Foreword / Ben Black Bear, Jr. -- Introduction / David J. Endres -- Contributing biographies -- Education and evangelization. The good news in print and image: Catholic evangeliteracy in Native America / Christopher Vescey -- Catholic ladders and Native American evangelization / Mark G. Thiel -- Northwest indian evangelization by European Jesuits / Gerald McKevitt, S.J. -- Tradition and transition. Native Americans on the path to the Catholic Church: cultural crisis and missionary adaptation / Ross Enochs -- Hindsight and foresight: The Catholic Church and Native North Americans, 1965-1997 / Carl F. Starkloff, S.J. -- In native tongues: Catholic charismatic renewal and Montana's eastern tribes / Mark Clatterbuck -- Native American lives. Natives and nationalism: the Americanization of Kateri Tekakwitha / Allan Greer -- Kindred spirits and sacred bonds: Irish Catholics and Native Americans / Conor J. Donnan -- Black Elk's vision: the ghost dance, Catholic sacraments, and Lakota ontology / Damian Costello.

Before there was an immigrant American Church, there was a Native American Church. The Native American Catholic Studies Reader offers an introduction to the story of how Native American Catholicism has developed over the centuries, beginning with the age of the missions and leading to inculturated, indigenous forms of religious expression. Though the Native-Christian relationship could be marked by tension, coercion, and even violence, the Christian faith took root among Native Americans and for those who accepted it and bequeathed it to future generations it became not an imposition, but a way of expressing Native identity. From the perspective of historians and theologians, the Native American Catholic Studies Reader offers a curated collection of essays divided into three sections: education and evangelization; tradition and transition; and Native American lives. Contributors include scholars currently working in the field: Mark Clatterbuck, Damian Costello, Conor J. Donnan, Ross Enochs, Allan Greer, Mark G. Thiel, and Christopher Vecsey, as well as selections from a past generation: Gerald McKevitt, SJ, and Carl F. Starkloff, SJ. These contributions explore the interaction of missionaries and tribal leaders, the relationship of traditional Native cosmology and religiosity to Christianity, and the role of geography and tribal consciousness in accepting and maintaining indigenous and religious identities. These readings highlight the state of the emergent field of Native-Catholic studies and suggest further avenues for research and publication.For scholars, teachers, and students, the Native American Catholic Studies Reader explores how the faith of the American Church's eldest members became a means of expressing and celebrating language, family, and tribe. -- cuapress.org

Description based on print version record.