We know the story. A charismatic person of color uses his Christian faith, not only to minister to his people, but to effect change on a national scale.
But this Native American leader from Wisconsin had as much in common with Malcolm X as Martin Luther King, Jr. His life is recounted in Ojibwe, Activist, Priest: The Life of Philip Bergin Gordon, Tibishkogijik, new from University of Wisconsin Press.
It’s a deeply disturbing fact that until 1924 American Indians were not considered American citizens.
The Rev. Gordon (1885-1948) fought for citizenship rights and more. Author Tadeusz Lewandowski outlines the life of a truly great man, who pushed so far he upset his supporters.
His name translates as “Looking in to the Sky.” He was born in Douglas County, in the town of Gordon, named for a forbear, Antoine Gaudin; generations of French Canadians mixed with the family.
Lewandowski notes, “In 1900, the U.S. census recorded that the Native American population was at an all-time low.” By treaty, the Ojibwe clans had given up 19 million acres, and “in return had received reservations encompassing just a few thousand acres.”
Many Native children were enrolled, forcibly in some cases, in Catholic mission schools, which converted students. The Bureau of Indian Affairs claimed one Minnesota district was now 99 percent Catholic. Young Philip was educated at Odanah, by the La Crosse Sisters of Perpetual Adoration.
Tribal members tried to hold onto their culture. As Lewandowski explains, they “imbued Catholic rituals with their own meanings and continued to believe in the healing power of traditional Ojibwe songs, dances and medicines.” Gordon was ordained in 1913, the first-ever Native American Catholic priest.
As an adult, “The Fighting Priest” led a life parallel to “Fighting Bob” La Follette (1855-1925). Gordon was a part of the Progressive movement, writing in 1923 that, “As soon as an educated Indian begins to deplore the conditions of his brother Indians, the [Office of Indian Affairs] dubs such a one a disturber, an agitator, and lately he is placed in the Bolshevik class.”
Lewandowski has written extensively on Native American history. He’s head of the department of American literature and culture at the University of Opole, Poland. His website takes care to note that he is “an American academic.”
Very academic. The fact is Ojibwe, Activist, Priest reads dry. The reader in no way can share — let alone understand — Gordon’s passion. Who was he as a person? How did he enthrall Catholics, national politicians and Native Americans? This volume lacks storytelling.
The ideal biography is kaleidoscope, shards of shades and colors. This is valuable and even essential scholarship, presented in black and white.
