Father Cormac Antram O.F.M. (May 18, 1926 – October 1, 2013), born James Antram and known as Father Cormac, was a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

and member of the

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...

order who became known for his work on the

Navajo Nation The Navajo Nation ( nv, Naabeehó Bináhásdzo), also known as Navajoland, is a Native American reservation in the United States. It occupies portions of northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southeastern Utah; at roughly , the ...

and with the

Navajo language Navajo or Navaho (; Navajo: or ) is a Southern Athabaskan language of the Na-Dené family, through which it is related to languages spoken across the western areas of North America. Navajo is spoken primarily in the Southwestern United States ...

.Leo W. Banks
"The Holy Wind Talker: Father Cormac Antram Arrived on the Navajo Reservation in 1954, Learned the Daunting Language and Started a Radio Show That Still Provides a Generational Link for a Changing Culture."
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'', March 23, 2003.

Biography

Born in

Roswell, New Mexico Roswell () is a city in, and the County seat, seat of, Chaves County, New Mexico, Chaves County in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Chaves County forms the entirety of the List of micropolitan areas in New Mexico, Roswell micropolitan area. As of ...

, Antram became a Franciscan in 1945, studied at Duns Scotus College in

Southfield, Michigan Southfield is a city in Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, the city had a population of 76,618. As a northern suburb of Detroit, Southfield shares part of its ...

from 1946 to 1950, and was ordained a priest in 1954. He was assigned to St. Michael's Mission in

St. Michaels, Arizona St. Michaels ( nv, ) is a chapter of the Navajo Nation and a census-designated place (CDP) in Apache County, Arizona, United States. The Navajo Nation Government Campus is located within the chapter at Window Rock. The population was 1,443 at t ...

and spent his career at institutions around the Navajo Nation, including in Chinle, Houck, and

Kayenta Kayenta ( nv, ) is a U.S. town which is part of the Navajo Nation and is in Navajo County, Arizona, United States. Established November 13, 1986, the Kayenta Township is the only "township" existing under the laws of the Navajo Nation, making it u ...

, Arizona, and in Gallup and Tohatchi, New Mexico. Antram learned to speak Navajo fluently, and in 1958 began a bilingual radio program, known as "The Padre's Hour" (although the programs were actually only a half-hour in length) that became widely popular among the Navajo. He continued to host the show for more than 45 years (except for an 18-month stint by another priest in the 1960s), making it one of the longest-running programs in American radio history. He also supervised a 20-year effort to produce an authorized translation of the Catholic

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...

into Navajo,Christopher Vecsey, ''On the Padres' Trail'' (

University of Notre Dame Press The University of Notre Dame Press is a university press that is part of the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. The press was founded in 1949, and is the largest Catholic university Catholic higher education i ...

, 1996), , p. 212. and became known as an expert on the language, sometimes consulted by native speakers with questions about the language.Bill Donovan
"More than 300 attend Navajo-speaking priest's funeral"
''

Navajo Times The ''Navajo Times'' – known during the early 1980s as ''Navajo Times Today'' – is a newspaper created by the Navajo Tribal Council in 1959; in 1982 it was the first daily newspaper owned and published by a Native American Indian Nation. Now ...

'', October 10, 2013. He adapted other Catholic prayers into Navajo, including a version of the

Gloria Patri The Gloria Patri, also known as the Glory Be to the Father or, colloquially, the Glory Be, is a doxology, a short hymn of praise to God in various Christian liturgies. It is also referred to as the Minor Doxology ''(Doxologia Minor)'' or Lesser D ...

("Glory be to the Father") prayer, sung to a melody associated with the traditional Navajo

Blessing Way The Navajo song ceremonial complex is a spiritual practice used by certain Navajo ceremonial people to restore and maintain balance and harmony in the lives of the people. One half of the ceremonial complex is the Blessing Way, while the other ha ...

chant. He died in 2013 in

Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...

, aged 87. He was reported to be the last Franciscan priest who could speak the Navajo Language fluently. In 2011, his celebration of the Navajo Mass was recorded on video to preserve it for future use. He also authored two books collecting columns and stories from his column in the diocese newspaper.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Antram, Cormac American Friars Minor People from Roswell, New Mexico 1926 births 2013 deaths Linguists of Navajo Catholics from New Mexico Duns Scotus College alumni