News Article

A concert of hymns sung in Nez Perce highlight the public reception for Gonzaga University’s exhibition, “The Gospels in Nez Percé: The Evangelizing Work of Fr. Joseph Cataldo, S.J.” The reception runs from 3:30-5 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 23 in the Cowles Rare Books Library at Gonzaga’s Foley Center.

These hymns are known from a handwritten hymnal dated to 1909. A small choir conducted by Margaret Rankin, interim schola director at Gonzaga, will sing the hymns. Honored guests include members of the Nez Perce Tribe, among them Ann McCormack, cultural arts coordinator of the Nez Perce Tribe. Refreshments will be offered across the landing in the Greenan Boardroom.

The exhibition is on display through Dec. 31 and features translations into Nez Perce made by Rev. Joseph Cataldo, S.J., founder of Gonzaga in 1887, who devoted most of his life to missionary work in the Pacific Northwest. Cataldo and fellow Jesuits translated the Gospels, prayers, catechetical texts and hymns into the native vernaculars of the individual tribes, including Crow, Blackfoot, Assiniboine, and Nez Perce.

In addition, the exhibition puts these New World translations in the context of Jewish and Christian scriptural translation. To be on display are valuable facsimiles of biblical manuscripts in Hebrew and Greek and a 16th-century first edition Bible in English.
Usual exhibition hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m.-noon, and 1-4:30 p.m. The exhibition will be closed for holidays Oct. 20, Nov. 27-28, and Dec. 24-31. Visit the exhibition’s Web site and click on the "Gospels in Nez Perce" for further description.

For more information or to arrange a free docent tour, contact Catherine Tkacz, independent scholar and guest curator of the exhibition, at (509) 484-5562 or via e-mail.