Martyrs of Charity: Cincinnati Bishop Edward Fenwick's Encounter with Native Americans

Abstract: Cincinnati's first Catholic bishop, Edward Dominic Fenwick (1768–1832), sent his most talented priests to various Indigenous communities in Ohio, Michigan, and Wisconsin, and boasted that these men converted savage Indians into civilized Catholics. Fenwick's claim nonetheless does not seem to match reality, at least not as Native Americans told the story. Some Natives incorporated aspects of Catholic and European culture into their lives, but only to try to survive the onslaught of American imperialism. The majority of Indigenous people, including many persons residing in the Cincinnati diocese, adamantly held on to their Native culture. An Odawa man whom Fenwick sent to Rome to study for the priesthood, William Blackbird Maccatebinessi (ca. 1807–1833), died on the eve of his ordination after vowing to preserve his Native culture, earning him the title "martyr of charity"—a term that also applies to Fenwick and some of his priests.