GUIDE TO CATHOLIC RECORDS ABOUT NATIVE AMERICANS IN THE U.S.
Volume 3: Western United States
Washington: WA-26

Catholic Church. Diocese of Spokane. Chancery
525 East Mission Avenue
Spokane, WA 99202
P.O. Box 1453
Spokane, WA 99210

Phone: 509-358-7336
Email: See website (The Diocese: About: Archives)

 

Hours: See website (The Diocese: About: Archives)

Access: See website (The Diocese: About: Archives)

Copying facilities: Yes 

 

History: The Diocese of Spokane was erected from territory in the Archdiocese of Seattle, 1913. The Spokane Diocese reported 3,000 baptized Native American Catholics, 1999. Spokane and its predecessors have administered the following Native missions, parishes, and schools in Washington State:   

1847-1852 (closed) (Spokane, 1913-)	St. Anne Mission (Cayuse), Wallula
1847-1856 (closed), 1867-present (Spokane, 1913-1951)	St. Rose Mission (Yakama), Yakima River
1847-1856 (closed) (Spokane, 1913-)	St. Joseph/ Ahtanum Mission (Yakama), Yakima/ Yakima River
1848-1883 (closed) (Spokane, 1913-)	St. Paul Mission (Chelan, Entiat, Methow, Nespelim, Nez Perce, Okanogan, Paloos, Sanpoil, Senijextee, Wenatchi), Kettle Falls
1849-1854 (closed) (Spokane, 1913-)	St. Joseph Mission (Chelan, Entiat, Methow, Nespelim, Nez Perce, Okanogan, Paloos, Sanpoil, Senijextee, Wenatchi), Okanogan
1849-ca. 1952 (closed) (Spokane, 1913- ca. 1952)	St. Francis Regis Mission (Chelan, Entiat, Methow, Nespelim, Nez Perce, Okanogan, Paloos, Sanpoil, Senijextee, Wenatchi), Colville
1852-1920s (no longer Native) (Spokane, 1913-1920s)	Immaculate Conception Church (Chelan, Entiat, Methow, Nespelim, Nez Perce, Okanogan, Paloos, Sanpoil, Senijextee, Wenatchi), Colville
1852-1904 (closed) (Spokane, 1913-)	Spokane Chapel/ Mission (Spokan), Spokane
1873-1921 (closed) (Spokane, 1913-1921)	Providence of the Sacred Heart School (Chelan, Entiat, Methow, Nespelim, Nez Perce, Okanogan, Paloos, Sanpoil, Senijextee, Wenatchi), Colville
1875-present (Spokane, 1913-1951)	St. Joseph School/ Academy (Yakama), Yakima
1882-present (Spokane, 1913-1951)	St. Mary Church (Yakama), White Swan, Yakima Reservation
1886-2010s (closed)	St. Mary Mission (Chelan, Entiat, Methow, Nespelim, Nez Perce, Okanogan, Paloos, Sanpoil, Senijextee, Wenatchi), Omak, Colville Reservation
1910-1920s (closed) (Spokane, 1913-1920s)	St. Louis Church (Chelan, Entiat, Methow, Nespelim, Nez Perce, Okanogan, Paloos, Sanpoil, Senijextee, Wenatchi), Brewster/ Monse
1913-present	Our Lady of Sorrows Church (Kalispel), Usk/ Cusick, Kalispel Reservation
1915-1940s (closed)	St. Joachim Mission (Sanpoil), Bossburg
1915-1940s (closed)	St. Ann Church (Sanpoil), Pia
1915-present	Sacred Heart Mission (Chelan, Entiat, Methow, Nespelim, Nez Perce, Okanogan, Paloos, Sanpoil, Senijextee, Wenatchi), Nespelem, Colville Reservation
1916-present	St Rose of Lima Mission (Chelan, Entiat, Methow, Nespelim, Nez Perce, Okanogan, Paloos, Sanpoil, Senijextee, Wenatchi), Keller, Colville Reservation
1920s-present	St. Jude Church (Kalispel), Usk, near Kalispel Reservation
1920-present	Sacred Heart Church (Spokane), Wellpinit
1925-present	St. Michael Church (Chelan, Entiat, Methow, Nespelim, Nez Perce, Okanogan, Paloos, Sanpoil, Senijextee, Wenatchi), Inchelium, Colville Reservation
1938-1950 (closed)	St. Ignatius Mission (Chelan, Entiat, Methow, Nespelim, Nez Perce, Okanogan, Paloos, Sanpoil, Senijextee, Wenatchi), Rogers Bar
1943-present	Our Lady of Lourdes Church (Spokan), Wellpinit/ West End, Spokane Reservation
1945-ca. 1973 (closed)	St. Mary School (Chelan, Entiat, Methow, Nespelim, Nez Perce, Okanogan, Paloos, Sanpoil, Senijextee, Wenatchi), Omak, Colville Reservation
1945-present	St. Joseph Church (Chelan, Entiat, Methow, Nespelim, Nez Perce, Okanogan, Paloos, Sanpoil, Senijextee, Wenatchi), Omak, Colville Reservation
1988-present	St. Philip Benizi Church (Spokan), Wellpinit/ Ford, Spokane Reservation
1994-present	St. Aloysius Church (e.g. Spokan), Spokane

 

Holdings of Catholic records about Native Americans:

Inclusive dates: 1883-ongoing    Volume: At least 3 cubic feet

Description: The records of the Diocese of Spokane archives were not organized according to a classification scheme when examined by a Marquette University archivist, 2006. Consequently, description is by record type. 

 

/1 Bishops’ Papers

Inclusive dates: 1915, 1917, and dates unknown   

Volume: Ca. .6 cubic foot 

Description: Divided by bishop and there under by topic and record type. 

A. Bishop Augustin Magloire Alexandre Blanchet (1797-1887), dates unknown; approximately .5 cubic foot; clippings, correspondence (copies), and notes

B. Bishop Augustine Francis Schinner (1863-1937), 1915, 1917, few letters; includes the Commission for the Catholic Missions Among the Colored People and the Indians

 

/2 Sacramental Records

Inclusive dates: 1883-1990

Volume: Few reels of microfilm

Description: Arranged alphabetically by parish location and there under by parish name; includes baptisms, first communions, confirmations, marriages, and burials for Indian and non-Indian parishes with attended Native Americans missions and stations and/or a few Native parishioners; microfilmed through 1990 with original records held by parishes.

A. Colville, Immaculate Conception Church, 1883-1990

B. Inchelium, St. Michael Mission, 1925-1990

C. Monse, St. Louis Church, 1910-1920s

D. Nespelem, Sacred Heart Mission, 1916-1990

E. Omak, St. Mary Church, 1945-1990

F. Usk, St. Jude Church, 1920s-1990

G. Wellpinit, Sacred Heart Church, 1920-1990

H. Westend, Our Lady of Lourdes Church, 1943-1990

 

/3 Parish Files

Inclusive dates: After 1899-ongoing

Volume: At least 1.2 cubic feet

Description: Correspondence, clippings, histories, reports, and photographs arranged alphabetically by parish location and there under by name; includes the following Native and non-Native parishes with attended Native missions and stations: 

A. Colville, Immaculate Conception Church, 1937-present, .2 cubic foot

B. Colville, St. Francis Regis Mission, 1910-present, .2 cubic foot

C. Inchelium, St. Michael Mission, 1928-present, .2 cubic foot

D. Nespelem, Sacred Heart Church, 1915-present, .1 cubic foot

E. Omak, St. Mary Mission, 1899-present, .2 cubic foot

F. Usk, St. Jude Church, 1961-present, .2 cubic foot

G. Wellpinit, Sacred Heart Church, 1978-present, .1 cubic foot

 

/4 Personnel Files

Inclusive dates: After 1913-ongoing  

Volume: Few folders

Description: Arranged alphabetically by surname; primarily diocesan priests with a few Jesuits included. 

 

/5 Religious Community Files

Inclusive dates: 1894-ongoing

Volume: At least 1.1 cubic feet

Description: Clippings, correspondence, ephemera, histories, photographs, and reports arranged alphabetically by topic, i.e. “Indian Reservations” and community name.

A. “Indian Reservations,” 1894-1947, .4 cubic foot; notable correspondents: Rev. Alphonsus Fletcher, S.J., 1914-1915; Rev. C. Caldi, S.J., 1919-1937, Rev. E. de Rouge, S.J., 1914-1915, Rev. H.J. Schuler, S.J., 19143-1915, Rev. Edward M. Griva, S.J., 1914-1919; History of the 50 years of my Missionary Life Among Indians and Whites from July 1894 until the End of September 1944 [typescript] by Rev. Edward M. Griva, S.J.; The Cayuse and Walla Walla [typescript] by Rev. Lyle Davis, S.J., 1947

B. “Jesuits and Jesuit History,” 1958-1980s, .3 cubic foot; The Long Harvest, Life of Joseph M. Cataldo, S.J. [typescript, M.A. thesis] by Lucia Ahern, Nebraska State Teachers College, 1958; Story of Jesuit Father Joseph Joset, Missionary of the Coeur d’Alenes, 1975, KHQ television typescript; clippings and ephemera, 1930s-1980s

C. “Sisters of [Charity of] Providence,” 1921-1980s, .4 cubic foot; includes Mother Joseph statue dedication, U.S. Capital, Washington, D.C., 1930s

 

/6 Diocesan Newspapers

Inclusive dates: 1919-ongoing

Volume: Few articles

Description: Occasional articles pertaining to American Indians and Catholic evangelization in the diocese have appeared in The Inland Empire, Catholic Messenger, 1919-1931, the Inland Catholic, 1934-1942, and The Inland Register, the latter has been archived online, 2001-present.       

 

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.

new2006/rev2020