A Message from Father Liebler, Helen Sturges, Brother Juniper, and Joan Eskell dated Septmber 1966;
Subject
Indians of North America; Indians of North America—History; Indians of North America—Religion; Religion; Missionaries; St. Christopher's Mission (Bluff, Utah); Health; Children; Newsletters;
Place names
Bluff (Utah); San Juan County (Utah); Utah;
Keyword
Navajo; Navajo Indians; Navajo Indians -- History; Father Liebler; Brother Juniper; Liebler, Harold Baxter 1889-1982; Missionaries; Religion; St. Christopher's Mission; St. Mary's of the Moonlight Chapel; Education; Indian/White Relations; Employment;
Tribe
Navajo;
Description
This letter describes the area occupied by the Mission and how Father Liebler acquired the land, relations with the Navajo, Mass services at the Mission, and employment of Navajos at the Mission;
Publisher
Digitized by: Utah State University, Merrill-Cazier Library;
Date.original
1966;
Type
Text;
Format
application/pdf;
Source
Utah State University, Merrill-Cazier Library, Special Collections and Archives;
Language
eng;
Coverage
Bluff (Utah); San Juan County (Utah); Utah;
Rights
Reproduction for publication, exhibition, web display or commercial use is only permissible with the consent of the USU Library Western and Mormon Americana curator, phone (435) 797-2661;
Holding Location
Utah State University, Special Collections and Archives;
M E S S AG E
fro m
Juniper
Helen sturges
Joan Eskell
Oljeto, Utah
(Box 157, Mexican Hat, Utah 84531)
September, 1966
"Padr e , your friends all want to know where you are, what you're
doing, and why", said Helen Sturges, just back from a trip East.
Brothe r Junipe r and J oan Eskell promptly took the occasion to predic
t darkly that they wouldn't have a friend left in the world unless
Something Were Done Soon. Never would they find the time, they
said , tQ .wri t e the story of how they came to leave the Mission and
l ive in Oljeto to all their friends-and-relations. We were all
a greed that here was a rea l need we should meet in~ome way. But
what with bui lding, digging , drilling, planting - not to mention
cooking, dishwashing, laundry, etc. - how can one write to hundreds
of people , much as we l ove them all? So, here is an effort ••..•
Here we a re, then, a quartet of expatriates from st. Christopher's
Mission, living in trailers i n the Oljeto area of the Navajo Reservation
on a piece of land , known as a School Section, which Father
bought s ome y ears' ago from the Sovereign State of Utah in a moment
of unwitting foresight for which we have much reason to be thankful.
As you know, a hogan churc h , named St. Mary of the Moonlight, was
built on this property, and used by the Mission for the monthly
visits to this area, and of course Father still permits it to be
used for this purpose.
"But why did you leave the Mission, and what are you going to do?"
Well , we all felt, in one way or another, that there was no further
cont r i but ion we could make to the work there, so we got together
for a conference , decided to pool our resources and move to Oljeto.
Joan wa s t he first to pull out, her resignation taking eff ect as of
Febr uary 1st. She lived i n Bluff pendi ng the removal of the group
to our new homestead and , after t aking the State Merit Systems examination,
was employed on a part-time basis by the Utah Department
of Employment Security i n their trailer office newly opened in Bluff.
As the job was primar ily concerned with the placement of Navajos in
whatever j obs they wer e qual i fied to do, she was very happy in still
being ins trumental in h e lping the People. Unhappily, budget appropri
at i ons f or part - time help were withdrawn and she is no longer
working in Bluff. However , she has been a ssured of re-call when
and if appr opriations a r e r e s tored.
