As a child, Father Maurice Henry Sands often faced discrimination when he stepped off the Native American reservation where he lived. “People (in the nearby town) didn’t like us,” he said. “The kids didn’t like us, the teachers didn’t like us. They called us animals, or dirty. We’d hear that all the time.”
But his parents taught him that he had God-given dignity and worth, and that made all the difference in his life. “What (my mother) learned and what she passed on to me is that Christ offers us hope,” said Father Sands, who is a member of the Ojibway, Ottawa and Potawatomi tribes. “Christ offers us a life with him. Christ can help us deal with whatever difficult circumstances that we encounter, and we also need to forgive people who commit wrong against us.”
Father Sands, a priest of the Archdiocese of Detroit, is executive director of the Black and Indian Mission Office in Washington, which provides grants to diocesan, school and religious education programs that support the evangelization of African American, Native American and Alaska Native communities. He celebrated Mass and then talked about his life and his faith at St. Mary of Sorrows Church in Fairfax March 15.
Father James S. Barkett, pastor, Christina Benedi, parish outreach ministry coordinator, and Teresa Sappier, a Native American parishioner, helped plan the event. The parish women’s group hosted a reception before the talk.
Through his work, Father Sands witnesses the difficult conditions in which many Native Americans live, often due to the disenfranchisement native communities have experienced for centuries, he said. But while Native American communities often need material help, he believes what they need more than anything is hope.
“We have a high rate of poverty, a high rate of unemployment, we don’t have access to health care in native communities, a lot of people don’t have telephones, a lot of people don’t have electricity, a lot of people don’t have running water. The school systems are terrible. You could go on and on,” he said. “I think if you live in a situation where things are really difficult, and you don’t have hope, then it’s really hard to believe that you or anybody else can change the situation.”
During the question-and-answer session, Father Barkett asked how best to approach the topic of hope with others. Father Sands said that Native Americans, as well as immigrants and others who may have experienced racism or ostracization, may be guarded. “If somebody joined the parish, for example, be patient and keep reaching out. Be friendly, be welcoming,” he said.
Many parishioners spoke about donating to Indian schools and Fathers Sands encouraged them to keep giving, as the need is great. “Education really changes people’s lives for the better, that’s the case for me, but especially for people who live in extreme poverty,” he said. “A Catholic education can make a positive difference in the lives of these young people.”
Among those in attendance, Sappier, a member of the Penobscot Nation who grew up in Maine, was most touched when Father Sands shared that two of his grandparents were put in boarding schools, a widespread policy implemented in the U.S. and Canada in order to “Americanize” native people. Sappier’s great-grandfather also was placed in a residential school. “What they wanted to do was remove the Indian (out of him),” she said. “Many of the children went back and they didn’t know who they were. Luckily, when my great-grandfather came home, there were still enough elders who could tell him who he was.”
Though Sappier said she has faced discrimination, her experiences gave her the ability to better empathize with those suffering. “I always approach people who aren’t often approached because they’re my brother and they’re my sister,” she said. Quoting the hymn, “Here I am, Lord,” she said, “My goal is to hold all of (God’s) people in my heart.”
