History Of Marie Rouensa

Submitted By kriissyxoxo
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The Spread Catholicism was a big spread all around for the Native Americans across the United States. It was a big deal to Native women especially. Native American converted to Catholicism because they felt it was a way to express them freely of what they truly wanted for themselves. As well, with all the tragic happenings during that time, they needed something to be guided to and help them all throughout. These women gained social, economic, and spiritual power through it. Once they have the opportunity to feel this way by having some sort of power, they grasped into something that they truly believed in. It is known through history that men held all the power so there is such power when it comes to believing Catholicism. One woman made it clear that it is what she wanted to follow and she goes by the name of Marie Rouensa. She is the influential leader of it all too all women because she went ahead and did what she had to do to make everything happen the way she wanted it to. Socially, the idea spread from place to place around different areas. According to Document #1, it illustrates a map with the whole movement of Catholicism. It states that “it is how they adjusted to the many challenges of life in rapidly changing colonial environment.” On the map, it shows how the Kaskaskia moved around and relocated themselves in different parts because it was important to grow into the belief and surround themselves to be helpful in economic reasons for it. Catholicism spread around so much as you can see and was beginning to be a big part of parts of the world. You can see that it was the women’s mission to make it known and for people to follow into it. They thought if they went around to different locations to help find different resources on how to have the belief increase by interacting with other people about it and receiving new items by trading with one another (Document 2). This gives the women a chance to give one another different ideas and exchange so that they can form a strategy and get the idea out there to grow. Women faced Catholicism spiritually and looked up to a big figure who was the Hail Mary. She had a big impact on these women and made them stronger each day by practicing prayers. This allowed women to feel that they can have the power over themselves with their “bodies and lives” (Document 8). By doing this women came together and related to one another so they can becoming stronger and like it says in this document they did all this by forming social groups. As you can see their faith took them over strongly because women was easily influenced into Catholicism and wanted to build communities for the Illinois. In the letter by Father Jacques Gravier, explains how there was a routine basically everyday on how they praised the lord. He also speaks about the chapel in the community and how women who strongly believed in baptism. There was a woman whose child had past and took all her anger out on the Father because of a baptism he had done a year ago to him. People thought that after you baptize their children they would soon after die and that scare many of them. It made them have some sort of hatred towards the Father. In the culture you would have to learn some languages that they came up with and this would help with the conversion of Christianity. The natives spent so much time creating more and more beliefs for them. For example, identified there “Identity through individual acts of prayer” (Document 16). In document 11 it states that according to Marest, women and children in particular were creating the foundations for a Catholic Indian Community.