St. Francis is a ministry of the of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) among the 20,000 Lakota people on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in south-central South Dakota. It was founded in 1886. The Mission is a not-for-profit organization. We are supported by gifts of those who share our mission to serve the spiritual, educational, and physical needs of Lakota Catholics and those who are un- churched on the reservation. The three Jesuits priests and one Jesuit Brother work with a team made up of a Lakota Deacon, seven commissioned Lakota Lay Ministers and numerous Lakota lay men and women who make the work of the Church possible. St. Francis Mission works in cooperation with Bishop Blase Cupich of the Diocese of Rapid City.

The purpose of St. Francis Mission is to re-evangelize Catholic Lakota people and bring the Gospel of Jesus the Christ to those who have not heard it. We respect the traditions of the Lakota people as we collaborate with them to meet the spiritual, educational, social, and physical needs of the community.

St. Francis Mission presently supports pastoral work in seven parishes, Icimani Ya waste Recovery Center, the White River Recovery Center, the Father Jones Religious Education Center in St. Francis, the CYO Religious Education Center in Rosebud, the Wiwila Wakpala afterschool center in Spring Creek, the Buechel Memorial Lakota Museum, and KINI Radio 96.1 FM.