GUIDE TO CATHOLIC RECORDS ABOUT NATIVE AMERICANS IN THE U.S.
Volume 3: Western United States
Washington: WA-35

Catholic Church. Diocese of Yakima. Chancery
5301-A Tieton Drive
Yakima, WA 98908

Phone: 509-965-7117
Email: info@yakimadiocese.net

 

History: The Diocese of Yakima was erected, 1951, from portions of the Archdiocese of Seattle and the Diocese of Spokane. The Yakima Diocese reported 1,000 baptized Native American Catholics in 1999. Yakima and its predecessors have administered the following Yakama Indian missions, parish, and school in Washington State:

1847-1856 (closed)	St. Rose Mission (Yakama), Yakima River
1847-1856 (closed), 1867 (Natives diminished)-present (Yakima, 1951-present)	St. Joseph Church/ Ahtanum Mission (Yakama), Yakima/ Yakima River
1875 (Natives diminished)-present (Yakima, 1951-present)	St. Joseph School/ Academy, Yakima
1882-present (Yakima, 1951-present)	St. Mary Church (Yakama), White Swan, Yakima Reservation

 

Holdings of Catholic records about Native Americans:

Inclusive dates: 1847-ongoing

Volume: Ca. .9 cubic foot

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

 

/1 Sacramental Records

Inclusive dates: 1847-1889 

Volume: 1 volume 

Description: Yakima, Ahtanum Mission/ St. Joseph’s Mission (Yakama), 1847-1889; 1 volume; baptisms and marriages.

 

/2 Parish Files

Inclusive dates: 1853-ongoing

Volume: Ca. .5 cubic foot

Description:

A. St. Joseph/ Ahtanum Mission Restoration, 1965-2005; 2 folders; correspondence, clippings, notes, and photographs; re: mission restoration and historic designation plus relief sculpture honoring Yakima chiefs Kamiakin and Owhi, Rev. Eugene C. Chirouse, O.M.I. [Oblates of Mary Immaculate], and other missionaries

B. St. Joseph’s Mission, 1853-present; .3 cubic foot; correspondence, clippings, printed materials, and photographs; notable correspondents

 

/3 Diocesan Files 

Inclusive dates: 1983-ongoing

Volume: Ca. .3 cubic foot

Description:

A. Black and Indian Missions Office, Washington, D.C. (i.e. Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions and the Commission for Catholic Missions among the Colored People and the Indians), 1983-2003; 1 folder; correspondence, applications, and reports between diocese and office, re: diocesan financial contributions and use of funds received, which relates to the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions Records, Marquette University Special Collections and Archives, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

B. Tekakwitha Conference, now Alexandria, Louisiana, 1990-ongoing; 2 folders, re: Participation in annual conference by Native Catholics of the Yakima Diocese; related Tekakwitha Conference Records archived by Marquette University Special Collections and Archives, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

 

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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