The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1915-05-15


pewa Indian priest of the Diocese of
Superior, has been named a mission
airy and lecturer to work among the
Indians by His Eminence Cardinal
Gibbons, president of the Indian
bureau of Catholic missions.
Father Gordon is at present at
tending the Catholic University of
America, at Washington, preparing
himself for the work he will take up
in the near future.
The honor of being ordained a
priest was but once before in the his
tory of the country accorded a red
man, and that a descendant of the
great chief Hole-in-the-Day should be
chosen spiritual adviser to the Chip
pewas was not only lifting tribute
to the young priest, but to the mem
ory of his great-great-grandfather,
who as head chief of all the tribes in
Wisconsin and Minnesota three gen.
erations ago was noted as man of
rare judgment, and to whom was en-.
trusted the selection of all the res
ervations in the twin states.
The old log house where "Ti-bish.
ko-gi-jik" (the Indian name Of Father
Gordon) was born, is still standing at
Gordon. the little village in Douglas
county, Wis, which received its name
from Antoine Gordon, grandfather of
the young priest. In the heart of
these primeval woods in the St.
Croix country, Father Gordon was
born twenty-nine years ago. His
mother came from Les Courtes
d'Oreilles band of Chippewas, one of
the last bands to be reached by the
missionaries. Her Indian name is
"Ki-ta-ge-kwe," which means 1.-The
Deerslayer," and she was for many
years pagan, but now a Christian.
From the district school of his ma
tive town 1T was but a step to st.
Marys Mission school on the Bad
River reservation, to which place the
parents of Father Gordon had moved.
Here he remained for four years,
working in the lumber camps nearby
during the winter months. AS he ex-
presses it in his characteristic
fashion, Il disappeared from civiliza-
ton and the maddening crowds ig-
noble strife nearly half year, but it
was good to get near to nature" 1t
was during this period, when but Is,
that he took the teachers examina-
ton for certificate for Ashland
county, Wis, succeeding in his deter
mination to secure the coveted bit of
paper. After graduating from Saint
Mary's school, he entered the State
normal at Superior. Later he attend
ed the Military College of st. Thomas
at Saint Paul, Mimi, where under the
patronage of Archbishop Ireland, he
remained for five years. After a
year in the Saint Paul seminary, he
went to the American college at Rome
and there finished his course in
philosophy, after which he went to
Innsbruck university in Southern
Germany, near Munich, where he
spent several years. While in Eur
ope, his summers were spent in Tou-
raine, with an old French cure who
acted as his private tutor, and to
whom Father Gordon feels he owes
much.
Upon his return to America, he
spent another year in the seminary
at st. Paul, Mimi, and for three
months previous to his ordination,
Father Gordon went into a prolonged
retreat in the Abbey of Saint Johns
with the Benedictine Fathers.
On December 9Th, 1913 (the Feast
of the Immaculate Conception
Bishop Koudelka, surrounded by a
great body of clergymen, ordained
Father Gordon to the priesthood.
On this occasion, as we'll as that
Of the young priests first solemn
mass, Indians and their missionaries
came from all parts of the northern
States, from Canada, and from the
Dakotas. The picture of the first
mass read on the Bad River reserva-
ton was picturesque one indeed,
as the long line of chiefs filed singly
into the Mission church, then the
long line Of distinguished clergy, and
finally the first priest of the Chippe.
wa nation, Very Rev. DR.. Moynihan,
president of st. Thomas college, and
one to whom, more than anyone else,
Father Gordon attributes his wonder
full success, preached an eloquent
sermon on the occasion, while Rev.
R. Oderic, now the oldest of the In
dian missionaries, and who had bap-
tized Father Gordon, preached in In.
dian. At an Indian banquet which
followed, the Bishop presided and
speeches were made by several mis-.
sionaries. The Indians presented an
entertainment during the afternoon,
and thus was passed what will prob.
ably will 60 down in history as the
most momentous event in the annals
of the Chippewa tribe.
For several months following his or
dination. Father Gordon labored on
HIS native Chinnowa rnioo3ono hut