Sonja Thomas titled her talk, “Indians on the Reservation: Missionary Priests from India and Catholic Settler Colonialism.” By the end of the lecture I was very interested in her words “missionary priests.” As an associate professor at Colby, Thomas introduced a mixture of topics in her lecture around the ideas of the presence of the past, the U.S. Catholic Church’s often violent relationship with indigenous Catholics and non Catholics, and also Indian priests migrating to rural Minnesota to preach. There was definitely a lot of information to unpack but Thomas was engaging while explaining her publications and additionally her own study being run presently.
Something I immediately thought about when talking about Native Americans was the education surrounding the topic when I was young. I went to a public school in Connecticut- AKA the curriculum should be pretty much standard- and from what I remember there really was not much discussion about Native Americans at all. The topics of the United States being settled for the first time and colonialism usually surrounded Christopher Columbus (“In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue”), Lewis and Clarke, and literally Pocahontas/John Smith. It honestly astounds me now that I think about it. It’s interesting that a whole generation of students come into these issues with such a low level of intelligence surrounding an entire group of people…not to mention a group of people that have existed much longer than the Catholic Church in the United States.
Out of all of these topics, I was specifically interested in one of her statements about international priests. I really never took the time to think about priests and even other religious figures that travel from other countries to come to America and preach. This is funny because I’ve definitely thought about American priests and religious figures going abroad to be “missionaries.” Thomas explained that when Asian priests come to preach in America they are called “imports” however when American priests leave America and go to preach in other countries we call them “missionaries.” I think some parallels can be found between this and America’s look on immigration these days.
Moreover, regarding education and the Catholic Church, it is interesting to bring up the often violent relationship between Native American communities and the Catholic Church. Additionally, how the Catholic Church is portrayed around the world (such as places in Great Britain and India). It is looked up to, “inspiring”, full of good people and often seen to be associated with the more wealthy population. Most of the time, we only see the Catholic Church is a positive light- that is simply very far from the truth for Native Americans.
Lastly, to bring all of this together, it is an absurdity that Native Americans are being sent to Catholic schools in order for them assimilate. Thomas mentions the history of physical and sexual abuse, the separation of children from their families, and essentially the elimination of Native American culture and language. Many people say that education is the start to changing how things are done for the better. If those that are not of Native American descent (such as myself) were more educated on the topics surrounding their history and culture it would allow for much better relationships. Additionally, education for those of Native American descent should not oppress, abuse, or attempt to eliminate their culture. It should simply be celebrated- just as every culture should be. Overall, this talk interested me because I had such a lack of information on the specific topics Thomas brought up. I think moving forward it really shows how education is often so skewed in U.S. history regarding Native Americans, their history, and their relationship with the Catholic Church.