Approximately 5,000 indigenous Tzotzil Mayans have been scattered in small refugee camps in the area surrounding the town of Chalchihuitán, in Mexico’s southernmost state of Chiapas. They say they were chased out of their homes by unknown gunmen after the escalation of an old land dispute.

An estimated 150,000 aboriginal children were taken from their families and placed into residential schools. The residential schools were funded by the government of Canada and run by various church groups, including the Catholic Church. 

The Ktunaxa First Nation says their way of life is threatened by commercial development in Qat’muk, a mountain region in British Columbia inhabited by the Grizzly Bear Spirit.

For 50 years, Nicholas Black Elk led others to Christ, often melding his Lakota culture into his Christian life.

Blessed Cristobal, along with two other indigenous Tlaxcalteca youths, Blessed Antonio and Blessed Juan, will be canonized Oct. 15 at the Vatican