Benjamin Marie Petit | |
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Born | |
Died | February 10, 1839 27) Saint Louis, Missouri, United States | (aged
Other names | Chichipe Outipe (Little Duck) |
Education | University of Rennes (law) in Rennes, France, and Saint-Sulpice Seminary in Paris, France |
Church | Roman Catholic |
Ordained | October 14, 1837, in Vincennes, Indiana [1] |
Title | Priest; Missionary to the Potawatomis |
External image | |
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Benjamin Marie Petit (April 8, 1811 – February 10, 1839) was a Catholic missionary to the Potawatomi at Twin Lakes, Indiana, where he served from November 1837 to September 1838. A native of Rennes in Brittany, France, Petit was trained as a lawyer at the University of Rennes, but left the profession after three years to enter the Saint-Sulpice Seminary in Paris to study for the priesthood. In 1836 he decided to move to the United States to become a missionary among the Native Americans. He traveled to New York with a group led by Bishop Simon Bruté, the first bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Vincennes. Petit was sent to Vincennes, Indiana, where Bishop Bruté ordained him as a Roman Catholic priest on October 14, 1837. Within a month the bishop sent the newly ordained priest to work among the Potawatomi in northern Indiana.
Father Petit was known for his compassion toward his Potawatomi parishioners. He also joined them on their forced march to new reservation lands along the Osage River, at the present-day site of Osawatomie, Kansas, in 1838. The journey covered about 660 miles (1,060 km) over 61 days and became known as the Potawatomi Trail of Death. During his return trip to Indiana in 1839, Father Petit became too ill to continue and died at the Jesuit seminary in St. Louis (present-day Saint Louis University) at the age of 27 years, 10 months. His remains are buried under the Log Chapel at the University of Notre Dame. A Potawatomi Trail of Death marker in honor of Father Petit at St. Philippine Duchesne Park in Linn County, Kansas, was dedicated on September 28, 2003. His experiences and observations of his missionary work among the Potawatomi and their march to Kansas survive in the numerous letters he wrote to family, friends, and colleagues.
Benjamin Marie Petit, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Chauvin Petit, was born on April 8, 1811, at Rennes, in Brittany, France. [2] Petit graduated from the University of Rennes in 1829, and from its law school in 1832. After practicing law for three years, he left the profession to enter the Seminary of Saint Sulpice in Paris, France, to begin studies for the priesthood. By April 1836 Petit had decided to pursue missionary work in the United States. Bishop Simon Bruté, the first bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Vincennes, Indiana, who was visiting France around the same time, may have encouraged Petit to become a missionary among the Native Americans in Indiana. [2] [3] [4] Petit sailed for New York City in June 1836 as part of a group traveling with Bishop Bruté, and arrived on July 21, 1836. Petit was sent to Vincennes, where he received his minor orders on December 16, 1836, and was made a deacon of the Catholic Church on September 23, 1837. [5] Bishop Bruté ordained Petit as a Roman Catholic priest on October 14, 1837, at Vincennes. [6] [7]
In October 1837 Bishop Bruté sent the newly ordained priest to the Catholic mission at Twin Lakes, Indiana, as a replacement for Father Louis Deseille, who died on September 26, 1837, while serving as a missionary among the Potawatomi in northern Indiana. [2] [8] Father Petit arrived at the mission on November 3, 1837. [4] [9] He became known among the Potawatomi as "Chichipe Outipe." This has previously been mistranslated as meaning "Little Duck," [2] [10] with Chichipe correlating with the Potawatomi word for duck, "shishibé." [11] Recently, however, it has been discovered that "outipe" most likely correlates with the Potawatomi word, "wtapik," meaning "forehead." [12] Thus, what Petit wrote in his letters as "Chichipe Outipe," is his French spelling of the phrase, "shishibé wtapik," meaning "duck's head." This discovery is corroborated by Petit, who translates the phrase himself in several instances that had previously gone unnoticed by scholars. [13]
In one letter, to demonstrate his mastery of the Potawatomi language, he closes by writing a phrase in Potawatomi, followed by its translation: “Nin Mackahtaokônia Chichipé Outipé angenickaso gatamikoa tchaiai Muckatahokônia Autchakpock Kick. I, the Black Robe, called the ‘duck's head,’ I greet all the Black Robes from the mouth to the source (Vincennes).” [14]
Having been trained and law and practiced as attorney in France, Petit tried to help the Potawatomi to draft a legal appeal against removal, but to no avail. [15] Within a few months of his arrival, Father Petit had resigned himself to the Potawatomi's impending removal to reservation lands set aside for them west of the Mississippi River. [16] In July 1838 he reported to Bishop Bruté that the Potawatomi's efforts to resist removal from Indiana had failed, and declared "the land is lost, and without recourse, I believe." [17]
Father Petit was known for his compassion and enthusiasm toward his Potawatomi parishioners. He sincerely lamented the Potawatomi's removal from Indiana and the closure of the Catholic mission at Twin Lakes. As he explained in a letter dated September 14, 1838, to his family, "It is sad, I assure you, for a missionary to see a young and vigorous work expire in his arms." [18] He also described his anguish during the mission's final hours: "At the moment of my departure I assembled all my children to speak to them for the last time. I wept and my auditors sobbed aloud; it was indeed a heartrending sight, and over our dying mission we prayed for the success of those they would establish in their new hunting grounds." [19]
On August 29, 1838, General John Tipton and a local militia made a surprise visit to the Potawatomi village at Twin Lakes, near Plymouth, Indiana, and in the ensuing days completed preparations for the Potawatomi's forced removal to reservation lands on the banks of the Osage River, at the present-day site of Osawatomie, Kansas. On September 4, General Tipton gave the order to begin the two-month march, which later became known as the Potawatomi Trail of Death. [20] Father Petit was willing to join his Potawatomi parishioners on their journey, "at least until I can place them in the hands of another pastor," [21] but Bishop Bruté initially declined his permission. The Potawatomi began their march to the Kansas territory without Father Petit; however, the bishop soon changed his mind. On September 7, three days after the Potawatomi's departure from Twin Lakes, Father Petit formally accepted General Tipton's invitation to join the caravan. [22]
Father Petit caught up with the caravan at Danville, Illinois, on September 16, 1838, and accompanied the Potawatomi on the remainder of their journey. [23] [24] Father Petit described his arrival at the encampment on Sunday, September 16: "I came in sight of my Christians, under a burning noonday sun, amidst clouds of dust, marching in a line, surrounded by soldiers who were hurrying their steps.... Nearly all the children, weakened by the heat, had fallen into a state of complete languor and depression. I baptized several who were newly born – happy Christians, who with their first step passed from earthly exile to the heavenly sojourn." [25] Tipton commented in a letter dated September 18, 1838, that Father Petit "has, both by example and precept, produced a very favorable change in the morals and industry of the Indians; that his untiring zeal in the cause of civilization has been, and will continue to be, eventually beneficial to those unfortunate Pottawatomies when they reach their new abode." [26]
Of the 859 Potawatomi who began the journey, 756 survived, 42 died, and others escaped. The caravan included 286 horses, 26 wagons, and an armed escort of one hundred soldiers. The journey west covered about 660 miles (1,060 km) over 61 days, often under hot, dry, and dusty conditions. [27] [28] During the journey Father Petit conducted mass, blessed the graves of the dead, and baptized the dying children, including newborns. He also ministered to the sick and assisted the attending physicians as an interpreter. [2] [29] Father Petit became severely ill with high fever, and suffered from exhaustion and weakness, as did many of the Potawatomi. They also suffered from eye inflammation due to the sun, dust, and windy conditions on the trail. [2] [24] [30] He later reported that the conditions began to improve when the caravan arrived in Missouri, especially after the Potawatomi were allowed to hunt for wild game to supplement their diet. [31]
Upon arrival at their reservation lands along the Osage River on November 4, 1838, the Potawatomi were placed under the supervision of the local Indian agent, and Father Petit completed arrangements to transfer his charge to Christian Hoecken, a Jesuit missionary who had worked on the Kickapoo mission. Father Petit, who was severely weakened from the journey, continued to suffer from a serious illness, including fever and exhaustion, and stayed in the area for six weeks to recuperate. On December 23, 1838, Father Petit received a letter from Bishop Bruté that recalled him to Vincennes. [2] [24] [32] [33]
Father Petit and Abraham Burnett (Nan-wesh-mah), a Potawatomi friend, began the return to Indiana on January 2, 1839. After 150 miles of travel on horseback, Father Petit became too ill to continue the ride, and took a stage to Jefferson City, Missouri. Still too weak to ride a horse, Father Petit traveled east in an open wagon in the rain and over bad roads to reach the Jesuit seminary, which became Saint Louis University on January 15, 1839. He arrived exhausted from his strenuous journey and weakened by successive attacks of fever, with many running sores on his body. [24] [34]
Father Petit hoped to recover at St. Louis and return to Indiana, but his condition worsened on February 6. He died at the Jesuit seminary at 9th and Washington Streets in St. Louis on February 10, 1839, at the age of 27 years, 10 months. [15] A mass was held for him in the seminary's chapel on February 12. Upon receipt of the news of Father Petit's death, Bishop Bruté celebrated a solemn requiem in the St. Francis Xavier Cathedral at Vincennes on February 18, 1839, and delivered a touching eulogy on his favorite missionary, who was known as the "Seraphic Benjamin Petit". [2] [24] [34]
Father Petit was initially buried in the old cemetery at 7th Street and St. Charles Avenue in St. Louis. In 1857 Rev. Edward Sorin, C.S.C. brought Father Petit's remains to St. Mary's Lake in Indiana, where he was reinterred in Father Stephen Badin's log chapel, the site of the present-day University of Notre Dame. [35]
Father Petit's remains rest in a place of honor under the Log Chapel at the University of Notre Dame. [36] [37] Because of his devoted service to the Potawatomi, Father Petit is remembered by the Catholic Church as a martyr of charity.
A Potawatomi Trail of Death marker in honor of Father Petit was placed at St. Philippine Duchesne Park, the former site of the Potawatomi's Sugar Creek Mission in Linn County, Kansas. The marker includes boulders from Kansas and Missouri and a Trail of Death route map. The memorial was dedicated on Sunday, September 28, 2003. [38]
Father Petit's chalice, which accompanied him on the Trail of Death from Twin Lakes to Kansas, was returned to Bishop Bruté after Father Petit's death. The chalice is displayed at the St. Francis Xavier Cathedral in Vincennes, Indiana. [39]
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has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)The Potawatomi, also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie, are a Native American people of the Great Plains, upper Mississippi River, and western Great Lakes region. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a member of the Algonquin family. The Potawatomi call themselves Neshnabé, a cognate of the word Anishinaabe. The Potawatomi are part of a long-term alliance, called the Council of Three Fires, with the Ojibway and Odawa (Ottawa). In the Council of Three Fires, the Potawatomi are considered the "youngest brother" and are referred to in this context as Bodéwadmi, a name that means "keepers of the fire" and refers to the council fire of three peoples.
Mount St. Mary's University is a private Roman Catholic university in Emmitsburg, Maryland. It has the largest Catholic seminary in the United States. Undergraduate programs are divided between the College of Liberal Arts, the Richard J. Bolte School of Business, and the School of Natural Science and Mathematics. "The Mount" has over 40 undergraduate majors, minors, concentrations, and special programs, as well as bachelor's/master's combinations in partnership with other universities, 8 master's programs, and 6 postgraduate certificate programs.
Edward Frederick Sorin, C.S.C. was a French-born priest of the Congregation of Holy Cross and the founder of the University of Notre Dame in Indiana and of St. Edward's University in Austin, Texas.
Anne Thérèse Guérin, designated by the Vatican as Saint Theodora, was a French-American saint and the foundress of the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, a congregation of Catholic sisters at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana. Pope John Paul II beatified Guérin on 25 October 1998, and Pope Benedict XVI canonized her a saint of the Catholic Church on 15 October 2006. Mother Guérin's feast day is 3 October, although some calendars list it in the Roman Martyrology as 14 May, her day of death.
The Diocese of Fort Wayne–South Bend is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in north-central and northeastern Indiana in the United States.
The Archdiocese of Indianapolis is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in Indiana in the United States.
Stephen Theodore Badin was the first Catholic priest ordained in the United States. He spent most of his long career ministering to widely dispersed Catholics in Canada and in what became the states of Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and Illinois.
Leopold Pokagon was a Potawatomi Wkema (leader). Taking over from Topinbee, who became the head of the Potawatomi of the Saint Joseph River Valley in Michigan, a band that later took his name.
Simon William Gabriel Bruté de Rémur was a French missionary in the United States and the first bishop of the Diocese of Vincennes, Indiana. President John Quincy Adams called Bruté "the most learned man of his day in America."
The Potawatomi Trail of Death was the forced removal by militia in 1838 of about 859 members of the Potawatomi nation from Indiana to reservation lands in what is now eastern Kansas.
Anthony Deydier, was a French priest, missionary and teacher.
George Winter was an English-born landscape and portrait artist who immigrated to the United States in 1830 and became an American citizen in northern Indiana's Wabash River valley. Winter was one of Indiana's first professional artists. In addition, he is considered the state's most significant painter of the first half of the nineteenth century. Winter is especially noted for his sketches, watercolors, and oil portraits that provide a visual record of the Potawatomi and Miami people in northern Indiana from 1837 to the 1840s, as well as other figures drawn from his firsthand observations on the American frontier.
Célestin René Laurent Guynemer de la Hailandière was a French prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Vincennes from 1839 to 1847. He is perhaps best known for donating the land for the establishment of the University of Notre Dame.
Jacques-Maurice des Landes d’Aussac de Saint Palais was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the fourth Bishop of Vincennes, from 1848 until his death.
Indian removals in Indiana followed a series of the land cession treaties made between 1795 and 1846 that led to the removal of most of the native tribes from Indiana. Some of the removals occurred prior to 1830, but most took place between 1830 and 1846. The Lenape (Delaware), Piankashaw, Kickapoo, Wea, and Shawnee were removed in the 1820s and 1830s, but the Potawatomi and Miami removals in the 1830s and 1840s were more gradual and incomplete, and not all of Indiana's Native Americans voluntarily left the state. The most well-known resistance effort in Indiana was the forced removal of Chief Menominee and his Yellow River band of Potawatomi in what became known as the Potawatomi Trail of Death in 1838, in which 859 Potawatomi were removed to Kansas and at least forty died on the journey west. The Miami were the last to be removed from Indiana, but tribal leaders delayed the process until 1846. Many of the Miami were permitted to remain on land allotments guaranteed to them under the Treaty of St. Mary's (1818) and subsequent treaties.
The Diocese of Vincennes was the first Latin Church diocese in Indiana. It was erected 6 May 1834 by Pope Gregory XVI. Its initial ecclesiastical jurisdiction encompassed Indiana as well as the eastern third of Illinois. In 1843 the Diocese of Chicago was erected from the Illinois portion of the diocese, and in 1857 Diocese of Fort Wayne was erected from the northern half of Indiana. The seat of the episcopal see was transferred from Vincennes, Indiana, to Indianapolis, and on 28 March 1898 it became the Diocese of Indianapolis. Pope Pius XII elevated the Indianapolis diocese to an archdiocese in 1944, and erected two new Indiana dioceses: the Diocese of Evansville and the Diocese of Lafayette. The Diocese of Gary, Indiana, was erected in 1956. The Evansville Diocese absorbed the city of Vincennes upon its creation.
Menominee was a Potawatomi chief and religious leader whose village on reservation lands at Twin Lakes, 5 miles (8.0 km) southwest of Plymouth in present-day Marshall County, Indiana, became the gathering place for the Potawatomi who refused to remove from their Indiana reservation lands in 1838. Their primary settlements were at present day Myers Lake and Cook Lake. Although Menominee's name and mark appear on several land cession treaties, including the Treaty of St. Mary's (1818), the Treaty of Mississinewas (1826), the Treaty of Tippecanoe (1832), and a treaty signed on December 16, 1834, he and other Potawatomi refused to take part in subsequent land cession negotiations, including the Treaty of Yellow River (1836), that directly led to the forced removal of Menominee's band from Indiana in 1838.
The St. Francis Xavier Cathedral is a parish of the Roman Catholic Church in Vincennes, Indiana, under the Diocese of Evansville. Named for Francis Xavier, a 16th-century Jesuit apostle, it is located opposite George Rogers Clark National Historical Park at 205 Church Street, within the Vincennes Historic District.
The University of Notre Dame was founded on November 26, 1842, by Father Edward Sorin, CSC, who was also its first president, as an all-male institution on land donated by the Bishop of Vincennes. Today, many Holy Cross priests continue to work for the university, including as its president. Notre Dame rose to national prominence in the early 1900s for its Fighting Irish football team, especially under the guidance of the legendary coach Knute Rockne. Major improvements to the university occurred during the administration of Rev. Theodore Hesburgh between 1952 and 1987 as Hesburgh's administration greatly increased the university's resources, academic programs, and reputation and first enrolled women undergraduates in 1972.
Christiaan Jacob Adriaan Hoeken, SJ (1808–1851) was a Jesuit missionary of Dutch origin who worked in the United States among the first nations. He wrote several books in Potawatomi and founded St. Ignatius Mission among the Kalispel. Hoecken died of malaria sailing up the Missouri River.
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