Barbara S. Horneff
Mother Seton School

First, in researching her own genealogy, she found links to the Choctaw.

Then, in Keams Canyon, AZ, she tutored children in the Hopi school and was given the Hopi name Pahong’si, which means "The Waves." Her Apache-given name is "Woman of the Creator’s Light."

She also marvels about the unique privilege of working with the people of the Navajo Nation in Tuba City, AZ; the people of the Hopi Nation in Keams Canyon; and the elementary school in Moenkopi. She commuted across the desert to offer Catholic education to the children there.

Who is this woman of many Native American tribes?

At Mother Seton School in Emmitsburg, MD, she is Sr. Catherine Francis Clemons, D.C. (Daughter of Charity), a resource assistant, who has been fascinated with Native Americans since childhood. Recently, she celebrated the autumnal equinox in a Native American prayer experience with students and staff. Sister Catherine was outfitted in ceremonial dress that included moccasins, handmade by a woman of the Cree Nation.

As they entered the atrium and encircled the altar, students heard the CD "Song at the Center" by Marty Haugen. The ceremonial table was draped with a colorful Pendleton wool blanket given to Sr. Catherine by the Baca family from the Navajo Reservation in Tuba City. Their granddaughter, Lori Piestewa, was taken into captivity with Jessica Lynch during the Iraqi war. Lori was the first Native American killed in Iraq.

Placed atop the altar at cascading levels were Kachinas—a corn maiden and a snow maiden—a braid of sweet grass, a Navajo sand painting of Earth Mother, a Zuni stone carving of a desert animal, a storyteller statue, a clay pot of cacti, a medicine pouch, petrified wood from the Navajo Reservation, a smudge pot with sacred cedar and sage, a large Hopi-decorated feather, and a mandala.

The first ceremonial ritual was smudging. Sacred cedar and sage were burned to provide the smoke. Students were invited to use the gesture of "gathering the smoke" as a symbol of purifying the mind, heart, and body for the prayer experience. Sr. Catherine used a large Hopi feather to direct the smoke toward each student. Recorded music, "Within the Rocks," filled the scented air with sound.

In sung verse, students were reminded to respect the land. Facing in directions of east, south, north, and west, the children repeated: "From the corners of creation to the center where we stand, let all things be blessed and holy, all is fashioned by your hand; brother wind and sister water, mother Earth and father sky, sacred plants and sacred creatures, sacred people of the land."

Concluding the celebration, students recited the Psalm for Autumn and received handmade bookmarks. These colorful paper strips were decorated with Native American images of the original spiritual presence in our country and a variety of

bird feathers. Bird feathers are considered sacred because they come from creatures that fly closest to the Creator.