Oregon Corners Part 2: The Church of the North American Martyrs

Facade

An earlier post covered the Spruce Hill Inn at Oregon Corners. Just north of the Spruce Hill Inn on Oscawana Lake Road is one of the more interesting churches I’ve seen: The Church of the North American Martyrs. It’s a Catholic church but looks like a native american Long House. It’s made of wood and has face masks and plaques on the outside – all in a native american style. An article from the New York Times provides more information including this:

The martyrs, the most famous of whom was St. Isaac Jogues, had the misfortune to focus their ministry on the Hurons just when that tribe had become marked for destruction by the Mohawks and other powerful tribes of the Iroquois Confederacy. The Jesuits, called black robes by the Mohawks, who thought they were evil magicians, were canonized by Pope Pius XI in 1930. A grotto next to the church honors Kateri Tekakwitha, a Christian convert who died in 1680 and is known as the Lily of the Mohawks. She was beatified in 1980 by Pope John Paul II.