Christianity and Native America

Why Marquette?

Background: Catholic evangelization of the Americas' aboriginal Indian peoples is an ongoing story of epic proportions. It is a saga on spreading the Gospel for over 500 years and it is a struggle for peace and justice, cultural accommodation, and the development of indigenous Christian faith communities.

An unidentified native deacon processed before Mass at the Tekakwitha Conference in St. James Cathedral, Seattle, Washington, 1993. Tekakwitha Conference Records, Anne M. Scheurman, photographer.

With its centralized bureaucracy, numerous religious orders and dioceses, and access to substantial financial resources, the Catholic Church has been able to maintain mission programs on an extraordinary scale. Moreover, a number of its missionaries, especially Jesuits, have had classical educations and linguistic training, which enabled them to create extensive writings on indigenous life and languages, especially as these related to the Church and interaction with officials of Church and state.   Mindful of its mission as a Catholic university, and recognizing the value and preservation needs of Church records pertaining to Native American peoples, the Marquette University Department of Special Collections and University Archives made a commitment to collect and preserve this unique heritage. Marquette actively solicits and makes accessible collections of organizational records, personal papers, oral histories, and audio/visual recordings. Marquette also acquires individual photographs, newsletters, recordings, and other documentation pertaining to Native Catholic activities as well as the products of research that benefited from its collections. Of particular interest are notable "at risk" collections that otherwise might not be saved without outside intervention.  Furthermore, the department may accept other compatible collections relating to indigenous peoples of the Americas.

activities, human concerns, and faith renewal among indigenous, Mestizo, and other disadvantaged groups. These include the records/papers of the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions for U.S.-Mexico borderlands, the Catholic Worker Movement Archives (Worker Houses in Houston, Texas, Mexico City and Chiapas, Mexico, and Tecum Uman, Guatemala, 1980-); the Conrad N. Hilton Fund for Sisters, 1986-ongoing, with projects in Bolivia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, and Peru; Reverend Ricardo Falla-Sanchez, S.J., regarding the Maya in Guatemala, 1937-1984; Penny Lernoux, National Catholic Reporter correspondent in Latin America, 1978-1989; Monsignor Luigi G. Ligutti, advocate for Latin American missions and the National Catholic Rural Life Conference, 1943-1971; and Sister Relationship Programs from U.S. churches, regarding collaborative activities with churches among the Maya in Chiapas, Mexico and Guatemala, 1960-.

Laguna youth danced an eagle dance as a symbol of holiness during Mass at the Tekakwitha Conference, Phoenix, Arizona, 1984. Tekakwitha Conference Records, Anne M. Scheurman, photographer.

Related publications researched largely with these collections include American Indian Catholics, Vol. 1, On the Padres' Trail, a history, and The Crossing of Two Roads: Being Catholic and Native in the United States, an edited collection of documents by and/or about native Catholics.

French Catholicism in North America, 17-20th centuries: The exploration and missionary activities of Père Jacques Marquette, S.J. (1637-1675), the Jesuits, and representatives of France, 1610-1791, are documented in the Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents (print and electronic editions); the published writings of Reverend Raphael N. Hamilton, S.J., including the books Father Marquette and Marquette's Explorations: the Narratives Reexamined, other published writings, and his research materials, known as the Père Marquette and North American French Regime Collections. Notable documentation relates to Abenaki, Algonquian, Illinois, Iroquois, Ottawa, and Wyandot in Canada and the United States.

Burton Pretty on Top (Crow) offered smoke during Mass with a sacred pipe at the Tekakwitha Conference, Norman, Oklahoma, 1991. Such an instrument served Father Marquette as a passport and sign of peace while traveling in North America during the 17th century. Tekakwitha Conference records, Anne M. Scheurman, photographer.

19th and 20th century documentation on native and Métis-French Catholicism in the U.S.-Canadian borderlands and Mississippi River valley is found in the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions Records and other collections. The In the Spotlight series of small digital collections includes January 2009-Catholic Ladder Pictorial Catechisms, which features catechetical publications and related images created by Catholic clergy of French, Flemish, and Métis heritage.

Related publications researched largely with these collections include American Indian Catholics Vol. 2, The Paths of Kateri's Kin, a history, and The Crossing of Two Roads: Being Catholic and Native in the United States, an edited collection of documents by and/or about native Catholics.

Anglo Catholicism in North America, 19-21st centuries: During the latter half of the 19th century, the Catholic Church extended its network of missions and schools among the native peoples in the United States and Canada by building on the earlier efforts of missionaries from Spain, France, and England. To protect, promote, and administer these activities, it created the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions in 1874 to protect, promote, and administer Native American evangelization in the United States. As such, it has served as an advocate for the missions and Native American social and cultural issues in general. In so doing, it facilitated the dispersal of tribal trust funds used to support Catholic schools serving Native Americans, ca. 1900-1970. The Black and Indian Mission Collection (formally known as the Commission for the Catholic Missions Among the Colored People and the Indians) was established in 1884 to aid dioceses in funding African American and Native American evangelization in the United States. At first, most funding was devoted to rural dioceses, but during the 20th century, the distribution was expanded to urban dioceses for evangelization of blacks and Indians in cities, including recent immigrants from Central America and the Caribbean. The Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions Records, which documents not only the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions, but also the Black and Indian Mission Collection and the Catholic Negro-American Mission Board, includes correspondence with over 20,000 Church, government, and community leaders; reports from dioceses, missions, and schools, including attendance records for Indian school pupils; publications such as The Indian Sentinel, Our Negro and Indian Missions, and the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions Newsletter; periodicals and newsletters from Catholic missions and agencies in the United States and Canada; U.S. government publications such as Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs; linguistic and worship materials in over 30 indigenous languages; news clippings; and over 25,000 Native American photographs. Notable documentation relates to these Native American peoples: Abenaki, Acoma, Apache, Arapaho, Assiniboine, Bruléé, Cahuilla, Cayuse, Cherokee, Cheyenne, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Coeur d'Alene [Skitswish], Cree, Creek, Crow, Eskimo [Inuit + Yupik], Havasupai, Hunkpapa, Hupa, Jemez, Kiowa, Klamath, Laguna, Luiseño, Menominee, Navajo [Diné], Ojibwa [Chippewa], Oneida, Oglala, Osage, Ottawa, Paiute, Pima, Pomo, Potawatomi, Salish, Sans Arc, Santee, Siksika [Blackfeet], Sisseton and Wahpeton, Tewa, Tohono O'Odham [Papago], Winnebago [Ho-Chunk], Yakama, Yankton, Yaqui, Yuma, and Zuni. The online Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions Digital Collection includes selected native-related images from the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions Records.

Other holdings include papers compiled by Julius M. Belleau, regarding Oblates among Cree, Métis, and Ojibwa in North Dakota and Manitoba, Canada, 1815-1880; Conception Abby Records, regarding Benedictines and missions/parishes among Arikara, Dakota, Hidatsa, and Mandan in North and South Dakota, 1876-1980; papers of Sister Mary Ewens, O.P., regarding Yupik Eskimo nuns in Alaska and Hunkpapa nuns in North and South Dakota, 1882-1987; records of Holy Rosary Mission-Red Cloud Indian School, regarding Jesuits (e.g. Reverends Eugene Buechel, S.J., Robert A. White, S.J., Joseph A. Zimmerman, S.J., Ted F. Zuern, S.J.), Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity, and a mission/ parishes and schools among the Oglala Indians in South Dakota, 1888- with the Catholic Sioux Congress of Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota,  1890-; records of St. Francis Mission, regarding Jesuits (e.g. Reverends Eugene Buechel, S.J., William Stolzman, formerly S.J., Joseph A. Zimmerman, S.J.), Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity, and a mission/ parishes, KINI Radio, and school among Brulé Indians in South Dakota,1886-; the photographic collections of Reverends Eugene Buechel, S.J. and Joseph A. Zimmerman, S.J. further document Holy Rosary and St. Francis Missions and the Oglala and Brulé, ca. 1902-1954; records of the Marquette League for Catholic Indian Missions, a fundraising organization allied to the BCIM, 1904-1991; records of the Osage Mission and School, a Jesuit institution, which served Osage and Quapaw pupils in Kansas, 1847-1872; sacramental records of the Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota Episcopal Church; records of the Sacred Heart Franciscans, regarding Franciscans (e.g. Reverends Oderic Derenthal, O.F.M., Eugene Hagedorn, O.F.M.) and missions/ parishes, and schools among Menominee, Ojibwa, and Ottawa in Michigan and Wisconsin, 1829-1981 and Apache, O'Odham, and Pomo in Arizona and California, 1885-1979; a St. Joseph's Indian School Oral History Project, regarding Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet and Menominee pupils at a mission school in Wisconsin, 1883-1980; records of St. Mary's Mission, regarding a Jesuit parish among the Potawatomi in Kansas, 1851-1871; records of St. Paul's Mission, regarding Benedictines (e.g. Reverend Sylvester Eisenman, O.S.B.) and a mission school among the Yankton in South Dakota, 1867-1989; records of St. Stephen's Mission regarding Jesuits, Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia, and a mission/ parishes and school among Arapaho and Shoshoni in Wyoming, ca. 1880s-; St. John the Baptist-Santa Barbara Franciscan Records, regarding Franciscans and missions/parishes and schools among Apache, Navajo, Pima, Tohono O'Odham, and Yaqui in Arizona and New Mexico, 1873-1922; and the Walter Bernard Hunt Collection includes photographs of Oglala Indians in South Dakota and Ojibwa Indians in Wisconsin. The Holy Rosary Mission - Red Cloud Indian School Digital Collection and the St. Francis Mission Digital Collection are comprised of selected images online from their respective off-line collections and the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions Digital Collection also includes selected images from the Sacred Heart Franciscan Records and the Walter Bernard Hunt Collection.

Angel McFarland Sobotta (Nez Perce) signed the Lord's Prayer in Plains Indian Sign Language at the Tekakwitha Conference, Phoenix, Arizona, 1984. Tekakwitha Conference Records, Anne M. Scheurman, photographer.

The Guides to Catholic-Related Records about Native Americans in the United States list additional sources of related records whereas the national Catholic directories are useful for tracking the origins and whereabouts of past records and the clergy, nuns, missions, and Catholic organizations that created them. Publications researched largely with these collections include American Indian Catholics, Vol. 3, Where the Two Roads Meet, a history of native-Anglo Catholicism and native Catholic leadership,17-20th centuries, and The Crossing of Two Roads: Being Catholic and Native in the United States, an edited collection of documents largely authored by Native Catholics.

Native Catholicism Revitalized in North America, 20-21st centuries: In the United States and Canada, several collections document the late 20th century renewal of faith by native Catholics and the Church's efforts to meet their pastoral needs in urban as well as rural areas. The Tekakwitha Conference Records relate to the concerns of U.S. missionaries from Northern Plains states, 1940-1979, and the concerns of native Catholics from the United States and Canada following reorganization, 1979-ongoing. The Kateri Tekakwitha Project Oral History Collection relates to devotions to Kateri Tekakwitha by a several individual Native Americans of Dakota, Laguna, Navajo, Pima, Tohono O'Odham and other tribes in Arizona, New Mexico, and South Dakota, 1994-1995. The photographic collections of Anne M. Scheurman and the Association of Native Religious and Clergy further document native religious, clergy, and laity at the annual meetings of the Tekakwitha Conference and related events in Canada, the United States, and the Holy See (Vatican City) since the 1970s.

The Inculturation Task Forces, 1993-ongoing, began in response to a request by the Holy See for clarification in the relationships between indigenous and Catholic traditions in the United States. First the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops organized a Committee on Native American Catholics to identify and support native Catholics and related diocesan activities and then the Dioceses of Rapid City (South Dakota), and Tucson (Arizona) organized task forces of local Dakota and Tohono O'Odham Catholics, which explored their native and Catholic beliefs and practices and the relationships between the two traditions.

The Conrad N. Hilton Fund for Sisters, 1986-ongoing, financed several human concern projects among Native American (Arizona, Florida, Minnesota, and New Mexico), Mestizos, Métis, and other disadvantaged groups in the United States and Canada.

Local activities relating to Christian formation, inculturation, and social concerns are documented in records of the Kisemanito Centre, Alberta, Canada, 1976-1987; the Sioux Spiritual Center of the Diocese of Rapid City, 1990-ongoing; St. Isaac Jogues Church, Rapid City, South Dakota, 1983-1994; and the Siggenauk Center succeeded by the Congregation of the Great Spirit, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1974-ongoing.The Kisemanito Centre provided Oblate-sponsored workshops for the Cree and Diné of Alberta and Northwest Territories whereas the Sioux Spiritual Center served the Dakota of western South Dakota under Jesuit leadership. St. Isaac Jogues with a Jesuit pastor and the Siggenauk Center/Congregation with a diocesan pastor serve Dakota and intertribal communities respectively in urban settings.

Publications researched largely with these collections include American Indian Catholics, Vol. 3, Where the Two Roads Meet, a history of native-Anglo Catholicism and native Catholic leadership, 17th-20th centuries, and The Crossing of Two Roads: Being Catholic and Native in the United States, an edited collection of documents by and/or about Native Catholics.

FAQ

Catholic Directories: Catholic Directories are useful tools for outlining the histories of missions, parishes, dioceses, and involvement by priests and the religious institutes (or orders) of men and women.

Catholic-related records about Native Americans at other repositories: The Guides to Catholic-Related Records about Native Americans in the United States describe the record holdings not at Marquette University. The entries for missions, parishes, dioceses, and the religious institutes (or orders) of men and women also include chronologies to illuminate involvement with Native Americans.

Genealogy: Most genealogical records are related to schools and because of The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, they are restricted and microfilm versions will not be loaned. However, under certain circumstances, on-site patrons may use restricted records and department staff will conduct genealogical searches for patrons who submit a completed Application for Genealogical Query.

Past research: The department maintains lists of past research using its collections that pertain to African Americans and Native Americans.

Access and Services

Marquette welcomes public use of its collections. However, for optimum service, patrons are invited to consult with the archivist before their first use of Marquette materials and thereafter as needed. All original items must be used in the department's reading room whereas most microfilm and many publications and recordings may be borrowed through interlibrary loan. To insure the immediate availability of materials and audiovisual equipment, appointments are advised for all on-site research. Restricted materials are subject to special regulations and are not available through interlibrary loan.

Service Hours: Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and evening and weekend hours by appointment. Photographic identification is required for access to the Raynor Memorial Libraries. For further information see General Information and Services and contact:

Mark G. Thiel, CA (Certified Archivist), Archivist
Marquette University
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
R360 John P. Raynor, S.J., Library
1355 W. Wisconsin Ave.
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53233

Raynor Memorial Libraries
P.O. Box 3141
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53201-3141

Telephone: (414) 288-5904
Fax: (414) 288-6709
mark.thiel@marquette.edu