GUIDE TO CATHOLIC RECORDS ABOUT NATIVE AMERICANS IN THE U.S.
Volume 1: Eastern United States
District of Columbia: DC-4

Catholic Church. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Secretariat of Cultural Diversity in the Church 
3211 Fourth Street, Northeast
Washington, DC 20017

Phone: 202-541-3427
Email: See website

 

History: In 1917, the U.S. Catholic bishops organized themselves as the National Catholic War Council, which was succeeded by the National Catholic Welfare Conference two years later; the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (ecclesiastical arm) and the United States Catholic Conference (secular arm) in 1966; and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (merger of two previous organizations) in 2001. Not included are the bishops of Puerto Rico and the Pacific territories, who participate in other conferences of Catholic bishops. 

The U.S.C.C.B. holds semiannual meetings and is organized into 16 standing committees. Of particular note to Native American Catholics is the Committee on Cultural Diversity in the Church with its subcommittees on Native American Affairs and Pastoral Care of Migrants, Refugees, and Travelers (e.g. Mayas, indigenous immigrants from the Americas) and the Committee on National Collections with a subcommittee on Catholic Home Missions (e.g. Black and Indian Mission Collection of the Commission for Catholic Missions on the Colored People and the Indians).

The following priests have served as assistant directors for Native American Affairs:

2014-2015	Rev. Maurice Henry Sands (Ojibwa-Ottawa-Potawatomi)
2015-present	Rev. Michael Carson (Choctaw)

 

Holdings of Catholic records about Native Americans: Maintained by the American Catholic Research Center and University Archives of the Catholic University of America. However, the Marquette University Special Collections & Archives maintains the records of its subcommittee on Native American Catholics, 1993-2003.

 

Unless otherwise noted, the repository on this page holds (or held) the records described here and they are not held at the Marquette University Archives.

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