Faith in the wilderness : the story of the Catholic Indian missions

Blurb

Margaret Bunson Stephen Bunson The New World was not a desolate landscape but the homeland of a vast native population. The arrival of the white Europeans signaled the end of the Native American lifestyles and trible aspirations in many regions. Explorers, adventurers, military expeditions, and colonists swarmed over the land, but they were followed by a different breed of men and women - human beings who envisioned America with eternal connotations that had nothing to do with metallic treasures or hoarded estates. This is their story. A riveting blend of history, anthropology, and ethnology, Faith in the Wilderness chronicles the courage and dedication of the many men and women who sacrificed their lives to bring the Gospel to the Native Americans. Interweaving threads of courage, endurance, and lasting devotion with the darker stiches of mistreatment, political rivalries, and hatred that marked so many interactions with the native peoples, authors Margaret and Stephen Bunson restor a long-overlooked and vastly misunderstood part of American history to its rightful - and righteous - place. Once you've read this book, you'll never look at American history the same way. Introduction to Saints in the Wilderness by Archbishop Chaput: God gives each of us a great many gifts in the course of a lifetime, and among those I hold most dear are two: my vocation as a Catholic priest, and roots as a member of the Potawatomi people. Reading this wonderful book by the Bunsons reminded me of just how blessed I am. It was common in the years immediately after the Second Vatican Council to reexamine and criticize much of the Church's traditional missionary effort. Purifying memory and confessing past sins is a good thing, as Pope John Paul II has so eloquently preached throughout his pontificate, especially in preparing for the Great Jubilee. History has certainly been marred by those missionaries who failed to