Week
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August 22, 2001
Inside the Register
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Catholic Indian community thrives as `family'
Representing 25 tribes, Kateri community is united in faith
By Roxanne King
With moving Indian drumming and song, sweet cedar and sage incense and prayer in a sacred circle, Mass at Kateri Catholic Community Aug. 19 wasn't your regular Sunday liturgy. Rather, it was a special Mass in honor of a pastoral visit from Archbishop Charles Chaput, who is himself part Potawatami.
Some 80 faithful attended the Mass, which was followed by a brief meeting and a scrumptious potluck. All took place at the Kateri center, located in the basement of the school gym at St. Bernadette's Parish in Lakewood.
While reflecting on the Scripture readings during his homily, the archbishop told the congregation that unless one's Christianity has caused one problems, "we're not real Christians."
"How
many of you have heard Christianity is a white man's religion?" the
archbishop queried. Noting that out of respect and honor Indians often
will not disagree with others, the archbishop exhorted the congregation
to be unafraid to claim Christ as their Lord and Savior when their faith
is attacked.
"Jesus is calling us to courage and to honesty through these (Scripture) readings, but always with charity," the archbishop said, adding, "It's tough to be a Christian, not complicated, but tough."
Heads nodded in agreement. For them, being a Catholic Indian isn't complicated — many of their tribal traditions, such as using incense to represent prayers rising to God, fit nicely with Catholic traditions — and they know about the division faith can bring. They've also experienced how tough it is to be a minority, which is why they worship together. They are brothers and sisters in both faith and culture and find mutual support in the Kateri community.
"All of us put a lot of emphasis on our children and siblings, but this is family as well," said Penny Bishop, 52, who is a distant cousin to the archbishop. "There's a sense of extended family that Indians have amongst each other."
Despite belonging to different tribes, Bishop said, Native Americans consider themselves siblings — and anyone over 50 is an elder and a grandparent to the children.
The Indian traditions the community has incorporated into the Mass, such as the drumming and incense, Bishop said, are a blend of practices from different tribes.
Describing both Native American culture and Catholicism as being paradoxically "complex but simple," Bishop said that the two are successfully combined at the Kateri community.
"I can express my religion through the simplicity and complexity of both structures to the fullest here," she said.
Dolly and Sidney Whiting, both Lakota, have belonged to the Kateri community since before it was given the name some 15 years ago. They and a core group of elders have worshipped together for over 30 years.
"The nuns at Marycrest started having a Mass for the Sioux Indians," recalled Dolly, 72, as the Register interviewed the couple at their tidy blue house with yellow awnings in south central Denver. "Their Mass was private — not for the public — but they would let us come."
Eventually, the nuns found a priest, Vincentian Father John O'Connell, who celebrated Mass for the Indian community at various locations around the city for over a decade until St. Bernadette's offered the empty cafeteria beneath their gym. By that time the community was called Kateri, after Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, a Mohawk convert extolled for her holiness.
Thrilled to have a permanent location, the Whiting's said the Kateri community appreciated that the site had cooking facilities and a large room for Mass and other functions. Despite the inconveniences the community experienced early on, they remained a vibrant congregation because of the bonds they share.
"It's like a family," Dolly said, using the same phrase expressed by Bishop and virtually every member of the community who described their congregation. "We get to be together Indian to Indian."
The familial sense is so strong that members drive from across the metro area to worship at Kateri.
Jose Gallegos, 53, who during the Mass carried a small brazier to each person to waft sweet smoke around themselves as preparation to hear the Word of God, said his family initially traveled 60 miles to attend Mass at Kateri when they joined about a decade ago.
"It's still close to 38 miles away, but this is where we like to come — it's more informal and friendly," he said. Adding that he is part Ute and his wife Comanche, Gallegos said his family feels comfortable at the community.
Non-Indians said they attend for the same reason.
"I enjoy the people. I enjoy the community," said Wayne Smiglewski, 58, who has attended for eight years. "It's like one big family. There's no pretentiousness, what you see is what you get."
Attracting up to 120 most Sundays during the winter, summers the community, which boasts parishioners from some 25 different tribes, sees a drop in numbers due to the many who trek to reservations to visit family or who travel to pow-wows. Both are efforts to retain their culture and to pass it on to the younger generation, said the community's administrator, Deacon Bill Ward.
"They're trying to keep their culture alive," he said.
Other ways they carry on the culture is by providing drumming and traditional dance lessons to those who want to learn, said part-time Religious Education Director Margaret Tranekier. The community also is passing on the faith via religious education for children and adults — last year was the first the community offered the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults, said Deacon Ward. They also held a Rite of Christian Initiation for Children in conjunction with another parish and they held confirmation.
Administrator for a year, the deacon described his job as that of organizer for the congregation and liaison with both the parish that has provided so hospitably to them over the years and with the archdiocese.
"This has been a wonderful experience," the former prison chaplain and pastoral minister said. "It's been a humbling experience to work with such warm-hearted, generous people."
But like any community, it has its challenges. The main one facing it now is finding a permanent priest.
While Deacon Ward said he can help people being "hatched, matched and dispatched" — or baptized, married and buried — there are some sacraments only a priest can perform, such as confession, anointing the sick and celebrating Eucharist.
"Deacons are not little priests, they're here to serve the community and assist the priest," he said.
The community hasn't had a regular chaplain since Father O'Connell died two years ago. For a time, two order priests were serving the community on a fairly regular basis, but one left for a seven-month sabbatical in June and a medical condition prevents the other from taking on the responsibility of a congregation. Various priests take turns celebrating Mass, but when no one is available, the congregation attends at St. Bernadette's. However, members said they don't find that as satisfying. They want to worship as a Catholic Indian community.
The archbishop said he is trying to locate a permanent chaplain for the congregation.
Other challenges facing the community include installing an electric lift that will carry seniors and others unable to negotiate the stairs down into the basement. Like other elders, medical problems have confined Sidney Whiting, 81, to a wheelchair since last October, which prevents him from attending Mass at the center. Dolly, who doesn't drive, gets a ride to the center when she can, but most frequently receives Communion at home with Sidney, or attends Mass at their neighborhood parish. The couple said they miss worshipping at the center "a lot."
Additionally, the center needs an exhaust fan installed. While the basement is toasty in winter, it's uncomfortably hot in summer. The congregation runs fans to cool it down, but must turn them off during Mass so people can hear the readings and homily.
The community also hopes to remodel their kitchen, which needs a new refrigerator and countertop and cupboards moved to make the room more space efficient.
To enhance worship, Deacon Ward said, the community plans to convert a closet into a combination adoration chapel and confessional. They have a tabernacle donated by Our Lady of the Snow in Granby but no place to put it, the deacon said.
The projects are estimated to cost over $20,000, pretty steep for the community whose offertory averages $100 a week after paying a stipend to a priest, Deacon Ward said.
With the enthusiasm of a new homeowner, the deacon proudly showed off projects completed the past year — the community's "new" altar, lectern and paschal candleholder, old items Gallegos refurbished and carved with matching Indian designs.
"This represents the Rocky Mountains and this is the vine of the community rising to Christ," Deacon Ward said explaining the symbols.
Expressing deep respect for the community he's been entrusted with and confident in its ability to overcome the challenges it faces, Deacon Ward speaks with both warmth and conviction as he describes his hopes for its future. "That it grow and become more self-sufficient and continue to make all its own decisions — which they are very good at, but no one let them do before," he said. Later he added, "They are unbelievably patient and know how to forgive. They're a good model for other Christians." To donate, make check payable to the Kateri Catholic Community and mail to Archdiocese of Denver Social Concerns Office, 1300 S. Steele St., Denver, CO 80210-2599.Catholic Indian bureau strong at 127Established 127 years ago by U.S. bishops, the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions continues its original mission today to work for justice for Native Americans and to further their evangelization, the organization's director said. Led by Msgr. Paul Lenz at the organization's headquarters in Washington, D.C., the bureau obtains funding for mission schools, works to eliminate discrimination and recruits religious communities to help Native Americans with evangelization efforts. Additionally, the bureau sponsors a national Tekakwitha Conference, which provides liturgies, workshops on Native American liturgy, ministry, family life and catechesis. More than 1,500 lay and religious attended the conference held last month in San Diego. Next year's conference will be held at Michigan State University in Lansing July 31-Aug. 4. "The purpose of the bureau is to bring the Church to the Native Americans and to assist the Native Americans with the Catholic religion," said Msgr. Lenz. "Just like the archbishop brings the Church to the people, I visit the missions all the time. I've been on 86 airplanes this year." More than 600 Indian tribes are recognized by the federal government, Msgr. Lenz said. The 1990 Census, the last year for which the bureau has numbers, counted two million Native Americans. "We figure that 250,000 are baptized Catholics," Msgr. Lenz said. Small faith sharing groups the bureau sponsors, called Kateri Circles, number 160. There were none when Msgr. Lenz took over as director 25 years ago. One of the purposes of the groups and of the Tekakwitha Conference is to promote the beatification of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha. People are perhaps most familiar with the mission schools the bureau helps fund. "We have over 30 Catholic schools that we're supporting in the U.S.," Msgr. Lenz said, adding that the bureau does it all without a budget. "We get what we get and we give out every penny. We give out close to a million dollars a year - to Catholic schools and to fund the conference." To donate, send check payable to Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions and mail to 2021 H. St. NW, Washington, D.C., 20006.