View Two: Method of Replacing Kutenai Culture

This item can be viewed as a method of erasing Kutenai culture and replacing it with European, Christian culture. The book belonged to Father Edward M. Griva, S.J. The S.J. stands for Society of Jesus, indicating that Father Griva was a Jesuit missionary. The French missionaries that first entered Kutenai territory did so as part of the Rocky Mountain Mission in 1841, before falling under the purview of the California Province of the Society of Jesus, which then split, and Kutenai territory was part of the Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus. Missionary culture in the 19th century and in what is now Western America is a deeply engrained part of the history of Westward Expansion— in many cases, such as that of the Kutenai people, their first recorded interaction with white settlers was with Jesuit missionaries, whose goal was to spread their faith, and, therefore, overwrite the rich history and spirituality of Indigenous peoples and force their assimilation into Christianity and white society.