Statement of U.S. Catholic Bishops on Native Americans

“…..We urge Catholic educational institutions to examine their textbooks and curricula and to promote programs and activities that will enable students at all levels to appreciate American Indian history, culture and spirituality.

“The Good News of salvation is not bound by time or human structures.  But persons are vitally dependent on the institutions of family and community that have been passed down to them.  These institutions, political, social, economic and religious, shape their self-understanding and are necessary to their full development as persons.

“The Christian faith should celebrate and strengthen the many diverse cultures which are the product of human hope and aspiration.  The Gospel message must take root and grow within each culture and each community.  Faith finds expression in and through the particular values, customs and institutions of the people who hear it.  It seeks to take flesh within each culture, within each nation, within each race, while remaining prisoner of none.”