The theft of two lodge covers from two Great Falls Public Schools hasn’t stopped their Indian Education programs.

Between 2 a.m. and 2:20 a.m. on Sept. 29, two people stole the covers off the lodges, also referred to as tipis, from Chief Joseph and Loy elementary schools.

Chief Jo is located at 5305 3rd Ave. S. and Loy is located at 501 57th St. N.

The culprits appear to be a male and female, “but they’ve gone to such effort to conceal their identities, it’s hard to tell,” according to the Great Falls Police Department.

Jordan Lankford, Great Falls Public Schools Indigenous Education for All instructional coach, told GFPD, “the tipi/lodges are purchased by the GFPS Indigenous Education Department and are quite expensive. The tipi/lodges are set up at all 21 school buildings for the students’ education and the enjoyment of our community. A lot of effort and hard work goes in to ensuring all of the buildings have the tipi/lodges. Throughout the fall months, all GFPS students learn about the tipi/lodges and the distinct cultural heritages of our American Indian community. These thefts definitely impact the students’ ability to learn, it’s disheartening to experience and certainly not a victimless crime.”

Dugan Coburn, director of GFPS’ Indigenous Education program, told The Electric that he initially thought of taking down the remaining lodges to prevent theft, but instead decided to put new covers on the lodges at Chief Jo and Loy to continue their program.

“We put them up so the kids can learn about our culture,” he said.

Coburn said that lodges is the prefered term for the structures and the district has some that are 16 feet and some that are 18, ranging in cost from $1,400 to $1,800, Coburn said. The covers are about $1,000 each.

The suspects only took the covers, he said, leaving behind all the poles and stakes.

The lodges were stolen from the same two schools, Chief Jo and Loy, two years ago in a similar manner with a wagon, Coburn told The Electric.

The district didn’t have as high quality cameras at the time and the culprits were never caught, he said.

Last year, the lodges weren’t installed at Chief Jo or Loy due to the thefts, but Coburn said students at those schools had asked why they didn’t have them so he decided to bring them back this school year, which began in late August.

The covers are marked as GFPS property, but Coburn said he suspects they’d be spray painted and pawned.

“It’s not good karma,” to steal the cultural resources from the students, Coburn said.

The lodge at Paris Gibson Education Center is the most visible to the public typically, he said, and it was painted with Earl Old Person, former Blackfeet chief who died in 2021, as an educational representation of a ceremonial lodge.

Painted lodges are typically ceremonial or by a person who’d had a vision quest, Coburn said.

The paintings on the lodge in front of PGEC are out of order, he said, so people know it’s not a formal ceremonial lodge.

If a person was near water in their vision, there’d be a blue line around the bottom of the cover, or rounds representing foothills or peaks representing mountains. The lodge at PGEC has all three and it’s used to teach those details.

“Everything means something,” he said.

In November, 12 lodges will be installed at North Middle School representing the 12 tribes in Montana.

GFPS students represent 75 tribes across the U.S., he said, with Navajo being the fastest growing in the district as families from Texas have been coming to Great Falls for work at ADF.

“My staff are very upset, I’m upset,” Coburn said of the thefts. “Who are you hurting? You’re hurting the kids.”

Anyone with information on the thefts should contact SRO Shane Stadel at 406-268-6517, send a private message to the GFPD Facebook page or go to P3TIPS.COM. Tipsters may remain anonymous.

The video from school security cameras provided by GFPD is below.