St Kateri and others who chose the best of both worlds

When two cultures meet, the result is not assimilation as much as keeping our own culture alive but taking the best part of the second culture and making it our own.

Filipinos are famous for doing that (Jolibee, anyone?) but before the snowflakes started getting hysterical, we saw this with the welcoming of Immigrants. Everyone won.

 we also see how immigrants in the US are keeping the often bland and boring Catholic churches alive and vibrant, from Vietnamese priests to Spanish language masses.

so my remark in the previous essay about Kateri combining Native American spirituality with Catholicism was showing that taking the good things from one culture to enrich your own (NOT replace it) is a good thing.

Our Catholic church in Pawhuska has a Kateri Shrine in the garden. They were still  building it when we moved here to the Philippines, but here is the statue of Kateri and a story about the shrine in the Osage news in 2012.

According to the Tulsa World, the Kateri shrine is inspired by the late Opal Delos Rector, an Osage who said she survived 24 years with breast cancer after praying to Kateri. In a 2001World article, Rector said: “I want the people of Pawhuska, and especially the Indian people, to know that God loves them and that he has given them a strong advocate

more photos HERE.

the church was built with Tribal money, so when the post Vatican II renovators tried to simplify (read destroy the fancy stuff) the place, the local tribal folks went to the priest and mentioned if he destroyed any more of their beautiful church they'd ask for their money back.

the Stained glass windows are beautiful... this one got mentioned in 405 magazine:

The Idea Was Conceived In Pawhuska And Brought To Life In Munich. But It Took A Ruling By The Holy See In Rome To Make The Osage Window A Reality. Towering at 36 feet, the window in Immaculate Conception Church memorializes the Jesuit priest John Schoenmakers. He lived and worked at the Osage Mission in Kansas for 36 years, from his arrival in 1847 until his death, bringing Catholicism, enthusiasm and supplies. Unlike previous missionaries, he encouraged the tribal members to adopt a blend of Christianity and traditional Osage culture. They coined the term “shouminka,” an affectionate version of his name, as the new Osage word for priest....

the Vatican had to give permission for the artists to portray living persons in stained glass windows.

For the landmark window, photographs of current tribal members in traditional Osage dress were mailed to Germany, where artists of the Bavarian Art Glass Company rendered their likenesses... Installed in the north transept, the Osage Window honors Schoenmakers with a perpetually attentive audience modeled after prominent tribal members of the time, including Chief Baconrind, Chief Saucy Calf and Arthur and Angie Bonnecastle. portraying living persons in a stain glass window is not allowed in Catholic churches.

The Osage are famous, of course, for their oil. But it didn't stop there.

The Osage are also famous for their ballerinas (e.g. Maria Tallchief) who grew up in nearby Fairfax

and they continue the tradition: