Oneonta celebration to honor Kateri

There was a time in American history when a certain old Mohawk prophesy seemed lost. The promise, made to descendents of the clan to which Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha belonged, was that "one day, our children will speak to the world."

That day has come. A musical composition will be performed in honor of Blessed Kateri at a Sesquicentennial concert at the Church of St. Mary in Oneonta July 20.

Composed by Kim Paterson of Delhi, "Kateri" is a set of three movements, all of which incorporate Native American musical elements.

In a recent interview with The Evangelist, Mr. Paterson said he hopes the arrangements, which feature traditional Mohawk sounds and French text, will reflect both the exotic cultures and geographic remoteness which characterized Blessed Kateri's part of the Albany Diocese 300 years ago.

A member of the music faculty at Hartwick College, Mr. Paterson said he was inspired to create "Kateri" last year after becoming more fully aware of the Mohawk woman's brief, but fruitful, life. Gandaouaque, the village in which Kateri Tekawitha was born in 1656, is today marked by the Shrine of North American Martyrs at Auriesville. (The National Shrine of Blessed Kateri is located in Fonda.)

Although he is not Catholic, Mr. Paterson said he was deeply moved and inspired by her story and felt compelled to tell it through his music.

Sharing the spotlight with Mr. Paterson at St. Mary's this Sunday will be his songstress wife, Johana Arnold Paterson, with Magdelina Fitsimmons on alto flute and piccolo. Additional vocals will be supplied by Amy Warren.

The first movement of "Kateri" is titled "Gandaouaque." Mr. Paterson noted that "the music attempts to convey the idea that Tekawitha knew Jesus even before she had words to express Him. In this movement, the alto flute plays a Lenape dance melody, `Kataho kan.' Sampled sounds include a Navaho drum and the call of spring peepers, which are perhaps the most distinctive sound of springtime in our area."

The second movement, "Marc 13," is described by Mr. Paterson as "a setting of a text from the Gospel according to Mark, in which Jesus talks about the end times." The text is in French, the language of the Jesuit missionaries to the Mohawks -- hence the "c" in place of the "k" in the Apostle's name.

"The music in `Marc 13' is a response to the terrible devastation of a smallpox plague of 1660, which killed Tekawitha's father, mother and brother. It also broke the power of the Iroquois and forced the abandonment of Gandaouaque in favor of a location upriver to what is present-day Fonda," explained Mr. Paterson. "The flute plays a Lanape dance melody. Sampled sounds include the cry of a hawk and African drumming."

The third and final movement, "Jesous A Hatonhia," is said to be an interpretation of a Christmas carol based on a French secular melody, "Une Jeune Poucelle." (The Huron text is attributed to St. Jean de Brebeuf, who had significant success in converting the Hurons to Christianity.)

"However," said Mr. Paterson, "after decades of fierce fighting, Huronia was destroyed by the Mohawks and their allies in 1649, and Brebeuf was martyred. Surviving Hurons either fled to Quebec or were taken captive by their conquerers; thus Tekawitha, as a young girl, might well have heard this melody sung by Huron women who had been enslaved by Mohawks and who were eventually adopted into their tribe."

The composer purposely steered away from using English in the composition's text because it was not a language spoken in this region at that time in history: "For over a century, French and Dutch were the predominate languages of this region. I hope the use of French in the text, with sounds native to the region, will help to recreate what Kateri Tekawitha would have heard around her 300 years ago."

In addition to the performance of "Kateri," a combined choir representing parishes of Otsego and Delaware Counties will perform at the Sesquicentennial concert marking the founding of the Albany Diocese 150 years ago.

Each parish will carry a banner reflecting their church's "unique personality" in procession behind the Diocesan Sesquicentennial banner and candle. Panels from the Diocesan Sesquicentennial exhibit "A People of Faith" will also be on display in the vestibule of St. Mary's.

("Sesquicentennial Festival Evening Praise" begins at 4 p.m., Sunday, July 20, at St. Mary's church in Oneonta. For information, contact Martie Meadows at 607-432-2852.)

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