South Dakota H.S. Canceled ‘Slave/Branding Auction’
A decades-long tradition of a South Dakota high school club hosting a “slave/branding auction” was canceled after fliers for the event were shared on social media.
The Faith High School Rodeo Club planned to have this year’s auction April 26, but the event was canceled after several people criticized it for being racist and inappropriate.
The event consists of students offering to work for someone for a day in exchange for a donation to the club, according to Dakota News Now.
Fliers for the auction were shared on social media, and it appeared on the school’s online calendar, but the district’s superintendent said Faith High was not affiliated with the event, according to KELO-TV.
South Dakota High School Rodeo Club Cancels Slave Auction Amid Outrage
KEY POINTS Slave Auctions have existed in South Dakota for over a decade
Club members are auctioned off to serve the highest bidder
A rodeo club in Faith, South Dakota, canceled its Slave/Branding Auction, a fundraising event, following a social media backlash over its name, which was described as racist and derogatory.
The Faith High School Rodeo Club had initially planned the annual event, which included a pancake supper and a pie auction, for April 26 at Legion Hall in Faith, the Argus Leader reported. Slave Auctions have existed in several communities in South Dakota for over a decade. The concept is that the club members are auctioned off to serve/do chores for the highest bidders in exchange for a donation.
A recent advertisement for Faith High School Rodeo Club’s “Slave/Branding Auction,” a fundraising event that includes a pancake supper and a pie auction, has caused backlash on social media, forcing it to be canceled.
The auction was scheduled for April 26 at the Legion Hall in Faith, which is near the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Reservation.
The concept of a “slave auction” for fundraising purposes has existed in South Dakota since at least 2008, when the Belle Fourche School District held a slave auction fundraiser.
“A slave auction offers a day s work from each of the active competitors. Club members are proud that most of them could handle about any chores from waiting tables to hauling hay or moving cattle. Club members also brought craft items they d made for the auction,” the Butte County Post reported in a March 30, 2011 article about a BFHS Rodeo fundraiser.