3 Review(s)

The Navajo as Seen by the Franciscans is the story of one of the great cultural confluences in American history, the coming of Franciscan missionaries to the Navajo people. Here, in the words of the friars who lived it, is part of that remarkable story. Utilizing both primary and secondary materials, this sourcebook aims to make more readily accessible the views of the Franciscans, both in their personal writings and in national publications and mission magazines addressing the Catholic laity and potential donors. Selections include internal reports and position papers not intended for publication, diaries and personal correspondence, and notes and unfinished drafts. Each text is introduced by the editor and has been carefully selected for inclusion to provide a comprehensive view of the Navajo of the late 19th and early 20th century, as well as insights into those that served them as teachers, advocates, counselors, and medical missionaries. Because most Franciscan missionaries came to live among the Navajo for their entire lives, their primary commitment was neither to "science" nor to publication for their academic peers, but to the welfare, both here and in the hereafter, of those among whom they served, allowing for a complex and mutually beneficial relationship between the two. This volume covers the remarkably productive first decades of the Franciscan missions to the Navajo, during the ministry of Father Anselm Weber, from the arrival of the first missionaries in 1898 to Fr. Anselm's passing in 1921. Its 43 chapters are divided into six parts: Beginnings, Indian Policy, Early Ministry 1901-1910, Navajo Land, Among the People 1911-1920, and Navajo Customs and Character. Supplemented by 16 rare black and white photographs, this reference work is a fascinating glance into the lives of two cultures forever changed by each other.