THE OJIBWA AND BISHOP FREDERICK BARAGA: MUTUAL INFLUENCES THROUGH THE CONFESSIONAL
Michael M. Pomedli
COBISS 1.01
In this article I demonstrate that Frederick Baraga, priest and bishop, had a unique access to the consciousness of individual Ojibwa people and to their culture through the sacrament of penance. Through individual auricular disclosures, he gained insights both into the idioms of the Ojibwa language and into their spiritual dispositions.
Frederick Baraga, civil lawyer and Roman Catholic cleric, spent 37 years (1831-1868) as “Apostle of the Lakelands” among the Ojibwa in an 80,000 square-mile triangular territory. This territory included areas of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ontario.
The spiritual formation of Baraga in Austria and in his native Slovenia was important for him personally and for his mission work. During his studies at the University of Vienna, Baraga met and became one of the penitents of Redemptorist Clement Mary Hofbauer, the “Apostle of Vienna.”1 Later, in Ljubljana Seminary and during his seven years of parish work in Slovenia, Baraga cultivated in part the spirituality of the 15th-century pietists called devotio moderna, a spirituality which spread through many parts of Europe and was embodied in The Imitation of Christ.2 Baraga displayed aspects of this spirituality in his missionary work, including such practices as ensuring lucid instructional texts in the vernacular and leading a simple Christian life. In the spirit of the founder of the Redemptorists, Alphonsus Liguori, and that of Hofbauer, Baraga took to heart the spreading of the gospel to the poorest and most neglected in the world.3
1 C. Wolfsgruber, “The Austro-Hungarian Monarchy,” in The Catholic Encyclopedia, (New York: Robert Appleton, 1907), 2:129. On Hofbauer’s influence in Europe, see J. Magnier, “Clement Mary Hofbauer,” in The Catholic Encyclopedia, (New York: Robert Appleton, 1907), 2:44-45. On the direct influence of Hofbauer on Baraga, see Baraga’s letter to Pope Pius IX, A0803, German, Sault Ste. Marie, MI, Oct. 25, 1865. Letters are from the Bishop Baraga Archives, Marquette, Michigan. Thanks to Elizabeth Delene, Ojibwa, archivist, Bishop Baraga Archives, Marquette, MI, for informative assistance; to Lawrence Martin, Ojibwa, University of Wisconsin Eau Claire, for encouragement; to Joan Halmo, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, for discerning revision suggestions; to Stephen Pomedli, for diligent research assistance; to Rev. Achiel Peelman, OMI, Saint Paul University, Ottawa, for helpful comments, and to Msgr. Louis Cappo, Marquette, for gracious hospitality.
2 Graham A. MacDonald, “Baraga, a Habsburg Prelate in the New World,” The Beaver, 74 (1994) 5-6.
3 Macdonald, “Baraga, a Habsburg Prelate,” 6. The following instructional and devotional manual displays a likeness with Baraga's life, sacramental ministry, and writings: The Mission Book: A
Dve domovini • Two Homelands 17 • 2003, 9-27
Liguori had distanced himself from the ascetic Jansenistic, intellectualized and cold Christian lifestyle to embrace a warmer, more tender and personal piety4 which sought a balance between rigor and laxity.5 Other aspects of devotio moderna, which Baraga embraced and incorporated into his celebration of the sacrament of penance, include: a Christo-centric approach emphasizing the humanity and virtues of Christ; a devotion to the Eucharist and the passion of Christ; a striving for perfection, that is, self-knowledge and the fulfillment of duties; promoting self-denial and efforts of the will, and reading of the Bible both for edification and devotion.6
In Baraga’s estimation, one of his most important and time-consuming missionary activities was “hearing confessions.” The sacrament of penance along with the Eucharist became for him, as it was for Liguori and Hofbauer, an eminent means toward a devout Christian life.
I.	BARAGA, THE OJ1BWA, AND PENANCE
First, let us examine in greater detail, Baraga’s experiences of the sacrament of penance in an Aboriginal and missionary context. For Baraga, the confessional provided a unique source of factual information and knowledge about the affective dispositions of the Ojibwa.7 From the confessional he derived a working knowledge of the penitents’ and the community’s character, a true confession! Already in Slovenia, the young priest had prized this sacrament, for he heard confessions late into the night and also very early in the morning. This traffic of penitents, “some of whom came from afar,” and “were waiting at his confessional’® and outside the church created a disturbance and raised some protest from the other priests in the parish.9
Baraga continued this practice of marathon confessions with Aboriginal peoples soon after his arrival in L’Anse, Michigan. In 1831, before he mastered the Ojibwa
Manual of Instructions and Prayers adapted to preserve the Fruits of the Mission drawn chiefly from the Works of St. Alphonsus Liguori, (New York: D. and J. Sadlier, 1858). This manual contains prayers and devotions both for preparing for confession, and for the act of confession, and prayers for contrition, and after confession. It gives details on the necessity to confess, the manner and frequency, and the practice of general confession.
4 Frederick M. Jones, Alphonsus de Liguori, the Saint of Bourbon Naples, 1696-1787, (Westminster, MD: Christian Classics, 1992), 291-292.
5 Theodule Rey-Mermet, Alphonsus Liguori, Tireless Worker for the Most Abandoned, trans. Jehanne-Marie Marchesi, (New York: New York City Press, 1989), 465.
6 R. Garcia-Villoslada, “Devotio Moderna,” in New Catholic Encyclopedia, (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1967), 4:831. For tenets of the devotio which pertain to Baraga, see John Van Engen, Devotio Moderna, Basic Writings, (New York: Paulist Press, 1988), 9, 10, 16, 25.
7 Thanks to Rev. Charles Principe, CSB, University of St. Michael’s College, Toronto, for this general insight.
8 Joseph Gregorich, The Apostle of the Chippewas, the Life Story of the Most Rev. Frederick Baraga the First Bishop of Marquette, (Chicago: The Bishop Baraga Association, 1932), 20.
language, Baraga used an interpreter to hear confessions, an interlocutor both the penitent and the priest trusted. (Many times, he heard confessions in the dark, an Ojibwa preference.)10 Later, in 1837, he wrote in New York, on returning from Europe, that he heard “very many confessions” in German, and at Sault Ste. Marie, “I have heard very many confessions, especially in English and Indian. The Indians now generally know that I speak the Indian language and they like to go to confession and they also like to make a general confession to me because they can express and reveal themselves correctly because they do not need an interpreter.’11
Baraga had pastoral reasons for encouraging frequent confession. One reason was his role as pastor. Even when he had other duties [“a collision of duties,” he writes], he felt obligated to “allow the Indians to visit me, [for] I am their father and counselor.”12 Another reason for the frequent celebration of penance was theological and spiritual. By means of the sacramental absolution of sins, penitents could achieve a closer union with God. In addition, Baraga considered himself the beneficiary of the sacrament, an “ineffable grace” of God,13 which provided an indulgence both for priest and penitent.14
Baraga’s approach to the sacrament of confession was in marked contrast to that of the Jansenists who gave absolution rather rarely and often prohibited the reception of communion. Instead, he encouraged the frequent reception of both, for confession before communion and communion itself assured Natives that God loved and forgave them.15 He also saw confessions as a means of preserving people from sin.
Baraga regarded confession as a consolation. As bishop he wrote: “I know the Indians; I have spent 23 years among them, and I would still be among them if Providence had not called me to another place. But even now I am not entirely free
9	Regis Walling, “Bishop Baraga as a Model of Evangelization,” The Baraga Bulletin, 46 (1992), 6. As atribute to Baraga, his confessional in Metlika, Slovenia, is preserved in his memory; Regis Walling, “Positio of the Virtues of Bishop Frederic Baraga,” unpublished manuscript, 1997, Bishop Baraga Archives, 106.
'“Letter, A0438, German, Arbre Croche, Ml, from Baraga to Leopoldine Society, Aug. 22, 1831.
11 Letter, A0420, German, Sault Ste. Marie, Ml, from Baraga to Amalia Gressel, Sept. 28, 1837.
12 Maksimiljan Jezernik, Frederick Baraga, a Portrait of the First Bishop of Marquette Based on the Archives of the Congregatio de Propaganda Fide, (New York: Studia Slovenica, 1968), 79, n.70. The term for penance in general use today in Roman Catholic theology is Sacrament of Reconciliation.	_
13 Walling, “Positio,” 105.
14 References to confessions in Baraga’s diary note that many people came “because of the plenary indulgences;” Regis M. Walling and N. Daniel Rupp, The Diary of Bishop Frederic Baraga, First Bishop of Marquette, Michigan, (Detroit: Wayne State University, 1990), Dec. 13, 1856, 100. According to Henry Davis, “an indulgence is a remission of temporal punishment due to forgiven sin.
•. .A plenary indulgence remits all the temporal punishment, that is, as the intention of the Church is concerned;” Moral and Pastoral Theology, a Summary, (London: Sheed and Ward, 1952), 323. For a history of the development of indulgences and their controversy, see Bernhard Poshmann, Penance and the Anointing of the Sick, trans. Francis Courtney, (New York: Herder and Herder, 1964), 210-232.
of the Indians, and will not be as long as I live. At the Sault I have many Indians, all of whom come to me for confessions; and wherever I come on my visitations, I hear Indian confessions.”16
He commented on how frequently he heard confessions. “The pagans [Aboriginal people] like very much to come to confession, and always more frequently,” with 20-30 confessions on a single day and very few mortal sins!17 At LAnse he wrote: “My dear children were very happy, for their sincere desire, to see me as a bishop, had been fulfilled. Here I remained 12 days. . . . [A]lmost all came to confession.’18 Confessions continued sometimes till 11:30 pm,19 sometimes all day,20 and at other times, 10 hours a day.2"1
He devoted himself to the confessional often at the expense of taking care of his personal needs. “I am so occupied with hearing confessions that I scarcely find time to eat, and for the necessary sleep.’22 He wrote that some “confession days” were so hot that the “candles melted.’23 On another occasion he heard confessions “all day” and “suffered much from constipation!’24
Baraga’s approach to confession and its necessity reflects in part his theological formation and the theology of the early 19th century. This theology was contained in the diocesan statutes which, according to Regis Walling, offered “missionaries wise and prudent instruction for hearing confessions. Not only was the sacrament to forgive sin; it was also to encourage the practice of the virtue contrary to the sin, e.g., the avaricious is to practice alms; the glutton is to fast; the proud are to learn humility and the tepid are to nurture their fervor.’25
Bishop Baraga’s directives to fellow missionaries highlight the importance of confession. These fellow priests are to pray daily for their penitents, go promptly when called for confession and be available at all times, and not only at set times.26
Theological manuals of Baraga’s day which were directed mostly to the confessor can also give us some insight into the theology and spirituality of the sacrament. In 1866,
15 Letter, Slovenian, B0631, Rev. George Kalian, St. Martin’s Parish, Kranj, Slovenia, to Bishop Anton Wolf, diocese of Ljubljana, April 21,1828. Kalian criticized Baraga’s “exaggerated zeal for confession.”
16 Letter, A0123, German, Cincinnati, OH, from Baraga to Leopoldine Society, Aug. 4, 1863.
17Letters, A0576, German, Arbre Croche, from Baraga to Amalia Gressel, March 8, 1832; A0433, German, Arbre Croche, Baraga to Leopoldine Society, March 10, 1832.
18 Letter, A0114, Slovenian, from Baraga to the Slovenian people, Sault Ste. Marie, MI, Oct. 12, 1854.
19Letter, A0687, German, Sault Ste. Marie, from Baraga to Wahrheitsfreund, 21 (1858) 690, July 22.
20 Letter, A0675, German, Sault Ste. Marie, from Baraga to Wahrheitsfreund, 23 (1860) 559, July 4.
21 Diary, March 18, 1861,223.
22Letter, A0563, German, Arbre Croche, Ml, from Baraga to Amalia Gressel, July 29, 1833.
23 Diary, June 22, 1858, 125.
24Diary, Dec. 21, 1861, 252.
25 Walling, “Positio,” 109.
26 Walling, “Positio,” 109.
H. E. Manning wrote that Jesus is present in this sacrament displaying the tenderness of a healing physician and the compassion of a good shepherd;27 confession is a source of abundant gifts for the penitent. This sacrament, which is for the sinful, can become a means of self-knowledge through a self-examination of one’s relations to others, can instill perfect contrition and pardon, and can lead to reparation and perseverance. In penance, Jesus Christ, through the priest, guides, sustains, and consoles the fearful and the tempted. Penance is a spiritual resurrection empowering those who confess to pursue virtues of sincerity, peace, and humility.28
The Counter-Reformation Council of Trent (1545-1563) had elaborated on the sacrament and had given directives. Paraphrasing the Council’s treatment of the sacrament, Ladislas Orsy states that the “priest is in possession of the highest judicial privilege, which is to show mercy and to grant free pardon to the offender, provided he is repentant.’29 This sacrament is concerned with the internal dynamics that direct the life of the person,30 much like the directions of a shaman or the vision quest, as we shall see later.
Baraga gradually acquired the knack for understanding the Ojibwa’s language and heritage. He then put Christian truths within an Ojibwa framework. As Charles J. Carmody writes, “Since he was able to think in the native idiom, Baraga’s Indian prayerbooks, catechisms, and sermon books are said to reflect the effective simplicity of Our Lord’s parables.31 For Baraga, who put much effort into providing the Christian Testament to the Ojibwa in their tongue, it was evident that penance and forgiveness were at the center of Jesus’ preaching. In the Gospel of Mark, for instance, Jesus begins his messianic ministry with the words, “Repent, and believe in the Good News.’82 Baraga also followed Jesus’ last commands to preach penance and the remission of sins to the whole world in his name.33 Like the father in the parable of the prodigal son, Baraga felt that forgiveness knew no bounds.34
27 H. E. Manning, The Love of Jesus to Penitents, (Dublin: James Duffy, 1866), 11.
28 Manning, The Love of Jesus, 9, 11-12, 14, 15, 28, 33, 42.
29 Ladislas Orsy, The Evolving Church and the Sacrament of Penance, (Denville, NJ: Dimension Books, 1978), 123-124. For the Council’s pronouncements on this sacrament, see The Canons and Decrees of the Sacred and Oecumenical Council ofTrent, trans. J. Waterworth, (London: C. Dolman, 1848), 92-104. Dominic M. Pruemmer summarizes the purposes of penance according to the Council of Trent; Handbook of Moral Theology, trans. Gerald W. Shelton, (Cork: The Mercier Press, 1956 (1940)), 304: Penance demonstrates to the penitent that grave sin deserves grave punishment; it helps the penitent become more cautious about committing additional sins; it can be a means of engendering good habits and avoiding sin; the penitent can become Christ-like, making satisfaction for sin.
30Orsy, The Evolving Church, 129.
31 Charles J. Carmody, “Apostle of the Chippewas,” The Priest Magazine, 14 (1958) 329. Thanks to Rev. Demetrius Wasylyniuk, OSB, for this reference.
32 Gospel of Mark 1:15 in The Jerusalem Bible, (New York: Doubleday, 1966). All references are to this version.
33 Gospel of Luke 24:47.
34 Gospel of Luke 15:20f.
Baraga scrupulously kept the seal of confession, telling and writing no one about the secret matters occurring in the confessional between confessor and penitent. Grave sanctions were accorded those who broke the seal. But, positively, according to Canon Law the seal of confession protected the penitent from the dissemination of knowledge of his or her vices and character, thereby making the sacrament more approachable because of its confidentiality.35
Other characteristics of penance and the confessor relate to Baraga. The ritual for the sacrament, De Sacramento Poenitentiae, enumerates the traits of a confessor: “goodness, knowledge, prudence, and meticulous respect for secrecy. ... No other ministerial work brings him into closer contact with souls; in no other work is he more intimately associated with the Holy Spirit. Other things being equal, the holier he is the better confessor he will be.’56
Theologian Gerald Kelly mentions some negativities regarding confession from the confessor’s standpoint: it is often a drawn-out experience, monotonous, distasteful, with a boring regularity and repetition which can be construed as interfering with other work. It can deprive the pastor of pleasant recreation, can sap his energy, and fray his nerves.37 Although Baraga wrote about some discomforts surrounding penance, he does not mention any of the above litany of woes.
Again, mostly from a western and psychological perspective, contemporary moral theologian Bernard Haering, a Redemptorist, writes that in penance the penitent discloses his or her entire body-soul and social personality. Such a disclosure can lead to self-knowledge and to maturity in which the missionary-penitent breaches the prison wall of self-enclosure and sin into freedom.38 Haering makes the case that if there is no absolution from a confessor, then there is need for absolution from a psychiatrist!39
II.	CONFESSION AND THE OJIBWA WORLD
I would like to move beyond the consideration of penance from a Roman Catholic theological and institutional perspective to its intersection with Ojibwa lives, and with a few non-intersections or differences of perspectives. In accord with the Ojibwa’s general liberal attitude to adopting things spiritual, the varied Aboriginal communities within Baraga’s vast mission territory saw, as he also saw, several similarities between the practice of confessing and the vision/sound quest. Confidentiality and a uniqueness of relationships prevail both in the private confessional and in the quest, characteristics
33	Bertrand Kurtscheid, A History of the Seal of Confession, trans. F. A. Marks, (London: Herder, 1927), 309, 328.
36 Gerald Kelly, The Good Confessor, (New York: Sentinel Press, 1951), 7.
37 Kelly, Good Confessor, 7.
38 Bernard Haering, The Law of Christ, Moral Theology for Priests and Laity, trans. Edwin G. Kaiser, (Westminster, Maryland: Newman Press, 1963), 1:452.
39 Haering, Law of Christ, 1:453.
which served the Ojibwa well, for it preserved a one-to-one relationship and suited the dispositional reserve that many Natives had. In the sacrament, one speaks to a spiritual person, a representative of Manitou/God, who in turn returns words and gives directions. Also, in the quest, one approaches a search, often in a locale removed from the ordinary, with a spirit of openness and anticipation of insights and sounds. The confessional box is akin to the tree top or isolated spot where ofie might detach oneself from the everyday and become receptive to visits from spirits. Baraga was conscious of these Ojibwa contexts of the holy, for he pointed out Aboriginal peoples’ sense of sacred places around Lake Superior, and the majestic walls of stone and the enormous rocks in areas where he ministered; he also noted their fasting and vision quests.40
Baraga gave negative portrayals of some Ojibwa involved in spiritual matters, however, calling them tricksters (jongleurs), imposters, and magicians (magiciens), names with variant histories in Europe from the fifth century to his day.41 According to Frank J. Warnke and Alex Preminger, a “jongleur [is] a wandering musician and entertainer of the Middle Ages ... a name applied indiscriminately to acrobats, actors, and entertainers in general, as well as to musicians and reciters of verse.’42 While individual jongleurs as well as their fraternities attained court and societal prestige, many imitators were regarded as low fellows and held in contempt since they wore grotesque dresses, engaged in coarse buffoonery and read doggerel which appealed to vitiated tastes. For their unacceptable conduct, some were imprisoned, and condemned by the clergy as engaging in conduct “incompatible with true devotion, purity of life and sobriety of thought.’43 Baraga apparently had the base imitators in mind when he condemned reprehensible conduct among the Ojibwa.
To continue with wholesome and affirmative cultural convergences.44 In this penitential sacrament, one bares one’s inner self, trusts another, and receives directives and healing for one’s life. One reflects on unsavory aspects of one’s past, passes through a ritual which encourages change, seeks to be transformed and receives graces to live in a new way.45 The Christian Testament calls this necessary transformation a repentance
40 Frederick Baraga, Abrege de l’histoire des indiens de l’Amerique septentrionale, (Paris: r la Societe des Bon Livres, 1837), 184; this is a translation of Geschichte, Character, Sitten und Gebrauche des nord-amerikanischen Indier, (Laibach: J. Blasnick, 1837).
41 Baraga, Abrege de l’histoire des indiens, 184, 199-203, 209, 211, 213. Some of Baraga’s early observations are based on his own experiences and others on secondary sources.
42 Frank J. Warnke and Alex Preminger, “Jongleur,” in Alex Preminger, ed., The Princeton Handbook of Poetic Terms, (Princeton: Princeton University, 1986), 110.
43 Alfred Bates, ed., The Drama, its History, Literature and Influence on Civilization, (London: The Athenian Society, 1903), 7:3-6, 13.
44 The convergence of the sacrament of penance with one of the sacraments of initiation, baptism, is not investigated here.
45 Under the title of “Puberty customs,” Frances Densmore discusses rituals for both females and males; Chippewa Customs, (St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Reprint, 1979 (1929)), 70-72, 84-85. Densmore recounts a healing song learned in the course of dreaming; Chippewa Music, (Washington, Smithsonian Institution, 1929), Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 45, 94-95.
or conversion.46 Basil Johnston considers a similar change for Ojibwa as necessary for a focused life: “No man begins to be until he has received his vision.’47 In his elaboration of the vision quest, Johnston notes what we might consider as further similarities between the seal of confessional and the vision quest. He writes that the quest is “personal not to be disclosed to others; nor were others to interfere with the vision or the quest of another person.’48 Johnston employs the Ojibwa term, waussayauh-bindumiwin, to denote a complete kind of vision entailing self-understanding, enlightenment of self, and at the same time, suggesting a destiny and even a career.49
While the outward forms of the sacrament appear individualistic, that is, one individual sharing with another individual, there are communal elements within it. Both the penitent and the confessor come from varied communities, and are shaped by these communities. In the Roman Catholic tradition, the priest celebrates the sacrament in the name of the church community and acts as the community’s representative. In Ojibwa traditions, the individual also brings communitarian ties, bonded with a tribe through cultural and sanguinary affinities, and also bonded with other individuals and groups by spiritual totemic ties.
Both priest and penitent share in the spirit world, that of the divine and Kitche Manitou, the world of saints and ancestors. The priest is a healer, an elder and counselor. But the sacrament also enlists the help of fellow human beings who have died and now form the communion of saints, as the guardian spirits also give “advice, knowledge and power.’60
As Johnston elaborates on the characteristics of the vision quest, both the similarities and differences with the rite of penance come into relief. He writes of the power that the vision had to change conduct and even the character of the individual so that the individual could appropriate a different moral perspective. “Prior to this event, a man [or a woman] was, in a moral sense, incomplete, a half-being; by vision he gained purpose that conferred meaning upon his actions and unity to his life.” Akin to this is the sentiment of contrition, a sorrow for not being in harmony with others, a purpose of amendment, and satisfaction for sins that forms the sacrament of penance.51 Not to be omitted from this Ojibwa vision quest is the healing power of natural elements, of animals, and of places, often the homes of medicine manitous.52
46 As we have seen in the Gospel of Mark 1:5.
47 Basil Johnston, Ojibway Heritage, (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1976), 119.
48 Johnston, Ojibway Heritage, 127.
49 Johnston, Ojibway Heritage, 126
50 M. Inez Hilger, Chippewa Child Life and its Cultural Background, (St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Reprint, 1992 (1951)), 167.
51 Johnston, Ojibway Heritage, 120. The importance of contrition and satisfaction is highlighted by the Council of Trent; Canons and Decrees, 95.
52 Grace Rajnovich notes that “’Medicine’ had a great depth of meaning in traditional Indian usage; it meant something like ‘mystery’ and ‘power’ and included not only the activities of curing with tonics from plants and minerals, but also the receipt of powers from the manitous for healing, hunting and
Ojibwa neophytes often readied themselves for life with periods of fasting, also a Christian practice. These initiates also sought completion of their quest with dreams, a practice not in agreement with Catholic spirituality. But, with Johnston, we can sense further convergences as Ojibwa prepared both their inner beings and their bodies. Preparation for the inner being in Ojibwa ritual, Johnston relates, took the form of “patience, discipline, silence, and peace,” whereas preparation for the body resulted in “strength, endurance, agility.’63 Like the biblical spirit of metanoia (a Greek term for conversion, change of heart), the sounds and vision in the quest could lead to the birth of a new form of life by becoming an adult and no longer a youth. “At that moment, a man’s acts and conduct assumed quality; purpose conferred character. Having received a vision, a man had then to live it out,” a process sometimes more difficult than the quest itself. “That the Path of Life was tortuous was portrayed on birch bark scrolls--seven and sometimes nine branches digressed from the main road.... To avoid such a state, men and women went on annual retreat to review their lives to find where they had strayed, and to resume the true path,’54 Johnston writes.
Other similarities are discernible between the Ojibwa and 19th-century Roman Catholic spirituality: both the quest and the penitential sacrament are forms of prayer, a trait highlighted as we shall see in Bishop Baraga’s pastoral letter. In its admission of women and girls, confession was open to both genders, an egalitarian practice akin to those directing Ojibwa society.
This penitential forum provided Baraga with a unique and privileged insight into the inner being of the Ojibwa, gave clues to their world, and fashioned an understanding of Ojibwa life which Baraga, the “Snowshoe Priest,” used both in the translation of catechisms, prayer and hymn books, and in the compilation of a grammar text and dictionary.
III.	ADDITIONAL OJIBWA INFLUENCE ON BARAGA
The Ojibwa and Baraga had a mutual trusting relationship. Through the confessional box and in other ceremonial and everyday associations, the Ojibwa furnished Baraga with a deeper awareness of themselves and their needs. For Baraga, this expanded consciousness together with his legal skills empowered him to implore governments to honor treaty agreements, and to make land purchases on their behalf. While we can make the case that these dealings on behalf of the Ojibwa came from Baraga’s / Christian and humanitarian largesse, a parallel case can be made that they proceeded from his informed consciousness of the contextual needs of these people because
battle;” Reading Rock Art, Interpreting the Indian Rock Paintings of the Canadian Shield, (Toronto: Natural Heritage/Nature History, 1994), 10.
53 Johnston, Ojibway Heritage, 120.
54 Johnston, Ojibway Heritage, 132-133.
they were Ojibwa. From his legal training he devised a way of ensuring a livelihood for the Ojibwa; one of these ways was to make land purchases and then turn the title over to them.55 Other means that he employed included petitioning for annuities to be used in L’Anse for “the officers of farmer, blacksmith, and carpenter.” He insisted that “their school, and oxen, and farming utensils be restored to them.’*6 Joseph Gregorich mentions Baraga’s manifold dealings with government concerning treaties, subsidies to schools, and funds for church construction.57 In another case, Baraga wrote a letter to the Indian Agent on behalf of Chief Shingob at Fond du Lac, demanding a “reasonable but permanent pay” for ceded mineral rights.58 The letter “expresses the Indians’ concern as they realize that they are very poor, that their hunting grounds are disappearing, and that their existing treaty with the United States government will soon expire whereas other tribes have more advantageous perpetual treaties with the government.’89 In addition, from his association with the Ojibwa Baraga deepened a communitarian awareness as he modeled, for instance, the L’Anse mission on the Jesuit reductions in Paraguay; he moved the Catholic Natives to the west side of Keweenaw Bay in order to form their own community, build their own houses and farm their small plots of land, in other words, to have their own self-contained encampment.60
A general observation is often made that Europeans influenced Aboriginal peoples greatly, indeed dominated them and made them very dependent on European goods and culture. This is undeniable. There is, however, another side to this perspective. There are many instances in which the Ojibwa were the initiators, where their inner spirit and practical ways influenced and directed the missionary. The obvious example of this is the fact that Baraga learned the Ojibwa language from the people; in their linguistic formulations they revealed themselves to him. As we have seen, Baraga came to comprehend the native idiom. Since he had an understanding of the Ojibwa mind, he was able to translate oral expressions into the literal forms of prayers, catechisms, grammars and dictionaries. The Ojibwa took special pride in having these printed prayer books in their hands, books which contained many Christian truths previously expressed in European formulations but now given in Ojibwa. Baraga’s European art works and articles of devotion, such as the Stations of the Cross, were framed in Ojibwa settings. His preaching and teaching, while often communicating European values, were adapted to Ojibwa life.
55 Letter, A0645, English, L’Anse, MI, from Baraga to William A. Richmond, May 11, 1848.
56 Letter, A0648, English, L’Anse, MI, from Baraga to Secretary of the Interior, U. S. Indian Affairs, March 10, 1853.
57 Joseph Gregorich, unpublished manuscript, Bishop Baraga Archives.
58 Letter, A0844, English, Nov. 20, 1847. This letter is signed by Chief Shingob and three “second chiefs.”
59 Joseph Gregorich, “Life of Bishop Frederic Baraga,” an extensive unpublished manuscript, c. 1950, Bishop Baraga Archives.
60 Letter, A0645, English, L’Anse, MI, from Baraga to William A. Richmond, May 11,1848. MacDonald notes that at L’Anse Baraga purchased the land for the mission and then deeded it to the Natives; thereby some of them were able to escape the removal process. “This early collaboration of ethics
Baraga was ahead of his time in the Latin Church for insisting on the use of the vernacular, meaning, Ojibwa and Odawa, in Catholic ceremonies. Thus he commanded, despite contrary rubrical directives, that the vernacular be used in the sacraments, including the Eucharist, in instances where biblical texts were proclaimed.61 We are not certain about the extent of this practice and when it began, but in one of his episcopal letters he forbids Rev. A. Van Paemel for saying (and/or singing?) the Gloria, Creed and Vespers in Latin rather than in Ojibwa.62 Baraga wrote about the importance of having the vernacular Bible for his mission work, a concern he shared with other Christian persuasions.63 In his fastidiousness in learning Native languages, and in making these languages the vehicles of instruction in the mission schools, Baraga displayed the importance of an understanding in the vernacular Ojibwa.
The Ojibwa helped Baraga expand his consciousness in matters spiritual. In his first pastoral letter, Bishop Baraga used the term, Manitou, that is, spirit. In employing this term, Baraga admitted the complexity of addressing an immanent or transcendent spirit, Christian or other, but at the same time, he expanded his awareness of spiritual beings beyond that of fixed characteristics. On one level, manitou can be seen as interchangeable with God, or with one of the persons of the Trinity. However, since human images and concepts cannot fully interpret the reality of this being/these beings, a less determinate name such as manitou was deemed appropriate, much as the name, Yahweh, remained unuttered in the Hebrew tradition. In an approach befitting the mystics, therefore, Baraga does not reduce the reality in question to a specific being, to named characteristics, or even to a conception.
The Ojibwa admitted the mysterious and hidden realities of the manitous and they sought these realities through visions and dreams. Selwyn Dewdney tries to be specific about the various levels of the Ojibwa experience of manitou: “At the lowest level there were the powers potential in the simplest of natural objects, whether organic or inorganic. At a much higher level were the manitos that [A. Irving] Hallowell64. . . refers to as the ‘masters.’... Even among the Source Beings, as I prefer to call them, there were higher and lower ranks, partly determined by their importance as a food supply, partly reaching deep into traditional mysteries.’65
with title-in-fee-simple led eventually to the establishment of the Keweenaw Reserve,” McDonald writes; “Baraga, a Habsburg Prelate,” 8.
61 Walling, “Model of Evangelization,” 9.
62 Entry on Nov. 20, 1854: “Nov. 20. Mackinac. Rev. A. Van Paemel.-‘Gloria’and‘Credo’ in Latin in your church? -Vespers also in Latin? - This I forbid sub poena susp. [under penalty of suspension from ministry].” “Extracts of Letters [those sent by Baraga],” 1854-1859, edited by Joseph Gregorich, unpublished manuscript, 1:29, Bishop Baraga Archives.
63 Letter, B1251, German, Ann Arbor, MI, Rev. Frederick Schmid to Mission Center, Basel, Switzerland, Nov. 25, 1833; see Walling, “Positio,” 110.
64 A. Irving Hallowell, The Role of Conjuring in Saulteaux Society, (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1942), 7.
65 Selwyn Dewdney, The Sacred Scrolls of the Southern Ojibway, (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1975), 38-39.
Contemporary understandings of these manitou powers is in terms of creator/the creator, a term Baraga used in his pastoral letter. This term is also in accord with Johnston: “Manitou refers to realities other than the physical ones of rock, fire, water, air, wood, and flesh-to the unseen realities of individual beings and places and events that are beyond human understanding but are still clearly real. Kitchi-Manitou created the manitou beings and forces and infused them, to various degrees, into beings and objects.’66
According to Baraga’s interpretation, Kije Manito or the Good Spirit’s son, Me-nabojo,67 made the earth. This spirit taught humans “how to lead an upright and happy life, to abstain from bad deeds, to be charitable, hospitable, kind and sincere.”
Baraga notes, however, that this moral and theological interpretation of Me-nabojo relies on Christian influences .68 According to Johnston, there is a meaning to Kitchi-Manitou in addition to that of power and creator: “The Great Mystery of the supernatural order, one beyond human grasp, beyond words, neither male nor female, not of the flesh. . . . What little is known of Kitchi-Manitou is known through the universe, the cosmos, and the world.” Another meaning to Manitou is that of spirit within oneself, which one must seek, find and bring into reality, often through dreams and vision quests.69
Several additional issues could be considered. One of these is whether Baraga was a reductionist in his consideration of the Catholic religion, reducing it to Ojibwa conceptions. From his own religious stance, he was not. He was solidly at home with the truths of his religion as understood in 19th-century terms and did not deviate from them. He can be considered reductionistic toward Aboriginal spiritual perspectives, however, for he was a religious colonialist, a missionary who hoped to convert Aboriginal peoples to Catholicism; he, therefore, often relativized their spiritual approaches. He characterized the Roman Catholic religion as the norm and others as mirrors of that veridical norm. Another approach to different spiritual persuasions, somewhat similar to that of Baraga, and exemplified in the early 20th century by Charles de Foucauld, is that of living among them, convinced of the truth of one’s own faith while hoping to convert others, but also willing to learn from their different beliefs. Still another way of dealing with variant religious convictions is to live firmly in one’s traditions but, while
66 Basil Johnston, The Manitous, the Supernatural World of the Ojibway, (New York: HarperCollins, 1995), xxi-xxii.
67 Other spellings of the name of this narrative being are Nanabozho, Nannebush, Nanabush, and Winabojo, as employed by the Northeast and Subarctic Ojibwa. Michigan and Wisconsin Ojibwa use the name Manabozho and Menapus (Big Rabbit). Menabojo/Nanabozho is a complex trickster figure, often powerful and benevolent, but also deceitful and stupid; see Sam D. Gill and Irene F. Sullivan, Dictionary of Native American Mythology, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992), 340-341.
68 Frederick Baraga, Chippewa Indians as Recorded by Rev. Frederick Baraga in 1847, (New York: Studia Slovenica, League of Slovenian Americans, 1976), 34.
69 Basil Johnston, Manitous, 2-3.
encountering other persuasions, be willing to appreciate their worth and their practices. The challenge in such an inter-religious dialogue, which moves beyond mutual tolerance, is to acclaim what is holy in another, as Matt Vogel notes, “without trying to somehow baptize that person into our own tradition.”70 This was not Baraga’s way.
IV.	VIRTUES AND THE GREAT SPIRIT
Baraga had many admirable qualities prior to his arrival in North America. We have already noted his devotion to the people through long sessions of hearing confessions in Slovenia and in North America, and the respect he accorded the Ojibwa’s language and culture. But there are virtuous dispositions that Baraga learned quite directly from the Ojibwa. Walling notes that Baraga and other missionaries discovered or felt affirmations about the following virtues from the Ojibwa: “a reverence for life, a sense of the presence of the Great Spirit, and [a] dependence on the Great Spirit.”71 Baraga’s pastoral letter, written in Ojibwa during his first year as bishop, gives evidence of the pervasive feeling of the Great Spirit’s presence and both the bishop’s and people’s reliance on the Great Spirit. He writes explicitly about the importance and centrality of Kije-Manito, Great Spirit, in his first pastoral letter addressed solely to the Ojibwa. Another pastoral letter in English was directed to other members of his diocese. A comparison of the two letters published during the same year is enlightening for the differences in tone and wording.
In the Ojibwa letter, the terms, “bishop,” in the beginning and “your bishop,” at the end of the letter is rendered Kitchi-mekatewikwaniae (Great Blackgown), without pretension, it seems, making an allusion to the Great Spirit whom Baraga was serving.72 Baraga’s love for Native people is shown in the initial greeting, “to my beloved sons and daughters, my warmest greetings.”73 The English pastoral letter in contrast has a matter-of-fact and official heading: “Pastoral Letter of the Right Reverend Bishop Frederic Baraga.”74 The English letter provides a more formal setting by including Baraga’s coat of arms and an ecclesiastically proper beginning: “By the Grace of God and the Favor of the Apostolic See, Bishop of Amyzonia, Vicar Apostolic of the Up-
70 Matt Vogel, review of Christian Hermit in an Islamic World by Ali Merad, (New York: Paulist Press, 1999), in The Catholic Worker, 69 (2002) 7.
71 Walling, “Model of Evangelization,” 8.
72 P. Chrysostomus Verwyst, OFM, Life and Labors of Rt. Rev. Frederic Baraga, First Bishop of Marquette, Mich., (Milwaukee: M. H. Wiltzius, 1900), 431, 447. The latter part of this volume contains the Ojibwa version of the pastoral letter and Verwyst’s translation based in some instances on the ecclesiastical terms of the day rather than on the actual Ojibwa words and expressions.
73 A. Schretlen, SJ, “Unumest Necessarium, Pastoral Letter by F. Baraga, 1853,” unpublished manuscript, Pickering, ON, 1986, 1, Bishop Baraga Archives. Schretlen gives a translation which corrects some of Verwyst’s renderings.
74 “Pastoral Letter of the Right Reverend Bishop Frederic Baraga,” (Cincinnati: Catholic Telegraph, 1853).
per Peninsula of Michigan, to the faithful of his diocese, health and benediction.”75 In the English pastoral, Baraga spells out the duties of Christians, namely, that of faith, adoration, respect, obedience, and love. In this edition, there is no mention of Native people nor of Kiji-Manito and he concludes as most contemporary pastoral letters did: “’The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the charity of God, and the communication of the Holy Ghost be with you all. Amen.’ Frederic, Bishop, and Vicar Apostolic of Upper Michigan.”76
In addition to its more overtly affective tones, the letter in Ojibwa exhibits the identification Baraga had with Ojibwa life. He appropriates aspects of Ojibwa culture in obvious ways, giving evidence of the centrality of Kije-Manito.77 In this pastoral, the Great Spirit is the creator who owns the earth, watches over it carefully, and gives blackrobes and bishops to the community of Native people. While missionaries obviously influence the Ojibwa, the influence of the Ojibwa themselves on Baraga is also evident as the bishop inserts the Christian message within the framework of nature: “Think of all the Great Spirit has done for you, making earth and sky and sending His Son to earth-doing it all for the glory of His Name and the happiness of man.”78
As Baraga elaborates on the motto of the pastoral, “One Thing Alone is Necessary,”79 he continues to intertwine Ojibwa and Christian spirituality: the necessary thing is “. . . to love and serve the Great Spirit well and so bring happiness to your spirit.’*0 Baraga’s interpretation is that the Great Spirit combines both the Lord, namely, Jesus Christ, and the Ojibwa Spirit. The intermingling of spiritualities to create a new one is also evident in Baraga’s designation for the church: “Love your church-house [mi sa Kije-Manito o wigiwam aking],81 and cherish it, for on earth it is the house of the Great Spirit.’*2 Baraga’s appropriation of Ojibwa terms indicates a movement toward Ojibwa consciousness, as the Ojibwa also incorporate European perspectives. Both Ojibwa and Baraga, however, never leave their past entirely behind.
In tune with the expansive approaches of the spirited Ojibwa people, Baraga emphasizes that the Great Spirit is even greater than the priest. If one respects the priest, so much more should that person respect the Great Spirit. “Whatever you would not say or do in the presence of the priest, be sure never to say or do at all, for our Lord the Great Spirit is everywhere, and he sees and hears us at all times.’*3
For Baraga, Kije-Manito is ever present in his people. “Constantly in our hearts
75	“Pastoral Letter,” 1.
76“Pastoral Letter,” 12.
77Verwyst, Life and Labors, consistently translates Kije-Manito with the hierarchical and biblical terms, “lord God,” “Lord our God,” “God,” “Lord.”
78 Schretlen translation, “Unum est Necessarium,” 2.
79 Jesus’ words during his visit to Martha and Mary, Luke 10:38-42, and Baraga’s motto as bishop.
80 Schretlen, “Unum est Necessarium,” 3.
81 Verwyst, Life and Labors, 440.
82 Schretlen, “Unum est Necessarium,” 6.
83 Schretlen, “Unum est Necessarium,” 7.
the Great Spirit is speaking to us, urging us to hate and to shun whatever is evil and to do instead only what is beautiful and good. If a Christian feels like doing something evil, the Great Spirit will whisper to him in his heart: Don’t do that, it is evil. On the other hand, if a Christian feels like doing something good, instantly he is encouraged by the Great Spirit to do the good deed. Now that is the way the Great Spirit is constantly speaking to us in our hearts. Happy the Christian who constantly listens to what the Great Spirit is telling him.’*4
While the Great Spirit is greater than the priest, Kije-Manito can speak through this minister. “But still again the Lord speaks to us in sermons. When a Christian listens to a sacred sermon, he is of course listening to the Great Spirit.... Every time you confess your sins, gracefully accept whatever advice you are then given and do well everything the Great Spirit then says to you.’*5
He concludes: “Accept and hold dear all that makes for your well-being, all that pleases the Great Spirit. . . . Amen, Frederic your bishop [Great Blackgown/Kitchi-Mekatewi kwanaie] .’*6
In his retranslated pastoral letter, A. Schretlen rightfully indicates Baraga’s appreciation of Native spirituality. Baraga’s contemporary fellow missionary, Chrysostom Verwyst, gives a translation which, in part, pits Christianity against Native spirituality: “And pay no attention to Indian-religion (Indian paganism) [Anishinabe-ijitwawin]. It is very foolish, God our Lord [Kije-Manito] hates it (Indian religion). A Christian acts very wrong and offends God [Kije-Maniton] much if he still minds or resumes what he renounced when he was baptized.’*7 By translating this passage in words closer to the original, Schretlen shows how Baraga’s passage is not meant to be offensive to the Ojibwa: “Never again bother about man-made cults [Anishinabe-ijitwawin]; they are particularly foolish and the Great Spirit loathes them. A Christian commits serious sin and offends the Great Spirit very much if he meddles with and picks up again what was rejected at Baptism.’*8 Schretlen comments: “Baraga’s message is quite unoffensive and makes no harsh unfair claims upon his native reader and listener. Like Christians everywhere on earth the native peoples were expected to renounce at Baptism whatever beliefs and practices that did not fit with the religion and/or prayer that Jesus Christ,
Son of the Great Spirit, brought for all peoples everywhere ’*9
We have in Baraga’s Ojibwa pastoral letter some indications of the Ojibwa’s cultural and spiritual power in the formation of their bishop. Baraga affirms certain legitimacies in Ojibwa spirituality; the emphasis on the Great Spirit as preeminent and as creator is one of them. There are mergings of Ojibwa perspectives and Christian ones
84 Schretlen, “Unum est Necessarium,” 8.
85 Schretlen, “Unum est Necessarium,” 8.
86 Schretlen, “Unum est Necessarium,” 9. Verwyst, Life and Labors, 446-447.
87 Verwyst, Life and Labors, 432, 433; emphasis added.
88 Schretlen, “Unum est Necessarium,” 2; emphasis added.
89 Schretlen, “Translator’s Preface,” in “Unum est Necessarium,” i.
exemplified in the all-pervasive presence of the Spirit and its indwelling and impetus in individuals.
Virtues in addition to respect for the Great Spirit were present among the Ojibwa and had influences on the missionary. There was a reverence for one another in Ojibwa families and in their communities. This influenced Baraga or at least strengthened his disposition toward reverence for life. Early biographer, Verwyst, attested to Baraga’s warm relationship with the Aboriginal peoples: “No Indian missionary of modern times was more beloved and revered by both Indians and whites than Baraga. He loved his Indians with a warm-hearted devotion which they reciprocated.’90
Although Baraga had reasonable economic resources and privileged academic advantages prior to emigrating to North America, he became sensitive to the non-affluent conditions of his mission territory and diocese, and often adopted the demeanor of a destitute person. He thereby paralleled the poverty of the Ojibwa. To help relieve that poverty he used most of the funds, procured in his European excursions, for the Ojibwa directly and vigorously pursued the acquisition of additional funds by letter from the Leopoldine Society in Vienna.91 Fellow missionary Rev. Francis Pierz attests to Baraga’s virtue of poverty: “The missionaries whom I have learned to know personally ... especially Mr. Baraga of whom even the Protestants and pagans praise, are sparkling pearls in the Church of Christ. All live in apostolic poverty and great humility, are inspired by an unsatiable zeal for the salvation of their neighbor and offer themselves to the great hardships of the office: but because of this they are held in great esteem by the people.’92 Later Pierz wrote to Baraga’s sister, Amalia: “His boundless generosity will always preserve him in Apostolic poverty. The considerable sum of gold he brought with him last year from Europe has already been spent; consequently he will soon suffer from a lack of means of subsistence ... .Their little establishment consists of 2 oxen, 2 good cows, 6 chickens, a cat, and no mouse.’93
Another virtue present among the Ojibwa and formative of Baraga was a sense of community cohesiveness, conviviality and hospitality. Among the Ojibwa and in Baraga’s life there was a celebratory joy that took many forms and one was that of song. The mood engendered by singing, coupled with Baraga’s delight in acoustical expressions, resulted in song fests that sometimes lasted throughout the night. He also used many European melodies and joined these with Ojibwa texts to form hymns which the Ojibwa could sing and thereby learn about Christianity.94 His sister Antonia writes of the great happiness
90 Chrysostom Verwyst, “Frederic Baraga,” in The Catholic Encyclopedia, (New York: Robert Appleton, 1907), 2:283.
91 Frederick Baraga, “A Diocese Without a Cent!” The Baraga Bulletin, 55 (2002) 11; this article is from his letter, A0117, German, from Sault Ste. Marie, MI, to the Leopoldine Society, Nov. 29, 1864. According to Walling, Diary, 162, n.215, “The Leopoldine Society, established in Austria in 1829, was a German benevolent society formed to advance missionary activities of the Catholic Church and German missionaries in the United States.”
92 Rev. Francis Pierz to the Leopoldine Society, May 1, 1836, B028, LSA: XIV/VI/15.
93 Letter, B0822, German, June 20, 1838.
94 Walling, “Model of Evangelization,” 10.
that the Ojibwa provided him: “He wrote me this with joy in his soul, and I am very sad with the knowledge that I cannot see him among these joyful Indians, because he is a
completely different person when he is among his people In all his travels I had never
seen him so cheerful as when he sat among the Indians here in Mackinac and sang from the newly-printed books. . . . [He] would often sing along with them until late into the night, until he would lose his voice and not be able to speak.’95
Baraga recounted the noticeable hospitality of the Ojibwa. “Strangers are announced as soon as they are perceived.... When he comes in, the Indian stretches out his hand towards him with a hearty ‘bon jour’! which he repeats four or five times. If the visitor is a relative of the family, they all kiss him, calling him by the term of relation.96 The place for the visitors is the bottom or hind part of the lodge, opposite the door, where a fine new mat is spread out for them. The Indians are remarkable for hospitality; they always give the best they have to the visitors; they prefer to starve themselves, than to let the stranger want food. Invitations to meals are frequent in the Indian camps and villages, even without an apparent occasion, because they are social and like company. The custom to send small sticks like pencils, as invitation cards, is general in this tribe. Hospitality is seldom denied; and Indians who are not hospitable are denoted as avaricious and mean fellows.’97
And again, Baraga wrote: “The finest characteristic of an Indian is his hospitality, the old patriarchal virtue. The Indians possess it in a high degree and practice it not merely among themselves, but also towards strangers and even towards those who have acted unfriendly towards them.’98 In cases of doubt, the tendency was to celebrate a meeting, as Baraga noted, with ceremony, dance, chant, and invocations.99
95 Letter, B1327, English, Oct. 6, 1837. Baraga notes that the assembly sang Vespers on the missions with a “delightful melodion” (Letter, B1327, German, Mackinac, Ml, Antonia von Hoeffern to Amalia Gressel (both sisters to Baraga), Oct. 6, 1837. The assembly also sang Vespers at Christmas (Letter, A0661, English, Arbre Croche, MI, from Baraga to Detroit Catholic Vindicator, 3 (1855) 39, 2, Dec. 26, 1855. See also, Letter, B1103, German, La Pointe, WI, von Hoeffern to Gressel, Oct. 4, 1838, where he writes specifically about Vespers at Christmas. Fr. Zephyrin, OFM, authored Anishinabe Negamod, a Collection of Hymns, Ottawa and Chippewa Languages, (Harbor Springs, Ml: Holy Childhood School Print, 1901), a compilation of hymns from many sources including Baraga. The following Ojibwa prayer book and catechism contains the words to many hymns and gives reference to the French medodies and Latin chants for each one: Katolik Anamie-Masinaigan Wetchipwewissing, fourth edition, (Detroit: Munger and Pattison, 1849).
96 Baraga makes this greeting more specific later on: “They never greet each other by name, but always employ the terms of relationship in which they are to each other. Often they employ these terms without being relatives, or without being so nearly related. Indians who are not relatives at all greet each other with nidji, my comrade, my friend, my equal. The females greet each other with nin dangwe, my sister-in-law.” Chippewa Indians, 55.
97 Baraga, Chippewa Indians, 50.
gg t
Lecture given by Bishop Baraga in Cincinnati, Aug. 23, 1863, and printed in Der Wahrheitsfreund,
27	(1863)18-19. This lecture was translated by John Zaplotnik as “The Customs and Manners of the Indians,” Acta et Dicta , 5 (1917) 101.
"Baraga, Abrege de l’histoire des indiens, 281.
Animals and nature elicited an ethical response from Baraga. He learned of beauty, harmony, balance, solitude, and respect emanating from individual beings. Walling suggests that beings of nature can act as agents and elicit ethical dispositions, just as the Ojibwa as agents elicited virtue from the bishop.100 “Baraga may have found certain natural virtues more prevalent among the Native people. Life lived close to nature fosters respect for human and animal life, an appreciation for the beauty of nature, an appreciation for solitude. When a person fishes there is that solitude, no matter from what culture a person comes. Everyone who fishes, who walks in a forest, who watches the sun and moon rise and set, enters that beautiful solitude.’101 Baraga felt the importance and influence of nature for personal life. As noted above, he wrote about Aboriginal peoples’ sense of sacred places around Lake Superior, with their majestic walls of stone, and the enormous rocks.102
In the Ojibwa pastoral letter there is an exchange of a reciprocal awareness, Baraga appropriating the Ojibwa and the Ojibwa embracing the European. The formative influence of the Ojibwa on Baraga should not be overstated, however. Baraga remained European in his mindset. He continued to use as the basis of his translations into Ojibwa, the Roman catechisms, prayer books, the Ten Commandments, and Precepts of the Church. He did not impose, however, all forms of European civilization on the Ojibwa; for instance, he did not expect them to learn a European language. Here his approach was akin to the Jesuits in 17th-century New France who generally sought to preserve whatever was good in the culture. This preserving and adapting approach was unlike the missionaries in New England who often sought a thorough renunciation of Native cultures and a conversion to European forms of culture and Christianity.103
Baraga built a bridge between the oral tradition of the Ojibwa and the European/ North American education process of reading and writing. Several accounts narrate the delight the Ojibwa had with their catechisms and prayer books. As Walling notes, “They would carry them with them and in the evening, after everything was done, they would sit and read their books. In a sense he made them or helped them to be responsible for their on-going growth in the faith.”104
In the exchanges in the sacrament of penance, the Ojibwa furnished unique insights into their own conscience, into their world, and into their consciousness, indeed, true confessions! Baraga received further insights during counseling sessions, from visits
100 I do not want to soften or deny the effects of colonialism and thereby absolve its practitioners and deny the pain inflicted. For a more explicit examination of Native agency and alibis for colonialist denials, see Robin Brownlie and Mary-Ellen Kelm, “Desperately Seeking Absolution: Native Agency as Colonialist Alibi?” in Kenneth Coates and Robin Fisher, eds., Out of the Background, Readings in Canadian Native History, (Toronto: Copp, Clark, 1996), 211-212.
101 Walling, “Model of Evangelization,” 9.
102 Baraga, Abrege de l’histoire des indiens, 184.
103 James Axtell, After Columbus: Essays in the Ethnohistory of Colonial North America, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1988), 58-59.
104 Walling, “Model of Evangelization,” 10.
and from the rapport in imploring governments on their behalf. Such lived sharing gave him an understanding of Ojibwa life which led him to grasp the nuances in their language and compile a dictionary and grammar which remain important today.
POVZETEK
OČIPVEJCI IN ŠKOF FRIDERIK BARAGA:
VZAJEMNI VPLIVI SKOZI SPOVEDNICO
Michael M. Pomedli
Vpričujočem članku skušam pojasniti, kako je Friderik Baraga, katoliški duhovnik in škof iz 19. stoletja, skozi zakrament pokore imel edinstven pristop do načina razmišljanja pripadnikov plemena Ojibwa in do njihove kulture. Skozi nekatera ustna izročila iz Michigana v Združenih državah Amerike in iz Ontaria v Kanadi je pridobil vpogled tako v posebnosti jezika plemena Ojibwa kot v njihove duhovne dispozicije.
Sklicujoč se na Barago je bila ena od njegovih napomembnejših in veliko časa zahtevajočih misijonarskih dejavnosti »spovedovanje«. Spovednica je postala edinstven vir dejanskih in subjektivnih informacij o izvornem svetu. Bila je most med izvornim ustnim izročilom in evropsko-severnoameriškim literarnim pristopom. Strogo upoštevajoč pravila spovednega pečata je Baraga ohranjal zase podrobnosti in celo splošne podatke, ki so se mu razkrili v zakramentu pokore. Verjetno so mu zaradi take zanesljivosti domačim verjeli in z veseljem sprejeli spovedovanje, ki je bilo v duhu njihovega videnja in iskanja smisla. V tem zakramentu so domačini razkrivali svoj notranji jaz in svojo povezanost s skupnostjo, kajti spoved je bila srečanje, podobno njihovi izkušnji s starejšimi in z zdravilci. S sprejemanjem žensk in deklet je kazala spoved tudi enakopraven odnos, podoben načelom njihove lastne družbe. Ta spokorniška oblika je omogočala edinstven vpogled v zavedanje plemena Ojibwa, bila je vodilo njihovemu svetu, in izoblikovala razumevanje življenja pripadnikov Ojibwa, ki jih je Baraga, »Snowshoe Priest« (duhovnik s snežnimi krpljami), uporabil tako v prevodu katekizmov, molitvenih knjig in knjig himn kot v kompilaciji slovničnega teksta in slovarja. Pleme Ojibwa je Barago opremilo z razširjeno zavestjo, ki mu je, skupaj z njegovim strokovnim znanjem, služila pri posredovanju pri oblasteh, ko je prosil za spoštovanje pogodb in dogovorov, in pri kupovanju zemlje v njihovo dobro.
Michael M. Pomedli, doktor znanosti, profesor filozofije na St. Thomas More Collegeu, Univerze Saskatchewan v Kanadi. Je poznavalec filozofije in duhovnosti ameriških staroselcev.