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Father Emmett Hoffmann
Founder of Soaring Eagle
Father Emmett with Chief Charlie Sitting Man, Sr. - 1960s |
Father Emmett Hoffmann was born in Marathon, Wisconsin, in 1926.
I grew up on a farm in Wisconsin during the Great Depression and I can tell you there was nothing great about it. My family had the bare necessities of life, but looking back, I am grateful for the hardships because it has helped me to understand the poverty of the Northern Cheyenne people. In those days on the farm we didn't have running water, radio or television. My sisters and I were thrilled at Christmas to receive homemade clothing like socks or a sweater.
-- Father Emmett, 1968
Father Emmett was posted to St. Labre Mission in 1954. At that time, he was a member of the Capuchin Order, which he joined in his twenties. (Today, he is a priest in the Diocese of Great Falls/Billings.) Following his seminary years and his ordination, he was sent to Montana in lieu of being sent overseas to a foreign mission. The move to Montana forever changed the course of his life, bonding him to the Northern Cheyenne people and to the Big Sky country that he calls his home.
A Cheyenne cabin - 1950s |
When I arrived at St. Labre in 1954, I found outrageous poverty. These poor people lived in cold, cardboard lined shacks, tents and one-room log cabins with dirt floors. They lived without electricity or running water and their community wells were greasy with contamination. Over the years we helped to provide clean water, clothing, food, decent housing and most of all, a quality education for thousands of Cheyenne and Crow children.
-- Father Emmett, 1975
The following is a Cheyenne child's story about Father Emmett:
When I was a little girl in 1953 or 1954, my sister and I stayed at St. Labre Mission boarding school during the week and went home on weekends. We dreaded going home because our parents drank and fought all weekend long. When things got bad, my sister and I would hide at the Mission so we didn't have to go home. Sometimes we slept on the floor of the Mission Church bathroom. It was cold on the tile floor.
One night, in the middle of winter, it got very, very cold. The wind was blowing snow in our faces. We went sneaking around the Mission trying to find a warm place to sleep. We found the door to the boiler room unlocked, so we crawled in and fell asleep.
At daylight, somebody opened the door and ran to alert Father Emmett. When Father came, I woke up in a sleepy daze and I heard Father say: "Let them sleep." I never forgot his kindness.
Not long afterwards, Father Emmett came to our cabin and took our whole family to Miles City. He bought us new warm coats and overshoes. Then he took us to a restaurant. That was the first time I was ever in a restaurant. I had halibut. It was the best thing that I had ever tasted. I found God at St. Labre. I worked there for 8 years in the cafeteria. I can't thank Father Emmett enough. Now I work in home health care.
-- Rebecca B. Spicer
We needed a first-class school and then job opportunities. So that's what we did. We felt we had done a great deal to expand the educational opportunities. The school only had about 100 students when I came. We have about 700 now.
-- Father Emmett, 1993
Someone once told Father Emmett, "Father, if you hadn't become a priest, you might have made a good architect." Well, Father sure did a lot of building during his career! He helped build the multi-million dollar construction project at St. Labre Indian School and satellite schools on the Crow and Northern Cheyenne Reservations. Next, he helped found a bank in Ashland, rennovated the Northern Cheyenne Pine Company, a lumber mill that offered jobs to over 100 people. He also helped open a credit union and a first-class post office. Later, he helped build one hundred homes, 3 factories and the Heritage Living Center.
Father Emmett at the leveling of the Soaring Eagle building site |
Father Emmett also helped build a recreational facility for the community, which included a large gymnasium with an indoor Olympic-sized swimming pool. The gymnasium bears his Indian name, Soaring Eagle, which was given to him when he was inducted into the Northern Cheyenne Council of Chiefs. (Father Emmett is one of two white men to be so honored.)
He retired from St. Labre Indian School in 1994, and in 1997 he founded Soaring Eagle, a public charity, with a primary focus on the Forgotten People, the Northern Cheyenne elders (see details).
As the years passed, I became more aware of the older people in the community, both Indian and white, who simply "fell through the cracks." They were the poorest segment of the population and had few resources.
-- Father Emmett, 1996
It is through your continued generous gifts that the Heritage Living Center has become a reality. The Center provides a peaceful, safe haven for the elders, while allowing them to continue to teach and share their traditions with the young.
My heart is filled with gratitude for your kindness and your concern for these older folks, who have often suffered without the basic necessities of life. When I say "God bless you" I am assuring you of my prayers each day. May our Creator bless you with health, happiness and the joy of knowing you have helped the poorest and most forgotten of people.
-- Father Emmett, 1999
Read about Father's first experience with gumbo mud.
Father Emmett's Biography
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Renee Sansom Flood, author of Lost Bird of Wounded Knee (Scribner, 1995) has written Father Emmett's biography. She has scrutinized, cajoled, bullied and psychoanalyzed him to distraction.
Renegade Priest of the Northern Cheyenne: The Life and Work of Father Emmett Hoffmann 1926 - tells about Father Emmett's early childhood years on a Wisconsin dairy farm. It covers his mischievous seminary years and ordination and his post to St. Labre Mission in Montana. Throughout the book, Father's human qualities, his weaknesses, strengths, mistakes and great successes illuminate life as a priest on a remote Indian mission. It also covers the founding of Soaring Eagle, a Public Charity. Order your copy today.
Father Emmett and Friends
Harold Fisher with Father Emmett |
Rose Medicine Elk talks with Father Emmett |
Learn more about Father's Northern Cheyenne friends by reading the elder stories.
