Headquartered in Great Falls, Minnesota, the Tekakwitha Conference is established by several non-Indian missionaries to increase awareness of the special concerns of the Native American Catholics among Roman Catholic Church authorities. The organization is named after a 17th-century Mohawk nun Kateri Tekakwitha (see entry for APRIL 17, 1680). (See also entry for 1977.)
The work of Seneca artists is featured at the World’s Fair.
With the support of the Indian Arts Project, organized under the Federal Works Progress Administration, the Seneca of the Tonawanda and Cattarugus Reservations experienced an artistic renaissance during the mid-1930s. Seneca artists involved in the WPA program revived traditional arts, including woodcarving, basketry, and quill-work, while others explored the non-Indian media of painting and drawing. The work of artists such as Jesse Cornplanter (see entry for 1913), Ernest Smith, and Sarah Hill are brought to the attention of an international audience when they are displayed in the New York State Pavilion at the World’s Fair in New York City.
In Re Eskimo clarifies the legal status of Canadian Inuit.
The Canadian Supreme Court decides in In Re Eskimo that the word Indian in the British North America Act (see entry for JULY 1, 1867) should be understood to include the Inuit of Canada. The ruling therefore establishes that the Canadian government has the same relationship with the Inuit as it does with Indians.
Kateri Tekakwitha is declared venerable.
Pope Pius XII declares Kateri Tekakwitha, a Mohawk nun renowned for centuries for her devoutness, to be venerable. She is the first Native American to be so honored by the Catholic Church. Since Tekakwitha’s death (see entry for APRIL 17, 1680), many miracles have been attributed to her intervention. (See also entries for 1939 and for JUNE 22, 1980.)
World History
