Digital still photography, sound recordings, notes, and ephemera pertaining primarily to Native American Catholic events in the United States and Europe. They include the Tekakwitha Conference, 2011-ongoing; the U.S. pilgrimage to the canonization of St. Kateri Tekakwitha, Vatican City/ Rome and Washington, D.C., 2012-2013; celebrations and dedications honoring Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, 2011-ongoing; the opening of the canonization cause of the La Florida Martyrs, Tallahassee, 2015; and the Little Servants of the Cross, Arizona, 201-2012.  Other events include the World Meeting of Families, Philadelphia, 2015; and a Pro-Life rally, Washington, D.C., 2013.

Gift of Herman D. Ray, 2012-ongoing. Processed by Mark G. Thiel, 2013-2021.

Biographical Note

Herman D. Ray (1964- ) is a member of the Salt River Pima Tribe of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community in Arizona.  At his mother’s invitation he attended his first Tekakwitha Conference in 2007. This came after winning a struggle over drug and alcohol addiction he credited to the power of intercessory prayer to Blessed Kateri.  At the 2010 Tekekwitha Conference, he interned under the official Conference photographer, Anne M. Scheuerman, who he succeeded the following year. In addition to the Conference, he photographs other Native Catholic events in Arizona as well, and has been nicknamed “Pima Joe” by Sister Clissene Lewis, L.S.C. Ray's successful battle with addiction is noted in “First Native American Woman to be Canonized Oct. 21: Kateri Tekakwitha Lily of the Mohawks”, by Joyce Coronel, The Catholic Sun, August 31, 2012.

Scope and Content

The collection comprised photography from the Tekakwitha Conference annual national meetings and local Native Catholic events in Arizona. The folders are arranged in chronological order with each folder containing the retained images from one day that in turn, are arranged in the order captured with sequential numbers. Missing sequential numbers represent the deleted images not retained.

All digital images are identified with a collection and date identifier plus a three-digit number according to the following protocol. Any further “description” is an optional working extension that is not a permanent part of the identifier.

MUA_HDRyymmdd-000.description, e.g. MUA_HDR110720-004.katerishrine MUA_HDRyymmdd-000, e.g. MUA_HDR120721-324

All electronic formats are located on the G-Drive (G > Digital Projects > MSS) whereas materials in paper formats and on digital discs are located in box 1.

Herman D. Ray Still Photography, Series 1.

The images are divided into two format-based sub-series, series 1-1 for JPG format and series 1-2 for TIFF format. To the extent possible, all notable events and principal persons are identified with places and dates. Assistance has been provided by the photographer, fellow subjects within the images, and members of the Tekakwitha Conference host committees. Additional copies of some digital materials are also maintained on CD-ROM.

Herman D. Ray Sound Recordings, Series 2.

The sound recordings correspond to select images, which the photographer captured simultaneously while documenting events.

Herman D. Ray Notes and Clippings, Series 3.

This series contains all contextual and specific documentation of images in paper formats.

More Related Resources

• Native America Collections: Checklist to Marquette special collections about native peoples of the Western Hemisphere.

• Search the Collections (sidebar)
• Guides to Catholic-Related Records about Native Americans in the United States: Over 1,000 repository entries in PDF format to help genealogists and historical researchers find the records they need on American Indians and Alaskan Natives. The entries provide contact information on the repositories, brief descriptions about the records, the Native groups served, and the associated Catholic organizations. Many of the entries include institutional chronologies to explain the history of the records.

Black and Indian Mission Office Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions

Tekakwitha Conference National Center

U.S. Catholic Conference of Catholic Bishops > Cultural Diversity in the Church