A reader sent me a link to the following story (which unfortunately is on a paid subscription site).
PAXTON— Praying to the east, the north, the south and the west while burning medicinal cedar on the podium, Sister Kateri Mitchell of the Mohawk Nation Turtle Clan sought the blessings of the Creator for graduates at the 56th annual commencement at Anna Maria College yesterday.
As the afternoon darkened with threatening clouds, parents and friends of the 300 graduates crowded under a huge white tent on a field next to the college and cheered on the members of the class of 2005.
President William D. McGarry told the graduates the day marked the end of an important part of their lives, but was the first step on an even more important journey. While the diploma they received would open doors to new careers, he said, “what you do from this day forward will determine what this diploma really means.”
Reflecting on the four years the students have been at Anna Maria, Mr. McGarry said the world has changed in many ways. In those four years, there was the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center, the explosion of the Columbia space shuttle, the attack on Iraq and the death of a pope.
“Pope John Paul II, the only pope many of you have ever known, taught us with his actions how to live and, when the time came, how to die,” Mr. McGarry said.
He urged the students to remember what they had learned at Anna Maria and to carry it with them.
“You will forever be a member of the Anna Maria College family,” he said. “No matter how far away you go, we expect to hear from you.”
During her Prayer to the Four Directions, in which she was joined by other Sisters of St. Anne, Sister Kateri had members of the audience stand and face each direction as the prayer was recited.
Facing east, the sisters said the rising sun reminds them each day to thank the Creator for his goodness.
Turning south, they said the soft winds and rains are like the goodness in our hearts and the gentleness of our speech.
Facing west, they noted that the brilliance of the setting sun shows beauty and harmony.
“We pray, Great Spirit, that our journey through life will know the harmony and peace of the setting sun,” they said.
Facing north, they said it is during the times of great storms from the north that we hear the Creator speak. It is then, they said, that the Creator calms our fears and anxieties and gives us strength and courage.
During much of her speech, Sister Kateri banged on an Indian drum in a slow, steady rhythm. The drumbeat, she told the graduates, signifies the beating of their own hearts.
“As we continue on our journey, our sacred journey of life, let us get in touch, let us get in tune with our own heartbeat,” she said. It is our heartbeat that connects us with Mother Earth and the sacred Creator, she said.
She also called on the graduates to share their faith throughout their lives.
“Call out to all, reach out to all, even those who do not feel they are part of the sacred circle,” she said.
Here is a picture of Sister Kateri Mitchell.from her site.
And an example of one of her poems.
Kateri Tekakwitha
Noble Turtle, Mother Earth
Gathers Her People
East, South, West and North
We can be thankful to Father Raymond Bucko, S.J. for managing her page and his own "Fr. Bucko’s Mighty Home Page". They seem to have got the opposite lesson from the life of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha a Mohawk Indian who became Catholic since they seem to be Catholics who are converting to Mohawk spirituality. And what is the fascination with compass directions and why aren’t they more inclusive towards for example the NE, SW, etc. Why should only directions 90 degrees apart get all the attention? Maybe they are part of the Compass Crusade for Christ.
I can’t help thinking of Terry Pratchett’s hilarious Diskworld series when I see Noble Turtle, Mother Earth. Sister Mitchell might make a fine character in one of his novels.
23 comments
Compass Crusade for Christ!! LOL!!
I notice a common refrain with all these New Agey influences in American Catholic sisters, (besides drum beating — I guess violin playing is just too darn difficult!), it’s this invitation to perpetually look inward for “the answer.” Oh sure, there’s also the business of looking for “the answer” in rocks, babbling brooks, trees, my cat, etc. but those are all vehicles to eventually look inward.
I gotta tell ya,’ I’ve tried that “look inward” route and it steers me wrong everytime. I’ve decided to look outward, to the Gospel, and make the Father my authority, because when I look inward, I found I really want to eat potato chips and nap all day.
Pratchett – LOL
Sister Mohawk wouldn’t stand a chance around Granny Weatherwax
I wonder what’s St. Kateri’s stance on Mother Earth when things like Hurricane Ivan strike?
“Sr. Kateri Mitchell of the Mohawk Nation Turtle Clan…”
Let’s pit the Mohawk Nation Turtle Clan against the Wu Tang Clan –winner takes all.
She’s dressed like a Cardinal. 😛
The Good Lord save us from such idiocy. I wonder if it would be uncharitable to pray that a stray bolt hitting the Semi-Divine MOTHER EARTH strikes the spot she’s beating that infernal drum of hers …
Me think’m sister drink’m too much fire water.
Good Lord, can’t these “nuns” just be nuns, and not some freak show from Wild Bill Hickcock’s wild west show. I hope she’s enjoying her fame and glory. Humbly serving the ” Great Spirit” up in the happy hunting grounds. (whohaha)
Diskworld – riding on the back of a turtle through the universe.
I nearly peed my pants at the thought!
Why, oh why, do non-Native Americans think that they can expropriate the trappings of Amerindian spirituality? It isn’t culturally relative, it’s more like cultural sacrelige. How would a devout Catholic feel if a ritual blessing of bread and wine were incorporated into a Navajo blessingway in the name of ‘inclusivity’? Why can we not have the respect for others to keep from adopting their practices on a surface level just because they are ‘cute?
I respect my Cherokee and Cree ancestors too much to be happy about the kind of crap that the likes of this sister seem to think are flattering to my ancestors and their kin.
I spent 10 weeks on the Navajo rez a few years back. You should hear what I overheard about the “hippie freaks” who, in the opinion of the elders, were trying to appropriate Navajo ritual and ceremony.
Hey, what about up and down? They’re directions too the last time I checked! Oh, wait – that might get the rubes thinking of Heaven and Hell…never mind.
Syncretism, anyone?
I should have known you’d read the Diskworld too. I’d love to see what Granny Weatherwax would do to a character like Sister Mitchell, though, come to think of it, Magrat used to bear a striking resemblance to her.
I want to note my objection to the usurpation of the term “Mighty” as applied to someone else’s homepage. I am the original Mighty one. And I do say so with all due humility. 😉
I guess next you will all make fun of the Armenian Archdiocese for holding the Blessing of the Four Quarters at Roodmas.
After all, the neo-pagans have informed us that they hold the trademark on compass points, and therefore any Christian use of them in ritual is “stolen”. You wouldn’t want me to question that, would you?
I just love it when really white ‘nuns’ dress up in ‘authentic ethnic costumes’ and play with ‘authentic ethnic traditions’…it must be so affirming for all those alienated cultures to see themselves honored in such glorious Epcot Center style by these righteous white people. Just makes me warm all over… not.
Well, Veronica, to be fair Sister Kateri Mitchell actually is a Mohawk Indian of the same Clan as Blessed Kateri and she’s quite familiar to those of us interested with spreading Blessed Kateri’s cause especially here in NY. I’ve never heard she was hetrodox in her beliefs even if she does believe in inculturation.
If you want to blame anyone blame the US bishops who have allowed Native rites to be used in Mass with feathers and dancing and chants and all that.
Don’t mix up Compass Crusade for Christ with Compass – the Legionaries’ Campus outreach:
http://www.collegecompass.org/
“and not some freak show from Wild Bill Hickcock’s wild west show.”
I think one of my lungs collapsed from laughing so hard, Lucy. Yet, I think even she would be a discredit to old Wild Bill et al.
The other day, my five-year old daughter came of her room, with her hair every-which-way, wearing the nastiest clothes she owns–they didn’t even match. “What are you doing,” said I. “Look, Daddy, I’m a nun!” (an apocryphal story, but I sure it has REALLY happened somewhere.) ‘Twas a time when little girls wanted to dress up like nuns; now they’ve got to go to vintage clothing shops (along with the vintage theology shops) and find REALLY bad “beauticians”. A while back, I made a visit to the website of EVERY community of women religious listed at religiousministries.com, over the course of about five weeks. Eye-openning to say the least. But my favorite was the poor sister who spent something like 40 years teaching, until she turned to the “hair ministry” (their word, not mine) for her community. Since she lost her eyesight, she has spent her time with macrame. (People really still do macrame? Talk about a throwback to the ’70s! She probably listens to disco, too, and eats Pop Rocks. Poor thing.)
Sr. Kateri is a Mohawk.
It’s not possible to tell ethnicity from appearance. One of my tenants is of the Cherokee Nation — and also the blondest gent I’ve ever met. I have facial features that fit the “Indian” stereotype, enough that ignorant people walk up to me in crowds and ask my tribal citizenship; my stock answer is “my dad is Visigoth, my late mom was Judah”……
“Compass Crusade for Christ?” – that should merit a few millenia in purgatory – or perhaps condemnation to dwell with the demons in Pundaemonium. I will pray for you…
Can we really be too far away from nuns dressing like Isis, ala the ’70s tv show, where they said “O mighty Isis!”
I am saddened by the comment regarding Sister Kateri, I don’t believe that our traditions teach us to disrespect how one connects with Creator. I happen to have met Sister Kateri ,and I have the upmost respect for her, She is a person who believes in her traditions.