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August 16, 2000
Tekakwitha Conference in Nebraska draws 1,000
By Kimberly Nebgen
LINCOLN, Neb. (CNS) - We come from different languages, tribes and customs but are one people, Archbishop Elden F. Curtiss of Omaha told more than 1,000 Native Americans gathered in Nebraska for the 61st Annual Tekakwitha Conference.
"We have to be proud to be Native Americans," Archbishop Curtiss said. "We have to be proud to be Catholic. We don't have to apologize to anybody for those two realities."
"Kateri 2000: Walking in the Heartland" was the theme of the Tekakwitha Conference held at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. Hosted this year by St. Augustine Indian Mission on the Winnebago reservation in Nebraska, conference sessions were also held in Winnebago.
The annual gathering and the Montana-based Tekakwitha Conference organization — both named in honor of Blessed Kateri Tekakwith a — focus on the role of Native Americans in the Catholic Church.
This year's participants included Mohawk, Pueblo, Navajo, Sioux, Eskimo and Cherokee people. Attendees came from 33 states and six countries to celebrate their mutual identity and common faith as Native American Catholics.
Father Tom Gall, associate mission director at St. Augustine, said the purpose of the conference was threefold: to pray for Blessed Kateri's canonization, to evangelize the Native American people and to provide fellowship for Native American Catholics.
The majority of the conference sessions were held at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. The agenda featured a variety of speakers from around the United States who addressed Native American spirituality and other issues.
Workshops focused on topics such as Scripture in daily life, forgiveness and reconciliation and "building a culture of life for all Americans." Other activities included a talent show and healing service in Lincoln, and a Mass, a traditional meal and a pow-wow at the Winnebago reservation.
Ben and Betty Kelly of Hogansburg, N.Y., said they have attended the conference for six years. The Kellys are members of the Mohawk tribe from "Kateri's country" — Kateri was born in 1656 in a village on the Mohawk River called Ossernenon, which is now Auriesville, N.Y.
The couple said they enjoy the annual conference because they meet old friends from around the country.
While at the conference, the Kellys discussed solutions for common problems, such as poverty and unemployment, with fellow Native Americans.
"We seem more alike than we are different," Betty Kelly told the Catholic Voice, Omaha archdiocesan newspaper.
Evelyn Elliot, a Yup'ik Eskimo from Bethel, Alaska, felt the same. "I feel at ease at this conference because everyone is so accepting of one another," she said.
Ella "Little Flower" Simmons agreed. She is director of African, Caribbean, Haitian and Native American ministry for the Diocese of Jacksonville, Fla. Her mother was part Cherokee and her father was African-American.
When you're African-American and Native American, "it's double jeopardy," she said. Usually, she isn't accepted by either culture. But at the Tekakwitha Conference each year, she is always made to feel welcome, she said.
"I really can feel kinship with the people of my second culture," she said. "They never questioned the color of my skin."
Participants say the Tekakwitha Conference provides a safe haven within the church for Native Americans to embrace their heritage.
According to Simmons, the church itself doesn't always provide this security because few Catholic priests can relate to the faith and spirituality of Native Americans.
"We are at the bottom of the totem pole in the Catholic Church today," she said.
Sarah Berridge, conference chair and member of the St. Augustine Indian Mission in Winnebago, said communication between Native Americans and the Catholic Church is getting better. Native Americans are beginning to feel ownership of the church, she said, as they are allowed to include native customs in the Mass.
For example, the Mass in Winnebago included the use of drums, a blessing of burned cedar and the Our Father recited in Winnebago sign language.
In an interview before the Nebraska gathering, Father Gall said the annual Tekakwitha conferences "bring about a strong unity among Native American people" and heighten the connection between their Catholic and Native American ways.
