| 1509-1518? |
Native American evangelization began in Puerto Rico. However, the Native population declined dramatically due to diseases carried by Europeans and Africans. |
| 1573-1760s |
Franciscans and Jesuits established missions
in the northern borderlands of New Spain, now Alabama, Arizona, California,
Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, New Mexico, |
|
North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia). |
| 1615-1763 |
Catholic missions for Indians were established
by Jesuits and others throughout New France, including much of the
Great Lakes and Mississippi River regions, now a part |
|
of the United States. |
| 1656-1680 |
Kateri Tekakwitha (Mohawk) lived a saintly
life in New York and Quebec, Canada. She was known for her religious
piety, prayers, and devotion. |
| 1773-1814 |
The Jesuit order was suppressed throughout
the Church in the U.S. and most of the world. |
| 1779 |
Spanish Franciscans celebrate the first Mass in Alaska. |
| 1791 |
Upon request, Bishop Carroll sent a priest to the Indians of Maine. This marked the beginning of Catholic Indian missions under the bishops of the United States. |
| 1828-ca. |
Many Catholic missionaries accompanied Native
peoples to reservations as the United States forcibly removed tribes
from ancestral homelands. Most were moved from |
| 1890 |
the east to west, often to Oklahoma. |
| 1834, 1849 |
Congress established the Bureau of Indian Affairs
within the War Department and later transferred to the Interior
Department. |
| 1855 |
Reverend James M.C. Bouchard, S.J. (1823-1889) (Delaware) was the first Native American ordained a priest within the United States. |
| 1862, 1870 |
In Alaska, Oblates of Mary Immaculate arrive briefly and return to evangelize. |
| 1870-1882 |
President Grant's Peace Policy was in force. Catholic missionary efforts were restricted to seven Indian agencies (reservations) at
which Protestant missionaries were |
| |
excluded. However, based upon prior missionary initiatives, the Catholic Church believed
it was entitled to operate mission schools at 34 of the 72 agencies
then in |
| |
existence. |
| 1870s |
Across the United States itinerant photographers
established professional studios in numerous small towns, including
those near and on American Indian and African |
| |
American communities. |
| 1872 |
Archbishop Francis X. N. Blanchet (Archdiocese of Oregon City) proposed naming a Washington agent to defend the Catholic Indian mission initiatives. |
| 1873 |
General Charles Ewing became the Washington agent for
Catholic mission interests. |
| 1874 |
The Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions was established. At first it was known as the Office of Catholic Commissioner for Indian Missions
with General Ewing appointed |
| |
as the Catholic Commissioner by Archbishop J. Roosevelt Bayley (Archdiocese of Baltimore)
and Reverend John B.A. Brouillet (Diocese of Seattle/ Nesqually) was |
|
appointed director to
assist Ewing. At this time, there were 40 Native American mission churches and seven schools within the continental United States. |
| 1874-1894 |
Alaska, which as yet lacked native missions, was assigned to the Vicariate Apostolate of Vancouver Island in British North America. |
| 1875-1887 |
The Catholic Indian Missionary Association was established and provided the principle financial support for the Catholic commissioner.
The most successful chapters |
| |
were in St. Louis and Philadelphia, The most successful chapters were in St. Louis and Philadelphia,
with the former led by Ellen (Mrs. William Tecumseh) Ewing |
| |
Sherman, sister of the Catholic Commissioner. |
| ca. 1877 |
The government established a contract system for extending
aid to Indian mission schools. |
| 1878 |
A dispute with James A. McMaster (editor, New York
Freeman's Journal and Catholic Register) led to reforms within the Office of Catholic Commissioner. |
| 1879 |
The name Office of Catholic Commissioner was changed
to Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions. |
| 1881 |
The Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions was incorporated. |
| 1882-1955 |
Katharine Drexel (1858-1955) dedicated her life and financial resources in support of Catholic missions for African and Native Americans. |
| 1884 |
The U.S. Bishops' held the Thurd Plenary Council (Baltimore). |
|
It recognized the Bureau as a Church institution and placed it under a committee of five prelates that named Bishop Martin Marty
(Diocese of Sioux Falls) as president. |
| |
The Council further decreed establishment of a national annual special collection on the first
Sunday of Lent for the benefit of African-American and Native American |
| |
missions. This collection was administered by a commission
of three bishops without Indians in their dioceses. It was
incorporated as the Commission for Catholic |
| |
Missions Among the Colored People and the Indians
and is now known as the Black and Indian
Mission Office. |
| 1887 |
The Jesuits began to establish missions in Alaska. |
| 1887- |
The Commission Lenten collection was established with modest initial responses. Funds were collected from 66 of the 84 dioceses
and disbursed to 34 dioceses and |
| [ongoing] |
organizations supporting missions. Notable contributing Arch/Dioceses included: Boston, New
York, Philadelphia, and Brooklyn and notable receiving Arch/Dioceses |
| |
included: Alaska and the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions for Native American missions. |
| 1889-1892 |
A controversy erupted between Reverend Joseph A. Stephan,
Director of the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions, and Thomas J.
Morgan, Commissioner of the Office |
| |
of Indian Affairs, regarding allegations of anti-Catholic bias against Catholic Indian
schools. Morgan severed communications with the BCIM and thereafter
dealt directly |
| |
with the Catholic schools. |
| 1890 |
As a Congressional lobbying aid for funds to Catholic
Indian schools, Reverend Stephan requested that a few prominent missions
send photographs of their schools to the |
| |
Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions. |
| 1890- |
Across the United States, Indian celebrations became
popular subjects, which included motion pictures by 1900. Some Native
communities, particularly in the Southwest,
|
| |
reacted by restricting photography after
1910. |
| 1891- |
Under the auspices of Bishop Marty, O.S.B., St. Mary and St. Joseph Societies were established as men's and women's sodalities
among the Dakota, Teton, and |
|
Yankton Indians in North Dakota. Bishop
Marty then founded the first Catholic Indian Congress as an annual sodality gathering, which later spread to the Dakota and |
| |
Assiniboine
of Montana and South Dakota and the Ojibwa of Minnesota. |
| 1891 |
Katharine Drexel founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament to staff Catholic schools for Native and African Americans. |
| 1894 |
The Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions was reorganized as a new corporation. The committee of prelates was replaced by a Board
of Directors that included the |
| |
Archbishops of Baltimore, New York, and Philadelphia. |
| 1895-1900 |
The government gradually ended direct federal aid to contract Indian
mission schools. |
| 1896-1902 |
The "Browning Ruling" was in force. It denied Indian parents the right to choose between government and mission schools. Students
were compelled to attend local |
| |
government schools if space was available. |
| 1900 |
There were 101,00 Native American Catholics in
the United States. The Native Americans were served in at least 154
churches and 68 schools. |
| 1900 |
The "Carlisle Plan" provided for the religious education of Indian Catholic pupils at Carlisle School, Carlislie, Pennsylvania. By the
next year the Bureau of Catholic Indian |
|
Missions pointed to the plan as an arrangement to be imitated at other government boarding schools. |
| 1900-1904 |
A controversy ensued regarding treaty rations (e.g., clothing, supplies) for Indian pupils attending mission schools. Government
regulations allowed this benefit in 1900; it |
| |
was rescinded in 1901 and finally restored in 1904. |
| 1901-1962 |
The Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions established the Society for the Preservation of the Faith Among Indian Children to raise funds
for mission schools. The average |
|
annual membership varied from
45,000-50,000. Dues were $0.25/year until 1915 and
$1.00/year thereafter. The Indian Sentinel
(1902-1962) was then started to |
| |
support the Society. |
| 1902-1962 |
The Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions solicited photographs and articles from missionaries for use in The Indian Sentinel. |
| 1904-1990 |
Reverend Henry G. Ganss organized the
Marquette League for Catholic Indian
Missions in New York City as an auxiliary of the Society for the
Preservation of the Faith |
| |
Among Indian Children. Funds formissions raised by the League were distributed through the BCIM. |
| 1904- |
The government allowed tribal treaty funds to be used for tuition
of Indian pupils in mission schools. |
| 1905- |
The Catholic Church Extension Society was established in Chicago
to aid in the building and supplying of churches and schools in needy areas throughout the U.S. |
| 1909 |
In accordance with federal law, religious societies were granted
patents in fee simple to those tribal reservation lands that they
used for missions and schools. Formerly, |
| |
these lands were held as
tenants at will. |
| 1910-1912 |
A religious garb controversy ensued when the Indian Rights Association objected to teachers wearing religious garb in government
Indian schools. Ten former Catholic |
| |
mission schools had been converted to government
schools, utilizing an estimated 46 teachers belonging to religious orders. The BIA
issued a circular banning religious |
| |
garb; however, President William H. Taft revoked the
rule. |
| 1910-1940 |
The Bureau photographs include many postcards from this era when, which were especially popular between 1902 when Kodak and
other manufacturers began |
| |
producing double weight photographic paper for
postcards to the 1930s when the telephone replaced correspondence as the primary communications tool. |
| 1910-1970 |
Missionaries in native communities with consumer-grade portable cameras began contributing to the documentation of native life. |
| 1911 |
The Catholic Chippewa Congress was established among the Chippewa
of Minnesota under the direction of Bishop Marty (now Bishop of the Diocese of St. Cloud). |
| 1912-1921 |
Monsignor William H. Ketcham, Director of the BCIM, served as a member of the U.S. Board of Indian Commissioners. |
| 1920s- |
The Bureau photographs include a number of prints from western movies and Indian-theme pageants and celebrations, which became
popular as rural tourism grew in |
| [ongoing] |
Midwest and Western states. |
| 1923 |
The National Catholic Welfare Conference was established. As a service
agency of the U.S. bishops, it began to contribute to the support for Native American missions. |
| 1923-1945 |
John Collier (1884-1968) a convert to Catholicism, was an activist
for Indian tribal self determination. He criticized the Bureau of
Indian Affairs while Executive Secretary |
| |
of the American Indian Defense Association,
1923-1933, and revamped the BIA while Commissioner, 1933-1945. |
| 1930- |
The narrative quality of correspondence diminished as the telephone replaced correspondence as the
primary communications tool throughout the United States. |
| [ongoing] |
|
| 1930- |
The quantity, quality, and diversity of photographs
grew as technology improved photography and as more rural stores
served the amateur photography market throughout |
| [ongoing] |
the United States. |
| 1930-1980 |
The Native American population began rebounding, and
with encouragement from various federal programs, generally became
mostly urban. In the U.S. the Native |
| |
American population was nearly 10% urban
in 1910 and over 50% urban by 1980. |
| 1939 |
Bishop Aloysius Muench of Fargo, North Dakota,
convened the first annual meeting of the Tekakwitha Conference. Clergy
and native lay Catholics from Minnesota, |
| |
North Dakota, and South Dakota attended
what at first was an association missionaries ministering to Native Americans. |
| 1939 |
The Tekakwitha Conference was established in Fargo,
North Dakota, as a missionaries' association for the northern Plains region. |
| 1949 |
In conjunction with the Jesuits, the Diocese of Rapid
City established the first urban parish specifically for Native Americans. |
| 1968 |
The Holy See approves of the permanent deaconate as
a restored ministry for the Church in the U.S. This ministry is viewed
as distinctive from the priesthood, being more |
| |
"pastoral" rather than "liturgical." |
| 1970 |
In conjunction with the Jesuits, the Diocese of
Fairbanks
became the first U.S. diocese to establish a permanent deaconate
program. This program focused on vocations |
| |
for Native Americans. |
| 1971 |
A National Association of Native Religious and Clergy
was created as a support group for American Indian religious and clergy. |
| 1975 |
There were 157,000 Native American Catholics. The Native Americans were served
in at least 397 churches and 37 schools. |
| 1978 |
In cooperation with other advocacy agencies, the BCIM expanded its advocacy for Indian rights beyond its concern for Catholic |
| |
Indian missions and schools to include tribal self determination and religious and political rights. |
| 1979 |
The Tekakwitha Conference was incorporated and then
recognized as an organization of Native American Catholics promoting Indian evangelization. |
| 1980 |
Kateri Tekakwitha (Mohawk) was beatified. |
| 1980- |
The Catholic Negro-American Mission Board became administered
by the BCIM. This agency was established in New York City in 1907 to
provide educational |
| [ongoing] |
opportunities for African American
communities, and until 1970, it was known as the Catholic Board for Mission Work Among the Colored People.
|
| 1983 |
The Association of Catholic Indian Schools was established
by the BCIM to aid in the preservation of the remaining Catholic
Indian schools. |
| 1986 |
The Vatican approved a translation of major portions
of the Mass into Navajo, the first Native American language to receive
such recognition. Native American language |
| |
texts for language study and Catholic
worship have been produced since the onset of Native American
evangelization, however, prior to the Second Vatican Council |
| |
(1962-1965), all of the official prayers of the
Mass were said in Latin only. Thereafter, local
vernacular languages were allowed with prior approval. |
| 1986 |
Donald E. Pelotte, S.S.S. (Abenaki 1945- ), named coadjutor
Bishop of Gallup, became the first Native American in the U.S. hierarchy. |
| 1988- |
Charles J.
Chaput (Potawatomi), O.F.M. Cap., the second Native priest ordained
a bishop, served as Bishop of Rapid City (1988-1997) and Archbishop
of Denver |
| [ongoing] |
(1997-). |
| 1988 |
Mother Katharine Drexel,
S.B.S., was beatified. |
| 1990 |
In the U.S., the Native American Catholic population
included 25 priests, 80 sisters, 60 permanent deacons, 10 brothers,
and two bishops. (Note: Most permanent |
| |
deacons resided in the Diocese of
Fairbanks, which had 31 Native American deacons constituting 47% of the total diocesan clergy. |
| 1992 |
The Diocese of Rapid City Inculturation Project Office surveyed 10% of the
Native Catholics in western South Dakota and found 43% under age 18
and less than 20% |
|
practicing
the Catholic faith. |
| 1992 |
On behalf of himself and all pre-World War II Lakota catechists in the Diocese of Rapid City, South Dakota, Harry Blue Thunder (Brulé
of the Rosebud Reservation, |
|
South
Dakota, received the Lumen Christi Award of the Catholic Church
Extension Society. |
| 2002 |
In
Mexico, Pope John Paul II canonized Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin (Aztec,
1474-1548), the first American Indian to be declared a saint by
the Catholic Church. Juan |
|
Diego was credited with receiving two apparitions from the Virgin of
Guadalupe in 1531. |
