News | Live Stream | Video Library
Contact Us | Employment | Donate
November 21, 2024, Gaylord, Michigan – About 80 people attended Walking the Red Road: Recognizing Ourselves as Individuals and Part of the Whole, a conference held last month for Native and non-Native Catholics in the Diocese of Gaylord, Michigan. Sister Susan Gardner, OP, Director of the Native American Apostolate for the diocese, was involved in the conference.
Walking the Red Road gave participants the opportunity to gather, engage in Native rituals, pray, listen to words of apology from the U.S. Catholic bishops, learn to live as Natives and Catholics, and dialogue with the Church.
“This is the fourth conference since I’ve been here … and the first since COVID,” Sister Sue said. The conference drew both Native and non-Native Catholics. “We always have a big group of non-Natives who come because they’re very interested in learning about Native Americans,” she said.
Father Michael Carson, Secretariat of Cultural Diversity in the Church, spoke on the U.S. Catholic Bishops’ document, Keeping Christ’s Promise: A Pastoral Framework for Indigenous Ministry, approved by the bishops at their June 2024 assembly. In the document, the bishops outline the history of the Catholic Church’s policies that harmed the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas, including the Doctrine of Discovery, papal bulls that encouraged European nations to invade and conquer lands in which Christians were not living; forced relocation of the native peoples to reservations; and boarding schools in which “Indigenous children were forced to abandon their traditional languages, dress, and customs.”
The bishops further apologized for the role that the Catholic Church played in the trauma experienced by Native Americans and set forth a pastoral plan to walk with them into the future.
The conference also included a talk on Being Native and Catholic by Father Henry Sands, of the Little Traverse Bay Band and Bkejwanong First Nation, Ontario; two sessions of the Talking Circle; and a closing Mass, celebrated by Bishop of Gaylord Jeffrey Walsh.
Featured throughout the conference was a book containing the names of all children who attended Holy Childhood, a boarding school in Harbor Springs, Michigan, which was opened in the 1880s and closed in 1983. At the start of the conference, a Native woman who survived the school lit a candle, which burned all day for the former students, Sister Sue said.
The book listing the names of the boarding school students is one way that the Diocese of Gaylord is reaching out to Native Catholics. “It was a monumental task,” involving the use of a special machine that could take pictures of the school rosters, Sister Sue explained. A bound copy of the book was given to each tribal chairperson, she added.
Another way the diocese reaches out is through the conference. “The people [who] were there did appreciate the efforts and were glad we did it,” Sister Sue said. The diocese will make “any effort we can to let the Native American people know we’re sincere, but it takes a long time to develop that trust. You just keep trying to do what you can and reach out.”
Sister Susan also ministers at St. Kateri Tekakwitha Parish in Suttons Bay, Michigan, which serves both Native and non-Native Catholics. She said she tries to bring as much Native tradition to the parish as she can. “For special occasions, we have our Eagle Staff brought in by a veteran,” she said. An Eagle Staff represents a Native tribe or family. Rituals also include smudging – the ceremonial use of burned sacred herbs to cleanse items or people. On Ash Wednesday, the ashes are smudged with sage, she said.
St. Kateri Tekakwitha Parish also offers workshops on making cedar oil, which is used to bless children when they’re born and honors the tradition of Ghost Suppers. During these suppers, which are hosted on the Feast of Holy Souls (November 2), Native Americans walk from place to place honoring those who have died. Rather than providing a ghost supper, however, the parish offers a ghost breakfast.
Along with honoring and celebrating the Native American cultures and celebrations, the diocese and the parish strive to bring healing and reconciliation to Native Catholics. “The big thing they’re asking from the Church is for their stories to be heard and for some type of remuneration” for the trauma caused at boarding schools and places, Sister Sue said.
Feature photo at top: Members of the Spirit Lake Drum Group of the Little Traverse Bay Band provide the Honor Song for the opening of the Walking the Red Road Conference, sponsored by the Diocese of Gaylord.
November 19, 2024, Lansing, Michigan – Thirteen Adrian Dominican Sisters and Co-workers were among more than 180 advocates at Michigan’s State Capitol on November 12, 2024, calling for the passage of a set of bills that would restore the right of all Michigan residents – including undocumented immigrants – to apply for a driver’s license.
The Drive SAFE (Safety, Access, Freedom, and Economy) bill package would make non-commercial Michigan driver’s licenses and state identification cards available to applicants who do not have proof of U.S. citizenship or immigration status. The legislation also provides that all drivers be trained, screened and tested, and required to carry auto insurance, enhancing the safety of Michigan roads. The involved bills include Senate Bills 265, 266, and 267, and House Bills 4410, 4411, and 4412.
The bills have the support of communities of Catholic Sisters in Michigan. “As women of faith we support this legislation because it honors the inherent dignity of all persons and supports the safety and welfare of all Michigan residents,” the Sisters said in a joint statement issued on the day of the advocacy. They added that having driver’s licenses and state IDs gives residents the ability to care for their families and get to and from work or school without fear of being arrested, detained, and deported.
The coalition of advocates was organized by Strangers No Longer (SNL), a network based in southeastern Michigan which, inspired by Catholic social teaching, provides “education, direct support, and advocacy to promote humane immigration policies.”
SNL organized a similar Advocacy Day in Lansing in February 2023 for the Drive SAFE bills, which never made it out of the committee and were never brought to the floor for a vote.
This year’s Advocacy Day involved an opening talk with Senator Stephanie Chang (D.-District 3), co-sponsor of SB 267; team visits to assigned legislators; talks with the advocates by supportive legislators; and an afternoon visit to the House Chambers.
Michigan State Senator Sarah Anthony (D-District 21), second from left, addresses, from left, Sisters Joyce Caulfield, OP, Sharon Weber, OP, and JoAnn Fleischaker, OP.
Members of the Adrian Dominican contingent included Sister Attracta Kelly, OP, an immigration attorney and Director of the Adrian Dominican Sisters Office of Immigration Assistance, as well as Sisters Joyce Caulfield, OP, Dorothy Dempsey, OP, JoAnn Fleischaker, OP, Virginia King, OP, Patricia Leonard, OP, Carleen Maly, OP, Joanne Peters, OP, June Racicot, OP, Beverly Stark, OP, and Sharon Weber, OP.
In addition, two Co-workers from the Office of Immigration Assistance participated. Laura Negron-Terrones, office manager, joined the Adrian Dominican Sisters, while Sarah Nash, an attorney and an Associate of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (IHM), attended with the IHM Sisters from Monroe, Michigan.
In an interview after the Advocacy Day, several members of the Adrian Dominican contingent spoke of their experience in Lansing, their commitment to immigrants, and the urgency of passing the Drive SAFE bills.
“There’s very little time” to pass the Drive SAFE package, said Sister Attracta. Once the legislators return from their Thanksgiving break, they’ll have only two weeks in December to pass the bills. “The lame duck session is the only chance they have to get it passed,” she said.
Many of the Sisters see the need for the legislation in their work with immigrants. Sister Carleen, Director of the Adrian Rea Literacy Center in Adrian, said many of the adult learners who come to the center are hampered by not having a driver’s license. “They’re fearful every time they get into the car,” she said. She is also struck by “the number of wives and mothers who may have a car in their driveway, and it’s working fine, but the women are fearful even to get into the car and drive their child to the doctor.”
Sister Attracta has also seen the difficulty that her clients face through their inability to obtain a driver’s license. One client, she said, was driving home late from work during a snowstorm and was stopped because snow covered his license plate. He was given a ticket and told to report to the court. An officer of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was waiting for him at court, arrested him, and put him in detention.
“That all happens because they don’t have a driver’s license,” Sister Attracta said. “That’s why we got involved in this in the first place, because we know what people are going through.”
Sister June was motivated to be involved in the Advocacy Day through her experience in ministering in Georgia. “We had a center that assisted people in poverty,” she said. “When Hispanics came, they wanted a translation of the driver’s manual.” At that time, she said, undocumented immigrants were permitted to apply for a driver’s license. “When I heard they couldn’t do this in Michigan, I thought I wanted to do this for them,” she said.
Sister JoAnn has been involved for years in advocacy for immigrants. “I became interested in immigration when I went to Chicago and was in a group called Sisters and Brothers of Immigrants,” she said. “We met monthly and did advocacy and public demonstrations. Sister Dot, and Sister Anne Guinan, OP, also participated in early morning prayer on Fridays in front of the deportation center in Chicago.
Advocates in Lansing found encouragement from their experience. One legislative visit was with Senator Sarah Anthony (D-District 21). “She was totally delighted that we were there because she was a co-signer of the bill,” Sister Attracta said.
Sister Carleen found hope from talking with a staff member of Senator Jeremy Moss (D-District 7), also a co-sponsor of the bill. “My heart just got a little more excited,” she said.
Sister Attracta also found hope from the presence of so many advocates at the state capitol. “Just seeing that many people willing to give up their day and drive to Lansing” was encouraging, she said.
Feature photo at top: Adrian Dominican participants in the Strangers No Longer Advocacy Day in Lansing were, seated, from left, Sister Patricia Leonard, OP; Co-worker Laura Negron-Terrones; and Sisters Attracta Kelly, OP, Dorothy Dempsey, OP, June Racicot, OP, and Beverly Stark, OP, and standing in back, from left, Sisters Virginia “Ginny” King, OP, JoAnne Fleischaker, OP, Joanne Peters, OP, Joyce Caulfield, OP, Carleen Maly, OP, and Sharon Weber, OP.