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Welcome to Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig School!

Welcome to Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig School– home to the Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig School Silver Eagles.

Bug O Nay Ge Shig School was founded in 1975 in Cass Lake, Minnesota as an alternative school to serve 35 Ojibwe students from Leech Lake Reservation. The school was started in response to parents’ concerns that public schools were not meeting the students academic and cultural needs.

The school was named in honor of Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig (Hole in the Day), a local Ojibwe who lived in that area at the turn of the century. As Eddie Benton Banai shared at the school’s naming ceremony, “he fought for our land, he fought for our people, but uppermost, he fought for the future of our children.”

From humble beginnings, the Bug O Nay Ge Shig School has matured into a fully accredited educational program. Since that time, the school has transformed its role into a magnet school which serves Native American students living on or near Leech Lake Reservation. After 25+ years, the Bug O Nay Ge Shig School now serves more than 200 students of various tribal backgrounds.

It is operated by the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe and governed by the Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig school board. It is located in the Chippewa National Forest in North central Minnesota and is now a K-12 school that provides open enrollment.

history

Mission

The mission of the Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig School is to provide quality education and promote healthy community through lifelong learners.

Goals

  • Attain reading, math and science proficiency

  • Attain 90% attendance

  • Produce Ojibwe speakers

  • Promote cultural integration

  • Promote wellness

  • Increase post secondary options

Values

  • Love, Respect, Wisdom, Humility, Bravery, Honesty, Truth

values

School Timeline

Timeline

  • Fall 1975: LIEC negotiations with Cass Lake School board break down over proposed development of an Alternative Program. The LIEC sponsors the walk out of 70 students from Cass Lake schools. Alternative program starts out with 2 teachers and 35 students grades 7-12 in the Teen Center.

  • Spring 1976: Naming Ceremony held for school.

  • Winter 1977: School shifted to a BIA contract school instead of an independent Alternative Program of Cass Lake Schools and moves to the Bald Eagle Center and expanded to elementary students.

  • Spring 1980: Accredititation from Minnesota Non-public School Association in grades K-12, with about 150 students enrolled.

  • Fall 1984: School is relocated to its new permanent site in the forest outside of Bena