Ethan Walker
Catholicism was introduced to the Lakota people in the 17th century by Jesuit missionaries Claude Allouez and Jacques Marquette. The Jesuits founded schools and missions on Lakota land, and the Lakota people adapted elements of Catholicism into their traditional religion. While some Lakota people practice Catholicism alongside their traditional beliefs, others identify strictly with one religion. Notable Lakota Catholics include Nicholas Black Elk, who was a missionary to other tribes and is credited with bringing over 400 people into the church.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| First contact with Europeans | Mid-17th century |
| First Christian contact | Circa 1665 |
| First Catholic missionaries | 17th and 18th centuries |
| Catholic boarding schools | 19th and 20th centuries |
| Catholic convert and catechist | Nicholas Black Elk |
| Proportion of Native Americans who are Catholic | 20-25% |
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What You'll Learn
Jesuits and Catholicism
The Jesuits, also known as "Black Robes", first came into contact with the Lakota people in the 17th century. In 1665, the Jesuit missionaries Claude Allouez and Jacques Marquette met with Dakota groups, an event followed by sporadic Roman Catholic missionary visits to the Sioux throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. The Jesuits were invited by Chief Red Cloud to instruct the young Lakota people.
The Jesuits' presence among the Lakota people was not always peaceful, and more than 120 Catholic missionaries were killed before 1812. The Jesuits also established boarding schools, which have been criticised for suppressing Native languages and forcing students to speak and write only in English. However, some Lakota people have embraced Catholicism while still valuing their indigenous heritage.
One notable figure in the history of Lakota Catholicism is Nicholas Black Elk, a Catholic convert and catechist who is currently being considered for canonisation. Black Elk taught himself to read the Bible in Lakota after his baptism in 1904 and was appointed to the position of catechist by the Jesuits. He became known for memorising scripture and incorporating it into his oratory, and he served as a long-term missionary to other tribes, bringing over 400 people into the Church.
Black Elk's Catholic faith had a traditional hue, with devotions such as the rosary and Sacred Heart being important to his prayer life. He also loved the Latin liturgy and incorporated Latin hymns into his Lakota spirituality. Black Elk saw his Catholic faith as giving him a framework to understand the invaders of his land as human beings suffering from similar issues as the Lakota and to reinterpret traditional Native enemies as brothers and sisters in Christ.
In addition to Black Elk, other figures such as the Jesuit missionary Pierre-Jean de Smet, the Franciscan missionary Anselm Weber, and St. Katharine Drexel, who founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, are also worth mentioning for their contributions to the spread of Catholicism among the Lakota people.
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Catholic Lakota figures
Catholicism and the Lakota people first intersected in the 17th century when Jesuit missionaries Claude Allouez and Jacques Marquette met with Dakota groups. This was followed by sporadic Roman Catholic missionary visits to the Sioux throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. The St. Francis Mission and School, founded on the Rosebud Reservation in 1886, was central to these efforts, though language barriers posed significant challenges.
One notable Lakota figure who embraced Catholicism is Nicholas Black Elk, a protector of Lakota tradition and a devout Catholic. Baptised in 1904, Black Elk taught himself to read the Bible in Lakota and became a catechist, akin to a permanent deacon. He was renowned for his ability to memorise scripture and seamlessly integrate it into his oratory. Black Elk also served as a long-term missionary to other tribes, credited with bringing over 400 people into the Catholic fold. His book, published in 1932, recounts his childhood experiences during the Sioux Wars and introduces iconic figures like Crazy Horse, General Custer, and Sitting Bull.
Another influential Lakota Catholic is Ben Black Bear III, a member of the Sicangu Lakota community on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota. Black Bear and his wife, Jenny, are leaders in the Lakota community, working with families to increase the number of practising Lakota Catholics. Ben Black Bear's father, Deacon Ben Black Bear, is also notable as a Lakota language teacher and influential leader within the St. Francis Mission.
Additionally, the late artist Father John Giuliani, a Catholic priest, dedicated his work to celebrating the lives and cultures of Native Americans through Catholic iconography. His paintings, such as "Lakota Trinity," have heightened Native American representation in the Church and helped bridge Catholic and Native faith traditions.
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Catholic schools and education
The Lakota people are a group of Native Americans who primarily reside in North Dakota and South Dakota. They first encountered Europeans in the mid-17th century. Christian contact with the Lakota people began in 1665 when Jesuit missionaries Claude Allouez and Jacques Marquette met with Dakota groups. This was followed by sporadic Roman Catholic missionary visits throughout the 17th and 18th centuries.
The St. Francis Mission and School was founded on the Rosebud Reservation in 1886 by German Catholic priests and sisters who were exiles from Germany, where Catholicism was oppressed by Otto von Bismarck. When they arrived, the missionaries didn't speak the Lakota language, and the Lakota didn't speak English. Chief Red Cloud invited the Jesuits (known as "Black Robes") to instruct the young Lakota people. The Jesuits who initially staffed the school also emigrated from Germany, and for the first decade of its operation, Lakota students and German-speaking priests learned English together. The school was originally known as the Holy Rosary Mission School.
The Lakota people have a thriving Catholic community, with an estimated 20-25% of Native Americans identifying as Catholic. However, this varies drastically depending on the tribe. For example, the Pueblo tribe of New Mexico is about 75% Catholic, while only about 3% of the Navajo tribe is Catholic. Catholic schools and education have played a significant role in the Lakota community, with the Jesuits learning the Lakota language and translating the Bible into Dakota and Lakota.
Catholic boarding schools for Native American children have a well-documented legacy of suppressing Native languages and cultures, forcing students to speak and write only in English and severely punishing those who defied orders. These schools were often run by Catholic religious orders and dioceses, and their impact on Native communities is still being uncovered and addressed. However, some Lakota Catholics, such as Black Elk, have found a way to reconcile their Catholic faith with their Lakota traditions. Black Elk, a Catholic convert and catechist, taught himself to read the Bible in Lakota after his baptism in 1904. He wove Catholic devotions and Latin liturgy into his Lakota spirituality without replacing it. He became a long-term missionary to other tribes and is credited with bringing over 400 people into the Catholic Church.
The American Indian Catholic Schools Network, based at the University of Notre Dame, has been praised for its work with Catholic schools on reservations. In addition to the five schools in the network, there are about 25 other Catholic schools with a significant Native American student body. While Catholic education has contributed to the erosion of Native cultures and languages, some Lakota Catholics have found a way to integrate their traditional beliefs and practices with their adopted faith.
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Catholic influence on Lakota religion
The Lakota people first encountered Europeans in the mid-17th century. Christian contact with the Sioux-speaking peoples began in 1665 when the Jesuit missionaries Claude Allouez and Jacques Marquette met with Dakota groups. This was followed by sporadic Roman Catholic missionary visits to the Sioux throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. In the 1860s and 1870s, the United States government relocated most of the Lakota to the Great Sioux Reservation, where concerted efforts were made to convert them to Christianity. Roman Catholic Jesuits were present by the 1880s.
Lakota religion has been described as an indigenous religion, with no centralized authority, no specific creeds, and no formal leadership or organizational structure. It is transmitted orally and is open to individual interpretation. The tradition is characterized by the concept of waką, an energy or power permeating the universe. The unified totality of waką is termed Waką Tąką and is regarded as the source of all things.
Many Lakota people practice their traditional religion alongside Christianity, particularly Catholicism. Some practitioners have an attitude of religious pluralism, involving themselves in other religious traditions. For these individuals, Waką Tąką is often identified with the Christian God.
An example of a Lakota who followed both Catholicism and Lakota tradition is Nicholas Black Elk, who was baptized in 1904 and taught himself to read the Bible in Lakota. He became a catechist and was famous for memorizing scripture and weaving passages into his oratory. He taught that God had intended the Lakota's traditional religion to prepare them for the arrival of the Gospel. Black Elk also wrote about how Lakota ways had been under assault by boarding schools, grinding poverty, American culture, and even the church circles he so eagerly embraced.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Lakota creatively adapted various elements of Catholic beliefs and practices from missionaries sent to convert them. They developed their own understanding of Catholicism, which was different from Orthodox Catholicism. For example, they interpreted the sacred pipe as a foreshadowing of Jesus Christ, linked White Buffalo Woman with the Virgin Mary, and associated the sun dance tree with the Cross of the Crucifixion.
In 1934, the head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs issued a circular ending the Bureau's objections to traditional Native American religions, allowing for a revival of many Lakota traditional practices. In the 1960s and 1970s, the American Indian Movement further encouraged revitalization efforts to revive Lakota traditional religion.
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Catholic missionaries
The Lakota people, also known as the Sioux, first encountered Europeans in the mid-17th century. Christian contact with the Sioux-speaking peoples began in 1665 when the Jesuit missionaries Claude Allouez and Jacques Marquette met with Dakota groups. This was followed by sporadic Roman Catholic missionary visits to the Sioux throughout the 17th and 18th centuries.
In the 19th century, the United States government's policy of separating Native Americans onto reservations following the Civil War led to the further spread of Catholicism among the Lakota. These reservations were not considered permanent but would allow the tribes to be assimilated and therefore safe to integrate into the mainstream population. As part of this process, they were to give up their social traditions, cultural understandings, and religious practices.
The St. Francis Mission and School was founded on the Rosebud Reservation in 1886 by German Catholic priests and sisters who were exiles from Germany, where Catholicism was oppressed by Otto von Bismarck. When they arrived, the missionaries didn't speak the Lakota language, and the Lakota didn't speak English. Chief Red Cloud of the Lakota Sioux invited the Jesuits (known as "Black Robes") to instruct their young. The Jesuits who initially staffed the school had emigrated from Germany, and for the first decade of its operation, Lakota students and German-speaking priests learned English together. The school was originally known as the Holy Rosary Mission School.
The Jesuits also translated the Bible into the Lakota language, and at least one Jesuit was fluent in Lakota. Despite the efforts of missionaries, the Lakota often interpreted Catholic beliefs and rites in their own way, amplifying their own traditions by incorporating new Catholic elements.
One famous Lakota Catholic was Nicholas Black Elk, who was baptised in 1904 and later became a catechist and missionary to other tribes. He is credited with bringing 400 people into the Catholic Church. Black Elk remained a protector of Lakota tradition while also being deeply Catholic. He taught that God had intended the Lakota's traditional religion to prepare them for the arrival of the Gospel.
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Frequently asked questions
Catholic missionaries first made contact with the Lakota in the late 17th century.
The Lakota creatively developed their own understanding of Catholicism, which was different from Orthodox Catholicism. They amplified their own traditions by taking new elements from the missionaries and putting them into their traditional web of meaning.
While some Lakota adopted Catholic beliefs and practices, they often did so in a way that was different from Orthodox Catholicism. Many Lakota practice their traditional religion alongside Catholicism.
Yes, Nicholas Black Elk was a notable Lakota Catholic. He was deeply committed to both his Lakota traditions and Catholicism, and he taught that God intended the Lakota's traditional religion to prepare them for the arrival of the Gospel. He is also known for bringing over 400 people into the Catholic Church.
