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This is a simply wonderful series of articles. YOU GUYS ROCK! I grew up in the Midwest, and I remember being taught in public schools (when they were still allowed to teach "forbidden history" about America's settlement period) about early Catholic-inspired exploration of that area (eg., see http://scihi.org/jolliet-marquette-expedition-upper-mississippi/ ). I always considered those encounters to be collisions of impossibly distanced cultures, but your series gives a better perspective on the similarities of Catholic/Native American world-views. The longevity of this relationship speaks to this: consider, this relationship has easily outlived the Native American/US government relationship, while enduring our government's repeated outrageous abuses of Native Americans. That fact should speak volumes for both Native Americans and American Catholics.

As a midwestern transplant to the American west, I would love to explore this symbiosis more, and more importantly help strengthen it for future generations. I have googled a bit about Catholic outreach programs in my area, but not found much. If anyone has any contacts in the northern Utah region about Catholic / Native American organizations/connections, please feel free to reply to rahansen@hotmail.com. I would love to be involved and help continue this legacy. (My current plans put me in the regions of both the Ute and Cheyenne nations, so either of these are in play for me.)

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