Indian Time - A Voice from the Eastern Door

On Saturday, September 9, 2023, Bernice Lazore, Judy Cole and I, Rosemary Bonaparte had the opportunity to attend the dedication ceremony of the Holy Bible in Mohawk at the United Church in Oka, Quebec. The words of welcome in this service were by Elder Harvey Satewas Gabriel who was instrumental in having this project come to fruition. His whole family was very involved in this as well as the entire United Church congregation.

The United Church in Oka is a small chapel which seats about one hundred people, and it was filled to capacity. In this service, the prayers and readings were in Mohawk. The Mohawk hymns with the whole congregation singing were very moving. The dedication and presentation of the Mohawk Bible was by United Ministers and the many people who helped along the way.

At the dinner after the service, we were able to look at this remarkable Bible. It is about 2,000 pages and contains all of the books of the Bible and includes Mohawk opening and closing prayers. Bibles were given to the people who had helped them through the years. We sat with Vivian Oake , a retired high school teacher and she was treated royally during the dinner, Her meal was served by one of the Mohawk Council Chiefs who had been one of her students and she received a Bible with a note of thanks on the inside cover. There weren't enough Bibles for everyone, but we were told that we would have one as soon as they were available.

This was quite an eventful trip and included the ferry to and from Oka.