Memories of St. Catherine's Indian School

St Catherine’s Indian School, Home of the Thunderbirds
by Walter Dasheno, Former Governor of Santa Clara Pueblo

Since its opening in 1887 under the leadership of St. Katharine Drexel, who founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, this academic center brought together many young men and women with gifted minds, and athletic, artistic and musical talents from across the country to this educational center in the heart of Santa Fe, New Mexico.

The students from the last graduating class in 1989 and all the graduating classes for almost 100 years, were the product of highly educated young men and women from Indian Tribes from across the Southwest, the Pueblos’, Navajos’, Hopis’, Jicarillas’, Utes’, Pima/Papago (today the Tohono O’odham), some California Rancherias’, some tribal members from Mexico and Hispanic and Anglo students from surrounding New Mexico communities.

St. Catherine’s was recognized and known as an educational center bringing a wealth of educated, cultural, music and athletic young men and women to achieve recognition and receive various prominent academic, athletic and humanitarian awards.

This was also Home of the “Thundertones” a local rock band that played the best rock and surfing music east of the Rio Grande. I can just hear the music echoing and the laughter of everyone in the old Joe Abeyta Gym.

Today, it stands silent, but if the buildings and walls could talk, you would hear the many voices conversing in the many indigenous languages, the laughter of the students teachers and visitors, the cheering of everyone because St Catherine’s T-Birds beat the Los Alamos Hilltoppers at the Northern Rio Grande Basketball tournament, and everyone saying their prayers or staying silent because it is Holy Week.

As I share my memories of St Catherine’s, I wonder where my classmates or schoolmates are, who of the Sisters or the Nuns are still living, and I bless myself to give peace to all that have or are now deceased. I am grateful to have been there and to marvel today at what it once was at the time we were all there.

With tears in my eyes and offerings blessings and thank you St Catherine’s Indian School for teaching and educating my Wife Judy Ann (Tsosie), Class of 1969 who died in 2020 from COVID and myself, Walter Dasheno, Class of 1965, Former Governor of Santa Clara Pueblo.

St. Catherine’s Was Ours…
By Theresa Pasqual, Vice President of Indigenous Affairs,
Crow Canyon Archaeological Center

St Catherine’s was ours,
even before we walked its halls.

It was Katherine Drexel’s dream, that became our own.
Built to educate, it grew to embrace us, and we shaped its future with our language, culture, and fe.

St. Catherine’s was ours
Because of the many hands that built it.
We recalled the names, familia,
Of the many aunts, uncles, parents, grandfathers, and grandmothers,
Who attended.
We add it to our memory in the way we recall our movement among ancestral places.

St. Catherine’s was ours,
Where we were seen and our potential validated.
Relationships with friends, now family, lasted beyond the years at school.
they connected us to feasts, collective work for our communities, and as leaders in our Pueblos, villages, and towns.

St Catherine’s was ours,
because we were surrounded by core values that emanated from our own homes and families.
Love, respect, reciprocity, empathy, forgiveness, and integrity.
Leaders were cultivated here.

St Catherine’s was ours because we left our breath there.
In the everyday we slept, ate, did chores, and schoolwork.
We cheered for one another, cried when we lost, got through the highs and lows of school, celebrated birthdays, danced and skated in the gym, and created moments, now memories, with living on campus.

Forever purple and gold,
Our loyalty to this place runs deep.
Always proud to be called T-Birds,
St. Kates, as we came to call her,
Was our home away from home.
She was always ours, even before we walked her sacred grounds.

What St. Catherine’s Indian School Meant to Me
Michael D. Peacock, Laguna Pueblo – Class of 1975
Southwest Business Development Consultants, LLC
Go Weh Yaza, LLC
CEO & President

From the time I was young, I carried a quiet dream—to attend St. Catherine’s Indian School. Growing up in Laguna Pueblo, I had the option to go to Laguna-Acoma High School, but my heart was already set on St. Kate’s. The decision was sealed by my mother, Rose Peacock, a proud St. Kate’s graduate herself. Her stories painted the school in warm, vivid colors, and I knew that was where I belonged.

I entered in the seventh grade, nervous but excited, and found myself living in the main campus building where the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament also lived. The dorm was small, crowded with rows of bunk beds and filled with students from all over the Southwest. Those first nights, I remember the soft murmur of conversations in many languages and the feeling that I had joined something bigger than myself—a community woven together by tradition, learning, and shared experience.

Santa Fe quickly became my second classroom. I learned as much exploring downtown as I did from my textbooks. The plaza was our playground and history book all in one—the Palace of the Governors standing proud, the smell of food drifting from La Fonda, the friendly chaos inside Tiano’s Sporting Goods, and the unbeatable taste of a Woolworth’s frito pie. On special days, we’d treat ourselves to Bert’s Burger Bowl, Taco Bell, or Lota Burger before heading back to campus, our laughter following us down the street.

But it was the people who made St. Kate’s unforgettable. The Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament gave us more than an education—they gave us discipline, compassion, and faith. The Franciscan priests offered guidance and a steady presence. I still remember Sister Angela Marie (Sam) with her patient smile, Father Bryant’s wisdom, the energy of Tom Macken and Bob Chavez, and the kindness of Manuel and Maggie Valencia, who fed us with both meals and love. Guadalupe Nino and so many others filled our days with mentorship, humor, and care. Looking back now, I see St. Catherine’s as more than a school. It was a place that shaped my character, gave me lifelong friendships, and rooted me in a tradition of excellence and service. For that, I am forever grateful to Saint Katharine Drexel, whose vision and devotion in 1887 created a sanctuary for Native students to learn, grow, and dream.

St. Kate’s gave me more than an education—it gave me a home, a foundation, and a story I carry proudly into everything I do.