Junípero Serra's road to sainthood is controversial for Native Americans

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I find it very difficult to:

First, blame missionaries or, indeed, colonists for the decimation of Indians by disease. Had Indian explorers visited Europe, Africa or Asia instead of the other way around, and then returned to the Americas, the result would have been exactly the same. Diseases in the visited lands would have followed them home. Introduction of Eurasian/African diseases to the Americas was only a matter of time.

Second, decry the cultural consequences. A great deal of mythology has grown up about Indians’ culture; often represented as a sort of “New Age Paradise” of superior thought and action. Prior to the settlers, the area in which I live was dominated by a tribe that killed off the prior Indian population in order to preserve the area as their exclusive hunting ground. What part of that are we to treasure? Why should it have been preserved as a culture? We do not admire the vanished cultures of the Huns, Alans or Avars, so why should we lament the passing of other vanished cultures just because they were on this side of the Atlantic?

To me, the condemnation of Fr. Junipero Serra is just one more effort to discredit the Church.
 
The usual suspects. Some people will always hate Father Serra, because he was a Catholic missionary. Christ predicted that Christians would be hated by the worldly.
 
I don’t read anything the Guardian has to say about anything. Incredibly biased.
Not a reputable source IMHO.
 
Revisionist history blaming the problems afflicting the Indians on Catholic missionaries. The real source of problems for the natives were land-grabbers, soldiers, capitalists, mercenaries, disease, gold-seekers and settlers. The most benign thing that happened to them in their uninvited encounter with western civilization was the missionaries.

Modern day descendants of the Indians don’t seem to want to admit how brutal the lives of the natives were. The missionaries brought Jesus and salvation to them. They got the Indians to stop killing, sacrificing, torturing and eating each other. They ought to give thanks for that.
 
Father Serra - A Controversial Canonization

Where’s the “controversy” coming from? The Left, of course.

Yes, Serra was a zealous missionary and he “took away” ancient Indian cultures from the natives of California.

But, just what was that “culture” other than living like animals, day to day, with no future and never traveling more than one day from where they were born. Crouching in the rain or starving when there was none. Being fodder for the massive Grizzly Bears that freely roamed the area.

All they had to look forward to from the day of their birth was hardship leading to eventual death. Father Serra and his fellow missionaries gave them filled bellies, relief from harsh weather – and the hope that there was something more to life than just dying and ending it all.

Anyhow, the story is @ americamagazine.org/issue/controversial-canonization
 
California Indians Complain to Pope Francis

Amah Mutsun’s Letter to Pope Francis
Date: 02 Mar 2015
By: Vincent Medina

Valentin Lopez, Chairman of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band of Costanoan/Ohlone Indians, wrote a poignant letter to Pope Francis sharing a Native perspective on why Junipero Serra should not be named a Saint.

The full letter can be read @ newsfromnativecalifornia.com/blog/amah-mutsuns-letter-to-pope-francis/

I have posted my own comments on this letter on my blog @ msgdaleday.blogspot.com and I hope you will all stop by and read it. -The full letter too.
 
Three or four people speak against him and then this article says native-Americans don’t like him. If several activists state their opinion, this doesn’t mean that millions think this. This reporter will have to do much better than this for me not to disregard him.
It is a typical device–for a small group of activists activists to say something-- and then to have it said without evidence that millions of some group agree with them.
 
lvcabbie said:
California Indians Complain to Pope Francis

Amah Mutsun’s Letter to Pope Francis
Date: 02 Mar 2015
By: Vincent Medina

Valentin Lopez, Chairman of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band of Costanoan/Ohlone Indians, wrote a poignant letter to Pope Francis sharing a Native perspective on why Junipero Serra should not be named a Saint.

The full letter can be read @ newsfromnativecalifornia.com/blog/amah-mutsuns-letter-to-pope-francis/

I have posted my own comments on this letter on my blog @ msgdaleday.blogspot.com and I hope you will all stop by and read it. -The full letter too.
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I read your blog. It is most informative. I haven’t really found as much information about Fr. Serra elsewhere.

It goes without saying, I think, that Fr. Serra was a missionary–his purpose was to convert native peoples to Christ. Toward the end of his life, he walked from San Francisco to the missions in southern California, confirming those whom he had baptized in all the missions along the way. Missionaries did not come to the new world to preserve native culture, but to bring native peoples to Christianity. That’s just the way it worked. As for harsh treatment, I have read that he ordered harsh punishment of Spanish soldiers who mistreated his Indians. This was a man who was trained to be a theology professor, but he embraced the life of a missionary.
 
From the local San Jose Mercury News:

There are Native American supporters too.
But a member of the Ohlone tribe, Andrew Galvan, said sainthood for Serra is welcome.
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“I’m ecstatic,” said Galvan, who is the curator of Mission Dolores in San Francisco and whose ancestors were baptized at the missions. While he doesn’t deny the poor treatment of Native Americans at the missions, he doesn’t blame Serra. He blames colonialism.
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“You can’t change the past, and we all acknowledge mistakes were made in the past,” Galvan said. “The bottom line is I believe Junipero Serra was a very good person in a very bad situation, which I call colonialism.”
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Also, it seems the controversy won’t last too long.
Pope Francis’ announcement Thursday came as a surprise to many who believed the Native American controversy might dog the effort forever.
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But history professor Robert Senkewicz from Santa Clara University, which was founded by Serra in 1777, believes the controversy has largely calmed since Serra’s beatification.
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“Thirty years ago, the lines were really tightly drawn between people who supported Serra’s beatification and people who didn’t. It was very intense,” said Senkewicz, who co-authored the forthcoming biography “Junipero Serra: California, Indians and the Transformation of a Missionary.”
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Read it all in the full article: mercurynews.com/bay-area-news/ci_27328904/pope-francis-announces-california-mission-founder-junipero-serra

More reaction, from CA’s governor:
Junipero Serra ‘very courageous’ but not perfect, Jerry Brown says
mercurynews.com/california/ci_27420012/gov-jerry-brown-calls-california-missionary-junipero-serra
 
lvcabbie said:
Father Serra - A Controversial Canonization

Where’s the “controversy” coming from? The Left, of course.

**Yes, Serra was a zealous missionary and he “took away” ancient Indian cultures from the natives of California.

But, just what was that “culture” other than living like animals, day to day, with no future and never traveling more than one day from where they were born. Crouching in the rain or starving when there was none. Being fodder for the massive Grizzly Bears that freely roamed the area.

All they had to look forward to from the day of their birth was hardship leading to eventual death. Father Serra and his fellow missionaries gave them filled bellies, relief from harsh weather – and the hope that there was something more to life than just dying and ending it all.**
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Seriously? :eek:

sounds like you’re suggesting the natives of the area were basically chimpanzees until he came along. Have you ever studied any Native American culture or visited their ruins?
 
schaeffer said:
Seriously? :eek:

sounds like you’re suggesting the natives of the area were basically chimpanzees until he came along. Have you ever studied any Native American culture or visited their ruins?
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I have no idea where you got that impression!

And, yes, I HAVE studied American Indian cultures for many years and the vast majority of tribes in North America. In fact, I found the manner of self-government among the eastern and some plains tribes to be quite forward-thinking. Our Founding Fathers agreed as our constitution was written with their form of government in mind.

However, California Indians never advanced beyond the Stone Age. Mainly because where they lived and the climate did not force them to evolve beyond the most basic of civilization. They never went beyond the clan system and tribal references came from a group of peoples with similar languages - not a formal organization.

The Ohlone never had a formal tribal council or elected leader of any sort. In fact, it was only due to Father Serra and other friars that they learned to select leaders among the mission’s converts - it was something the friars insisted upon.

They never turned an ounce of soil to plant seeds, living on what they could find - often ignoring many plants with excellent nourishment. They had no holistic type medicine men or healers - only learning the use of local medicinal plants from the friars.

They did not even have the concept of mystical beings that created the earth and man as did almost every other tribe outside of the Californias. Try reading their myths - as have I - and tell us how far apart they were from other North American peoples.

Their social system was almost nonexistent. They had no organization outside of the family and even that was loose. If one of them became ill, they were left to fend for themselves. There was even a lack of formal funeral ceremonies.

If they could not touch, hear, or see something, there were no words in their languages to describe them. The hardest thing for the missionaries was to get across the idea of a Supreme Being, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit and saints. Even after several generations, many converts knew no more than how to repeat the words with no idea what they meant.

In spite of this, they were superb physical beings of fine build and strength. They could easily run as fast as a horse at a lope and their natural stealth was awesome.

However, as many visitors pointed out, the California Indians were little more than animals, idlers, natural thieves, and almost incapable of self-control and dedication to any task.

So, does that answer your question as to my consideration of who they were?
 
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