[Rarebooks] FS: Native American Book of Genesis, 1892

[Bob Petrilla]

 Bible in Absaroki. A.M.D.G. HISTORY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT: Translated by
the Jesuit Father Peter Paul Prando. Pryor Creek, Montana: St. Charles
Mission, Circa 1892. First edition thus. ISBN: . 20pp, printed by
hectograph in red and blue inks. Text in Absaroki, language of the Crow
Indians. Title and headings (e.g., "1. The Creation of the World") in
English. This is the first translated synopsis of stories from the Book of
Genesis into Absaroki. 8.5" x 5.5" Very Good. Printed self-wraps.
Very scarce. (Hectograph print runs are between 20 and 80 copies.) The
translator, Jesuit Priest Peter Paul Prando (1846-1906) was noted for
converting many Native Americans to Christianity, establishing Indian
churches and schools in the Pacific Northwest. Father Prando arrived at St.
Peter's Mission in Montana in 1880. By 1881, he had built a mission for the
Blackfeet Tribe at Birch Creek. His 1883 expedition among the Cheyenne led
to the building of St. Joseph's Church at Sun River, Montana in 1887. Five
years later, he opened St. Charles Mission at Pryor Creek, Montana; but
lacking funds, the Mission School closed in 1898. That same year, Fr.
Prando built a church named for the Holy Cross at Dupuyer, Montana. Eight
years later in 1906, he died of typhoid at St. Michael's Mission in
Spokane, Washington. Fr. Prando is regarded as the finest Crow linguist of
the Jesuits. The Crow called him Iron Eyes because he wore glasses.
$250.00


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