SEARCH "O'HARE YANKTON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES