The Return

FR. JACQUES MARQUETTE

“On June 18th, 2022 the bones of Fr. Jacques Marquette were reburied at their original gravesite in St. Ignace. Initially placed there in June of 1677, they had been missing since 1877. Two hundred fifty-three people joined us as Native American spiritual leaders led the ceremony with guests from Canada, Wisconsin and Washington State. Sounds of traditional Anishinaabe drums and whistles from the bones of eagles filled the Museum Courtyard. Pipe carriers brought prayers, sage, and tobacco offerings. Ninety-year old Al Fritsch, S.J., a Jesuit priest, traveled from Kentucky to be present for this effort that he initiated 20 years ago.

At the closing of the afternoon, a young man, a Native fire-keeper from Mackinac Island, looked up and saw a single eagle hovering over the gathering. He sent this photo, taken on his phone, to Jesuit Jim Boynton, one of the planning team members.

One-hundred thirty-six individuals provided donations to make this event happen at no cost to the St. Ignace community. If there are those of you who wish to help carry on the work of that community’s Museum of Ojibwa Culture as caretakers of Fr. Marquette’s burial site, you may direct those contributions to “The Return” via the Cedar Tree Institute. They will be forwarded specifically for this purpose and you will receive prompt confirmation of your gift.

To the Museum staff .. Shirley, Tom, and Francie…….And to Russ, Tony, Jim and Dave, deepest thanks for this past year of prayers and planning.

Father Jacques Marquette has come home.”

JW Magnuson
June 25, 2022

DOCUMENTARY FILM

A film has been made to document this story of hope and healing. It is available to watch here.

Ceremony & Consecration June 18, 2022, St. Ignace

Museum of Ojibwa Culture, St. Ignace, Michigan 500 North State Street

Friday, June 17th
7 P.M Outdoor Concert and Welcome
Museum grounds

Saturday, June 18th, 2022
7 A.M. Traditional Pipe Ceremony Mission Beach (Across the street from the Museum)
1 P.M. Reburial Ritual with Anishinaabe spiritual leaders and Jesuit representatives
Museum Courtyard

4 – 6 P.M. Traditional Feast
Museum grounds

A REMARKABLE STORY

A complex, troubled journey. A turn of events unfolding over past decades, coming to fruition in ways unimaginable.

In collaboration with the Museum of Ojibwa Culture in St. Ignace, members of the Jesuit Order, and Native American elders in Mackinac County, The Cedar Tree Institute is assisting in making arrangements for the remains of Fr. Jacques Marquette to be returned and reburied at his original grave site in St. Ignace, Michigan. The bones currently are under care, having been preserved for over 100 years by Marquette University in Milwaukee. In the spring of 2022 in Milwaukee, Marquette’s remains will be formally presented to a Native American delegation from the St. Ignace community. A ceremony and festive meal will take place in the St. Ignace Ojibwa museum courtyard where Marquette’s remains were first prayerfully laid to rest in June, 1677. Open to the public and at no cost, this event is scheduled to take place Saturday, June 18th. That morning, Jacques Marquette’s remains will be placed back into sacred ground, at the original Mission he founded with his Jesuit colleagues in 1671.

THE TRANSITION TEAM

Shirley Donivan Sorrells, Director, Museum of Ojibwa Culture
Tony Grondin, Tribal elder, Sault Ste Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians
Russ Rickley, Tribal elder, Sault Ste Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians
James Boynton, S.J., Jesuit Brother, Sault Ste Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians
David Teilbar, Pastor, representing the Mackinac County interfaith community
Jon Magnuson,The Cedar Tree Institute
Daniel Rydholm, MDiv., MSW, Historian
Makari Rising, Documentary Film-maker
Al Fritsch, S.J., Jesuit, Consultant

A Project in Collaboration with Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

THE CHALLENGE

The Cedar Tree Institute has made a singular commitment to organize a one-time fund-raising effort on behalf of the Museum of Ojibwa Culture. Funds will be used by the St. Ignace community and the Museum to facilitate The Return. Any additional funds received will be forwarded to the Museum for its ongoing operation.

EXPENSES NEEDING TO BE COVERED

Preparation of the grave site in St. Ignace, support for a Native delegation to Marquette University in Milwaukee, costs of a public commemoration and celebration on June 18th, archiving a written record, and producing a film documentary of this return of Fr. Marquette’s remains to the St. Ignace Mission.

Our efforts will be an expression of support by individuals from many walks of life. Donors will be acknowledged on a plaque in the Museum at the former site of Fr. Marquette’s Mission. These names will remain a legacy, along with historical records and a film documentary, for future generations. Our hope is, as years pass, visitors will find encouragement in this story of reconciliation and healing between cultures.

For contributions to be acknowledged on the plaque, please respond by May 25, 2022. Thank You. If you prefer to use a check, please send to The Cedar Tree Institute, 403 E Michigan St., Marquette, Michigan. All donations are tax deductible.

Joan of Arc Chapel, Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

This structure was built in 1420 in France, not far from Jacques Marquette’s birthplace. In the early 20th century, it was transported, stone by stone, by a benefactor as a gift to Marquette University.

In this setting, on the afternoon of March 30th, 2022, the bones of Fr. Marquette (1637- 1675) were formally presented to a delegation of Native Americans and community members from St. Ignace, Michigan. Marquette’s remains now reside under the care of St. Ignace’s Museum of Ojibwa Culture. They will be formally reburied at Fr. Marquette’s original gravesite in St. Ignace Museum’s Courtyard on June 18th, 2022.

WHO WAS JACQUES MARQUETTE?

This Father Marquette brass statue, located in the city of Marquette, Michigan, was dedicated on July 15, 1897. It was sculpted in Italy by Gaetano Trentanove.

In the 17th century, a select group of 46 French Jesuit priests were commissioned to travel to “New France,” what is now Canada and our nation’s Northeast states. They were called “Black Robes” by indigenous peoples of this region. Jacques Marquette (1637 – 1675) was among them. Upon arrival in Quebec, he devoted himself to learning local languages and became fluent in six different Native dialects.

Fr. Marquette founded Michigan’s first European settlement at Sault Ste. Marie. Two years later, in 1671, he established the mission at St. Ignace which he came to regard as his beloved home.

In 1673, he joined French Canadian explorer Louis Jolliet to survey and map the Mississippi River valley. On the return trip by canoe, he died of dysentery along the shores of Lake Michigan. Two years later his bones were carried to St. Ignace by Native peoples. The rest of the story is a fascinating one, soon to be told.