Outreach to Native Americans focus of
Mary Herr’s ministry in North Carolina mission

‘Meli Utseli’: Bill Sanders, Father Tom Field, Mary Herr and Eileen Sanders at the 1994 Tekakwitha Conference in Minnesota.

W?hen Mary Herr won the 2007 Bishop Walter F. Sullivan Award from the Catholic Committee of Appalachia the inscription read: “To Mary Herr, a Catholic voice with the Cherokee people, honoring their spirituality, traditions and respect for creation, always walking the path of justice and service.” For 30 years, Mary Herr has served her Native American neighbors in Cherokee, N.C., as Catholic witness, advocate and friend.

This year the Tribal Council made Mary an honorary member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and gave her the Cherokee name, “Meli Utseli,” which loosely translated means “Mary, she is here.”

Mary, who is a paralegal, came to Cherokee in 1976 with a grant from the Commission on Religion in Appalachia to train paralegals among the Cherokee people. Later, she found her unique voice and vocation when Glenmary Father Frank Gardner hired her as a community outreach worker for Glenmary’s Our Lady of Guadalupe mission in Cherokee. (This mission was turned back to the Diocese of Charlotte for continued care in 2000). 

With less than 2 percent Catholic among the Cherokee, Father Frank understood “pre-evangelization” as making the Catholic Church known through presence and service. And he tapped Mary for the work. 

She worked to address local needs by helping local people start new community organizations such as Swain-Qualla SAFE, which helps victims of family violence secure safe housing and a new start and Mountain Mediation Services, which trains mediators to work with families and community people to restore justice and avoid the court system.

In 1982 Father Frank and Mary attended the Kateri Tekakwitha Conference in Spokane, Wash. There, besides meeting Church workers from other reservations, they learned about “inculturation,” a process of incorporating Native American ways into Catholic practice. 

Frequently, even with non-Native groups, Mary leads the Prayer of the Four Directions, a prayer vetted theologically by Native American Bishops Charles Chaput (Archdiocese of Denver, Colo.) and Donald Pelotte (Diocese of Gallup, N.M.). The prayer is a way of furthering an understanding of cultural diversity and an appreciation for God’s creation.

In 1991, Mary became pastoral assistant at Our Lady of Guadalupe and began working with Glenmary Father Tom Field.

It was through her work with Glenmary missioners that Mary says she learned that “Church means more than just being Catholic—Church should be involved in community. Father Frank and Father Tom exemplified that. They didn’t see themselves as pastors of a church, but of the whole community.”

She also worked with abused and neglected children through the Guardian Ad Litem Office, while still volunteering at the parish. After Glenmary returned the mission to the Diocese of Charlotte, Mary continued her outreach and ministry to the Cherokee as a multicultural worker for the Smoky Mountain Vicariate and regional faith formation consultant for the diocese.

Now retired, Mary is still active in the region. She serves on the board of the Catholic Committee of Appalachia and co-hosts the annual five-day retreat on Cherokee spirituality with this author. 
In looking back at her life of service, Mary credits Glenmary. “Were it not for Glenmary,” Mary says, “many of the things I have done wouldn’t have been possible.”