The Snowshoe Priest

No missionary was more beloved and revered by both Indians and Euro-Americans than Baraga. One of the coun-ties in Michigan was named after him along with a town in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and his name has been used for one of the principal streets in Marquette, Michigan. Frederic Baraga is still honored in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. His picture is in one of the main com-munity meeting rooms at the St. Joseph Church on Minneapolis Street in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. Baraga struggled with many hardships such as harsh weather, hostilities from some unwelcoming Indian people in a few locations, antagonistic fur-traders and he drudged over frozen land for hundreds of miles on snow shoes to fulfill his Christian obligations.

Missionaries were not only responsible for pro-viding Christian services, they also had to provide basic educational teachings to the Indian children. He humbly pursued a path of divine devotion through his missionary work with the Native Americans for thirty-seven years.

            Frederic Baraga was born on June 29, 1797 in Malavas, which is currently referred to as Slovenia. His parents were Johann Nepomuc Baraga and Maria Katharine Josefa. Five children were born to this union. Frederic be-ing number four. His father was not rich, but his mother inherited her father’s estate after his death. Frederic’s parents were driven to provide a good education for their children while they were alive. His mother died in 1808 when he was 11 and his father died in 1812 when he was 15.

            Dr. George Dolinar, a professor in the diocesan clerical seminary at Laibach, strived to provide a good edu-cation for Frederic and the rest of his siblings after his parents’ death. Dr. Dolinar was assigned the guardian for Federic. It was discovered at an early age that he possessed the amazing gift of learning a multitude of languages and was fluent in six languages by the time he was nine years old. Baraga attended the University of Vienna, studied law and graduated in 1821. Soon afterwards he decided to turn his future aspirations to the priesthood and was ordained as a priest on September 21, 1823 at Laibach, where Dolinar taught. He began his priesthood journey as an assistant in St. Martin’s parish, in lower Carniola until October 29, 1830. In 1829, Baraga requested permission to apply to Bishop Fenwick at Cincinnati, Ohio with a proposal that he wanted to provide missionary services in the United States. To his archbishop he wrote, “Already for many years, I have cherished the desire to go to the mission in order to preach the gospel to pagans, who as yet do not know God, and to show them, with God’s help, the way to salvations.” [i]

            Bishop Edward Dominic Fenwick took Baraga under his wing when he began his work in Cincinnati, Ohio. He worked among German Catholics of Cincinnati and elsewhere for several months until he was assigned to his first Indian mission in L’Arbre Croche (known today as Harbor Springs, Michigan and the surrounding area). He arrived at L’Arbre Croche on May 28, 1831. This assign-ment proved to be successful from the Christian point of view because he baptized 547 Indian adults and children.

            In September 1833 he left L’Arbre Croche and founded a new Indian mission at Grand River, Michigan. The Grand River mission was not as successful as the one at L’Arbre Croche. Trying to not lose faith in his mission, he trudged on despite not being welcomed by this group of Native Americans. Letters were sent to Cincinnati that in-formed his superiors that he had been causing dissention amongst the people of the village. Heartbroken, he spent his days at that mission feeling desperately alone. 

            His next mission involved working with the Chippewas at La Pointe, Wisconsin. He arrived in Wisconsin in July of 1835 and he experienced more suc-cess at La Pointe. In 1843 he founded the L’Anse Indian mission in Michigan and labored at this location for approximately ten years. This was a vast mission expand-ing over hundreds of miles. For many years Baraga was the only Catholic priest in Upper Michigan. He not only pro-vided service to the Indian people, he also worked with the people of European descent. The discovery of copper and iron drew many German, French, and English speaking Catholics to the Northern-Peninsula of Michigan. 

On July 29, 1853, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan became a separate diocese and broke away from Detroit. Baraga was appointed the first bishop for this region. He looked upon his new role with trepidation and grateful anticipation. The added responsibilities were a bit intimi-dating but at the same time he was relieved that he could ordain new priests to help him provide service to all in need in the vast territory.

His jurisdiction spanned from the whole Upper Peninsula in Michigan, part of the Lower Peninsula in Michigan, to Northern Wisconsin and the entire north shore of Lake Superior which encompassed part of Minnesota. Often he traveled by the use of snowshoes from one end of this vast territory to the other during the frigid winter months. He managed to provide service for this territory for approximately 15 years. [ii]

Following his appointment as bishop he issued two circulars to the people he was providing service to, one in Chippewa and the other in English. Bishop Baraga was one of the most well-known authors in American Indian litera-ture and he wrote the first known Chippewa grammar book. This grammar work went through three editions. It took several years of arduous labor to compile the Chippewa dictionary and the dictionary went through several editions. Both the grammar and dictionary books were highly rever-ed and in constant use by Indian missionaries and others.

His Indian prayer book and works of religious instruction have been read by both Indian people and their pastors. Baraga completed all his works of instruction in simple and clear fashion. His prayer book, “Dusna Pasa,” a prayer book developed for the people of Slovenia, was written in his native tongue. This book went through ten editions, the last in 1905, with 84,000 copies. This is proof of its usefulness and popularity. He also wrote an Odawa prayer book titled “Jesus O Bimadisiwim” (The Life of Jesus) along with other well known books about commandments and sacraments.[iii]

Part of his drive to publish and make available to the public religious sacraments was due to his reaction to Jensenism, which was prevalent when he first became a priest. Jensenism was a movement associated with the careful selection of who could participate in religious cere-monies and instruction. Only those who were guaranteed entrance into heaven could partake in the sacraments. Baraga went against this belief system and welcomed all people to hear his sermons. His rebellion angered other priests and they resented Baraga’s popularity. [iv]

Only a small portion of the Indian population did not welcome his services and they were the tribal people of the Grand River region. A missionary’s role consists of providing schooling for the Indian children, converting the “pagans” to Christianity and providing for the basic needs of the tribal people such as teaching them how to farm. The missionaries had many duties as they served their mission.       

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Chapter VII: The Snowshoe Priest

[i] Macdonald, G. (2004). Frederic Baraga’s Short History of the North American Indians. Alberta, Canada: University of Calgary Press.

[ii] Catholic Encyclopedia.  Frederic Baraga.  Retrieved on September 30, 2014 from www.newadvent.org.

[iii] Catholic Encyclopedia.  Frederic Baraga.  Retrieved on September 30, 2014 from www.newadvent.org.

[iv] Lambert, B. (1974). Shepard of the Wilderness.  Michigan: Bishop Baraga Association, Inc.