Correspondence, minutes, photographs, audio and video recordings, reports, and financial records pertaining to Catholic evangelization of American Indians in the United States and Canada. Facsimiles copied from originals borrowed from Reverend Stanislaus Maudlin, O.S.B., 1989. Gift of the Tekakwitha Conference National Center, 1992-[ongoing]. Processed by Mark G. Thiel, CA (Certified Archivist) with student assistants, 1993-[ongoing].

The Tekakwitha Conference began in 1939 as an annual discussion group for Northern Plains Catholic missionaries working among American Indians. Attempts to transform the conference began in 1969 but meaningful changes were not achieved until 1977, when it became an association of American Indian Catholics. Incorporation came two years later followed by substantial involvement by native peoples across the United States and Canada.

Since the middle of the 20th century, many Indian Catholics had drifted away from the Church. As Indian populations grew and expanded beyond reservations and rural communities, Indian people found non-native parishes to be culturally different and uncomfortable for their families, so they dropped out. The Church also failed to attract indigenous leadership and to embrace Indians' renewed interest and pride in their heritage.

Blessed Kateri serves as a focal point for this convergence of spirituality. Among the Mohawk, Kateri devotions and Anglo-French Catholicism are hundreds of years old, but elsewhere Indian awareness of Tekakwitha was minimal until the time of the revival. This revival of expanded devotions coincides with the Conference's growth since 1975. Owing to diverse tribal backgrounds and varying overlays of Catholicism, Kateri devotions continue to develop in a number of unique ways as well as retain spiritual themes common to all tribes.

Notable Events

Notable events pertaining to the history of the Tekakwitha Conference and the commemoration of Kateri Tekakwitha. The annual meeting dates, locations, topics, themes, and highlights are included.

(Executive) Directors

Dates Served	Name
1977-1989	Reverend Gilbert F. Hemauer, O.F.M. Cap., Executive Director
1989-1992	Frederick A. Buckles, Jr., Executive Director (Assiniboine-Dakota)
1992	Reverend Michael Galvan [Acting Director] (Ohlone)
1992-1993	Wilson Boni [Acting Office Manager] (Apache)
1994-1996	Richard L. King, Executive Director (Assiniboine-Chippewa Cree)
1996-1998	Mike Valdo [Acting Director] (Acoma)
1998-	Sister Kateri Mitchell, S.S.A., Executive Director (Mohawk)

Presidents/Chairs of Board of Directors

Dates Served	Name
1980-1986	Reverend Gilbert F. Hemauer, O.F.M. Cap., President
1986-1989	Reverend John S. Hascall, O.F.M. Cap., President (Ojibwa)
1989-1992	Reverend Michael Galvan, Chair (Ohlone)
1992-1994	Vivian Juan, President (Tohono O'odham)
1995	Gerald Tuckwin, President (Ojibwa)
1996-2000	Mike Valdo, President (Acoma)
2000-2001	Gladys Bordeaux, President (Brule)
2001-2002	George Montoya, President
2002-2006	Doctor Kennith York, President (Choctaw)

Episcopal Moderator

Dates Served	Name
1981-	Bishop Donald E. Pellotte (Abenacki, 1945-), S.S.S., Bishop of Gallup, New Mexico

Materials pertaining to annual meetings form the bulk of the collection. At that time the volume and diversity expands dramatically to include several formats documenting discussions, business meetings, prayer services and liturgies, workshops and training programs, and powwows and social events.

Tekakwitha Conference Series 1, General Correspondence: General correspondence, which dates from 1939, but is sparce until the late 1970s.

Tekakwitha Conference Series 2, Conference Meetings: Minutes and proceedings of the annual meetings, board of directors meetings, and institutes. Materials on national training institutes began in 1982. This is followed by materials on regional gatherings in Alaska (1985, 1987), Montana (1987), South Dakota (1985, 1988-1989), and Washington (1985). Key persons noted in the minutes of meetings are also listed below in the Index to Notable Speakers in the Recordings.

Tekakwitha Conference Series 3, Special Reports: Reports and special surveys related to the reports. 

Tekakwitha Conference Series 4, Conference Publications: The conference newsletters primarily reported on the annual meetings and institutes. Many of the notable speakers at the annual meetings are noted below in the Index to Notable Speakers in the Recordings and were also reported in the newsletters. In some instances transcripts of presentations were published. For some speakers, additional related materials are included in other Marquette collections, which are noted by the bracketed numbers following the speaker's name.

Work in-progress: The Marquette University Libraries are developing bibliographic records for the publications in this collection. This includes all books, pamphlets, magazines, newsletters, prayer cards, published maps, published sound and video recordings, etc., and excludes clipping files and reprints of articles. As they are created, the bibliographic records will appear in Marqcat, the Marquette University online catalog. Furthermore, as an interim and supplemental search tool, most titles to publications in this and related collections appear in the Index to Publications in Native America Collections.   

Tekakwitha Conference Series 5, Photography: Recordings from the annual meetings and institutes comprise a substantial part of the collection. Notable speakers in the recordings are noted below in the Index to Notable Speakers in the Recordings, many of whom who were also reported in the Tekakwitha Conference newsletters (Series 4). In some instances transcripts of presentations were also published. For some speakers, additional related materials are included in other Marquette collections, which are noted by the bracketed numbers following the speaker's name.

Tekakwitha Conference Series 6, Video Recordings: Recordings from the annual meetings and institutes comprise a substantial part of the collection. Notable speakers in the recordings are noted below in the Index to Notable Speakers in the Recordings, many of whom who were also reported in the Tekakwitha Conference newsletters (Series 4). In some instances transcripts of presentations were also published. For some speakers, additional related materials are included in other Marquette collections, which are noted by the bracketed numbers following the speaker's name.

Tekakwitha Conference Series 7, Sound Recordings: Recordings from the annual meetings and institutes comprise a substantial part of the collection. Notable speakers in the recordings are noted below in the Index to Notable Speakers in the Recordings, many of whom who were also reported in the Tekakwitha Conference newsletters (Series 4). In some instances transcripts of presentations were also published. For some speakers, additional related materials are included in other Marquette collections, which are noted by the bracketed numbers following the speaker's name.

Tekakwitha Conference Series 8, General Publications and Recordings: Publications and recordings of interest to the Tekakwitha Conference.

Index to Notable Speakers in the Recordings

See key to bracketed numbers below.

Key to bracketed numbers used above:

[1] = Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions Records (United States)

[2] = Holy Rosary Mission/Red Cloud Indian School (Pine Ridge, Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota)

[3] = Kateri Tekakwitha Project Oral History Collection (Arizona, New Mexico, and South Dakota)

[4] = Inculturation Task Force Records (U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Diocese of Rapid City, South Dakota, and Diocese of Tucson, Arizona)

[5] = Kisemanito Centre Records (Grouard, Alberta, Canada)

[6] = St. Francis Mission Records (St. Francis, Rosebud Reservation, South Dakota)

[7] = St. Isaac Jogues Church Records (Rapid City, South Dakota)

[8] = St. Stephen's Mission Records (St. Stephens, Wind River Reservation, Wyoming)

[9] = Siggenauk Center Records (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)

[10] = Sioux Spiritual Center Records (Diocese of Rapid City, South Dakota)

[11] = Anne M. Scheuerman Photographic Collection

Restricted Records

Restricted records are so noted in the inventories. Access to such materials requires permission in writing from the Tekakwitha Conference National Center, 406-727-0147, 800-842-9635, P.O. Box 6768, Great Falls, Montana 59406, Fax 406-452-9845.

Related Collections at Marquette University

Related Resources at Other Institutions

Current information on the Tekakwitha Conference is available from the Tekakwitha Conference National Center. Newspaper: Cross and Feathers (and previous titles), which are included in the Tekakwitha Conference Records.

The Vice-Postulators for the canonization of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha are:

Canada--Rev. Jacques Bruyere, S. J., The Kateri Centre, Box 70, Kahnawake, PQ, Canada J0L 1B0. Phone: (450) 638-1546 or (450) 632-6030. Newsletter: Kateri (in Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions Records, Series 14-1)

United States--Rev. John J. Paret, S. J., Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha League, Auriesville, NY 12016. Phone: (518) 853-3153. Newsletter: Lily of the Mohawks (in Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions Records, Series 14-1)

Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions, 2021 H Street NW, Washington, DC 20006-4207. Phone: (202) 331-8542. Newsletter: BCIM Newsletter (in Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions Records, Series 4-1)

The National Kateri Shrine, The Kateri Guild, P.O. Box 627, Folda, NY 12068. Phone: (518) 853-3646. Newsletter: Tekakwitha News (in Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions Records, Series 14-1)

Kateri Circles, Regional/Mini Tekakwitha Conferences and Native American Parishes--We Need Your Help!

Be part of history! Please send copies of your bulletins and newsletters, native language missals, prayer books, and hymnals, and song recordings to Marquette University where they will be preserved and made available for research together the Tekakwitha Conference records and other collections. We also welcome your research requests. We have substantial 19-20th century documentation from native Catholic missions, parishes, and schools in the United States, which can be useful in writing family, parish, and tribal histories and other purposes. Contact us for more information:

Mark G. Thiel, CA (Certified Archivist)
Archivist

Marquette University
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Raynor Memorial Libraries
1355 W. Wisconsin Ave.
P.O. Box 3141
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53201-3141
Telephone: (414) 288-5904
Fax: (414) 288-6709
mark.thiel@marquette.edu