RAPID CITY, S.D.(KOTA)- Monday was Indigenous Peoples day, and a march was held by native activists an  allies in Rapid City from Sioux Park to Sioux San Hospital, near the site of the former Indian Boarding School.

Lafawn Janis is on the Rapid City Indian Boarding School Land Team, and helped organize the event, and said the event opened the door for much-needed conversations.

Janis said the sound of kids laughing and playing on what was once the site of a boarding school stirred deep emotions in her.

At the site of the former Rapid City Indian Boarding School on Monday, a group of activists and allies gathered to reflect on the progress made, and work still to do.

In attendance was a large cast of leaders in the movement, including Ben Rhodd, who recently saw success in an effort to bring the remains of some children back to their ancestral homes.

Rhodd shared the emotions following years of working towards that goal.

Another speaker, Violet Catches, a survivor of Saint Joseph’s Indian School in Chamberlain, said her experience was something she carried for years.

The event drew a diverse crowd, with multiple speakers from tribes whose historic land spanned South Dakota and beyond.