Themes in the Research Project * Themes of Charisma, Formation and Vocation - intellectual and theological landscape of charism, formation, vocation, missionology and its changing intellectual landscape, including enculteration - the spiritual life and its disciplines both personal and within community and parish; enculteration - self-understanding of Oblates at the end of the 20th century - consider the themes of the poor and of serventhood in light of the charism; how they are understood and practices * Themes of Cultural Memory - ethnic and cultural influences in Oblate congregation including the presence of formative historical and cultural memory - Roman Catholic cultural forms that have informed each generation of Missionary Oblates: mission, priesthood, evangelization, spiritual formation, church and world - the place of Aboriginal cultural memory in missionary life - Canadian civil issues in the memory of the Oblates * Themes of Living Tradition - establishment and use of pilgrimage sites - Saint Eugene de Mazenod and other saints - the Virgin Mary, Immaculate Conception, and other aspects of the symbolic life of the church - Oblate artists and their connection to tradition and place - Oblate encounter with and regard for Aboriginal tradition * Themes of Historical Experience - relationship to various institutions: National Office, Rome, Schools, Sisters, Parishes, Aboriginal Communities - Oblate work with cooperative movements, credit unions, schools, school consolidation, liberation movements - contribution to contemporary issues: catechises, healing, native aspiration, apology, rethinking missionology, native communication and organization, social justice issues - the Oblate Economy in the MacKenzie River region - development of the local and regional infrastructure in the North and West and their secularization - Oblate attitude towards work and the use of appropriate technology in the formative period of missions; invention and adaptation; living from the land - historical watersheds within church, congregation and society that have been significant * Oblates and Their Communities - Oblates in community with each other (priests and brothers), with the Sisters, Parish, community, youth - teachers and leaders of young people and of communities - Oblate work, the civil state and communities - Oblate contribution to diocese and Roman Catholic tradition - ecumenical and inter-faith work