Kateri Native Ministry of Ottawa

10/05/2026

Taylor is of Caribbean and Mohawk descent..... "they tried to bury us but they didn't know we were seeds"

10/05/2026

10/05/2026

Watch for the Sweeney book, what an interesting idea to link Black Elk with St. Francis!

Full schedule for next weekend! 💜

09/27/2026

SEVEN GENERATIONS FORWARD
The Languages Are Coming Back

There is another story about Indigenous languages.

Not only the story of what was taken.

The story of what is returning.

Children are learning the languages again.

Families are reclaiming words.

Elders are teaching.

Communities are creating immersion programs, language nests, classes, camps, recordings, dictionaries, songs, stories, and new ways for old words to live.

Words once punished are being spoken with pride.

That matters.

Because language carries more than vocabulary.

Language carries worldview.

Humour.

Relationships.

Teachings.

Memory.

Land.

Ceremony.

Identity.

Ways of understanding one another.

Ways of understanding the world.

Seven Generations Forward asks us to imagine what happens when language is not something children have to recover.

What if it is simply theirs?

Spoken at home.

Heard at school.

Shared with grandparents.

Used in ceremony.

Carried on the land.

Spoken in laughter.

Passed naturally from one generation to the next.

Imagine a child seven generations from now speaking a language that colonial systems once tried to silence.

Not as an act of resistance.

Not as reclamation.

Simply because it belongs to them.

That is the future language revitalization is building now.

Every word learned matters.

Every Elder teaching matters.

Every parent trying matters.

Every child speaking matters.

Every community investing in language matters.

Because revitalization is not only about preserving something old.

It is about creating something alive.

A language grows when children use it.

Change it.

Laugh in it.

Argue in it.

Dream in it.

Carry it into places previous generations could only imagine.

Seven Generations Forward is not only about protecting what survived.

It is about creating the conditions for what survived to flourish.

A future where Indigenous languages are not endangered.

Not hidden.

Not translated for permission.

Alive.

Spoken.

Changing.

Growing.

Belonging to children who never have to wonder whether their words deserve to exist.

The languages are coming back.

And children are carrying them forward.

09/27/2026

Residential school denialism attempts to minimize, distort or deny the experiences of Survivors and the documented history of residential schools. It causes further harm and undermines meaningful reconciliation.

Survivors should not have to defend their truth. We all have a responsibility to challenge denialism, confront misinformation and stand with Survivors.

09/27/2026

The Catholic Church in the United States will observe National Migration Week beginning September 21 and culminating with the 112th World Day of Migrants and Refugees on September 27.

For over 45 years, the U.S. Catholic Church has celebrated National Migration Week (NMW) by reflecting on its history as an immigrant Church and the ways in which the country has been enriched by generations of immigrants, including the many Catholics who have adopted this land as their own. Its connection to the World Day of Migrants and Refugees (WDMR)—which traces its origins to 1914 when Pope Saint Pius X called on all Christians to pray for the growing number of migrants at the time—demonstrates the U.S. Church’s solidarity with the Bishop of Rome and the Universal Church. Pope Leo XIV has chosen “Even just one of these children” as the theme for this year’s WDMR, which will also be the theme for NMW.

In his message for this year’s WDMR, reflecting on Matthew’s Gospel, the Holy Father observed how even one child calls each of us “to open our eyes and heart to a profound listening to his or her story, fears and dreams, overcoming that detachment which reduces the human person to a statistic that does not directly concern us.” At the same time, he underscored the need to safeguard their fundamental rights, among them the rights to life and full development.

Ahead of NMW, Bishop Brendan J. Cahill, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration, stated:

“Our Church in this country and beyond has a long, inspiring history of caring for migrant and refugee children—from the days of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini and her sisters sheltering many orphaned immigrant children when few others looked their way to today’s diocesan charities providing them and their families with vital support. We owe much gratitude to the law enforcement officers, social workers, pastoral staff, and caregivers who dedicate themselves to their safety and well-being. As we see protections for this population being undermined in various ways, including prolonged stays in detention and decreased access to legal representation, we urge governments and communities to ensure a high level of care rooted in their God-given human dignity. This requires promoting family unity and reunification whenever possible.”

Amid heightened social tensions regarding immigration, Catholics across the country are invited to reflect on how our faith is calling us to respond to this most vulnerable group within the context of migration. Catholic dioceses, parishes, schools, and organizations nationwide are encouraged to mark this observance with prayer, educational programs, pastoral outreach, and support for migration-related ministries.

09/26/2026

We welcomed our friends from St. Basil's to our Naategamaa land for the annual Season of Creation Mass, presided by Father Erik. A perfect day to be thankful for Creation. And Brother Wind made his presence known!