1
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY
To imagine self-determination [including self-theologizing] … is also to imagine
a world in which Indigenous peoples become active participants, and to prepare
for the possibilities and challenges that lie ahead.
—Linda Tuhiwai Smith, Decolonizing Methodologies
Reclamation of culture, both by Indigenous Traditionalists and Indigenous
followers of Jesus, was birthed out of destitution and despair. The macro
1
or dominant
society has viewed Indigenous peoples primarily as recipients of government “largesse.”
2
Thomas King has aptly, and with wit, characterized the colonizer’s attitude to the
colonized as “the inconvenient Indian.”
3
In the Church, the sole role has been that of
obedient follower, seldom a leader, and even rarer as primary leader.
4
The Reclamation
of Culture Movement [ROCM] has risen from the conviction that the distortion of
identity shaped by colonization can be confronted and reversed through reclaiming and/or
1
A sociological term for a dichotomous stratification. See Bruno Latour, “Gabriel Tarde and the end of the
social” in The Social in Question: New Bearings in History and the Social Sciences, ed. Patrick Joyce (New
York: Routledge, 2002), 117ff, accessed Oct. 19, 2011, http://books.google.ca/books?hl=en&lr=&id=fj1z
L69bFGQC&o=fnd&pg=PA117&dq=%22macro+society%22&ots=oNHxy0Wlg1&sig=_hR6WWHhFb68
CvSPif7Ax1py6FU#v=onepage&q&f=false. Latour is defending Tarde’s theories against Durkheimians.
He references Tarde’s concept “that the micro/macro distinction stifles any attempt at understanding how
society is generated,” ibid.
2
See Hugh Shewell, Enough to Keep Them Alive: Indian Welfare in Canada, 1873-1965 (Toronto, ON:
University of Toronto, 2004); and, Frances Widdowson and Albert Howard, Disrobing the Aboriginal
Industry: The Deception behind Indigenous Cultural Preservation (Montreal, PQ: McGill-Queen’s
University Press, 2008).
3
Thomas King, The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America (Toronto,
ON: Doubleday Canada, 2012).
4
Tinker captures the historical reality when he writes, “While many denominations have successfully
developed something of indigenous leadership, the actual power, which ultimately determines how Indian
people will interpret Christianity and how they will function as a church, is almost always a white authority
structure. Hence, the importance of native traditional faith ways, ceremonies, and teachings is always
minimalized …. ” See George E. Tinker, Missionary Conquest: The Gospel and Native American Cultural
Genocide (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1993), 117f.
2
adapting pre-colonial traditions through contextualization of the gospel and worship. This
study assumes and seeks to demonstrate that the ROCM emerged from the conviction that
the distortion of identity created by colonization can be confronted and potentially
reversed by Indigenous people reclaiming, adapting, and/or contextualizing pre-colonial
traditions and cultures. This is variously referred to as reclamation, reindigenization, or
retraditionalization
5
—and functions in concurrence with decolonization.
6
Expressions of
the reclamation movement are not limited to Canada, but can be observed internationally
at the global, regional, and local levels of peoples impacted by colonization. Within
Christianity, the ROCM frequently meets with opposition from those who fear syncretism
or who believe all-things-Indigenous are inherently demonic. This reality informs my
primary question: Has the contemporary reclamation of culture movement by Indigenous
followers of Jesus positioned Indigenous peoples to do self-theologizing at the local level
in Canada? How that question is addressed is expanded on in “Methodology” below.
Background to Current Sociopolitical Realities
Indigenous leaders, church leaders, and parliamentarians from across Canada
gathered in Hull, Quebec, at the Sacred Assembly in 1995 (see Chapter Four, Event 4).
At one point, followers of Jesus had drawn apart for a separate meeting. An elder from
the remote community of Pikangikum First Nation suddenly left due to a family
emergency. Hushed whispers passed from person to person filling the room with a sense
of helplessness. The elder had left to deal with the suicide of his grandchild. This would
5
Richard Twiss gave preference to this term. See Richard L. Twiss, “Native-led Contextualization Efforts
in North America 1989-2009” (doctoral diss., Asbury Theological Seminary, 2011).
6
It is legitimate to question whether or not decolonization or post-colonialism is possible or probable, but
will not be a factor in this study.
3
be his seventh grandchild to be buried—the seventh who had chosen death over life.
Suicides are rampant in spite of the saturation of his community with the gospel.
7
A 2004 Internet posting described the reserve as Ontario’s “shameful, ugly
secret.”
8
Five years later, headlines stated “Ontario Native Suicide Rate One of Highest in
World, Expert Says.”
9
The article continues, “Pikangikum First Nation's suicide numbers
are through the roof … eight females–five of them 13 years old–have killed themselves
this year.”
10
Statistically, the rate is thirty-six times the national average.
11
Yet again in
April 2012, MacLean’s magazine announced “Canada, Home to the Suicide Capital of
the World” and revealed how Pikangikum’s people had grieved six suicide deaths “in as
many weeks.”
12
In January 2018, the 17,000 member community of Maskwacis, Alberta,
revealed they had lost 14 people to suicide in less than two months. “We are dying… it is
a cultural crisis,” overwhelmed community members lamented.
13
7
Pikangikum is an Ojibwa First Nation situated 300 km (186 miles) northeast of Winnipeg. It is accessed
by air, except for 6 weeks or so when a winter road is built on frozen lakes. My Roman Catholic Métis
aunt, Berthe Beauchemin, taught there during the 1970s. Her principal was an Old Order Mennonite from
the community where I live. The Mennonite women are required to wear long dresses and head coverings
in contrast to Ojibwa clothing. Both my aunt and the principal were keen on evangelism, and considered
the other was not a true Christian. I visited Pikangikum (Jan. 2012) noting two Jesus Only congregations
(which had split) and one “prosperity gospel” church. Older women wore black dresses in -50o weather.
8
Ontario Coalition against Poverty, accessed March 10, 2008, http://ocap.ca/taxonomy/term/28.
9
Louise Elliott, “Ontario Native Suicide Rate one of Highest in World, Expert Says,” Canadian Press,
Tuesday 27 November 2000, accessed March 10, 2008, http://www.hartfordhwp.com/archives/41/353.html.
10
Elliott, “Ontario Native Suicide Rate.”
11
Winnipeg Free Press, “First Nation in Crisis after More Suicides: Northwestern Ontario Community
Ponders How to End cycle of Tragedy” (September 2, 2011), A-15.”
12
Martin Patriquin, “Canada, Home to the Suicide Capital of the World,” MacLean’s (April 16, 2012), 30-
36. In 2018, suicide is still a major concern.
13
“‘We are dying’: Maskwacis Community Members Overwhelmed by Suicides,” CBCNews/Indigenous,
accessed Jan. 15, 2018, http://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/we-are-dying-maskwacis-community-
members-overwhelmed-by-suicides-1.4486933.
4
The suicides of two non-Indigenous National Hockey League players in 2011
14
and the suicide of a (non-Indigenous) girl who was cyber-bullied
15
garnered not only
national media coverage, but also government action. In contrast, the article entitled
“First Nation in Crisis after More Suicides” appears on page 15 of the same issue.
16
Canadian society seems numbed, resigned, or apathetic towards Indigenous suicides.
While I have focused only on suicide as an exemplar of the current sociopolitical
situation, other social realities are noted throughout. I believe that distortion of identity is
foundational to understanding suicides and current destructive social realities.
17
Statement of the Problem
Retraditionalization is used in this study for the particular sociopolitical arena of
activism wherein Indigenous peoples intentionally seek to recover aspects of their
cultures outlawed, demonized, and lost through colonization.
18
I am using the term
reclamation of culture movement [ROCM] to apply specifically to the efforts of
Indigenous followers of Jesus [IFJ] in what will be shown to be a parallel movement,
notwithstanding aspects that overlap as people embrace the goals of both. Indigenous
14
Winnipeg Free Press, “Far Too Many NHL Funerals” (Sept. 2, 2011), A-1 and C-1.
15
“Bullied to Death: Cyberbullying” and “Shunned in Life, Remembered in Death: Bullying,” Maclean’s
(October 29, 2012), 68-72. See also “Amanda Todd: Learning the Lessons,” Toronto Star, Oct. 20, 2012,
accessed Oct. 20, 2012, http://www.thestar.com/opinion/letters/article/1273859--amanda-todd-learning-the-
lessons.
16
Winnipeg Free Press, “Far Too Many NHL Funerals” (Sept. 2, 2011), A-1 and C-1, cf . A-15.
17
Research on identity was originally presented in the Interdisciplinary Colloquium (Asbury Theological
Seminary: October 26, 2009); and published as: Wendy Peterson, “An Aboriginal Missiology of Identity
Reclamation: Towards Revitalization for Canada’s Indigenous Peoples through Healing of Identity:
Towards Revitalization for Canada’s Indigenous Peoples through Healing of Identities,” The Asbury
Journal, vol. 65, no. 1 (Spring 2010), 48-64.
18
As illustrated by her title: Linda Tuhiwai Smith, Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous
Peoples (London: Zed Books, 2012).
5
retraditionalization and reclamation of culture, on the surface, seem to galvanize vibrant
and emerging movements. The questions which drive this study are: Is this the whole
story? To what extent has it diffused from the innovators at the global and regional levels
to be adopted and owned by the grass-roots local leadership for followers of Jesus?
As stated, the primary question is: Has the contemporary reclamation of culture
movement by Indigenous followers of Jesus positioned Indigenous peoples to do self-
theologizing at the local level in Canada? To answer that question, other inquiries which
influence observations and conclusions are:
(1) Given the distortion of identity
19
and negative social realities prevalent among
many Indigenous peoples in Canada, is there evidence that these issues have
similarly affected other Indigenous groups who are emerging from colonial
dominance at the global and regional levels?
(2) What are the networks, links, and loops in the ongoing conversation between
Global, Regional, and Local levels? Are there channels for the flow of
information, goods, and persons between the reindigenization movement and
the reclamation of culture movement that involves IFJ?
(3) Is there evidence of self-theologizing at the global and at the regional levels of
reclamation of culture movement, and if so, is there evidence that self-
theologizing is being diffused to the local level? What other signs of change
are evident of local adoption or rejection?
19
Alternatively, Episkenew uses “oppressive identity.” See Jo-Ann Episkenew, Taking Back Our Spirits:
Indigenous Literature, Public Policy, and Healing (Winnipeg, MB: University of Manitoba Press, 2009), 2.
She cites Hilde Lindemann Nelson, Damaged Identities: Narrative Repair (Ithaca and London: Cornell
University Press, 2001), 6.
6
Methodology
In order to answer the primary question, I compare the effects of colonization on
Indigenous identity and social realities at each of the three levels. I investigate the
impetus for reclamation of cultural traditions for three specific Indigenous peoples:
(1) Māori in Aotearoa/New Zealand,
20
(2) First Nations and Métis in Canada and Native
Americans in United States [First Peoples of North America], and, (3) Indigenous
peoples in Winnipeg. Early contact history is explored for evidence of change agents,
change points, resistance, and patterns of resultant social realities; in particular, colonial
pressures to reshape social structures and identities are studied. I investigate the
Retraditionalization Movement [RM] as a significant influence, yet separate from the
Reclamation of Culture Movement [ROCM]. I do this through the selection of five key
historical events, five influential organizations, and five individuals. The fifth individual
serves as a case study for ROCM’s influence at the grassroots church leadership level. As
the objective is to study the innovation and diffusion of cultural reclamation through
contextualization, the events, organizations, and individuals highlighted serve to locate
external and internal factors that have affected the diffusion process. The analysis of
these factors should lead to developing a theory whereby the likelihood of the
movement’s longevity may be explored.
Employing Historiographical Method and Analysis, I investigate my assumption
that IFJ who respond to negative social realities, what Fleras and Elliott call “unequal
relations,”
21
share similar motivation with Indigenous sociopolitical activists.
20
Aotearoa [“long white cloud”] is the preferred name Māoris use for their land.
21
Augie Fleras and Jean Leonard Elliott, Unequal Relations: An Introduction to Race, Ethnic and
Aboriginal Dynamics in Canada, 2nd ed. (Scarborough, ON: Prentice Hall Canada Inc., 1996).
7
Research Methodologies are selected on the basis of their suitability to Indigenous
peoples: Anthropological and Missiological Theories include Standard Anthropological
Theory of Culture with Michael Rynkiewich’s complementary theory; Diffusion of
Innovation Theory; Social Networking Theory; and Case Study Research. Native Studies
scholars provide up-to-date ideas and data. In applying social networking analysis to the
reclamation movement, I have sought to determine (1) if the ideals, goals and practices at
the global and regional levels are being diffused to the local level; (2) if this movement
reshapes identity of innovators and adopters in a positive manner; and, (3) if it provides
an on-going platform for self-determination and self-theologizing. Everett Rogers’s
innovation/diffusion theory
22
is utilized as an analytical tool to seek patterns of diffusion
and to project whether this is a “flash-in-the-plan” or a viable ongoing movement.
Research as Protocol: The Gifting of Braided Sweetgrass
Indigenous peoples in the past few decades have owned, rejected, renamed, and
reframed research as they have sought higher education. Students and scholars have
chafed at Western methodologies while valuing their potentialities. Rejecting their
historic role as mice-in-a-lab, a number of Indigenous authors have proposed solutions
for undertaking research in a more Indigenous-friendly and Indigenous-controlled manner
such as utilizing cultural values of storytelling, community involvement, spirituality, and
even humour. One Cree author, Shawn Wilson, argues that research should be viewed as
ceremony.
23
Margaret Kovach (Cree and Saulteaux), suggests that Indigenous
22
Everett M. Rogers, Diffusion of Innovations, 5th ed. (New York, NY: Free Press, 2003).
23
Shawn Wilson, Research is Ceremony: Indigenous Research Methods (Winnipeg, MB: Fernwood Pub.,
2008).
8
methodology “asks that we move beyond intellectual rationales to spirit and heart.”
24
Bagele Chilisa demonstrates the application of new methodologies in his pan-Indigenous
textbook.
25
I intend to apply Indigenous concepts that emphasize a communal-centric
approach by periodically seeking feedback on my research in order to gain insight from
other perspectives within the communities. These conversations and consults will not
necessarily be noted in this work, unless direct quotations or directives need to be
acknowledged. Moreover, my intention is to extend Wilson’s premise from “research as
ceremony” to “research as protocol” which requires both ceremony and gift.
Gifting is an essential part of First Nations, Native American, and Māori protocol.
For example, when one seeks teaching or wisdom from a Cree elder, it is proper to bring
a token gift of tobacco. “To be able to share, to have something worth sharing gives
dignity to the giver. To accept a gift and to reciprocate gives dignity to the receiver.”
26
Braiding is a common Indigenous custom, which is obvious at powwows in the
braiding of hair and in regalia ornamentation. A different type of braiding is found
amongst (but not limited to) the Cree, Anishinaabe/Ojibwa, and Sioux. Women will
ceremonially harvest sweetgrass by hand (the name reflects its pleasant aroma) and braid
the grass blades together for home decor, for ceremonial or medicinal use, and sometimes
as a form of protection not unlike a St. Christopher medal.
27
My intent is to craft a
24
Margaret Kovach, Indigenous Methodologies: Characteristics, Conversations, and Contexts (Toronto,
ON: University of Toronto Press, 2009 [reprint 2010]), 179.
25
Bagele Chilisa, Indigenous Research Methodologies (London: Sage Publications, 2012).
26
Linda Smith, Decolonizing Methodologies, 105.
27
The harvesting of sweetgrass is ceremonial, “the work that goes into collecting sweetgrass and creating a
braid is substantial. Once sweetgrass are discovered, volunteers work among scratchy thorns and dry brush
to seek out the long green blades. … The sweetgrass picked and braided during this outing will be used all
year in the Winnipeg Health Region. The braids, along with other traditional medicine plants picked by
9
metaphoric braid of sweetgrass as a gift to Indigenous peoples. My hope is that some will
find it a worthy gift suited to and compatible with their spiritual needs as followers of
Jesus and, in this manner, extend the reclamation of culture movement.
This braid is to consist of three ropes or triads labelled Global, Regional, and
Local. As in the illustration below, each triad is composed of strands identified as events,
organizations, and individuals. These triads are interwoven to form the thicker
28
braid.
Figure 1.1. Braided Sweetgrass Schematic: An Overview.
Key: E = Event O = Organization I = Individual
volunteers, is [sic.] used for traditional ceremonies when requested by patients to help them on their healing
journey.” See “Sacred Medicine,” WinnipegHealthRegion.ca, accessed Nov. 13, 2012, http://www.wrha.
mb.ca/healthinfo/news/2011/111006-sacred-medicine.php.
28
As in Geertz’s thick description: If “ethnography is thick description and ethnographers [are] those who
are doing the describing” then I would argue I need room to describe as thickly as possible. See Clifford
Geertz, The Interpretation of Cultures (New York, NY: Basic Books, 1973), 16.
10
The braid, then, is composed of five events that have created crises or spurred
Indigenous innovations, five organizations intended to influence change, and five
individuals who have served as innovators and/or change agents. Other persons, events,
and organizations will be incorporated as needed to fill out the narrative. The fiber,
weight, colour, and texture provided by each strand and triad is unique, but essential to
ensure the braid’s strength, beauty, and value as a gift. The elements are plotted below
with Global, Regional, and/or Local level(s):
FIVE EVENTS
Event 1: First Contact and Consequences: (G/R)
Event 2: Crises and Resistance (G/R/L)
Event 3: Resistance Literature (R/L)
Event 4: Sacred Assembly (L)
Event 5: The Apology (L)
FIVE ORGANIZATIONS
Organization 1: The Society of Jesus: Jesuits (G/R/L)
Organization 2: World Christian Gathering of Indigenous Peoples (G/R/L)
Organization 3: Wiconi International (R)
Organization 4: Aboriginal Task Force - Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (L)
Organization 5: NAIITS: An Indigenous Learning Community (R/L)
FIVE INDIVIDUALS
Individual 1: Pauline (G/R/L)
Individual 2: Richard and Katherine Twiss (R)
Individual 3: Terry and Beverly LeBlanc (R/L)
Individual 4: Cheryl Bear (L)
Individual 5: Pastor A (L)
29
I am not attempting to force a balance in the textual weight between each element
within the structure of the research as the result would be artificial. Rather, elements are
intertwined in the narrative, which is a more Indigenous method of storytelling. The
Māori story is limited to show the (assumed) progression towards reclamation of culture
and Māori (global) influence on the North American (regional), and Canadian (local)
reclamation movements in the sociopolitical arena as well as on IJF. It needs to be said
that the imposition of the U.S. and Canadian border on First Nations creates an artificial
29
I am using Pastor A for a Winnipeg pastor until I have permission to use his name.
11
environment to this study; thus, the term regional is used to moderate this reality. The
selection and inclusion of the events, organizations, and individuals serve diverse
purposes such as exemplars, innovators/change agents, pivots (crises, triggers, or change
points), or diffusers. The intent is to illustrate concrete realities. Positive change agents
are characterized by vision and perseverance that motivate others to change their way of
thinking, doing, and being. Lupton explains: “A compelling vision … has a magnetic
quality about it. It draws people and their resources around it. Coincidences converge.
People are inspired. Magic happens …. The visionary stays the course.”
30
Reclamation of Spiritual Cultural Traditions through the ROCM
Concepts of spirituality which Christianity attempted to destroy, then to
appropriate, and then to claim, are critical sites of resistance for Indigenous
peoples. The values, attitudes, concepts, and language embedded in beliefs about
spirituality represent, in many cases, the clearest contrast and mark of difference
between Indigenous peoples and the West. It is one of the few parts of ourselves
which the West cannot decipher, cannot understand and cannot control … yet.
—Linda Tuhiwai Smith
This quotation alludes to various governmental policies aimed at assimilating
Indigenous peoples. While Smith is not speaking to the specific issues being addressed in
this research—I see no evidence she self-identifies as a Jesus-follower—she does make a
valid point. There is something about Indigenous worship which was, and is, wholly
“other” to Western worldview and experience. The “otherness” prompted the majority of
newcomers to label it heathen, polytheistic, savage, and/or demonic. The latter label has
“stuck” in Canada, as will be illustrated and developed further in this research.
30
Robert Lupton, Compassion, Justice and the Christian Life: Rethinking Ministry to the Poor (Ventura,
CA: Regal Books, 2007), 9ff.
12
Global Investigation of ROCM
In order to trace the diffusion of the reclamation and contextualization movement
from the innovators to the local church leaders, the first unit of analysis is global, the
Māori in New Zealand wherein I will investigate the Māori influence to determine their
assumed role in the NAIITS initiative. Smith, addressing Indigenous research arising
from the sociopolitical activism of the 1970s, articulates her concerns regarding
the survival of peoples, cultures, and languages; the struggle to become self-
determining, the need to take back control of our destinies. These imperatives
have demanded more than rhetoric and acts of defiance. The acts of reclaiming,
reformulating, and reconstituting indigenous cultures and languages have required
the mounting of an ambitious research programme, one that is very strategic in its
purpose and activities, and relentless in its pursuit of social justice.
31
Research supports the assumption that the struggle to self-theologize as an IFJ
community and the struggle to lead in appropriate Indigenous ways—while being
accountable to the Holy Spirit—is foreshadowed by resistance expressed as sociopolitical
struggles globally in the latter half of the twentieth century. This aspect of the research
explores answers to the question: Are there channels for the flow of information, goods,
and persons between the reindigenization movement by sociopolitical activists and the
ROCM, and if so, how are they globally connected?
A Māori-led organization emerged to counteract colonialism. Regional and local
IJF found common ground with them through the World Christian Gathering on
Indigenous People [WCGIP] that originated with Monté and Linda Ohia, Māori, in 1996.
It will be demonstrated that WCGIP symbolizes the emergence of an ongoing movement
and its leaders motivated NAIITS leaders.
31
Linda Smith, Decolonizing Methodologies, 142.
13
Regional Investigation of ROCM
Past experiences with WCGIP participants have impressed me with the high
regard in which the North American [N.A.] Indigenous community is held globally. First
Peoples in N.A. seem to be regarded as innovators within the movement, especially in
theological education. At the regional level, two organizations are significant for my
purposes: Wiconi International [WI] and the initiative originally named the North
American Institute for Indigenous Theological Studies: NAIITS.
32
I will investigate
common goals shared with WCGIP and the social networking between founders. It
should be noted that the three organizations promote each other’s gatherings. In fact, the
three board of directors had members in common. This work will explore these
relationships as well as other potential networks promoting reclamation from a Christian
perspective. It will pay particular attention to the presence of contextualization.
Local Investigation of ROCM
In this research I am using the term local in two different senses: (1) as
representative of Indigenous peoples in Canada, emphasizing First Nations, and (2) for
Winnipeg, Manitoba, focusing on pastors and mission leaders. The latter sense will be
referenced less frequently until Chapters Four and Five, and the term clarified each time
it references Winnipeg. While WCGIP and NAIITS have both international and national
followings, what has been less evident is whether or not the ideals, self-theologizing, and
contextualization have filtered down to the local community level. This research
therefore explores the church level leadership in Winnipeg, particularly the inner city (or,
the North End) where the majority of Indigenous peoples reside. It has been selected as
32
In 2015, NAIITS began to self-identify simply as NAIITS: An Indigenous Learning Community.
14
an example of a local community with a sufficiently high target population and is readily
accessible. The goal is to determine if the ROCM has been adopted by the local
community and those who minister there. Participant observation and interviews serve as
my primary research methodologies for this portion of the study. Some of the current and
former NAIITS board members live or have been regularly active in the Winnipeg
community. As well, others have been speakers or musicians at diverse events. A further
advantage to targeting this community is access to a wide array of Indigenous-focused
events—both spiritual and sociopolitical in nature.
Missiological Significance of the Research
During the latter half of the twentieth century, an attraction to spiritualties which
pre-date Christianity led many Western spiritual seekers to investigate, adopt, and adapt
elements of N.A. “Indian” traditions as part of the eclectic blend we now call the New
Religious Synthesis.
33
During the parallel time period, Indigenous peoples began to
experience a renewed struggle for self-identity. Many turned to the traditions of the past,
both cultural and religious, to deal with the pain of the present. However, rejection of
reclamation has too often been the default position of many White mission leaders and
their financial supporters. The resultant debate has created a rift between brothers and
sisters in the Lord. (See Chapter Four, Opposition to ROCM).
33
This term is used to encompass the New Age Movement, westernized Eastern mysticism, Neo-Paganism,
and occult-based belief systems. See James A. Herrick, The Making of the New Spirituality: The Eclipse of
the Western Religious Tradition (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2003). See also the concept of
appropriating the image of “Indians” in Daniel Francis, The Imaginary Indian: The Image of the Indian in
Canadian Culture, 2nd ed. (Vancouver, BC: Arsenal Pulp Press, 2011), 183-204.
15
Relevant Literature
The task of generating a literature review by locating the best written resources is
the first step in the research and writing process. Rather than a section set apart for
reviewing materials used, primary background resources are noted here and other
resources are introduced within the pertinent sections of this study. There is an intentional
utilization of research by Indigenous authors and scholars throughout. This first section of
the study will concentrate on historiographical methodology and models. Early
missionary resources, both biographical and autobiographical, are also significant.
Chapters 2 and 3 are historical studies juxtaposing global, regional, and local
research. (Differences, by and large, are not germane to this study.) I had assumed that
the 1960s through 1970s witnessed the beginning of a new wave of resistance expressed
in sociopolitical resistance and that the publication of literature by Indigenous writers is a
significant indicator of such activity. Furthermore, I followed my hunch that this
literature impacted innovators of the ROCM. An additional hunch led to investigation of
the ROCM through tracing contextualization by IJF in the late 1980s to 2000. This
research is presented in the final two chapters. At times categories blur, as for example
when sociopolitical and ROCM are both addressed, but no distinctions made.
Data Collection: Qualitative Research
In its 1997 Delgamuukwa v. British Columbia landmark decision, the Supreme
Court of Canada admitted oral tradition as evidence in land claims trials.
34
Oral testimony
is an important tool for Indigenous populations in Canada and around the world in their
34
Delgamuukwa v. British Columbia , “Delgamuukw Case,” [note variance in spelling], Canadian
Encyclopedia, accessed January 8, 2018, http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/delgamuukw-
case/.
16
sociopolitical activism and litigation. In a sense, the Supreme Court acknowledged what
Indigenous peoples had said to colonizers: “If this is your land, where are your stories?”
Historiography is used here simply as the writing of histories. Histories are of
necessity plural, for each people group at each period in time have multiple stories to tell
and a multiplicity of ways to tell those stories: oral, written, art, music, jokes, and now
social media. The human race is enriched by the preservation of these stories.
Historiographical Methodology
An appropriate historiographical methodology is required for researching and
telling the stories of contact and consequences. Historiography is infinitely more layered
and complicated than simply recording an event in a written format. Oral history, as one
method of preserving a community’s stories, will surface from interviews and
conversations. “Oral history is a method of historical and social scientific inquiry and
analysis that includes life histories, storytelling, narratives and qualitative research.”
35
For
Indigenous peoples, oral history is more than simply telling stories; and telling stories is
more than storytelling. It is a time honored method of retaining history, communicating
worldview and values, honoring Creator and ancestors, as well as educating children in
wise choices. Indigenous people want their stories told in their own voices and through
their own values, theologies, and worldviews. According to Mark Gilderhus in History
and Historians,
36
“History no longer sets forth common stories that presumably speak for
the identity and experience of all readers. For many consumers of history, the narratives
35
University of Winnipeg, “Oral History Center Proposal: The Relevance of Oral History,” accessed Oct.
21, 2011, http://www.uwinnipeg.ca/index/oral-history-centre-the-relevance-of-oral-history. [Website has
updated as of January 8, 2018 so information has changed.]
36
Mark T. Gilderhus, History and Historians: A Historiographical Introduction, 5th ed. (Upper Saddle
River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2003).
17
centering on the activities of white male elites no longer provide satisfaction, stimulation,
or a means to truth.”
37
This perspective colours the historical strands of this thesis. Moreover, with the
shift to a postmodern-postcolonial-neocolonial world (disjointed and piecemeal though
that shift may be), Indigenous peoples have been re-characterized as “agents” rather than
perpetual “victims” according to Michael Rynkiewich in Soul, Self, and Society.
38
Lamin Sanneh demonstrates the importance of understanding these shifts when he
chides fellow believers by claiming that Western Christian historians and theologians
have fallen behind secular scholars in recognizing the need for new methodologies.
39
Wilbert Shenk edits a text addressing the disquiet over a narrow Western perspective of
church history and the need for a modification to include the global reach of God’s
work.
40
If Robert Webber is correct, the grand narratives that inform and motivate our
lives are past their expiration date, if not extinct.
41
Webber asserts that the question of
who narrates is “the most pressing issue of our time.”
42
For postmodernists, narrative
holds a particular appeal, especially when encompassing community.
Shenk highlights three dimensions of the contemporary reality facing historians:
the shift from Eurocentric to polycentric-multi-cultural awareness; growth from the new
37
Gilderhus, History and Historians, 128.
38
Michael A. Rynkiewich, Soul, Self, and Society: A Postmodern Anthropology for Mission in a
Postcolonial World (Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2012), 10, Table 1.
39
Lamin Sanneh, “World Christianity and the New Historiography,” in Wilbert R. Shenk, ed., Enlarging
the Story: Perspectives on Writing World Christian History (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 2002), 94-114, 98.
40
Shenk, Enlarging the Stories.
41
Robert E. Webber, Who Gets to Narrate the World?− Contending for the Christian Story in an Age of
Rivals (Downers Grove: IVP, 2008), 11. He also issues a “call to narrate the world christianly.”
42
Webber, Who Gets to Narrate the World?
18
element of “indigenous agency;” and a rapidly changing sociopolitical environment that
includes economics, technology, nation-states, and globalization.
43
If Christians are to
retain or regain relevance, we must heed Andrew Walls in terms of a necessary
reconception, revisioning, and recommissioning by historians and the teachers of history.
He states it is necessary to adopt “the consciousness that even one’s own Christian
history is part of a process which covers all six continents and occupies two millennia …
something we can legitimately call ‘re-visioning’.”
44
Grass roots history has come into its own and must be taken into account in
“doing” history in this era. Historiography is increasingly judged on inclusivity, plurality
of perspectives, interdependence, consultation, and grassroots relevance.
Historiographical Models
The social-sciences are interdisciplinary informants of history as much as, and in
some cases more than, the hard sciences. Emma Anderson’s The Betrayal of Faith: The
Tragic Journey of a Colonial Native Convert
45
serves well as a model of an inter-
disciplinary approach
46
and an example of current anthropological-historiographical
methodologies. J. M. Bumstead, The Peoples of Canada, models a compelling template
that speaks to the visual sensibilities of this Internet age. Vincent Donovan produced a
43
Shenk, Enlarging the Story, xi-xiv.
44
Andrew Walls, “Eusebius Tries Again,” in Shenk, ed., Enlarging the Story, 1-21, 14.
45
Emma Anderson, The Betrayal of Faith: The Tragic Journey of a Colonial Native Convert (Cambridge,
MA: Harvard University Press, 2007).
46
Bearing in mind the cautionary note, “Those who borrow from other disciplines, however, are under an
obligation to try to keep up with developments in that discipline.” Rynkiewich, Soul, Self, and Society, 139.
19
work that retains the warmth and immediacy of orality in Christianity Rediscovered.
47
He
also displays great personal vulnerability and honesty which reflect Indigenous values.
Paul Hackett, a geographer, fuses his discipline to his interest in epidemiology,
historiography, and Aboriginal health.
48
Indigenous scholarly writing should strive to meet academic expectations, yet be
accessible to the community. This requires the insertion of story, a readiness to side-track
on issues of relevance to the community, respect for community values, and writing
which demonstrates coherence to reality as opposed to being merely based on credentials.
While it is imperative to address causation of disorder, it must not deteriorate into an inert
victimization. Howell and Prevenier are useful here where they set the criteria for
“establishing evidentiary satisfaction,”
49
which requires appropriate methodology.
Research Methodologies, Anthropological Theories, and Missiological Theories
Indigenous Research Methodologies
Indigenous authored literature germane to the indigenization of research
methodologies has a significant influence on this study. The 1999 text by the Māori
scholar, Linda Tuhiwai Smith, which has been frequently referenced already,
50
was
providentially found in a counter-culture café in Winnipeg. Smith attempts to decolonize
Western research methodologies as one would anticipate, providing a time-line of Māori
47
Vincent J. Donovan, Christianity Rediscovered: Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Edition (Maryknoll, NY:
Orbis Books, 2003).
48
Paul Hackett, A Very Remarkable Sickness: Epidemics in the Petit Nord, 1670 to 1846 (Winnipeg, MB:
University of Winnipeg, 2002).
49
See Martha Howell and Walter Prevenier, From Reliable Sources, An Introduction to Historical Methods
(Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 2001), particularly pp. 79-84.
50
Smith, Decolonizing Methodologies. However, the term “decolonizing methodologies” seems akin to
saying “de-Americanize America.” I prefer the phrase “Indigenize research methodologies.”
20
progress towards self-determination. She asserts that research methodologies are not
culture-free, but are embedded with cultural assumptions reflective of worldview and
values of Western academia. In fact, she argues that Indigenous communities hold an
inherent bias against research. The word itself “is probably one of the dirtiest words in
the indigenous world’s vocabulary.”
51
Indigenous peoples, globally, have a “collective
memory of imperialism”
52
as represented by endless data collecting by researchers whose
product has benefited mostly themselves. “It told us things already known, suggested
things that would not work, and made careers for people who already had jobs.”
53
Smith’s text “identifies research as a significant site of struggle between the
interests and epistemologies of the West and those of the Other.”
54
Anthropology, in
particular, is regarded with suspicion since it—perhaps unwittingly—“made the study of
us into ‘their’ science.”
55
She continues, “Of all the disciplines, anthropology is the one
most closely associated with …the defining of primitivism.”
56
Smith agrees with Merata
Mita, “We have a history of people putting Māori under a microscope in the same way a
scientist looks at an insect. The ones doing the looking are giving themselves the power
to define.”
57
In spite of years of research, Indigenous communities are left with “social
conditions that perpetuate extreme levels of poverty, chronic ill health, and poor
51
Linda Smith, Decolonizing Methodologies, 1.
52
Ibid.
53
Ibid., 3.
54
Ibid., 2.
55
Ibid., 11.
56
Ibid., 66.
57
Ibid., 38, quoting Mereta Mita, “Merita Mita On …” in the New Zealand Listener (Oct. 14, 1989), 30.
21
educational opportunities.”
58
Smith points to the small but “increasing numbers of
indigenous academics and researchers [who] have begun to address social issues within
the wider framework of self-determination, decolonization, and social justice.”
59
Trained for the most part within Western institutions, Indigenous scholars are re-
thinking the epistemological and ontological foundations of their academic fields,
desiring different methodologies. They are, in effect, “researching back;” seeking “a
recovery of ourselves, an analysis of colonialism, and a struggle for self-determination.”
60
The end goal is research which is “more respectful, ethical, sympathetic, and useful.”
61
Issues sparking questions about research methodology reflect back on the issues
raised by emic and etic points of view of the community being studied.
62
This is
somewhat of an enigma for the Indigenous researcher. On the one hand, there may be the
community perception that being Indigenous, he or she is somehow less qualified
academically. On the other hand, the same person may be regarded as too biased by the
academy. Surprisingly, the insider may have more issues to overcome than the suspicion
and cynicism that greets the outsider.
63
Insiders do not necessarily understand the
interconnectedness of their own culture; yet the community may assume the researcher
“knows” and therefore cannot understand why the questions are being asked. Also,
58
Linda Smith, Decolonizing Methodologies, 4.
59
Ibid.
60
Ibid., 7.
61
Ibid., 9.
62
Michael Rynkiewich notes, “This is much misunderstood as if it just means insider and outsider
viewpoints. It is based on linguistic analogy, phonemic and phonetic, and it goes much deeper than that. It
is not surface worldview.” Personal communication, Dec. 2012.
63
Smith, Decolonizing Methodologies, 10-12. Multiple citations by other researchers suggest Smith’s work
is seminal and is held in high esteem by Indigenous scholars globally.
22
worldview interpretations and presuppositions create a screen or grid through which the
Indigenous student and non-Indigenous mentor attempt to communicate.
Indigenous methodology, according to Kovach, “asks that we move beyond
intellectual rationales to spirit and heart.”
64
A book by Jo-Ann Episkenew
65
resembles
Smith’s rather vexed tone as she addresses Indigenous literature in juxtaposition to
Western literature noting the centrality of spirituality in the former. A decade later, Cree
scholar Shawn Wilson builds upon Smith’s research in Research is Ceremony:
Indigenous Research Methods.
66
This concentration on research methodology itself
demonstrates the global connectedness of Indigenous ideas and merging of agendas. One
observation to simply note here is the progression and apparent rising confidence
between Smith’s 1999 writing compared to Wilson and Kovach a decade later.
Anthropological Theories, Research Methodologies, and Data Analysis
Select scholars who contribute to this study are noted briefly here. Clifford
Geertz, in The Interpretation of Cultures, provides a definition of culture, augmented by
further insights in his later edition.
67
Michael Rynkiewich’s complementary theory of
culture (as contingent, constructed, contested) adds to the standard theory traditionally
taught. It is helpful in understanding the process and possibilities of reclamation.
68
64
Kovach, Indigenous Methodologies, 179.
65
Episkenew, Taking Back Our Spirits.
66
Wilson, Research as Ceremony.
67
Clifford Geertz, The Interpretation of Cultures (New York, NY: Basic Books, 1973); and Clifford
Geertz, The Interpretation of Cultures: Selected Essays (New York, NY: Basic Books, [1973] 2000).
68
Michael A. Rynkiewich, “The World in my Parish,” Missiology, xxx, no. 3 (2002): 301-21.
23
Everett Rogers’s text on Diffusion of Innovations
69
will serve as the primary tool
for this research project. Rogers’s volume addresses a wide array of relevant topics on the
Innovation/Diffusion Theory— its history, development, and application. Bruce
Bradshaw cites Geertz’s “webs of significance he himself has spun” in his work, Change
across Cultures,
70
combining biblical wisdom and storytelling with instruction on how to
understand hidden narratives that may unlock keys to creating a better narrative.
A text first published in 1991 and continually reprinted by SAGE Publishing is
John Scott’s Social Network Analysis.
71
Scott helps to interpret the language and
methodologies of social network theorists in order to equip researchers dealing with the
linkages between events, individuals, and groups within relational data. On this same
theme, SAGE offers a publication by the same title in its series on quantitative research
by authors David Knoke and Song Yang.
72
Their purpose is didactic, but they emphasize
that the theory is “an integrated set of theoretical concepts and analytical methods” and
not simply “a conceptual framework for describing how a set of actors is linked
together.”
73
This form of analysis can illuminate not just linkages, but “variations in
structural relations and their consequences.”
74
69
Rogers, Diffusion of Innovations.
70
Bruce Bradshaw, Change across Cultures: A Narrative Approach to Social Transformation (Grand
Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2002), 71; citing Geertz, The Interpretation of Cultures, 5; albeit with a
slight change.
71
John Scott, Social Network Analysis: A Handbook (London, UK: SAGE Publications Ltd., [1995],
2005).
72
David Knoke and Song Yang, Social Network Analysis, 2nd edition in Series: Quantitative Applications
in the Social Sciences 154 (London, UK: SAGE Publications Ltd., 2008).
73
Ibid., 8.
74
Ibid.
24
Texts on ethnography and data collection include Harry Wolcott’s Ethnography:
A Way of Seeing
75
and Robert Yin’s Case Study Research.
76
Yin is both practical and
methodical in laying out cases and critiquing them. Wolcott projects the future of the
discipline through a history of ethnography and advising on employing an ethnographical
perspective. Julia Crane and Michael Angrosino published their third edition of a
handbook, Field Projects in Anthropology.
77
It is older (1992) but provides a sense of
where and how field research has progressed when read alongside other texts.
Jean Converse and Stanley Presser, in Survey Questions: Handcrafting the
Questionnaire,
78
were instrumental in the development of the survey I used at the 2008
WCGIP.
Crises, Change Agents, Innovators, and Diffusion
Articles which are forerunners to this research and written by members of the
NAIITS community are: Andrea Smith’s “‘The One Who Did Not Break His Promises:’
Native Americans in the Evangelical Race Reconciliation Movement;”
79
Jeanine
LeBlanc’s “Walking ‘The Good Red Road’: NAIITS;”
80
Richard Twiss’s “Native-led
Contextualization Efforts in North America;”
81
and, Casey Church’s Holy Smoke.
82
75
Harry F. Wolcott, Ethnography: A Way of Seeing, 2nd ed. (Plymouth, UK: Altamira Press, 2008).
76
Robert Yin, Case Study Research, 4th ed. vol. 5 (Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2009).
77
Julia G. Crane and Michael V. Angrosino, Field Projects in Anthropology: A Student Handbook, 3rd ed.
(Long Grove, IL: Wave Press, Inc., 1992).
78
Jean M. Converse and Stanley Presser, Survey Questions: Handcrafting the Questionnaire, Series:
Quantitative Applications in the Social Sciences (Newberry Park, CA: Sage Publications, Inc., 1986).
79
Andrea Smith, “‘The One Who Did Not Break His Promises:’ Native Americans in the Evangelical Race
Reconciliation Movement,” in American Behavioral Scientist, vol. 50, no. 4 (Dec. 2006), 478-509.
80
Jeanine LeBlanc, “Walking ‘The Good Red Road:’ NAIITS, The Obstacles It Faces and How They are
Being Overcome,” Journal of NAIITS, vol. 6 (2008): 5-20.
25
First Contact and Consequences through to Resistance: Global
This study focuses in Chapters Two and Three on the commonalities experienced
by Indigenous peoples. Research on First Contact provides an overview of colonization
for the global level beginning with the first visit by English seafarers to New Zealand and
culminating in the Treaty of Waitangi 1840. The Māori story will fast-forward to the
crises/resistance phase known as the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975. New Zealand
Government websites provide full text for both treaties.
Gay Reed addresses a common experience for Indigenous peoples—forced
Western education: “Historical documentation of the deculturalization of Hawai’i
through the educational system … reveals much the same pattern that took place in …
other parts of the world where the culture and language of indigenous populations have
been systemically eradicated by newcomers.”
83
Terms such as cultural sustainability,
reindigenization, retraditionalization, decolonization, and reclamation of culture are terms
for strategies designed to reverse, or at least diminish, the Euro-culturalization processes.
Monte Rereamoamo Ohia focuses on Māori transformation movements, particularly in
the area of education.
84
His dissertation provides insight into his own journey of
reclamation. It will serve as the major work related to Māori experience for two reasons:
Ohia (and his wife, Linda) functioned as primary innovators for the WCGIP until his
81
Twiss, “Native-led Contextualization.
82
Casey Church, Holy Smoke: The Contextual Use of Native American Ritual and Ceremony (Cleveland,
TN: Cherohala Press), 2017.
83
Gay Garland Reed, “Reversing Deculturalization for Better or for Worse” in Cultural Education—
Cultural Sustainability: Minority, Diaspora, Indigenous and Ethno-Religious Groups in Multicultural
Societies, edited by Zvi Bekerman and Ezra Kopelowitz (New York, NY: Routledge, 2008), 232ff.
84
Monte Refremoamo Ohia, “Towards a Values-Based Transformation Movement for Maori
Advancement: The Case for Spiritual, Ethical and Moral Imperatives within Maori Transformational
Movements” (PhD thesis University of Auckland, 2006).
26
passing in 2008; and, his doctoral thesis is not limited to the discipline of secular
education, but provides a sweeping historical analysis. It is profitable for understanding
Māori spirituality, as well as it contributes material for a comparative analysis of Māori
colonization, resistance, retraditionalization, and reclamation by IJF. Although his thesis
was submitted to a “secular” institution within the faculty of education, spirituality is
foundational to its purpose and contents. While Ohia’s thesis serves as a plumb-line,
other literature and research both augment and, at times, recalibrate my research.
J.M.R. Owens, in Prophets in the Wilderness,
85
argues that contrary to the theory
of social determinism, the Māoris at Whangaroa exhibited a willingness to participate in
the exchange of ideas which naturally occurs with human interaction. This is in line with
Rynkiewich’s theory of culture as contingent, constructed, and contested.
First Contact and Consequences through to Resistance: Regional
This section investigates historical contexts for North America, excluding
Mexico. Texts by Nicholas Cushner, Harold Horwood, James Moore, plus S.R.
Mealing’s English translation of the Jesuit documents Relations des Jesuits,
86
known
collectively as Les Relations (Relations), will be prominent in this section. The Jesuits
serve as the first of the five organizations to be investigated. The papal Bull, Regimini
Militantis, by Pope Paul III in 1540, positioned the Jesuits to become the foremost
missionaries in north-eastern North America for the first century and more of its
colonization, beginning their mission activities in “New France” in 1611.
85
J.M.R. Owens, Prophets in the Wilderness: The Wesleyan Mission to New Zealand, 1819-27 (Auckland,
NZ: Auckland University Press, 1974).
86
S. R. Mealing, The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, Carleton Library, no. 7 (Toronto: McClelland
and Stewart Limited, 1969).
27
Selecting the Jesuits as a global representative of first contact is intended to tease
out the indicators of loss of culture, reclamation of culture (if such a phenomenon existed
in those early stages), and re-entrenchment of traditional religion at an early stage—
seeking evidence of how Indigenous converts interpreted their pre-Christ/pre-European
contact identities and realities. Although focusing on the Anglican Church may seem a
more appropriate choice, French Catholicism influenced the Winnipeg (local) geographic
region as much as the British did. Terry LeBlanc’s 2012 dissertation addressing Mi’kmaq
and Jesuit understandings of the spiritual will be significant in this section.
87
Exactly which Europeans “discovered” Canada is shrouded in mystery as thick as
the fogs of Newfoundland. Celtic legends from approximately 725 A.D. recount tales of
Ocean crossings. Vikings left their traces on Newfoundland shores when around 1000
A.D. Bjarni Herjolfsson is known to have reached what is now Nova Scotia from
Iceland.
88
Some of his crew made a repeat voyage with Leif Erikson. There is evidence of
earlier visitations but no official records. Basques, Britons, and Normans had fished off
the eastern shores, using the shoreline to dry fish. Notwithstanding the existing
Indigenous population, children have routinely been taught in school that Jacques Cartier
(1491-1557) discovered Canada in 1534 through his exploration of the St. Lawrence
River. According to Horwood’s work, Cartier provided fascinating hints but little real
information about first contact with First Nations. He wrote of being greeted in the St.
Lawrence gulf by forty or fifty canoes loaded with men intent on trade, in spite of being
87
Terry LeBlanc, “Spirit and Spirituality: Mi’kmaq and French/Jesuit Understandings of the Spiritual and
the Implications of Faith” (PhD dissertation Asbury Theological Seminary, 2012).
88
Harold Horwood, The Colonial Dream, 1497-1760, Canada’s Illustrated Heritage (Toronto: Natural
Science of Canada Ltd., 1978), 7. According to Horwood, only the Icelanders remembered the tale of the
land that they called Vinland—they and the archives of the Vatican (13).
28
shot at with “fire lance” as well as “gunpowder, broken glass, bent nails and the like.”
89
Their tenacity indicated that White Europeans were known as potential traders.
Moore’s book, Indian and Jesuit, provides insight into the Jesuit foray into New
France in 1611 that was short lived. The “permanent” Jesuit missions began in 1632. By
the end of the century, Jesuits had missionaries in settlements and outposts reaching
“from the mouth of the St. Lawrence to Wisconsin and Louisiana,”
90
all within the
territory claimed as New France. The Jesuits had not functioned merely as missionaries;
by searching out converts further north, west, and south; they served as colonizers,
explorers, and expansionists for France, amassing approximately 900,000 acres of land in
New France by 1760—land viewed as “compensation for the waning of its influence in
France.”
91
They illustrate the agenda for conquest, civilization, and Christianization.
First Contact and Consequences through to Resistance: Local
The “Oblate Communications”
92
are an excellent source of information for
another Roman Catholic Order that held tremendous power in Canadian history,
including in the Red River Settlement. The Oblates of Mary Immaculate [O.M.I.] grew to
rival the largest mission forces of the Catholic Church with its founding in France (1816).
The Oblates gained influence in vast regions of the developing confederation, travelling
via inland waterway routes, ministering to les Canadiens (fur traders from the east), the
89
Horwood, The Colonial Dream, 26.
90
James T Moore, Indian and Jesuit: A Seventeenth-Century Encounter (Chicago: Loyola University Press,
1982), xi ff.
91
Mealing, The Jesuit Relations, x.
92
“Oblates of Mary Immaculate,” Encyclopaedia Britannica, accessed Nov. 23, 2012,
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/367557/Oblates-of-Mary-Immaculate.
29
Métis, and later to French settlers.
93
Our family parish of St. Charles within the Red River
Settlement (now Winnipeg) deferred to Oblates even after English dominance.
Retraditionalization and Reclamation Movements: Global and Regional
A sweeping overview of resistance strategies and movements since the late 1960s
are presented in Chapter Three as crises occurred and led to the events, organizations, and
innovators highlighted in Chapter Four. The role of literature by Indigenous writers is
examined as an indicator of resistance, retraditionalization, and reclamation. I will
demonstrate that the belated public awareness (both by non-Indigenous and Indigenous
peoples) of the Canadian Residential Schools has served to further both the
retraditionalization and the reclamation movements. Other sources helpful here include
doctoral work by Richard Twiss, Terry LeBlanc, Cheryl Bear, Randy Woodley, and
Casey Church. Their theses/dissertations take their place alongside the collective
resistance literature. Episkenew contends that not only does “Indigenous literature
respond to and critique the policies of the Government of Canada, it also functions as
‘medicine’ to help cure the colonial contagion by healing the communities that these
policies have injured.”
94
Furthermore,
It accomplishes this by challenging the “master narrative,” that is, a summary of
the stories that embody the “socially shared understanding.” This master narrative
is, in fact, the myth of the new Canadian nation-state, which valorizes the settlers
but which sometimes misrepresents and more often excludes Indigenous peoples.
… Indigenous literature comprises a “counterstory” that resists the “oppressive
identity … and attempts to replace it with one that commands respect.”
95
93
“Oblates of Mary Immaculate,” Encyclopaedia Britannica. Their emphasis on Mary is reflected in the
name of our family church, Our Lady of Perpetual Help.
94
Episkenew, Taking Back Our Spirits, 2; referencing Hilde Lindemann Nelson, Damaged Identities:
Narrative Repair (Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 2001), 6.
95
Ibid. Quotation marks indicate Nelson’s words.
30
The first book written by an Indigenous person that I recall reading is Halfbreed
(1976 publication) by Maria Campbell.
96
Literature by Indigenous scholars and authors is
now readily available at the local level. Native Studies programs at provincial universities
combined with more First Nations and Métis students seeking academic credentials may
account for the increase in publications. These resources help to reveal the role of
resistance literature.
Retraditionalization and Reclamation Movements: Local
In 2008, I studied the demographics of the city of Winnipeg, its historical
development, racial interactions, and other pertinent information related to First Nations
people moving off reserve and into the urban core. I did this for an Urban Anthropology
course at Asbury Theological Seminary. Volunteer work in the North End these past four
years has increased my knowledge of the area and people who live there through
participant observation with the ministries in Chapter Five.
Data Collection Method, Analysis, and Interpretation
The significance of research methodology when applied to my study “frames the
questions being asked, determines the set of instruments and methods being employed,
and shapes the analyses. Within an indigenous framework, methodological debates are
ones concerned with the broader politics and strategic goals of Indigenous research,”
97
writes Smith. Furthermore, “Indigenous methodologies are often a mix of existing
methodological approaches and Indigenous practices. The mix reflects the training of
Indigenous researchers which continues to be within the academy, and the parameters and
96
Maria Campbell, Halfbreed (Halifax: Goodread Biographies, 1973).
97
Linda Smith, Decolonizing Methodologies, 143.
31
common-sense understandings of research which govern how Indigenous communities
and researchers define their activities.”
98
Philip Salzman and Patricia Rice define ethnography as “the cultural study of a
single cultural group and often the written description of that particular culture.”
99
Indigenous cultures in Canada are far from a homogeneous singular cultural group even
without the inclusion of Native American and Māori participants and international events
in this study. First Nations cultures are diverse much as European cultures are dissimilar.
Despite the differences in languages, creation stories, traditions, food sources, housing
structures, and other cultural factors; nonetheless, they share many values and
perspectives as well as colonial experiences under Britain. Therefore, I recognize I am
extending the definition of ethnography to include cultural commonalities and shared
experiences.
Research methodologies include the following components:
Conversations: Conversations have been face-to-face, telephone calls, e-mail, and
through social media and at conferences. Indigenous research methodology
requires conversation at individual and community levels.
100
I have initiated
conversations with four of the five named individuals at multiple times within the
timeframe allotted to this research and have followed up with e-mails when
warranted. These individuals, to the best of my knowledge, represent the groups
and categories which most directly relate to the questions I researched. They are
Richard Twiss, Terry LeBlanc, Cheryl Bear, and Pastor A.
Personal interviews: In addition to individuals noted, I conducted personal
interviews with selected leaders/attendees of the WCGIP and built upon or
clarified previous notes. I sought information from interviews or correspondence
with individuals who appeared to be a source of additional knowledge, such as
Katherine Twiss, Ray Aldred, Matt LeBlanc, and Hannah Chapman; and with
others as deemed necessary. Additionally, I interviewed five individuals in inner
98
Smith, Decolonizing Methodologies, 143.
99
Philip Carl Salzman and Patricia C. Rice, Thinking Anthropologically: A Practical Guide for Students,
2nd ed. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education Inc., Prentice Hall, 2008), 113.
100
Wilson, Research is Ceremony.
32
city Winnipeg from organizations such as Inner City Youth Alive, First Nations
Community Church, and North End Family Center.
Participant Observation: My analysis includes data collected prior to the proposal
phase of this project, from attendance at Sacred Assembly (1995);
101
and two
WCGIP gatherings (Israel 2008 and New Zealand 2010); additionally, I attended
all but one NAIITS symposiums, a variety of Indigenous conferences, powwows,
and ceremonies; and hosted numerous Indigenous guests. I conducted a survey
and formal interviews at WCGIP 2008. I have edited and overseen the publishing
of a journal for fourteen NAIITS symposiums (the fifteenth journal is in the
editing phase).
102
I have organized ROCM events and taught at academic
institutions on this topic. Thus, participant observation is intrinsic to my research.
Video recordings: I have examined and analyzed select videos related to WCGIP
events and Wiconi International initiatives. I viewed official video recordings,
unreleased video material, literature, websites, advertisements, and online
resources, for cases or patterns of contextualization and/or networking.
Surveys: I had developed and used a survey at WCGIP in 2008; the inconclusive
results led to developing a shorter questionnaire/interview form.
Literature: I had been given material by Richard Twiss from Wiconi International
ministry and had access to former staff when necessary to clarify information.
Relationships: I have also relied on Hannah Chapman, Terry LeBlanc and
NAIITS board members for additional information and clarification. Winnipeg
has an abundance of readily available Indigenous authored books.
Without analysis and interpretation, data is inadequate to inform or to draw
reliable conclusions. Adequate research design and data collection strategy are of utmost
importance. Yin cautions the researcher to carefully consider the unit of analysis by
clearly defining it; yet, he states that flexibility is required, that as research progresses
and clarity develops, these units and facets “can be revisited”
103
and adjusted as new
discoveries are made. The main unit of analysis in my research is the extent of the
adoption or rejection of the innovation of reclamation of culture by IFJ including
101
I also attended a portion of the second and final Sacred Assembly (Sagkeeng First Nation, Manitoba,
1997). The second assembly disintegrated into conflicting agendas. The hosts favored a sociopolitical
agenda while Harper focused on the original agenda of seeking common ground through spiritual values. I
was present when Harper angrily declared that Sacred Assembly was his vision and he trusted in the Name
of Jesus Christ.
102
The 2017 NAIITS Journal is in the editing stage.
103
Yin, Case Study Research, 30.
33
Individual 5—Pastor A. Other embedded units which emerge are noted in Chapters Four
and Five.
104
Preliminary Theoretical Framework
Theories and methodologies which are appropriate for this study are:
Global/Regional/Local Networking Analysis;
Social Networking Theory;
Diffusion of Innovation Theory (Everett Rogers
105
);
Revitalization Theory, which favors mass people movements, is referenced when
relevant (in particular, work by Anthony Wallace,
106
Lee Irwin
107
[prophets as
change agents], and Alice Beck Kehoe
108
).
I investigated Case Study Research to determine if and how my research
objectives could be enhanced through the case study approach examined and explained
by Yin.
109
This is most applicable to the local level research. The case study approach
that Yin expands upon, especially the concept of employing metaphor, informs the
concept of research as gifting protocol.
110
104
Yin, Case Study Research, 31.
105
Rogers, Diffusion of Innovations.
106
Anthony F.C. Wallace, “Revitalization Movements: Some Theoretical Considerations for their
Comparative Study.” American Anthropologist 58, no. 2 (April, 1956): 264-281. Also, Anthony F.C.
Wallace, “The Dekanawideh Myth Analyzed as the Record of a Revitalization Movement,” Ethnohistory,
5, no. 2 (Spring 1958): 118-130.
107
Lee Irwin, Coming Down from Above: Prophecy, Resistance, and Renewal in Native American Religions
(Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2008).
108
Alice Beck Kehoe, The Ghost Dance: Ethnohistory and Revitalization, 2nd ed. (Long Grove, IL:
Waveland Press, Inc., 2006).
109
Yin, Case Study Research: Design and Methods.
110
Ibid., 169.
34
Summarization of Questions
Questions which are posed and answered related to my qualitative research as
previously stated are:
Has the contemporary Reclamation of Culture Movement by Indigenous followers
of Jesus positioned Indigenous peoples to do self-theologizing at the local level in
Canada?
Given the distortion of identity and negative social realities evidenced among
many Indigenous people in Canada, is there evidence that these issues have
similarly affected other Indigenous groups who are emerging from colonial
dominance at the global and regional levels?
What are these networks, links, and loops in the ongoing conversation between
Global, Regional, and Local levels? Are there channels for the flow of
information, goods, and persons between the reindigenization movement by
political/social activists and the reclamation of culture movement that involves
self-identified Jesus-followers?
Is there evidence of self-theologizing at the global and at the regional levels of the
Jesus-followers’ reclamation of culture movement, and if so, is there evidence that
self-theologizing is being diffused to the local level?
What other signs of change are evident of local adoption or rejection?
What other questions emerge as the study progresses?
Data Analysis Plan
The first level of analysis is historical, using parallel time frames based on first
contact and crisis/resistance events in the political/social arena in all three locales. Cluster
Analysis
111
is applied in the second level of research, concentrating on sociopolitical
activist literature (published during the late 1960s forward) at the three levels.
Highlighted from this period is data on the time frame, types of literature, impetus for
publishing, and issues addressed, in order to summarize the stresses that resulted in
innovation/diffusion of retraditionalization. The resources located in the Native Studies
Departments of the University of Winnipeg and University of Manitoba are instrumental
in this phase of research as data has been previously compiled and analyzed by other
111
Russell H. Bernard, Research Methods in Anthropology (Newbury Park, CA: Sage Pub., 1988), 689.
35
scholars. Episkenew’s Taking Back Our Spirits
112
is an example of the excellent
resources available. The bibliography in her work and in the previously cited texts by
Smith, Wilson, and Kovach lead to other authors. These four authors exemplify new
literature as they advance Indigenous methodologies. Readily accessible resources
include: resistance literature, the Canadian Human Rights Museum, archives of the Truth
and Reconciliation Commission, and First Nations leaders.
The third level of analysis addresses the impact of colonization on the social
realities of Māori, Native North Americans, and Canadian (specifically Winnipeg)
Indigenous peoples. I assessed commonalities of experiences and consequences
employing a percentile basis of analysis from official government statistics comparing
Indigenous peoples with the macro culture in the areas of education, poverty,
incarceration, and suicide. I present selected statistics. Although health issues and life
expectancies are also good indicators, they are not necessary to make the point of
marginalization. Since proving marginalization is not the primary goal of my project, I
depend upon comparative statistical documentation from reliable sources where available
rather than primary research (other than participant observation).
The fourth level of analysis seeks patterns from interviews, conversations,
records, video recordings, and participation at events and with organizations to determine
how and if cultural reclamation and contextualization experienced at the global level has
diffused to the regional level. The fifth and final level of analysis reveals attitudes toward
and evidence of reclamation of culture and contextualization at the local level.
112
Episkenew, Taking Back Our Spirits.
36
Ethical Considerations and Statement
Key Indigenous Christian leadership in Canada consists of a relatively small
number of people. Even when there are opposing camps, the leadership tends to be
known to one another, at least by name. Key players in the reclamation movement are
readily accessible and network together across denominational lines in spite of vast
geographical distances. Some who oppose contextualization have published their views in
accessible literature or websites. Other leaders are investigating their faith and the impact
of contextualization on their ministries, still counting the cost. For that reason, at the local
level of my research, I may be confronted with issues of confidentiality. While a
“Consent Form” is appropriate to other communities, it is not with Indigenous
interviewees; therefore, I have been careful to explain my research, clarify that the
potential interviewee may choose or decline to participate, and that there are various
levels of confidentiality that they may request. These are: (1) full disclosure, (2) use of
direct quotes along with a vague reference to title or position but not name, (3) reference
to ideas or positions without any identifying information, or (4) no reference to interview.
My Bias
I am legally Red River Métis rooted in the well documented Red River Métis
Settlement on the south side of the Assiniboine River in the Parish of St. Charles
113
with
its historic relationship to the Hudson’s Bay Company [HBC] and the Catholic Oblate
Order. My maiden name was Wendy Lynn Marie Beauchemin, a direct descendant of the
Métis Hogue and Beauchemin families. I was baptized and confirmed Roman Catholic. I
113
“Few populations are more thoroughly documented in the pattern of their marriages and geographical
distribution than the people who developed the Red River Settlement between 1820 and 1870.” D.N.
Sprague and R.P. Frye, Compilers, The Genealogy of the First Métis Nation (Winnipeg: Pemmican Pub.,
1983 [2000]), 9. This work repeatedly references the Hogue, Beauchemin, and other related families.
37
was re-baptized as a married adult through the Evangelical Free Church of Canada. My
formal Beauchemin ancestry records in Canada reach back to the early 1600s.
114
There are twenty-nine surnames recorded in my paternal genealogy. Two are of
Scottish origin; the others are French. Colonizers had the habit of giving European names
to Indigenous peoples. Cree names are lost to history. It is often impossible to trace
whether spouse is Métis or Indian, except when “halfbreed” is listed.
On my paternal grandmother’s side, it is clear that the Cree woman called “Jane
Amérindienne/Amerindian” was born near Churchill in northern Manitoba in the late
1700s. She was the “country wife”
115
of seaman George Taylor who later became the
master of the Sloop Churchill.
116
They resided at York Factory. My great grandfather,
Jean-Baptiste Beauchemin, served around 1869 on Louis Riel’s Council.
117
(See an
archival photograph in Appendix 2.) Riel’s “rebellion” culminated in the latter being
executed for treason some fifteen years later (1885). In February each year, however,
Manitobans now enjoy a holiday called Louis Riel Day in honor of his role in Manitoba
history. Baptiste, as my great-grandfather was known, remained on his river lot farm land
along the Assiniboine River and seemingly did not join the latter part of the resistance
(1885) in Saskatchewan. One of the family tales tells of his brother being born under a
114
“Ancestors of Wendy Beauchemin-Peterson,” La Société Historique de Saint-Boniface (1993). The
Roman Catholic Church kept quite precise records which are readily accessible. The 1669 marriage
between Canadiens Paul Hus and Jeanne Baillargeon in Contrat Cusson (Cap-de-la-Madeleine), Quebec, is
the first documented date in the “New World”—although all four of their parents’ names appear to be
stated as residents of New France at earlier dates.
115
A term used for the union of Cree or “half-breed” women with British men. Britain did not send clergy
to the HBC enterprises this early in colonial history, so legal marriages did not take place.
116
See George Taylor (1759-1844) / Jane Cree Indian (1780-1844); Red River Ancestry.ca, accessed Sept.
28, 2017, available at redriverancestry.ca.
117
See picture of council in John Weinstein, Quiet Revolution West: The Rebirth of Métis Nationalism
(Calgary, AB: Fifth House Ltd., 2007), 10. Reprinted in Appendix 2.
38
Red River cart during a buffalo hunt. I spent the first fourteen years of my life on that
land which was shared then by four generations and at least six other Beauchemin and
Hogue families: my godparents, grandmother, ma mere and ma pere, and other relatives
within a two mile stretch on Municipal Road in Charleswood. My parents had attended
Beauchemin School, named after my grandparents as it was built on their donated land.
However, by the time I attended the same school, the name was changed to Charleswood
School “because the English couldn’t pronounce Beauchemin”
118
(see Appendix 2). A
small park plus a 55+ apartment block carry the Beauchemin name, marking the location
of the family home. A short road is called Beauchemin Ave. My Métis grandparents,
Patrice Beauchemin and Albina [nee Hogue], were next-door neighbors as children. My
ancestors’ intermarriages between Cree, Anishinaabe, French, and two English/Scottish
fur traders reflect early colonial history in Canada’s Prairie Provinces.
119
In 1991, a distant cousin produced a documentary entitled Women in the Shadows
which features our Cree great-great-grandmother, Margurite Hogue nee Margaret
Taylor.
120
The cousin investigates the shame and social disadvantage of being Métis after
the Riel Rebellion/Resistance (1885), known as “temps noir” or “dark times,” explaining
why many Métis tried to “pass” as French/White.
118
Personal conversation with my aunt, Patricia Beauchemin Carriére, 90 years old, in August 2011. My
older cousin Jeanne Kubiac, Oct. 2017, told me that someone chipped out the “Beauchemin School” stone
and dumped it in the river one night around 1913, so the name changed to “Charleswood School.”
119
Pre-1800, eighty percent plus of HBC personnel were from “the impoverished Orkney Islands.” Sprague
and Frye, The Genealogy of the First Métis Nation, 11.
120
Christine Welsh and Signe Johansson, Women in the Shadows, directed by Nora Bailey, a documentary
film (Ottawa: National Film Board of Canada, 1991). Our ancestor’s Cree name is lost. George Taylor’s
name is still carved into the Churchill River shoreline rock as “Geo.Taylor 0787” (July 1787) along with
explorer Samuel Hearne’s name (1767). Although Cree, she was named Margaret Taylor as the country-
wife of Sir Simpson. When he married his cousin and brought her back from England, he gave Margaret
and their two sons to Amable Hogue. She was renamed Marquerite Hoque and is buried hundreds of miles
from York Factory, in our family cemetery in St. Charles, Winnipeg.
39
My mother was a Canadian child born to British immigrants who settled in
Manitoba around WWI. Her parents were Ellen and Fredrick Keen. In other words, I
represent both the oppressors and the oppressed—the oblivious and the cognizant—of
Indigenous identities distorted by a macro culture’s prejudice, racism, and governmental
policies. I am also the mother of a Saulteaux/Anishinaabe (adopted) son who was part of
the “Sixties Scoop;”
121
and grandmother of three (biological) Métis, nine “half”
Saulteaux, and three (adopted) Ethiopian grandchildren.
I am a founding board member of NAIITS, editor of the NAIITS Journal,
founding Co-Chair of the Aboriginal Task Force of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada
(which morphed into the Aboriginal Ministry Council which I also co-chaired); I was a
participant in Sacred Assembly (1995), and two WCGIP events (Israel and New
Zealand), and I am a doctoral candidate at Asbury Theological Seminary under a NAIITS
agreement. I served as a board member/treasurer of North End Family Center [NEFC], an
Indigenous led non-profit in the heart of Winnipeg’s Indigenous community from January
2016 through August 2017. I have recently been asked to join the board of Inner City
Youth Alive (I have deferred). I also frequently help plan conferences and/or speak at
events in Inner City Winnipeg. I am a current board member of Indigenous Pathways—
NAIITS, Wiconi, and two other ministries function under that organizational structure. I
121
We adopted our youngest son in 1974. The term “Sixties Scoop,” alternatively “60s Scoop,” refers to
Canada’s Indigenous children who were taken from their homes in the latter half of the 1960s through the
1980s, often under suspicious circumstances with minimal accountability. The children were usually
adopted into non-Indigenous homes in Canada and internationally. The Canadian Government announced
an almost 800 million dollars settlement on October 6, 2017. The children lost their identity, language, and
culture. We were led to believe our son’s birth mother was from Manitoba. We were told he was non-Status
(had no Treaty community). He received a government letter in April 2015 stating he is “full Status Indian”
from George Gordon First Nation, Treaty 4—without an apology. The government lied to us. More
importantly, they stole our child’s identity from him. See “Agreement-in-Principle reached to resolve the
Sixties Scoop Litigation,” Indigenous and Northern Affairs (Oct. 6, 2017), Government of Canada,
accessed Oct. 7, 2017, https://www.canada.ca/en/indigenous-northern-affairs/news/2017/10/agreement-in-
rinciplereachedtoresolve thesixtiesscooplitigation.html.
40
have been participating in reclamation of identity through contextualization for twenty-
five years. I self-identify as a flawed follower of Jesus Christ.
Delimitations
Although my presupposition is that Indigenous retraditionalization and
reclamation movements are occurring globally based on participant observation at
WCGIP events, both by followers of Jesus and by those to whom Jesus is either unknown
or considered irrelevant, my concern is primarily with Jesus-followers. While I could not
assume each person’s motivation is identical or even similar, I did assess observable
outcomes, which will be addressed in Chapters Four and Five. As noted, signed contracts
and surveys will not suit this particular research.
Due to the geographical vastness of North America, the regional research will
focus on First Contact with Jesuits in Canada with some references to post-first contact,
for example, with the Lakota Sioux as representative of historical realities and impacts
that are relevant to those founding Wiconi International and NAIITS.
Attention is paid to selected literature produced by opponents to reclamation of
culture and contextualization; nevertheless, such work is not a focal point of this research.
The inner-city community of Winnipeg represents the diffusion theory test.
However, the nature of the community does not suit a quantitative test to determine if a
critical mass has adopted reclamation of culture. The community of inner city ministries
is relatively small with denominational divisions and no natural gathering place;
therefore, interviews, conversations, and participation observation inform this study.
Determining sustainability of the reclamation of culture movement is beyond the
parameters of this work, although some extrapolations will be drawn.
41
Innu and Inuit are self-identifying terms for the far northern Indigenous peoples
(although there are also Déne, James Bay Cree, and others who reside in the north). The
North End does have a small population of Innu. Many are transient as they or relatives
are in Winnipeg for medical reasons. Even though Inuit (“Eskimos”) attended WCGIP,
they will be excluded from specific consideration since their “first contact” stories occur
later and are geographically too diverse to examine in this research.
While much is to be learned from every Indigenous community’s journey and
each individual’s experience, not every Indigenous group named will be researched or
enlarged upon. At the local level, being able to communicate in the mother tongues of the
prospective interviewees (Cree, Anishinaabe, or Oji-Cree) would be advantageous.
However, since many have lost their mother tongues through colonization and since the
majorities who reside in Winnipeg speak English, interviews are conducted in English.
Reclamation, ideally, should result in revitalized commitment to Jesus Christ
expressed in deeper discipleship. This idealized state, however, is somewhat subjective
and difficult to measure objectively especially juxtaposing numerous Indigenous cultures
with Western expectations, particularly in the structure of “doing church.”
122
Under colonialism, descriptors of people groups often conflict with self-
identifying names. At the beginning of this project, “Aboriginal” was the preferred
collective descriptor for “Indian”/First Nations, “Eskimo”/Inuit, and “Half-Breed”/Métis
peoples. That term fell out of favor and has been replaced by “Indigenous,” as reflected in
the name change of the Indian Department (1755) to a division of Department of
Northern Affairs and National Resources (1936) to Department of Indian and Northern
122
For example, pews stacked behind one another and a hierarchical leader at the front are at odds with a
sacred circle where all are equal.
42
Affairs (1966)
123
to Indian and Inuit Affairs (1978)
124
to Aboriginal Affairs and Northern
Development (2011)
125
to Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada (2015). Use of the
terms is further explained in the Glossary (pages xff).
Preliminary Overview of the Study
This study is organized into five chapters: Chapter One: Introduction to the study;
Chapter Two: Acquisition, Dispossession, and Marginalization: The Impact of First
Contact on Indigenous Peoples, with the historiographical foundation and consequences;
Chapter Three: Crises and Resistance as Sociopolitical Activism as First Peoples respond
to loss and marginalization; Chapter Four: The Innovation and Diffusion of
Contextualization within the Reclamation of Culture Movement introduces events that
kindle organizations and individuals to innovate and to diffuse information to create a
better future; and Chapter Five: Imperialism to Indigeneity: Impact of the Reclamation of
Culture Movement at the Local Level (Winnipeg, Manitoba), seeks to discern a path
towards a change point in Indigenous experiences of self-theologizing by Indigenous
followers of Jesus.This final chapter provides an anthropological view of Winnipeg, an
introduction to organizations and individuals who minister in the inner city, a summary of
the study, an analysis of innovation and diffusion at the global, regional, and local levels,
123
See Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada, “A History of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada,”
Government of Canada, accessed Oct. 9, 2017, https://www.aadncaandc.gc.ca/eng /1314977281262
/1314977321448.
124
See “Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada,” Canadian Encyclopedia, accessed Oct. 9, 2017,
thecanadianencyclopedia.ca.
125
Bill Curry, “Aboriginal Affairs: A new name with an uncertain meaning,” First Peoples, Globe and
Mail, accessed Oct. 9, 2017, beta.globeandmail.com.
43
and conclusions drawn from the research along with recommended areas for further
research.
126
Conclusion
The purpose of this introductory chapter is to set forth questions which determine
the parameters for my dissertation. The primary question is stated thus: Has the
contemporary Reclamation of Culture Movement by Indigenous followers of Jesus
positioned Indigenous peoples to do self-theologizing at the local level in Canada?
Here I presented an introduction to my research. It states that I will compare the
experiences and consequences of colonization of Indigenous peoples in three locations:
(1) the Māori in Aotearoa/New Zealand, (2) Native Americans in the U.S. and Indigenous
peoples in Canada, and (3) First Nations and Métis ending with local church leaders in
Winnipeg, to represent the global/regional/local levels in networking theory—in
particular, diffusion of innovation theory. This study highlights consequent impacts on
identity and social order, crisis/resistance related to the sociopolitical realm and the
resultant resistance literature. What I theorized and herein prove is the latter’s connection
with the ROCM within the Indigenous expression of the church. I do this through the
selection of five key historical events, and five influential organizations. To demonstrate
the social networking that has energized (or blocked) the movement, I selected five
individuals. The fifth individual will represent its influence, or lack thereof, at the
grassroots leadership level and therefore provides the test for potential sustainability and
on-going diffusion. I additionally conducted interviews with five individuals who
minister in the inner city of Winnipeg, including Pastor A. The significance of the
126
See Table A.1 in Appendix 1 for summarization of the selected events, organizations and individuals
highlighted in this study.
44
research and its relevance within Indigenous Christian communities in Canada is stated.
By extension, it is relevant also to Indigenous peoples in the United States and New
Zealand. A review of literature is included in the text of this dissertation; ethical
considerations as well as my bias are noted, and tentative data collecting strategies and
methodologies stated.
This paper also focuses on the theological inadequacies intrinsic to ethnocentric
and human-centered theologies in missions. The intention is not to discourage missionary
activity, but purposely to discover when and where it is promoting healthy identity,
healing, and wholeness or where it can be improved upon.
127
Debates over what is appropriate for Christian life and worship have existed as
long as the Church, as we are reminded by a reading of the Book of Acts. In previous
centuries and diverse cultures, there have been those who moved in the direction of
contextualization while others took the position of defender of the faith, often motivated
by a fear of syncretism. Syncretism sometimes—perhaps always—occurs as successful
contextualization is a movement towards something new, yet compatible with the
received gospel. In this research process, I am comforted by the words of Geertz, “This
backward order of things—first you write and then you figure out what you are writing
about—may seem odd, or even perverse, but it is, I think, at least most of the time,
standard procedure in cultural anthropology.”
128
127
Neil Darragh, “Hazardous missions and shifting frameworks,” paper for the IAMS assembly in Malaysia
(2004), accessed Nov. 23, 2012, http://missionstudies.org/archive/conference/1papers/fp/Neil_ Darragh _
Full_paper.pdf.
128
Geertz, The Interpretation of Cultures, Preface to the 2000 Edition, v.
45
CHAPTER TWO
ACQUISITION, DISPOSSESSION, AND MARGINALIZATION:
THE IMPACT OF FIRST CONTACT ON INDIGENOUS PEOPLES
My only object was to raise them from savage and revolting cannibalism, to the
position of happy and civilized cottagers each village with its little Church and
School. Each family with their neat and boarded Cottage, surrounded by their
orchards and wheatfields … and their women no longer laboring as beasts of
burden, but engaged with their sewing, …. These are the plans I formed.
−John Morgan
This second chapter addresses the first of five events, identified as First Contact,
and the commonalities and consequences experienced at the global, regional, and local
levels. The objective is to understand the underlying motivation for Indigenous peoples to
reclaim their identities through their reclaimed culture. Evidence is noted of early
resistance to colonial assimilation attempts. Braided into this part of the narrative is the
role of the Jesuits in colonial missions as the first of five organizations that acted as
change points in history. The objective will be accomplished by presenting selected
details, seeking both positive and negative voices, with the goal of demonstrating social
consequences experienced by the colonized.
1
Since this is being presented from an
Indigenous perspective, it is inevitable that more of the negative consequences will be
brought forward—events and words overlooked in the dominant educational system.
Given that in Canada, up to the present day, education on the country’s history has been
from a single perspective of the descendants of settlers, this work is seeking to hear the
voices of the silenced. The following table illustrates the overall scheme of this chapter.
1
This is not to suggest the colonizer remained unchanged, but that is subject matter for a different
dissertation.
46
Table 2.1. Elements of Chapter Two
ELEMENT
Triad I
GLOBAL
New Zealand & North America
Triad II
REGIONAL
North America
Triad III
LOCAL
Canada / Winnipeg
EVENT 1
Colonization
First Contact
England
Treaty of Waitangi 1840
First Contact
Spain/Portugal
France
England
Dutch
First Contact
France
England
ORGANIZATION 1
Colonization
Jesuits
Exemplar for:
Anglican Missions
Methodists Missions
Jesuits
Exemplar for:
Anglican/Episcopalian
Methodists
Puritans
Quakers
Jesuits
Event 1: First Contact Commonalities and Consequences
They came by ones and twos, dozens and hundreds— then unremitting waves
assaulting the shores. They journeyed by ship, on foot, in wagons and canoes, or on
horseback. They left their lands of birth craving adventure, hungering for imperial fame,
or seeking new resources to feed the unrelenting appetite of an industrial age. They left
homes driven by strife with fellow-countrymen, dreaming of creating conflicting visions
of utopia. The greater number came compelled by poverty and depleted resources in their
homelands. Others found themselves shipped off as prisoners or servants, spit out by their
mother land. Some were abducted—sold to work and die as slaves on the sugar
plantations and cotton fields producing products to satisfy European markets. A
pioneering mission movement attracted Christians who braved the journey convinced that
they possessed spiritual truth and life lessons that the uncivilized heathen required.
At first only men came. The earliest explorers, trappers, traders, settlers, priests,
missionaries, and colonizers required help from the First Peoples to survive. Europeans
brought enticing goods unlike anything along the ancient trading routes. Initially seen as
47
curiosities, these goods soon morphed into coveted possessions and necessities. Two
trading goods created desire with deadly consequences—guns and alcohol. What the
migrants wanted—what corporations too often still crave—is land, land and its resources.
Indigenous flora, fauna, and humans inhabited the new lands. The humans
demonstrated a persistent resistance to Western ways, mores, and values. In a word, they
proved “inconvenient” to colonizers’ dreams and desires,
2
or, as Helmut Schoeck
theorizes—their covetousness.
3
The Europeans brought their cultures, epistemologies,
values, theologies, resourcefulness, technology, and a tradition of warring over the nature
of God and his decrees. They also carried a concept of “the savage” as Robert Williams
argues in his work Savage Anxieties.
4
The savage, he contends, fall into two categories:
Wild or Noble. Both are dangerous. The latter at any point may revert to his natural
nature, which is wild. Europeans, as the epitome of civilization according to Williams,
look outwards, beyond civilization where the savage inhabits the wilderness, as I
summarize in the illustration below.
2
Thomas King, The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America (Toronto,
ON: Doubleday Canada, 2012).
3
See Helmut Schoeck, Envy: A Theory of Social Behaviour, trans. by Martin Secker and Warburg Limited
(New York: Harcourt, Bruce and World,1969; repr., North Shadeland, IN: Liberty Fund, 1985); first
published as Der Neid: Eine Theorie der Gesellschaft (Germany, 1966). Schoeck’s theory is that the root
cause of negative social behaviour can be attributed to envy, encountered as greed. At times this may seem
an obvious conclusion to draw, as when Indigenous peoples respond to economic disparity. However, at
times clashes occurred based on social organization, worldviews, and values.
4
Robert A. Williams, Savage Anxieties: The Invention of Western Civilization (New York, NY: Palgrave
Macmillan, 2012). Rooted in the word for wild, Les sauvages is the primary word the French have for the
Indigenous peoples of New France. For a contemporary application of this, see John Stackhouse article and
NAIITS response in Appendix 7 of this study.
48
Figure 2.1. Robert Williams’s Concept of the Savage.
Politics, profit, and mission are often inseparable in the colonial era as colonies
and countries formed. David Bebbington writes “Because the past shapes the present, a
just understanding of the past is important for any individual, society, or church.”
5
Equally important, the present shapes the future. Therefore, the historical section will
serve a vital purpose in laying the raison d’etre for an ancient-new way via the
reclamation of culture. To not tell the story that comes before would be to disrespect the
losses and the social consequences that haunt Indigenous lives today.
The Global Impact of First Contact on Indigenous Peoples: Māori
With buoyant step Balboa
6
hastened to the beach, and, while the tide laved his
feet, took possession of the newly-discovered [Great Pacific] ocean, and all the
lands washed by its waters, in the name of the King of Spain. −Robert Ward
5
David Bebbington, promotional quote for Carl R. Trueman, Histories and Fallacies: Problems Faced in
Writing History (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2010), back cover.
6
His full name: Vasco Nunez de Balboa.
49
What the Māori faced as the genesis of European colonization in Aotearoa in the
early nineteenth century, the colonizers experienced as the waning days of “discovery”
through global exploration and expansion. The British, described as “latecomers”
7
to the
task of colonization, had successfully staked their claim to vast portions of land including
the greater part of North America, but later relinquished a large segment in 1776 to an
independent United States. Northward, what would become the second largest nation in
the world, geographically speaking, would birth the Dominion of Canada in 1867 after
England’s defeat of New France, having enlarged its territory through the purchase of
Rupert’s Land from the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1869/70.
8
Thus, the colonizers of
New Zealand had been at the collective task of colonization for centuries. For the Māori,
colonial rites of passage would be swift and painful.
Emphasizing missions draws out commonalities experienced by First Peoples.
These commonalties will be assessed alongside the opportunities or obstructions to self-
theologizing. Thus, First Contact provides an overview at the global level beginning with
the first European seafarers and culminating after the Treaty of Waitangi 1840. It is at
this time that the people were collectively called Māori.
9
7
Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson, Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and
Poverty (New York, NY: Crown Business/Crown Publishing Group, 2012), 19. The authors base their
comment on the poverty England experienced as a result of the War of the Roses (1455-85/87), as “She
was in no state to take advantage of the scramble for loot and gold and the opportunity to exploit the
indigenous peoples …”, but the good fortune after defeating Spain (1588) led to colonial endeavours.
8
See Rupert’s Land, Canadian Encyclopedia, accessed Feb. 28, 2013, http://www.thecanadian
encyclopedia.com/articles/ruperts-land. Also spelled Rupertsland, England’s King Charles II named the
territory after his cousin in 1670, but granted it to the Hudson’s Bay Company. The British North American
Act, 1867, transferred it to Canadian ownership without consulting First Peoples.
9
In the next chapter the Māori story of the crisis/resistance phase culminates in the Treaty of Waitangi Act
1975. Full texts for both treaties are available from a variety of New Zealand Government websites.
50
Pre-Contact at Global Level
The term “pre-contact” is used to refer to Indigenous societies prior to sustained
contact with Europeans. In this study, the Europeans are primarily British (in spite of
Balboa’s buoyancy over the Pacific), plus the French in northern North America,
although on occasion other European nations are included to fill in the story.
The self-identity of the Māori is rooted in the era of thirteenth century migration
in massive and ornate canoes to the land of the long white cloud. Thus, the canoe, the
journey, and land loom large in Māori symbolism and culture.
10
The Māori structured
their societies around chiefdoms. Each chief had a linkage or connection to particular
land, and his people to a particular canoe. Mark Allen describes the role of fortifications
in this era.
11
These structures contributed to power shifts—the rise and fall of chiefdoms.
The fortifications consisted of fenced “forts” called pa
12
built atop hills. Allen highlights
six Māori characteristics: (1) a series of pa suited the population density; (2) food was
stored in the pa; (3) boundaries of each pa were recognized by other groups; (4) the
autonomy of each pa was accepted; (5) a place of refuge, pa symbolized their occupants
and leaders; and, (6) pa “represented Māori economic projects and investments.”
13
Religious life and structures bore little likeness to European ones. Symbols,
rituals, protocol, cosmology, myth, supernatural beings, concepts of the sacred and
10
Hans Mol, The Fixed and The Fickle: Religion and Identity in New Zealand (Waterloo, ON: Wilfred
Laurier University Press, 1982), 7-9. I found individual Māori in conversation who date this earlier.
11
Mark W. Allen, “Hillforts and Cycling of Maori Chiefdoms: Do Good Fences Make Good Neighbors?”
in Jim A. Railey and Richard Martin Reycraft, Global Perspectives on the Collapse of Complex Systems;
Anthropological Papers no. 8 (Albuquerque, NM: Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, 2008).
12
Sometimes capitalized, as by Morgan in Jan Pilditch, ed., The Letters and Journals of Reverend John
Morgan, vol.1 (Glasgow, UK: Grimsay Press, 2010), 39; at other times spelled Pah by Robert Ward, et al,
Life among the Maoris of New Zealand: Being a Description of Missionary, Colonial, and Military
Achievements (Breinigsville, PA: n.p., 2009), 18.
13
Allen, “Hillforts,” 77.
51
mundane, warfare, cannibalism,
14
obligations to community, and kinship/social roles all
had their place in Māori life and identity. The primordial emergence of the female god
Papa (or Papatuanuku as Earth Mother
15
) was followed by the male god Rangi (Sky
Father). Hans Mol describes this “gendered binary view of existence”
16
complete with
multiple offspring including a rebellious son, Tane. This worldview is complicated by
“an alternative cosmology [featuring] IO—the uncreated creator—with Tane and his
brothers responsible for evil.”
17
James Irwin concludes, despite diversity in creation
stories, “We have a coherent account of the worldview of the Maori.”
18
The cultural and
theological contrasts provided potential points for clashing or for contextualizing.
The first Christian sermon in Māori land is credited to Samuel Marsden on
Christmas Day, 1814.
19
Marsden, an Anglican, served with the Church Missionary
Society, He could not speak or understand the Maori language or culture.
14
Keith Newman, Bible & Treaty, Missionaries among the Maori–A New Perspective (Rosedale, NZ:
Penguin Books, 2010), 9. He addresses the cannibalism in the Pacific Islands in an unflinching manner. The
horror of it to Europeans perhaps was matched by the horror of gun powder−murder-from-a-distance.
Huron and Iroquoian practiced cannibalism. Daniel Reff, Plagues, Priests, Demons: Sacred Narratives
and the Rise of Christianity in the Old World and the New (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press,
2005), 138, reveals the cannibalism in France in 1572, following the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre.
15
James Irwin, “Maori Primal Religion,” in Exploring New Religious Movements: Essays in Honour of
Harold W. Turner, eds., A. F. Walls and Wilbert R. Shenk (Elkhard, IN: Mission Focus Pub., 1990), 55.
16
Mol, The Fixed and The Fickle, 22.
17
Ibid., 22f. This is a simplistic summarization of a complex belief system that differed among Māori
traditions. For a contemporary re-telling or reclaiming, see Samuel Timoti Robinson, Tohunga: The
Revival; Ancient Knowledge for the Modern Era (New Zealand: Reed Books, 2005). Also, see J. Irwin,
“Maori Primal Religion,” 54f. The name IO was revealed to outsiders at an 1860 gathering.
18
J. Irwin, “Maori Primal Religion,” 55.
19
Samuel Marsden, “The Letters and Journals of Samuel Marsden, 1765-1838,” accessed Jan. 23, 2014,
http://www.enzb.auckland.ac.nz/docs/Marsden/PDF/mars1000.pdf. Note: original punctuation all in upper
case. Marsden served as Senior Chaplain in the Colony of New South Wales and Superintendent of the
Mission of the Church Missionary Society. Also, see Newman, Bible and Treaty, 44.
52
First Contact at Global Level: Acquisition and Dispossession
20
The first known recorded description of the Māori is from the Dutch explorer
Abel Jansen Tazman in 1642. It was he who named the area Nova Zeelandia, and penned
his impressions of a large people with hoarse voices,
These people were of a colour between brown and yellow, their hair long and
black, and almost as thick as the Japanese, combed up and fixed on the top of
their heads with a quill, or some such thing, that was thickest in the middle, and
with a white feather stuck up in the knot. These people cover the middle of their
bodies with some kind of a mat, others with a sort of woollen [sic] cloth; but as
for their upper and lower parts, they leave them altogether naked.
21
Europeans marveled at the painful, elaborate, and intricate scrollwork tattoos
along with the green stone ornamentation (pounamu
22
) worn as a necklace, passed on as
heirlooms, common to this day. Men had full faced tattoos; women’s only covered lips
and chins.
23
Captain James Cook, in spite of losing crew members, some cannibalized,
described the Māori as “brave, noble, open and benevolent [in] disposition, but they are a
people who will never put up with an insult if they have an opportunity to resent it.”
24
Robert Ward lived for decades in New Zealand as a Primitive Methodist
missionary, completing his history of the Māori people in 1872. He described the Māori
as “an industrious people. The neat and orderly state of their plantations of taro and
20
The term “first contact” (or pre-Columbian period) is inaccurate since at all three levels European contact
pre-dated the accepted settler mythologies such as Christopher Columbus Day in the United States.
21
Ward, Life among the Maoris, 15. Newman also claims to quote from Tasman’s (or Tazman’s) journal,
but the two differ, likely due to translation. See Newman, Bible and Treaty, 15.
22
Ward spelled it poenamu, but Hannah Haiu (now Hannah Chapman) corrected it for me. Hannah Haiu,
e-mail correspondence, Nov. 27, 13. Ward, Life among the Maories, 82f. It is still considered an honour to
be gifted with one.
23
See Sketches of Tohitapu (1823) and Rawiri Taiwhanga (1829) in Caroline Fitzgerald, ed., Letters from
the Bay of Islands: The Story of Marianne Williams (Phoenix Mill, UK: Sutton Publishing, 2004), facing
page 79; also Te Pahi (n.d.) and Hongi Hika (n.d.), n.p. [fifth page following p.78].
24
Newman, Bible and Treaty, 15.
53
kumaras attracted the attention of Captain Cook.”
25
He noted they were known for their
“excellence of industry”
26
and their crops frequently out-produced newcomers.
Church Mission Society [CMS] missionary Richard Taylor’s 1836 description of
the Māori is quite dark, written before he met a Māori. In 1845, he reported on a visit to a
pa; “poor creatures I do not know a more filthy set than they are or any who have made
less progress in civilization.”
27
Once he came to know Māoris his descriptions changed
gradually. After he acquiesced to a traditional greeting by pressing noses, he reflected on
this custom, allowing that his people had seemingly odd customs also; “I was thinking
what a dirty barbarous custom the smearing of the head with red ochre and oil was but
then I remembered the scarcely obsolete custom of wearing powder [in hair] which is
quite as bad; and the native custom of wearing a great bunch of white Albatross down
stuck in the ear is quite equaled by the wig or earring.”
28
He then concluded: “England’s
painted savages are now the most highly civilized race on the face of the globe.”
29
James Cook is credited with the beginning of Māori colonization having formally
“taken” the islands for George III in 1769.
30
Cook’s first voyage brought casualties:
Europeans lost twenty-six crew members in one encounter; the Māori lost twelve times as
25
Ward, Life among the Maoris of New Zealand, 85.
26
Ibid.
27
J.M.R. Owens, The Mediator: A Life of Richard Taylor, 1805-1873 (Wellington, NZ: Victoria University
Press, 2004), 110.
28
Ibid., 111.
29
Ibid., 109
30
Ward, Life among the Maoris of New Zealand, 19 (referencing Nov. 15, 1769).
54
many.
31
Occasionally Māori were kidnapped. In 1793 two victims were returned by the
British.
32
They then acted as ambassadors. They brought home British goods, along with
knowledge of the language and the culture.
33
European settlement began tentatively with
merchants and missionaries, increasing rapidly after 1840.
In Keith Newman’s study, he states that the British brought to their late eighteenth
century colonial endeavor in Aotearoa an altered attitude, “a new humanitarian and
Christian conscience had entered public thinking ahead of any colonizing plans for New
Zealand.”
34
Yet, from the Māori perspective, the British ships also meant death or
kidnapping. The evidence for more humanitarian missionaries presents a mixed picture.
It mattered greatly to the Māori when the British evaluated ports and land for their
strategic accessibility and value. Perhaps as early as the sixteenth century ships sighted
along its shoreline signified trading goods. In spite of sporadic loss of life on both sides,
from the Māori perspective, where missionaries and settlers situated themselves there was
access to trading—beginning in earnest in 1814.
35
Samuel Marsden had met a few Māori and held a relatively high opinion of them.
He moved to New Zealand, claiming “Faith and prayer will again build the walls of
Jerusalem, even if obliged to hold the Trowel in one Hand, and the Sword in another.”
36
31
Newman, Bible and Treaty, 16.
32
Ibid. They assumed that the Māori men could teach their flax weaving techniques in the Norfolk Island—
except weaving was gender specific so the men did not know how. They eventually returned to Aotearoa.
Other men were kidnapped to serve on ships. Still other Māori ventured out on ships travelling as crew
bound for South Pacific Islands or as far as England. Ibid., 30-37, 43 and 78. Occasionally European ships
left port without paying the Māori for their trade goods. Ibid., 43.
33
Newman, Bible and Treaty, 18f.
34
Ibid., 7.
35
Angela Middleton, Te Puna—A New Zealand Mission Station: Historical Archeology in New Zealand
(Dunedin, NZ: University of Otago, 2008), 86.
36
Newman, Bible and Treaty, 29 & 41.
55
He chose the eastern side towards the tip of the North Island as his primary “station,”
populating it with about twenty people plus convicts as servants.
37
The station lasted for
sixteen years. Te Puna, the next station, was southwest and functioned for four decades.
The newcomers exerted growing pressure and control over the Māori. The stability of life
and potential conversions seemed precarious to the British. Alcohol arrived in the form of
rum.
38
It would contribute to generational havoc. Jealousies developed between chiefs
and pa over newly-gained wealth.
39
Samuel Leigh, Wesleyan Methodist Mission Society [WMMS], left his Australian
mission in 1819 to begin a new work at Whangaroa (north-east Bay of Islands) to “the
rude savages of New Zealand,”
40
anticipating difficulties and suffering.
41
His objectives
included establishing schools, enabling agriculture, fair-trade in goods, and salvation of
souls. Schooling the young “savages” would ideally weaken superstitions, barbarism and
“absurd opinions.”
42
While the mission forbade trading firearms and accumulation of
property, it did allow for acquisition of five hundred acres of land.
43
37
Newman, Bible and Treaty, 42
38
R.F. Keam, Dissolving Dream: The Improbable Story of the first Baptist Maori Mission (Auckland, NZ:
University of Auckland, 2004), 39. Keam states that the only alcohol was mildly fermented fruit juice.
39
See Schoeck, Envy, 390f, where he discusses the Māori custom of muru, a socially acceptable way to
plunder those who have more (or have stuff you want). From Schoeck’s cultural standpoint, this amounted
to robbery. The Māori, however, seemed to view it as a redistribution of wealth, their version of taxation.
40
J.R.M. Owens, Prophets in the Wilderness: The Wesleyan Mission to New Zealand, 1819-27(Auckland,
NZ: Auckland University Press, 1974) 13.
41
Alexander Strachan, Remarkable Incidents in the Life of the Rev. Samuel Leigh, Missionary to the
Settlers and Savages of Australia and New Zealand, with a Succinct History of the Origin and Progress of
the Missions in those Colonies, 2nd ed. (London, England, n.p., MDCCCLV [1855]), 14, imprint by
Stanford University Libraries, accessed Jan. 23, 2013, http://books.google.ca/books?hl=en&lr=&id=
F74MAAAAIAAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA13&dq=Samuel+Leigh+Bay+of+Islands&ots=90swffXD5y&sig=slWq
mTCWg7o2GatB23x5sHmPtAU#v=onepage&q=Samuel%20Leigh%20Bay%20of%20Islands&f=false.
42
Owens, Prophets in the Wilderness, 13f.
43
Ibid., 13-17.
56
Owens, in Prophets in the Wilderness, tells the story of Leigh. Owens argues that
contrary to the theory of social determinism, the Māoris at Whangaroa exhibited a
willingness to participate in the exchange of ideas with the British.
44
This is in line with
Michael Rynkiewich’s description of culture as contingent, constructed, and contested.
45
Not unlike globalization, colonization was an “‘engagement,’ not a done deal.”
46
Missionaries debated whether “civilization” resulted in or from conversion.
47
Dismissive
attitudes towards the complexity of Māori culture and the rapidity of changing social
order created a climate for impending conflict while whalers traded muskets with the
Māori. Mission activity almost halted in the 1820s during the Musket Wars. “In the three
decades to 1832 at least 20,000 Māori had been killed by other Māori during the
bloodiest battles in New Zealand’s precolonial history.”
48
This death toll does not include
the Māori who died from diseases or at the hand of Europeans.
CMS missionary Henry William, troubled by rumours that the New Zealand
Company [NZC] hungered for land acquisitions, intervened with a letter stating his
concern “that unless some protection be given by the British Government, the country
44
Owens, Prophets in the Wilderness, 141-146.
45
Michael A. Rynkiewich, “The World in my Parish: Rethinking the Standard Missiological Model,”
Missiology 30.3 (2002): 301-21, 315f. Rynkiewich states on p. 316: “Against the background of the
‘standard anthropological model’…, we need to consider the model of culture as contingent, constructed,
and contested. As it turns out, our own deeply rooted assumptions about life, persons, and cultures,
something like a folk theory of society, tend to pervade our thinking so much that we miss any possibility
for locally understood sociology to be different. We need to understand how culture is contingent on
regional and global flows, how culture is constructed from materials brought into the present over historic
and geographic distances, and how culture is constantly being contested in daily life. If we do not have such
an understanding, we fail to grasp the missionary situation and to communicate the gospel properly.”
46
Michael A. Rynkiewich, Soul, Self, and Society: A Postmodern Anthropology for Mission in a
Postcolonial World (Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2012), 236.
47
King writes, “This idea, that Native people were waiting for Europeans to lead us to civilization, is just a
variation on the old savagism versus civilization dichotomy, but it is a dichotomy that North America trusts
without question.” Thomas King, The Inconvenient Indian, 79; cf. Rynkiewich, Soul, Self, and Society,
195f.
48
Newman, Bible and Treaty, 58-60. “Pre-colonial” is inaccurate given that missionary stations had existed
since 1814. Colonizers were already there.
57
will be bought up, and the people pass into a kind of slavery, or be utterly destroyed.”
49
William was given a document by Captain Hobson in 1840 to translate into Māori. The
translation of the Treaty of Waitangi was read to the chiefs the next morning. “It
guaranteed the Māori chiefs exclusive possession of their lands and estates, forests,
fisheries, in return for ceding sovereignty to Queen Victoria. In all, forty-three chiefs
signed …”
50
Immigration increased from 2,000 to approximately 28,000 in the next
twelve years. “The Treaty helped ensure that for the next century and beyond, most
immigrants to New Zealand would come from the United Kingdom.”
51
The NZC took the lead in amassing land and wealth by pursuing settlers while
offering free passage as indicated in this advertisement:
Agricultural Laborers, Shepherds, Miners, Gardeners, Bricklayers, Mechanics,
Handicraftsmen, and Domestic Servants, BEING MARRIED, and not exceeding
Forty years of age; also for SINGLE FEMALES, under the care of near relatives,
and SINGLE MEN, accompanied by one or more ADULT SISTERS, not
exceeding, in either case, the age of Thirty years. Strict inquiry will be made as to
qualifications and character.
52
Robert Frost used the term “walling out” in a poem addressing the thoughtless
constructions of walls.
53
Walls are not merely physical, but can be constructed in a
metaphorical or metaphysical sense to control, keep at bay, or even eliminate “the other”.
49
Fitzgerald, ed., Letters from the Bay of Islands, 244. By 1850, which is within 12 years, NZC had
increased the population and acquired over a million acres of land. See Newman, Bible and Treaty, 268.
50
Fitzgerald, Letters from the Bay of Islands, 247.
51
“Story: History of immigration; Page 3–British immigration and the New Zealand Company,” n.d.;
accessed Jan. 17, 2018, http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/history-of-immigration/page-3. An actual date is not
provided on the poster, but the early 1840s is evidenced.
52
A reprint of the original advertisement appeared in the New Zealand Herald, 22 January 1940
commemorating the 100th Anniversary of Treaty 1840. See Newman, Bible and Treaty, 189. Emphasis in
original. The missionary Archbishop Octavius Hadfield suffered grave misgivings over the effect of the
thousands of settlers who believed the NZC owned vast portions of land to sell to them cheaply. He rightly
feared war would result from illegitimate land deals. Ibid., 128f and 188-192.
53
Robert Frost, Mending Wall. The reference “before I built a wall I’d ask to know/What I was walling in
or walling out/And to whom I was like to give offense.” Allen, “Hillforts” cites from this.
58
Allen, as noted previously, wrote of the pa “walls” contributing to power shifts.
54
Under
colonialism, old Māori walls literally and figuratively broke down. “Times were probably
pretty good,” Allen wrote, “for the early colonists on Aotearoa. … [In time] birds became
scarcer through human predation and habitat destruction …. The pressure only increased
as human populations expanded and resources continued to dwindle.”
55
Flora and fauna
suffered, but the Māori suffered also, chiefly attributable to land acquired by Pakeha
through greed (on both sides) and deceit which fueled wars. European immigration
impacted cultural norms, inter-tribal relationships, living standards, and cultural values in
profound and lasting ways. British social structures, powerful weaponry, and decreasing
Māori autonomy— combined with the devaluing of pa and its embedded symbolism—
seemed inevitable. Both colonized and colonizer experienced the necessity for innovation
in search of a new stability—a new norm.
56
Māori religion had its own expression. Misunderstandings of the complexity of
Māori stories, terminology, concepts, and social norms led to confusion over the new
message the strangers brought. Questions arose over the certainty of Christian
conversions based on converts who seemed intrigued with selective aspects of the
teachings. Tensions increased from the imposition of British authority, for example,
observing the Lord’s Day when the Māori had no concept of European time divisions.
57
Many Māori feared hospitals since their custom required burning buildings in which
54
Allen, “Hillforts,” 77.
55
Ibid., 69. Of particular concern, the loss of the moa birds (likely the largest food source available) led
Pilditch to quote Patricia Burns who surmised that the early Māori who had access to moa flesh did not eat
human flesh, and “At times Maoris ate human flesh for the same reason that other people have done so:
simple hunger.” Pilditch, The Letters and Journals of John Morgan, vol. 1, xx; quoting Patricia Burns, Te
Rauparaha A New Perspective (Wellington: Reed, 1980), 25. Burns’ point is difficult to affirm or disprove.
56
Mol, The Fixed and The Fickle.
57
Newman, Bible and Treaty, 52f. Newman complained they valued building tribal mana more than
learning about Christianity.
59
people died.
58
Additionally, the Māoris reacted against the economic disparity and the
European model of nuclear family isolated from kinship group responsibilities and
fellowship.
59
Other roadblocks to conversion included the English authoritarian
leadership style, their unremitting quest for land, and the social disintegration
experienced as a result of mission activities and trade. On the other side, missionaries
were concerned over constant warfare between tribes and the Protestant anxiety over
idleness.
60
Few could comprehend the others’ point of view. Robert Ward’s analysis
concluded,
The Maories were, in a certain sense, religious people; for they never engaged in
any important undertaking without first uttering a karakia—some sort of prayer or
incantation …. At the return of a war party, the tolunga, or priest, was again
engaged, and various ceremonies performed. But their religion afforded them no
comfort when their heart was rung with anguish; … it tormented them with
witchcraft, and a thousand other fears …
61
Ward further noted the confusion the British had in comprehending the complicated
concept of tapu or sacredness/consequences.
62
“But if the Tapu was helpful in some
respects, in the absence of law and order properly understood, it was an inconvenient
institution in other cases;”
63
particularly to foreigners when it resulted in their deaths.
In an archeological/historical study of the mission at Te Puna, a portrait of the
CMS station has a household model not an institutional model: (1) the house structure
58
Peter Oettli, God’s Messenger: J.F. Riemenschneider and Racial Conflict in 19th Century New Zealand
(Wellington, Aotearoa NZ: Huia Publishers, 2008), 124f.
59
Owens, Prophets in the Wilderness: 141-146.
60
Newman, Bible and Treaty, 52f. This is at a time when England had recently passed Wilberforce’s
Abolition of the Slave Trade Act (1807) and Europeans had for centuries been at warfare with one another.
61
Ward, Life among the Maoris of New Zealand, 79.
62
Oettli, God’s Messenger, 123f. Here he points out similarities between the concept of tabu (taboo) and
missionary Riemenschneider’s ascribing illness and crop failure to Māori disobedience to God.
63
Ward, Life among the Maoris of New Zealand, 79.
60
used local materials, yet bore no resemblance to Māori structures; (2) it was set apart
from the pa; (3) it bore almost no evidence of Māori culture although Māori children
resided with the missionary family; (4) it contained items such as tools and dishes
reflective of colonization; (5) it revealed evidence of a typical English diet; (6) it showed
the CMS value of homeland societal class-structures, including domestication of women;
and, (7) it reinforced that missionaries played a key role in the beginning of the
colonization process.
64
The study notes “the lack of Maori artifacts speaks loudly about
this changing cultural context into which they [Māori] were incorporated.”
65
Angelo Middleton wrote, “For missionaries trade was the means to gain access to
the prime target of conversion of Maori to Christianity and to wage a war on Maori social
custom.”
66
While the colonized desired the trading goods and negotiated the trading
process, they often did not want the values and religion attached to the goods,
Maori agency continued as Marsden and the first missionaries came to Rangihoua
… Missionaries were desirable to Maori of Rangihoua not for the catechisms,
prayers, and Bibles they brought with them, but for the metal axes and other tools
their blacksmith forged at Oihi. As Marsden had realized, the ideas of Christianity
would be unacceptable unless dressed in more attractive attire, that of material
goods and the “spirit of trade” or commerce that accompanied “civilization” …
Owens considered that literacy was the Trojan Horse that carried the “otherwise
unacceptable ideas” of Christianity into the Maori camp.
67
Missionaries had their own stresses, not the least being slow communication with
their respective mission society, lack of sufficient funding, and constant fear of being
caught in tribal warfare during the first five decades of mission. Inter-mission conflict, for
example between Anglicans and Wesleyans, affected both missionary and Māori. “The
64
This is a summation of the findings in Middleton, Te Puna, 221-223.
65
Ibid., Te Puna, 222.
66
Ibid., Te Puna , 226.
67
Ibid., 225.
61
conflict and divisions that resulted from the bishops’ determined attempts to promote one
God to the Māori, while they fought among themselves, is at best colourful history and at
worst a travesty, as their intended converts tried to navigate their way through those
doctrinal and denominational differences.”
68
With political figures and traders added to
the mix of characters in the colonial drama, “the tapestry is threaded through with the
good, the bad and the ugly”
69
each contributing, depending on the power they wielded.
The Māori story of mission encounters includes the phenomenon of a “people
movement” or mass conversion to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Such a mass conversion is
dated to the late 1830s and attributed to twelve year old Tārore, a chief’s daughter. She
was murdered by a warring tribe. Hearing her beloved translation of the gospel of Luke
led her father to forgive her murderer.
70
One scholar claims the “revival” later came to a
halt because of land grabs and wars.
71
Tensions with settlers led to uprisings, ending in a truce of sorts reached in the
Treaty of Waitangi 1840. However, it resolved little.
72
Middleton speculates that,
While history has glorified (and critiqued) the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in
the Bay of Islands in February 1840 as the definitive moment of colonization and
the seminal event of the Maori and Pakeha relationship, historical archeology
reveals the beginnings of these processes at least two decades earlier, in the
68
Newman, Bible and Treaty, 10. He also makes note of the Roman Catholic mission in addressing “the
schismatic and aggressive nature of mission.”
69
Ibid.
70
Her father consequently had someone read the Gospel of Luke to him. He submitted to Jesus Christ and
forgave his daughter’s murderer, leading to the mass conversion. I first heard the story at her, Tārore’s,
traditional gravesite as told to me by Māori Elders in January 2011. For the missionary perspective see
Malcolm Falloon, To Plough or to Preach: Mission Strategies in New Zealand during the 1820s, Latimer
Studies 72 (London, UK: Latimer Trust, 2010). For the Máori perspective, see the children’s storybook by
Joy Cowley, Tārore and Her Book (Wellington, NZ: Bible Society of New Zealand, 2009).
71
Viv Grigg, The Spirit of Christ and the Postmodern City (Lexington, KY: Emeth Press, 2009), 134,
referencing work by Alan Tippett, People Movements in Southern Polynesia (Chicago: Moody Bible
Institute, 1971), 64-68. “Revival” is hardly the right word for new conversions.
72
Newman, Bible and Treaty, 10. Over a century and a half later, Newman authored this text to counteract
negativity towards early missionaries.
62
household and daily life of the mission, established within the patronage of
Rangihoua Pa. These “grand narratives” took place … within the mission
household and the broader landscape of the subsistence farm.
73
The year 1840 is used herein to signify the culmination of the first contact era.
Although it should be noted that only seven years later missionary John Morgan wrote to
“the Parent Committee” regarding his concern over Earl Grey “claiming on the part of the
British Crown the waste lands belonging to the natives of New Zealand.”
74
Morgan
continued, “It is unnecessary for me to inform you that these instructions are a direct
breach of the Treaty of Watangi … and the result will be that the natives throughout the
island will take up arms and oppose this breach of faith. The Committee will bear in mind
there is not an inch of unclaimed land in New Zealand.”
75
The Māori were not entirely powerless. Perhaps, then, it was the pluralities of
colonization which overwhelmed them. Ward quoted Deuteronomy 7:7-9 to describe the
attitude of the immigrants to the “gift” of this “new” land. He referred to their goal of
“pacification, progress, and prosperity”
76
and concluded,
It is not likely the native people, without any foreign assistance, could ever
appreciate the natural advantages which their country possesses. In their former
state, they were conscious of comparatively few wants, which were easily
supplied. God had prepared the land for another race—a race which is destined,
we trust, to lift up the Maori people to the enjoyment and usefulness of
73
Middleton, Te Puna, 223f.
74
Pilditch, The Letters and Journals, vol. 1, 226.
75
Ibid. In this same letter Morgan tells of a mute son who is 8, requesting he be sent to a public Dumb
Institute in England and makes a notation of nation-wide sickness causing much death: “the Lord has been
pleased to remove two of my Children. Mrs, Morgan and the other children are recovering after a severe
season of sickness” (p. 227). The emotion he expressed in both cases is in such contrast to the deep emotion
he reveals when arguing for “my Natives”. This possessiveness was not limited to Morgan. Oettli, God’s
Messenger, 130 notes that Riemenschneider speaks of a fellow missionary and “his natives” in the 1850s.
See also Canadian John Stackhouse’s use of possessive in Appendix 7 of this study.
76
Ward, Life among the Maoris, viii.
63
civilization, and to contribute to the advancement of the moral and religious
welfare of the southern hemisphere.
77
Apologist Newman argues that “the Treaty of Waitangi would not have been
possible without the missionaries.”
78
He states that new sensibilities and hindsight can
overshadow the reality that “history would have taken an entirely different course if it
hadn’t been for the influence of these committed cultural intermediaries, peacemakers,
educators, and expounders of a new spiritual awareness.”
79
His statement ignores the fact
that not all missionaries stood on the side of justice. Many acted from a deeply rooted
paternalism and/or from expediency.
In the wake of the 1840 Treaty, Māori acquiescence to Pakeha domination was
followed by pockets of resistance bubbling to the surface from time to time, like the
thermal waters at Rotorua, leaving death and destruction. In the early1870s, Ward
referred to local Māori’s “recent unhappy attempt to maintain their nationality by an
appeal to arms….”
80
Optimistically, Ward considers it all “a part of the plan by which
God intends the waste places of the earth to be cultivated and by which those tribes of
mankind … are to be gathered into the fold of the Great Shepherd.”
81
Eventually, Māori
resistance subsided with a re-working of the Treaty more than a century into the future.
77
Ibid., 43. People with “few wants” are a poor prospect for a consumer centered worldview. Meanwhile,
Ward references a census taken in 1871 which enumerates various livestock, notes dairy products in excess
of five million pounds of butter and two and a half million pounds of cheese, with the human population at
256,393 “exclusive of aborigines.” Ibid., ix. Throughout Ward’s text, the matter of commerce and material
extractions from the country is a recurring theme, such as the value of gold extracted in 10 years preceding
1861 from the colony at Victoria being valued at £146,057,444. Ibid., 35.
78
Newman, Bible and Treaty, 7.
79
Ibid., 13. He goes too far when he calls pre-Treaty mission “precolonial” (p. 14).
80
Ward, Life among the Maories of New Zealand, 3f.
81
Ibid., 4. And yet, the “waste places” were the exact places European immigrants coveted.
64
One consequence of colonialism is the half-breed or half-caste
82
children and their
acceptance/rejection by the Indigenous peoples and/or dominant colonizers. Early on
children resulted from rapes or from the role of mistress to a European
83
and occasional
formal marriages. Irwin suggests that half-caste children pre-dated formal settler
colonization.
84
Pilditch quoted John Morgan on this topic:
The Half caste children are very numerous and are a very interesting race….
These children will no doubt in future years exercise great influence amongst their
respective tribes, either for good or for evil. How important then that they should
receive a Christian education. … [They] if attended to … will form a bond of
union between the Europeans and the Native race, and will be exactly the persons
the Society require to act as Schoolmasters and we may hope that some of them
will be ministers of the Gospel.
85
Angela Wanhalla has also written about these children in her cleverly titled book,
In/visible Sight.
86
She begins with the story of her mixed-descent father (born in 1943)
who, because people were puzzled by his physical appearance, he conveniently “recast
his identity at will”
87
passing as different ethnicities. She adds, “In these brief moments
of transformation, my father engaged in a practice adopted by many mixed-descent
82
In my research, New Zealanders prefer “half caste” while in Manitoba the official British/Canadian term
was “half breed” while the French Canadians self-identified as Métis. The Métis are not only a recognized
nation within Canada, they have recently been recast as “Indian.” A half-caste nation never developed in
New Zealand.
83
Newman, Bible and Treaty, 59. Thomas Kendall (1820s) is an example; he had served as a mission
teacher and justice of the peace in Marsden’s area. The woman had been his student and house servant.
84
Irwin, “Maori Primal Religion,” 51.
85
Morgan in Pilditch, The Letters and Journals, vol. 1, xxv. See also Morgan’s ledger for The Half Caste
School dated June 1851-30th July 1852. Ibid., 453f. See also pp. 314-315 which is another example among
many where Morgan states his belief that the half-caste children needed the mission’s full attention. His
school seems to have had at the most 60 students, whereas Morgan’s goal had been 50 girls and 50 boys.
He sought equal education for girls, although their industrial studies would be gender specific. He believed
every mission station should also have a school.
86
Angela Wanhalla, In/visible Sight: The Mixed-Descent Families of Southern New Zealand (Wellington,
NZ: Athabasca University Press, 2010).
87
Ibid., 1.
65
people in New Zealand since the mid nineteenth century.”
88
Negative consequences also
existed for the women who bore these children. In Māori land, there were only two or
three hundred Europeans by 1830. However, when ships arrived they might “require”
four or five hundred women for the time they lay in harbour. Three-week marriages
sufficed for those men whose conscience needed the decorum of legitimacy. Most did
not.
89
As settlement increased, so did inter-marriages, normally Māori or half-caste
women with European men and most often the latter were from the lower end of the
social scale.
90
This served to keep both Māori and half-caste marginalized.
Impact of First Contact at the Global Level: Marginalization
First contact at the global level can be summarized in terms of acquisitions,
losses, and dispossession. Flora, fauna, and humans underwent profound and permanent
alteration. The English proclaimed possession of all the islands that would form the
nation of New Zealand with the Crown, individual citizens, companies, churches and
missions taking possession of the land. Land had been sold to them by Māoris, amassed
through trickery or negotiations, or simply “claimed.” Britain, along with various
merchants and investors, gained trade goods whose value would contribute to the
growing wealth in the “old world.” Britain also assumed paternal authority over Māori.
The power and prestige of the pa and chiefs diminished rapidly.
Social problems introduced by alcohol, half-caste children, diminished authority
of chiefs and elders, and loss of cultural norms—including traditional parenting—began
88
Wanhalla, In/visible Sight, 1.
89
Newman, Bible and Treaty, 78f.
90
This is borne out by Wanhalla’s research. She notes “Mixed descent women … had far more options than
their brothers.” Wanhalla, In/visible Sight, 61. She uses words such as shame, anger, dislocation, dispersal,
denial, denial of rights, and survival to describe the “half-caste” self-identity.
66
to distance Māori from their pre-contact identity and challenged their worldview. A
century and a half later, Monté Ohia (Māori) would write, “it is only in colonial contexts
that issues concerning Māori identity arise because in essence their physical features are
distinctive, and although the Māori language, culture, values and music are valid and
acceptable in Māori settings, they are ‘unusual’ in non-Māori contexts.”
91
Globally, expectations to embrace Euro-based education in a foreign language and
from a Western worldview would increase. Marginalization intensified as settlements
grew and governments imposed their norms and laws. Social pressures would lead to
both aggressive and passive-aggressive resistance in all corners of the colonized world.
These transformations will be addressed further in Chapter Three. J. Irwin quotes Owens
in summarizing evangelism methodologies and their impact on the Maori—an impact in
many ways similar in North America:
They came, expecting that the methods of evangelism tried and tested in England
would work. They did not. They thought that on the model of Robinson Crusoe, a
home and garden could be conjured out of the wilderness and Man Friday would
emulate. He seldom did. They thought they could set a model of a Christian
family and the [Indigenous] would follow. It rarely happened.
92
One further matter is the impact of alcohol which helped decimate families and
communities. A temperance pledge was tried as a solution for Māori “habitual drinkers
and inveterate drunkards.” One Māori responded to the pledge by questioning how it was
that the Europeans originally brought the rum, persuading them to drink it, and “here
come other white men, who tell us it is wrong. Whom are we to believe?”
93
91
Monte Rereamoamo Ohia, “Towards a Values-Based Transformation Movement for Māori
Advancement: The Case for Spiritual, Ethical and Moral Imperatives within Māori Transformational
Movements” (PhD thesis, University of Auckland, 2006), 239.
92
J. Irwin, “Maori Primal Religion,” 52; quoting J. Owens, “The Unexpected Impact,” in Religion in New
Zealand, 1938-42, eds., C. Nichol and J. Veitch (Wellington: Religious Studies Department, 1980), 34.
93
Keam, Dissolving Dream, 48. Keam is quoting former missionary William Snow’s account.
67
The Regional Impact of First Contact on Indigenous Peoples: “Indians”
Only occasionally was the voice of an Indian heard, and then more often than not
it was recorded by the pen of a white man. The Indian was the dark menace of
myths …. −Heather Pringle, “The First Americans”
The regional level concerns a wider sweep of time and geography—“the longest
geographic expanse ever settled by humans”
94
–the American continent. It is impossible to
do justice to the particulars of North America’s first contact. This section will present a
historical overview of selected aspects, small slices of first contact in the present nations
of the United States of America with greater emphasis on Canada. It will build towards
the formalization of the Dominion of Canada in 1867 and western expansion in the U.S.
in the same general timeframe.
Pre-Contact at the Regional Level
The children’s book, The Wonder Book of North American Indians,
95
published in
1965, typifies the perceptions North Americans have held about its First Peoples. Its
intent is to teach about living peacefully with different races and cultural heritages.
96
It
claims to represent a new consciousness, an empathetic voice towards the noble Indian
whose ancestors arrived “on one historic day … [when] a band of Asiatic hunters came
from Siberia to Alaska. They had probably been chasing polar bears, walruses, or seals.
In any case, they kept going south.”
97
Continuing south, followed by other hunters, they
94
Heather Pringle, “The First Americans” in Scientific American, November (2011), 36-45, 45.
95
Felix Sutton, The How and Why Wonder Book of North American Indians, illustrated by Leonard
Vosburgh, ed. by Dr. Paul E. Blackwood in the How and Why Wonder Book Series (New York, NY:,
Grosset & Dunlap, 1965). The front page states “Brooklyn Children’s Museum, Brooklyn, New York.”
96
Paul E. Blackwood, “Introduction,” in Sutton, The How and Why Wonder Book, n.p. The back cover
states “Produced and approved by noted authorities.”
97
Ibid., 5.
68
eventually reached Chile and ten thousand years later filled the Americas with thirteen
million people by 1492.
98
Marcia Crosby states, the interest in Indigenous peoples “dates
back hundreds of years, and has been manifest in many ways: collecting and displaying
‘Indian’ objects and collecting and displaying ‘Indians’ as objects or human specimens,
collecting pseudo-Indians in literature and visual arts.”
99
First Contact at the Regional Level: “Indians”
Where today are the Pequot? Where are the Narragansett, the Mohican, the
Pokanoket, and many other once powerful tribes of our people? They have
vanished before the avarice and the oppression of the White Man, as snow before
a summer sun. − Tecumseh of the Shawnees
The intent of this section is to provide a framework for the political, social, and
religious forces that began the legacy of losses. The research will seek to shed light on
attitudes towards Indigenous peoples, their cultures, and spirituality that affect
Indigenous realities to this day.
Jesuit Juan Rogel wrote of the original inhabitants of Florida and their potential
conversion in 1568, “The Indians are good farmers, they don’t have too many idols, and
they sow and harvest abundant corn.”
100
He anticipated, “There will be absolutely no
need to change anything in their lives.”
101
His colleague, however, described them as
“sensual, savage beasts who preferred going to hell with the devil than to heaven with
98
Sutton, The How and Why Wonder Book, 5-7. Curiously, the author and consultant make no mention of
women among the hunters.
99
Marcia Crosby, “Construction of the Imaginary Indian,” pp. 488-492 in Janet Giltrow, ed., Reading and
Writing across the Disciplines, Academic Reading, 2nd ed. (Peterborough, ON: Broadview Press, 2002),
488.
100
Nicholas P. Cushner, Soldiers of God: The Jesuits in Colonial America, 1565-1767 (Buffalo, NY:
Language Communications/digital, 2002), 52.
101
Ibid., 80.
69
Christians.”
102
Rogel was puzzled that seemingly good men did not convert in Florida.
The Jesuits gave up and moved on to Mexico in 1572 where they met with success.
Nicholas Cushner compiles a number of observations about the Indigenous Mexicans,
explaining the cruel measures used by the Spaniards and noting the forceful destruction
of idols, but also the similarities between some of the local beliefs and rituals with
Catholic ones, which likely “eased the transition to a new religion.”
103
Hospitality may best describe the first contact along the eastern coast where the
English initiated the land and its peoples to their presence and their wants. Charles Mann
offers this version of his ancestor who arrived on the Mayflower in 1620:
A few years ago it occurred to me that my ancestor and everyone else in the
colony had voluntarily enlisted in a venture that brought them to New England
without food or shelter six weeks before winter. Half the 102 people on the
Mayflower made it through to spring, which to me was amazing. How, I
wondered, did they survive? In his history of Plymouth Colony, Bradford
provided the answer: by robbing Indian houses and graves.
104
Hospitality, even involuntary hospitality, soon gave way to the reality of
permanent settlers. The early history of the Colonies was fraught with infighting, Indian-
fighting, frustration, and trials. “The Indians did not understand the white settlers’
overpowering need for land.”
105
As in Aotearoa, occasionally individuals stood against
102
Cushner, Soldiers of God, 52f.
103
Ibid., 136. Reff’s discussion of baptisms seems at variance to the Jesuits along the St. Lawrence who
referenced baptism for children on their death bed but not adults. This is because Jesuits change from
baptising adults (whoever was willing) when the result was deemed to provide inadequate evidence of
conversion. In Mexico Reff speaks of baptism from birth to age seven, “but adults and older children only
when death was imminent, otherwise baptisms required adherence to a list of requirements or abstentions.”
Reff, Plagues, Priests, Demons, 62.
104
Charles Mann, “1491,” The Atlantic Monthly, Mar. 2002. Mann notes his ancestor achieved notoriety as
the first person hanged in the colonies.
105
Sutton, The How and Why Wonder Book, 19.
70
their governments and peers in the interests of First Peoples.
106
Today, Indigenous
scholars are often driven by a similar desire, a desire to confront and correct the stories
about their people. For example, the aforementioned children’s book states, “While many
tribes lived in peace, others fought against each other as deadly enemies. Collecting the
scalps of rival tribesmen and then carrying off their women and children as slaves was the
accepted manner for a young warrior to prove his manhood and become a full-fledged
brave.”
107
The author makes no mention of bounties offered for First Nations’ scalps.
Tink Tinker (Osage Nation) asks “how would it change our understanding of the past to
tell the narrative of american (sic) colonial history as tragedy rather than romance?”
108
He
poses a legitimate question, yet it is impossible to begin writing the history of Indigenous
peoples from a “clean slate” given the triumphant romantic stories in American and
Canadian mythology wherein the Indian is most frequently presented as infantile, slow of
speech, wild or noble savage, given to violence. It is a human response to want to tell the
other side of the story, such as the Indian heads-on-spikes displayed at early American
colonies.
109
Writers such as Amos Yong and Barbara Brown Zikmud, editors of
106
The Puritan Roger Williams is one example, suffering voluntary exile from New England (1636).
Lawrence James, The Rise and Fall of the British Empire (London, Great Britain: Little, Brown and
Company, 1994; reprint, 2007), 8.
107
Sutton, The How and Why Wonder Book, 8.
108
[George] Tink Tinker, “The Romance and Tragedy of Christian Mission among American Indians,” in
Amos Yong and Barbara Brown Zikmund, eds., Remembering Jamestown: Hard Questions about Christian
Mission (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2010), 16. Use of lower case in original.
109
An English style execution: "That you be led to the place from whence you came, and from thence be
drawn upon a hurdle [dragged by a horse] to the place of execution, and then you shall be hanged by the
neck and, being alive, shall be cut down, and your privy members to be cut off, and your entrails be taken
out of your body and, you [still] living, the same to be burnt before your eyes, and your head to be cut off,
your body to be divided into four quarters, and head and quarters to be disposed of at the pleasure of the
King's majesty. And the Lord have mercy on your soul.” Geoffrey Abbott, Execution: A Guide to the
Ultimate Penalty (Chichester, UK: Summerside Publishers, 1994; reprint 2005), 158. The man’s head was
then displayed as a warning to others.
71
Remembering Jamestown,
110
and Indigenous authors of the caliber of Thomas King
111
are
re-crafting the stories of first contacts and consequences from a perspective stripped of
romanticism and settler mythology. At times, they devolve into despair.
Initial attempts to settle the eastern coasts of N.A. in the process of establishing
both nascent nations ended in failure. From Nova Scotia to Virginia, the British found the
land less hospitable than promoters advertised. The American story—of Portugal, Spain,
France, Netherlands, and Britain endeavouring to claim territory—is de-emphasized here.
Impact of Colonization at Regional Level
Older generations of North Americans were educated about Indigenous peoples as
much by Western cowboy and Indian movies, perhaps more so because of the vividness
of cinematography, than through their formal education. Movies filled in the details of
Indians, creating a homogenous model, and a perpetual hero in the cowboy. Authors such
as Daniel Francis in The Imaginary Indian: The Image of the Indian in Canadian Culture
addresses this reality.
112
In speaking of the period between 1860 and 1890, Dee Brown
wrote, “It was an incredible era of violence, greed, audacity, sentimentality, undirected
exuberance, and an almost reverential attitude toward the ideal of personal freedom for
those who already had it.”
113
Furthermore, “if the readers of this book should ever chance
to see the poverty, the hopelessness, and the squalor of a modern Indian reservation, they
may find it possible to truly understand the reason why.”
114
110
Yong and Zikmud, eds., Remembering Jamestown.
111
King, The Inconvenient Indian.
112
See Daniel Francis, The Imaginary Indian: The Image of the Indian in Canadian Culture, 2nd ed.
(Vancouver, B.C.: Arsenal Pulp Press, 2011).
113
Brown, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, xxiii.
114
Ibid., xxv.
72
There is a tendency for Indigenous authors to despair, to cast blame, even to
demonize the colonizer. In the African context, Bagele Chilisa offers guidelines for
scholars to consider by asking two questions: (1) “What psychological harm,
humiliation, embarrassment, and other losses, if any, have these theories and body of
knowledge caused the researched?” (2) “What is the body of knowledge of the colonized
that researchers can use to counter theories and rebut the body of knowledge that may
cause humiliation and embarrassment to the researched?”
115
The application of this
challenge is to write historiography achieving the goals embedded in these questions. The
danger is to fall into demonization or victimization.
The Local Impact of First Contact on Indigenous Peoples: First Nations
Winnipeg is visually central to a map of U.S. and Canada. It is flat land. As in
pre-contact times, the tall prairie grasses around the confluence of the Red and
Assiniboine Rivers sit surrounded by diverse geography. The area south-west includes a
desert; to the west lay hundreds of miles of unbroken prairie; travellers east and north
enter a great boreal forest strewn with rock features, large and small in-land lakes,
bountiful rivers, and eventually northern tundra. The upper north-east provincial border is
the Hudson Bay, previously known as the Polar Sea. Geologists claim the largest inland
lake in the world, which makes the combined area of the Great Lakes small by
comparison, glacial Lake Agassiz, carved the terrain.
116
The Red River, which is prone to
flooding, is birthed in the U.S., its waters flowing north through the Red River Valley
into Lake Winnipeg and Hudson Bay.
115
Bagele Chilisa, Indigenous Research Methodologies (Los Angeles: University of Botswana, 2012), 193.
116
From personal notes taken at a lecture on Feb. 5, 2018 at the Charleswood Historical Society where I am
a member. The lecturer was Bill Redekop, author of Lake Agassiz: The Rise and Demise of the World’s
Greatest Lake (Winnipeg, MB: Heartland associates, 2017).
73
The names Manitoba (the straits of the Great Spirit) and Winnipeg (muddy
waters) are the legacy of Indigenous ancestors. The land came to be sectioned into the
Province of Manitoba in the late 1800s. The area is located from the 60th to the 49th
parallel, encasing almost 650,000 square kilometres around the longitudinal center of
Canada. Beaver, bison, moose, deer, caribou, bear (black and polar), beluga whales, seal,
fish, geese, duck, wild rice, berries, and numerous medicines are examples of the way
Creator met the needs of the people of Manitoba for sustenance. A land of short hot
summers and long cold winters produced people who moved between summer camps and
winter hunting grounds—a people who knew how to live close to creation. This territory
served as home for numerous First Nations not constrained by impending borders. They
self-identified as: Thlingchadinne (Dog Rib), Nihithawiwin (Woodlands Cree
117
),
Mushkegowuk (Western Cree), Omushkego (Eastern Swampy Cree), Nakoda
(Assiniboine), Wazhashk-Onlganininiwag and Goojijwiniwag (Anishinaabe), Nakewahē
(Saulteaux), Etthen eldili dene (Dene), Ahialmiut (Inuit) and Hâthél-hot!inne.
118
Archaeologists have confirmed continuous human occupation for over 5,000 years in
parts of Manitoba; it also has one of the oldest known agrarian sites.
119
117
The Cree are one of the largest Indigenous populations in N.A., the largest in Canada. Peter Farb,
writing from a cultural evolutionary perspective, argued in 1968 that the Cree arrived in this area from the
east as a direct result of the European fur trade and the introduction of the horse. As an American museum
director and consultant for the Smithsonian Institute at the time, his influence was substantial. See Peter
Farb, Man’s Rise to Civilization: As Shown by the Indians of North America from Primal Times to the
Coming of the Industrial State (New York: E.P. Dutton& Co., 1968), 117f. He cites for his support the fact
the Cree are first mentioned by the Jesuits in 1640, in the northern regions of what is now Ontario and
Quebec. He fails to distinguish between the various Cree tribal distinctions across vast regions of the north,
their self-identifying names, and distinctive dialects which are not always understood between groups.
118
Aaron Carapella, “Aboriginal First Nations: Our Own Names and Locations” (Warner, OK: Tribal
Nations Maps). Information taken from a 3’ x 5’ map that hangs on my office wall. These names are not
exhaustive. The ones in brackets are the names Europeans have assigned as identifiers.
119
Ed Fread, archeologist, presenting to the Charleswood Historical Society, Jan. 8, 2018.
74
First Contact at Local Level
Henry VII of England, in 1496, had granted to John Cabot “full and free authority,
faculty and power, to sail to all parts, regions and coast of the eastern, western and
northern sea, under our banners, flags and ensigns ….”
120
The English were to become
masters over the Polar Sea, eventually renamed Hudson Bay. Three men served primary
roles in the colonization process of Canada and the subsequent mythologies: Cabot
(England), Jacques Cartier (France), and Samuel de Champlain (France), who is credited
with the first successful settlement. France gained the advantage temporarily through
Cartier’s three known voyages.
He is usually credited with discovering Canada, meaning the small region of
Québec he named Canada during his 1535 voyage. He was the first explorer of the
Gulf of St Lawrence and certainly the first to chart the St. Lawrence River, the
discovery of which in 1535 enabled France to occupy the interior of N America.
… [He] certainly came to Newfoundland before 1534, since … he sailed there
directly as if it were familiar to him.
121
The long standing conflict with Britain is part of the legacy brought to North
America, but new reasons for being enemies would evolve in the new world. When
Cartier arrived at Hochelaga, a palisaded settlement with some fifty longhouses (each
approximately 30’ x 100’), two to three thousand agrarian Iroquois lived there. He read
the gospel to them (in French). The French men offended the Iroquois by refusing to
participate in a feast prepared in their honour. After they forcefully took five Iroquois
men to France, all of whom died, the Iroquois regarded them as enemies. Six decades
120
Harold Horwood, The Colonial Dream 1497-1760. Canada’s Illustrated Heritage (Toronto, ON National
Science of Canada, Ltd., 1978), 7.
121
Canadian Encyclopedia, s.v. “Jacques Cartier;” accessed Jan. 16, 2018, http://www.thecanadian
encyclopedia. ca /en/article/jacques-cartier/.
75
later the French returned and found the Hochelagans had vanished.
122
In hindsight, there
is a missed opportunity for contextualization inherent in this anecdote: Some Iroquois, in
an attempt to keep Cartier from proceeding to Hochelaga on his second voyage, gave him
three children—a traditional way of sealing alliances.
123
On the Protestant side, the British had claimed Newfoundland in 1583, which
provided the Church of England with opportunities for evangelism. A matter of debate
involves the first known clergyman in Canada. Paul Knowles claims the Northwest
Territories hosted one of the first Protestant services in 1578. Over time, this area would
become the largest geographical Anglican diocese in the world.
124
Among the first known Protestant clergy was the provocative Erasmus Stourton
who arrived and stayed briefly (1627-28) in the northeast from a colony to the south.
125
While the earliest traders and settlers at times requested a chaplain, the English, prior to
1760, were not fully involved in colonization or mission activity, other than the trading
posts and a few small forts.
122
Canadian Encyclopedia, s.v. “Hochelaga,” accessed Oct. 27, 2008, http://www.thecanadian
encyclopedia .com/index.cfm?PgNm= TCE&Params=A1ARTA0003793.Ethnographers and archeological
discoveries conflict in some details (such as alignment of fireplace in longhouse) with a fuller description
of the village Cartier provided. See Canadian Encyclopedia, s.v. “Hochelaga,” Jan. 16, 2018, http://www.
thecanadian encyclopedia.ca/en/article /hochelaga/.
123
See Horwood, The Colonial Dream, 31.
124
It would be some three and a half centuries before ongoing missionary effort reached there: “One must
make up one’s mind to endure and suffer more than can be imagined from hunger, from sleeping always on
bare ground …all the evils the season and weather can conflict, and … countless swarms of mosquitoes and
midges, together with difficulties in language….” Paul Knowles, ed. Canada: Sharing Our Christian
Heritage (Toronto, ON Mainroads Productions Inc., 1982), 117.
125
Ibid., 13. Knowles claims Stourton was the first, but at least two others preceded him, briefly. See also
“The Church of England (Anglican Church),” Newfoundland and Labrador History, Online; accessed Jan.
11, 2014; http://www.heritage.nf.ca/society/anglicanism.html . Stourton then travelled southward by ship,
and was the impetus for a letter in 1629 to the King wherein Lord Baltimore describes him as “that
audacious man …, who being banished [from] the Colony for his misdeeds did the last winter (as I
understand) raise a false and slanderous report of me at Plymouth.” See Colony of Avalon History,
“Documents relating to Ferryland: 1597 to 1726 (19 August, 1629); Sir George Calvert, Lord Baltimore
Letter to King Charles I,” Newfoundland and Labrador History, accessed Jan. 11, 2014,
http://www.heritage.nf.ca/avalon/history/documents/letter_14.html.
76
The first successful colony by Champlain, Port Royal, had both a secular
126
Catholic priest and a Protestant minister. Their work concerned the colonists, not mission.
Both soon died from scurvy. A replacement priest was unavailable as “there was no
means of dragging one of them out of Paris,”
127
Moreover, “many of the letters sent back
to France by the early parish priests deplore the slight regard most colonists had for the
Church.”
128
The Franciscan Récollets reached New France prior to the Jesuits, and sought
to convert the Mi’kmaq of Acadia.
129
A 1610 report by a Huguenot tells of the baptism at
Port Royal of a chief and twenty others.
130
A Catholic perspective is that France’s
colonists could not compete with the 262,000 British colonists by 1706. “In the
meantime England continued to cast envious eyes on the Catholic colony of Canada,
which France, with her lack of foresight, was neglecting more and more.”
131
Acadia
126
“Secular” or Diocesan priests are ordained, but not members of a religious order. They are ordained for
“a specific geographical area.” See “Vocations.ca: Types of Vocations – Diocesan Priests,” accessed May
20, 2015; http://vocations.ca/types_of_vocations/diocesan_priests/
127
Horwood, The Colonial Dream, quoting Marc Lescarbot (1570-1641).
128
Ibid., 46.
129
See Cushner, Soldiers of God, 47. He claims that they “met with little success.” Cf. Terry LeBlanc,
“Mi’kmaq and French/Jesuit Understandings of the Spiritual and Spirituality: Implications for Faith”
(doctoral dissertation, Asbury Theological Seminary, Nov. 2012). LeBlanc writes, “Since the monument to
this event is on the Listuguj reserve, I feel compelled to say that some oral traditions still being passed on
place the number higher for this inaugural baptismal event among the Mi’kmaw peoples – as many as
thirty-three extended family members and, of course, the 140 recorded by the Jesuit in total in the month(s)
that followed. See [Marc] Lescarbot (1612, vol. 2, 56),” 188, fn. 207.
130
Reuben Gold Thwaites, Relations and Allied Documents: Travels and Explorations of the Jesuit
Missionaries in New France, 1610-1791; the original French, Latin, and Italian texts, with English
translations and notes (1896), vol.1, Acadia 1610-13; “La Conversion des Sauvages qui ont esté baptizes
en la Novvelle France, cette annee 1610. Marc Lescarbot,” 49-114; accessed Feb. 21, 2014,
http://eco.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.07535/5?r=0&s=1.
131
“New Advent,” Catholicity in Canada, Catholic Encyclopedia Online, accessed Oct 4, 2016;
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03231a.htm. This source credits visits by Basque, Breton, and Norman
seamen prior to Jacques Cabot in 1497, Verrazzano in 1522, and on to Cartier.
77
was particularly vulnerable “and against her the efforts of England and her American
colonies were first directed.”
132
England’s supremacy led to the French Acadians
eventual expulsion. “[Governor] Lawrence … with calculating violence embarked (1755)
the Acadians on English vessels and scattered them throughout the American colonies.
This act of barbarism … has caused his name to be execrated by all men ….”
133
The credit for early missions to Canada rightfully belongs to the Jesuits. Jesuits did
have an advantage in viewing Natives, via Aristotelian philosophy and Thomistic
theology, more optimistically since they rejected the presupposition of human depravity,
and so were more readily able to view the Indians as inherently good.
Coming early to the shores of Nova Scotia (1611), nearly a decade before the
landing of the Plymouth Pilgrims, … they met the American savage before
contact with civilization had seriously affected him. With heroic fortitude, often
with marvellous enterprise, they pierced our wilderness while still there were but
Indian trails to connect far-distant villages of semi-naked aborigines. … To win
these crude beings to the Christian faith, it was necessary to know them
intimately, in their daily walks.
134
Jesuits were experienced global missionaries.
135
Harold Cushner writes with a
measure of cynicism,
Evangelization was considered a joint effort that obligated civil as well as
religious authority. Both stood to gain. … Just when Satan, it was argued, was
tricking thousands of the faithful in Europe into following Luther and Calvin,
untold numbers of souls were made available in America for the waters of
baptism and entrance into the one true church.
136
132
“New Advent,” Catholicity in Canada.
133
Ibid.
134
Thwaites, Relations and Allied Documents, viii; accessed Jan. 16, 2018, https://archive.org/details
/jesuitrelations85jesugoog .
135
James T. Moore, Indian and Jesuit: a Seventeenth-Century Encounter (Chicago: Loyola University
Press, 1982), 3.
136
Cushner, Soldiers of God, 46.
78
Baptisms were performed before language learning. In June of 1611, Pierre Baird
wrote a letter lamenting the lack of signs for true conversion. “So there is scarcely any
change in them after their baptism. The same savagery … the same customs, ceremonies,
usages, fashions, and vices remain, at least as far as can be learned; no attention being
paid to any distinction of time, days, offices, exercises, prayers, duties, virtues, or
spiritual remedies.”
137
By 1612 he expressed misgivings on the French methodology.
Since we have observed that those who had been previously baptized had gotten
scarcely anything else through their baptism than increased peril, we have
restrained this eager inclination to administer this sacrament without
discrimination, and we insist that no adult person shall receive it until he has the
necessary understanding of his faith and his profession. So, as we have thus far
been ignorant of the language and have been unable to explain our doctrines
through any interpreter, or to commit them to writing. … [w]e try to persuade the
savages to bring their babes to us for baptism; and this, with God’s blessing, they
are beginning to do.
138
Around 1615 the Recollects reached Quebec from Acadia, where they had little
success, and so they asked for Jesuit assistance. Conflicts eventually developed between
these two orders; the Jesuits held the position of primary missionaries and teachers in
New France
139
Later, they travelled further inland. The Jesuits reflected the diversity of
personality and character of humankind in their interactions with First Nations. Here I
emphasize events that are symptomatic of the later marginalization of these peoples.
As inter-European battles spilled over into North America, and new reasons for
conflicts arose in the New World, negotiations between England and France gave much
of New France to Britain. The Jesuits worked to rebuild what had been destroyed. The
137
Pierre Baird, “Letter From Father Baird, to Reverend Father Christopher Baltazar, Provincial
of France, at Paris,” June 10, 1611; in Thwaites, ed., Relations and Allied Documents, accessed Jan. 16,
2018, http://moses.creighton.edu/kripke/jesuitrelations/relations_01.html .
138
Baird, The Relations, vol. 2, (1612), 31f; as quoted by LeBlanc, “Mi’kmaq and French/Jesuit,”115.
139
S. R. Mealing, The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, Carleton Library, Number 7 (Toronto:
McClelland and Stewart Limited, 1969), x.
79
“permanent” Jesuit missions are dated to 1632. By 1700 Jesuit missionaries were
established “from the mouth of the St. Lawrence to Wisconsin and Louisiana.”
140
Another attempt in 1638 to gather the Savages into a community was modelled
upon a French village in the hopes of having converts more accessible for teaching.
Within ten years more than ten dozen souls inhabited the village, yet, in ten more years,
they had moved on. The Jesuits were left ministering to French settlers.
141
The problem,
according to Cushner, was the Jesuit “pedagogical disposition combined with the
regimental orientation of the Society created a tendency in the Jesuits to reduce what they
encountered to known and manageable processes and categories. Establishing clear
boundaries, procedures, and practices also provided a sense of progress and
accomplishment”
142
which ultimately led to frustration. Eventually the Jesuits gave up on
assimilation, opting for a form of indigenization. While their intention was to bring the
Church to the Savages and to make them into a replica of the French Catholic—in Latin
liturgy, confessional requirements, memorized prayer, short haircuts, and more civilized
garb—it simply was not working. What had “worked” in Japan, China, and Mexico did
not fit. Mobility of lifestyle took some of the blame. On the other hand, from an
Indigenous perspective, they could see no value in this new religion. Perhaps too
suddenly, they had been thrust into the Iron Age
143
as Jesuits traded their goods.
Newcomers had also brought disease and death and the inevitable alcohol, as well as
involving Indigenous allies in inter-European colonial warfare, increasing the tension
(understated) between the Hurons and parts of the Iroquoian federation.
140
Moore, Indian and Jesuit, xi-xii.
141
Cushner, Soldiers of God, 275.
142
LeBlanc, “Mi’kmaq and French/Jesuit,” 120.
143
Horwood, The Colonial Dream, 59.
80
The Mohawks raged against the Huron because they did not have enough furs to
trade with the Dutch; the Algonkins (sic) battled against the Mohawks who
searched out more furs in the Algonkin territory; the Jesuits who were allied with
the French threw their weight on one side, then pulled back to the other,
encouraged treaties only to see them broken, acted as peacemakers, middlemen,
agents, all in an attempt to smooth the way for proselytization.
144
The Jesuits tried to impede the flow of alcohol. Jesuit Paul Le Jeune noted that the
Indians did not respond well to threats or coercion, but did respond to love.
145
Moore
records without comment that Indian girls were given land if they married a Frenchman
and that there were sometimes monetary incentives for those men.
146
Lethal epidemics led the Huron to suspect the Jesuits were to blame. Half the
population perished.
147
The Jesuits reported baptizing 1200 dying children in one year.
While they interpreted this as a spiritual harvest, the Huron regarded it less positively,
assuming the priests’ baptism killed their ill children.
148
Iroquois attacks along with
disease scattered and destroyed the Huron. Jesuit priests demonstrated resolve in
language acquisition, in spite of the many dialects. In addition to giving gifts for
attendance and genuflecting, they set the Lord’s Prayer and Apostles’ Creed to music in
the Montagnais language–although Latin recitation was still required. “At a signal, all
144
Cushner, Soldiers of God, 279f.
145
Ibid., 16f.
146
Ibid., 18.
147
The Huron Nation of over 30,000 people at first contact was near extinction if not “virtually destroyed.”
Jesuits interpreted these deaths and destruction as God’s punishment on the Natives. In 1650 Jesuit Paul
Ragueneau wrote “… thirteen years ago, I had seen it (the river) bordered with large numbers of people of
the Algonquin tongue, who knew no God. … Since they have embraced the faith … [God has] made them a
prey to miseries, torments, and cruel deaths; in a word, they are a people wiped off from the face of the
earth.” See Moore, Indian and Jesuit, 30, quoting from Relations 34:213-21.
148
Cushner, Soldiers of God, 271f.
81
knelt, signed the cross, and invoked the Trinity, first in Latin and then in Montagnais. …
The usual catechetical instruction followed and then a ‘feast’ concluded the session.”
149
The French and British competed with the Dutch for land; tensions led to the
Iroquois-Algonquin wars. “Early settlers fought the Dutch, fought the Indians, fought the
pirates, fought each other in a series of English-French wars that lasted for a hundred
years, and finally fought the Americans.”
150
The Dutch lost influence after 1664, ending
decades of “guerrilla warfare at sea.”
151
War always impeded the work of missionaries.
Initially, Jesuits believed “evangelization was primarily a spiritual activity”
152
which required little specific preparation. However, “it didn’t take too long for Jesuit
administrators to realize their theology, philosophy, and classical studies were neither the
only nor best preparation for evangelizing the American Indian.”
153
New France would
fall and the Jesuits dissolved temporarily without them finding the best way.
154
Every student of Canadian history is indebted to Relations des Jésuites, known as
the Relations (see Appendix 4). For over forty years, the French literate public could read
the written accounts of Jesuit life and “the Savages” usually within a year. “Jesuit
Relations (Relations des Jésuites), [are] the voluminous annual documents sent from the
Canadian mission of the Society of Jesus to its Paris office, 1632-72, compiled by
missionaries in the field, edited by their Québec superior, and printed in France by
149
Moore, Indian and Jesuit, 16.
150
Ibid., 11.
151
Ibid., 49.
152
Cushner, Soldiers of God, 22.
153
Ibid.
154
Ibid.
82
Sébastien Cramoisy.”
155
They helped inform the lasting understanding and mythology
that frames concepts of the “other” and which Indigenous peoples still must navigate.
Jesuits frequently found admirable traits amongst the First Nations, especially
their ability to endure hardships with a stoic forbearance of pain, cold, and hunger. The
local Jesuits were likely aware of the turmoil over Chinese Rites—Jesuits adapting to
Chinese culture and dress. Perhaps they were reluctant to adapt too much to the ways of
the Indians.
156
Certainly the coureur de bois were scorned for their adaptation.
157
Some
missionaries, such as the Franciscan Lois Hennepin (ca.1697), wrote a negative portrayal
of “the Savages.” His criticisms included a too-tolerant view of religion. “They are
incapable of taking away any Person’s life out of hatred of his Religion.”
158
Hennepin’s
surprise likely stemmed from the contrast with the Inquisition and the Reformation.
At its height, New France functioned as “the great empire that stretched from
Newfoundland to the Rockies and from Hudson Bay to the Gulf of Mexico.”
159
The
Jesuits had amassed approximately 900,000 acres of land in New France by 1760, viewed
as “compensation for the waning of its influence in France.”
160
In 1763 Canada became
Britain’s sixteenth colony in North America. Jesuits had not only functioned as
155
Canadian Encyclopedia, s.v. “Jesuit Relations”, accessed Oct. 29, 2008, http://www.the
canadianencyclopedia.com/indexcfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0004124.
156
Cushner, Soldiers of God, 277.
157
The coureurs de bois, literally runners of the woods, were French descendant traders who functioned
outside of the licensed trading industry, unlike the voyageurs (travelers) who were licensed by France. The
former adopted the lifestyle and much of the culture of First Nations.
158
William R. Hutchison, Errand to the World: American Protestant thought and Foreign Missions
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987), 19.
159
Horwood, The Colonial Dream, 121.
160
Mealing, The Jesuit Relations, x.
83
missionaries, but as is the case with other missions, had been explorers searching out
‘savages’ further inland, aiding imperial expansion.
When Europeans arrived, the First Peoples had no concept of a secular-sacred
dichotomy. Animate and inanimate intertwined. They intentionally sought to live in
harmony with the land and its creatures (although warfare is obviously an exception and
requires unpacking beyond the scope of this study). Europeans were incapable of viewing
this harmonious living as spiritual, as “God’s presence in all things.”
161
On the other
hand, Natives were suspicious of the Jesuits’ sorcery. How else did one account for the
dead babies after baptism? Moore relates the Attiwandaronk’s suspicions of other Jesuit
rituals: “each time they began their daily devotions … they were accused of invoking
spells. Their inkstands, books, and so forth, were looked upon as evil talismans.”
162
Jesuits regarded the Natives as brutally savage in their treatment of enemies; the
latter were unimpressed with how the French treated their own people. Reflecting the
brutality of France, “Gallows, stocks and pillories were among the first structures of this
Old World system of justice. There were no lawyers in New France, and according to the
statutes, a person could be hanged for rape, pilloried for being poor or drunk, and have
his tongue cut out for blasphemy.”
163
The hanging of a sixteen year old girl for stealing
occurred in 1649. Jesuits record it, but do not seem to have protested. Heads of those
hanged (1686) were to be mounted at a crossroads as a vivid object lesson.
164
The
definition of savage, like beauty, may be in the eye of the beholder. As Horwood
161
Cushner, Soldiers of God, 20.
162
Moore, Indian and Jesuit, 23.
163
Horwood, The Colonial Dream, 11.
164
Ibid., 103.
84
remarks, “why the ritual torture of prisoners should have seemed more barbaric than the
public burnings, brandings, guttings, and breakings-on-the-wheel … we may well
wonder.”
165
European patriarchy was unprepared to meet Indian matriarchy in the Iroquoian
nations which structured themselves around women more than Jesuits deemed “natural.”
Nor did they understand the fluid and dissolvable matrimonial bonds.
The history of Canada necessitates acknowledging the tremendous impact made
by two rival fur trading companies: the Hudson’s Bay Company [HBC] formed in 1670,
and the Northwest Company [NWC] established in1783.
166
The former established its
headquarters on Hudson Bay at York Factory (Manitoba),
167
eventually moving south to
Fort Garry (Winnipeg). The NWC was formed by French traders opposing Montreal’s
control. Their impact on Indigenous peoples, as they both helped and impeded missions,
is a separate study. Examples of HBC aid include housing missionaries in outposts,
attempting to stop the alcohol trade, and begetting children who sometimes trained to aid
in missions. Examples of impediment include officers and traders who robbed the people,
who used and discarded the women and children, and created dependencies.
In the Red River regions, life as it had existed for millennia would change
dramatically, first on the shores of the Polar Sea (Hudson Bay and James Bay) and then
165
Horwood, The Colonial Dream, 62.
166
The HBC was formed by British Royal Charter in 1670. The NWC later merged with the HBC,
diversified and developed major Canadian department stores, changed their name to The Bay, and to the
chagrin of many Canadians, were very recently sold to Americans. See Peter Erasmus, Buffalo Days and
Nights, as told to Henry Thompson (Calgary, AB: Fifth House Ltd., 1999), 134, for a high opinion of HBC.
167
I visited this site and walked through the structures in Aug 2016. In 1728 a HBC employee returned
inferior goods intended for trade as the Indians could no longer be fooled. They included combs with teeth
too small, kettles too thin to use, and ripped cloth. Part of the problem was that “the natives have grown so
politic in their way of trade, so as they are not to be dealt by as formerly ….” Arthur J. Ray, “Fur Trade
History as an ‘Aspect of Native History’, in Readings in Canadian pre-Confederation History, eds., R.
Douglas Francis and Donald B. Smith, 5th ed. (Calgary, AB: University of Calgary, Harcourt Brace &
Company, 1998), 56. Ray is referring to a report by Thomas McCliesh sent to London on Aug. 8, 1728.
85
in the interior reached via waterways to the Red River Valley as trappers, traders,
explorers, and settlers “opened the west” and ships opened northern routes into the
interior.
168
The men entered relationships with “country wives”
169
in the absence of
clergy. John Ralston Saul contends this was “marrying up” for the Europeans,
A company factor who was lucky enough to be allowed by a chief to marry one of
his daughters gained influence in the region and stability for his trade. As with
arranged marriages anywhere, the husband sought a financial advantage. In this
case, it was access to trade infrastructure. His wife—multilingual and at the heart
of local politics—often became a key player.
170
Central to the HBC trading domain was the junction of the Assiniboine and the
Red Rivers. Trading at “the forks” has been traced back to at least 6000 BC. Traders
included the Cree, Ojibwa/Anishinaabe, Assiniboine, Sioux, and others. In the early
1730s the first White explorer paddled his way to the forks, signaling the arrival of
French and Métis traders. He established a small post known as Fort Rouge.
171
In 1809,
the NWC built Fort Gibraltar near the site.
172
Seven years later, the HBC attacked the
NWC, ending in a merger. In 1822, HBC built [Upper] Fort Garry on or near the site of
the former Fort Gibraltar.
173
Thus, the Red River Settlement, now the city of Winnipeg,
168
Hudson’s Bay Company Archives [HBCA], accessed Jan. 31, 2014, http://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/
archives/hbca/about/hbca_holdings.html. In 1884, these archives were donated to Manitoba. At times these
marriages were intentionally short-term since the men intended to return to their homeland.
169
Christine Welsh and Signe Johansson, “Women in the Shadows,” dir. Norma Bailey, video recording
(1991).
170
John Ralston Saul, A Fair Country: Telling the Truth about Canada (Toronto: Viking, 2008), 11.
171
He was Pierre Gaulthier de Varennes et de la Verendrye. See “Upper Fort Garry Gate: 130 Main Street,”
City of Winnipeg Historical Buildings Committee, accessed May 5, 2014, http://www.winnipeg.ca/ppd
/historic/pdf-consv/Main%20130-long.pdf. A committee was established in 2013 to oppose the city’s plans
to relocate the gate and walls so they could sell the prime land it stands on.
172
Now located in the French Quarter of Winnipeg, the fort serves as the site for the annual winter Métis
celebration, Festival du Voyageur.
173
Due to flooding, Lower Fort Garry replaced the earlier fort. A few years ago, an historical exhibit in the
Assiniboine Park Conservatory had a plaque mounted which said the fort was built for two reasons: (1)
because of constant flooding; (2) so that Sir Simpson could avoid his former “country wife” as she was
perpetually bothering him about jobs for their sons—the woman was my great great grandmother.
86
began its urban existence at the site of “the first European post on the Canadian
prairies.”
174
It boasted one hundred residents in 1830.
175
Historically it served as the
“gateway to the west.”
176
Métis, such as my great-grandfather, established farms on river
lots. However, European settlement is attributed to Lord Selkirk in 1812 who settled one
hundred and five Scottish farmers there, plus European mercenaries to protect them.
177
French Bishop Joseph Norbert Provencher chose a site near the Red and Seine Rivers
convergence for a missionary settlement, establishing St. Boniface College (1818).
178
The Oblates are a second Roman Catholic Order that exerted exceptional
influence in the west, and therefore over Indigenous peoples, including involvement in
treaty making. The Oblates of Mary Immaculate began in France, 1816, under Eugene du
Mazenod with four men who desired to “preach Missions”.
179
The Oblates were
instrumental in taking Christianity to the Métis, Cree, Saulteaux, Blackfoot, and other
tribes in the Prairies. The HBC served as reluctant benefactors and set the parameters.
This period under the British roughly parallels the lifetime of A. A. Tàché, the
second archbishop of St. Boniface, from 1823 to 1894. It also directly relates to my
paternal family’s history. Six generations or more lived under Oblate influences, were
174
McGill University Digital Library, accessed May 1, 2008, http://digital.library.mcgill.ca/nwc/chro/text
_1701.htm. Note: McGill states 1737, while other sources state 1738. The main gate and a portion of wall
remains from Upper Fort Garry. Lower Fort Garry is maintained as a tourist attraction.
175
“Winnipeg at a Glance,” Destination Winnipeg, accessed April 30, 2008, http://www.destination
winnipeg.ca/mediakit. It had decreased by 5 residents since 1812.
176
Whereas Toronto, which is east, has been considered “central” – it is purely a political distinction.
177
Canadian Encyclopedia, s.v., “St. Boniface,” accessed Feb. 4, 2014, http://www.thecanadian
encyclopedia.com/en/article/st-boniface/. Lord Selkirk was a shareholder in HBC.
178
“St. Boniface,” Britannica, accessed May 12, 2008, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/
topic/516871/Saint-Boniface.
179
Oblate Communications, “Who are we?” accessed Nov. 25, 2008, http://www.omiworld.org/
WhoareWe/whoarewe1.asp?L=1.
87
baptized and confirmed, and many were educated at Oblate schools. The Oblates are
introduced here as a primary change agent in Western Canada.
The first mission of the Sisters of Charity in the Red River Settlement was built in
1906, less than ten miles from downtown Winnipeg on the banks of the Assiniboine
River and called St. Charles Convent. The “little village with a sizable Métis
population”
180
included my father’s family. The Oblates and the Sisters of Charity—
Soeurs Grises or Grey Nuns— worked “side by side” since 1844 in the Red River
Settlement.
181
Gradually the nuns lost their status and served as support workers for the
male mission.
182
In the next century, the Oblates operated one hundred and eighteen
residences, residential schools, and other facilities.
183
While Tàché’s career and life were winding down in Manitoba, Adrien-Gabriel
Morice (1859–1938) arrived in 1880
184
from France with his goal “to become a
missionary priest-king,”
185
and “to battle among, and conquer, the lowly of America, that
is my vocation.”
186
He fulfilled his goal in interior British Columbia amongst the Carrier
and Sikani. (Cheryl Bear’s homeland; she is Individual 4 in this study.) Morice learned
180
Bruno-Jofré, The Missionary Oblate Sisters (Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2005), 30. An
aside: This is the church where many of my relatives are buried, and my brother and cousins attended
school. Our family’s church is pictured on page 30, taken ca. 1928.
181
E. Palmer Patterson, The Canadian Indian: A History Since 1500 (Don Mills, ON: Collier-MacMillan
Canada, 1972), 125, quoting Katherine Hughes, Father Lacombe, The Black-Robe Voyageur (Toronto:
McClelland and Stewart, 1920), 336.
182
Ibid., 83.
183
Ibid., 173-190.
184
Canadian Encyclopedia, “Father Adrien Gabriel Morice,” Historica Canada, Canadian Encyclopedia
Online, accessed Feb. 3, 2014, http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/en/article/father-adrien-gabriel-
morice/.
185
David Mulhall, Will to Power: The Missionary Career of Father Morice (Vancouver: University of
British Columbia Press, 1986), xi.
186
Ibid., 2.
88
the language well and guarded the Indians from the HBC and the Indian Agent. The fact
he appointed the new chief for the Carrier is one example of a paternalistic authoritarian
missionary.
187
David Mulhall expressed his disdain for Morice who “from the height of
his grandeur treated the Indians as slaves.”
188
The 1860s and 1870s brought turmoil to the lives of the Catholic Red River Métis
when Canadian surveyors arrived to divide the land. The resultant first phase of the Red
River Rebellion/Resistance coincided with the migration of displaced Mennonites. A
number of Mennonite denominations gradually involved themselves in ministry to
Indians, attempting to convert them not just to Jesus, but to their particular culture and
religious expression. Rationale for the failure rate of conversion/transformation of Indians
has included the confusion and social conflict created by missionary competition as well
as ignorance of and insensitivity to cultural nuances. Missionaries had made selfless
sacrifices, had laboured at learning the languages, lived on reserves or near-by, yet
usually managed to live apart from the people.
The slaughter of the buffalo (bison) by the thousands for their hides and to force
Indians into submission through starvation left the Indians not only starving, but
incredulous for the “Destruction of food was in their minds worse than the murder of a
man’s own family.”
189
As the buffalo were hunted almost to extinction, and settlers
poured into western Canada in the latter half of the nineteenth century, the Métis
struggled to keep their identity as a new and separate nation of people, their land rights,
187
Mulhall, Will to Power, 82f (photograph section). He frequently accepted invitations to speak as an
“expert on Indians.” Morice managed to convince at least one modern researcher that he “was in a class
quite by himself. … an outstanding brilliant scholar. If the Oblates had not been so short of men he
probably would never have been put out into the missionary field at all, but retained for some strictly
academic project ….”, Kay Cronin, Cross in the Wilderness (Vancouver, BC: Mitchell Press, 1960),159.
One assumes “Indians” are not nearly as valuable as academics. This text is a contrast with Mulhall.
188
Ibid., 169.
189
Erasmus, Buffalo Days and Nights, 227.
89
and their distinct culture. Previously, I referenced the Māori half-caste who “recast his
identity at will”
190
passing as different ethnicities. This tactic was replicated in Canada as
“halfbreeds,” the official term used by the British and early Canadian governments,
would increasingly try to “pass” as French or British. Some children such as Louis Riel
were offered privileged education. At times these children were given the surname of
their benefactors. (One could argue this reflected a paternalistic mindset similar to that
which Morgan displayed in his habitual references to “my natives.”
191
) Indigenous names
routinely gave way to European ones both as a part of Christianization and for the
convenience of the newcomers. Métis Peter Erasmus (1833-1931) provides an illustration
of the complexity of identity for halfbreeds for he was a descendent of two English HBC
officers, a Danish father, and Indian grandparents, and married to a “mixed-blood” wife.
Erasmus served as a teacher, evangelist, guide to a Methodist missionary, translator who
spoke six local languages plus English, and as the translator in negotiating Treaty 6.
192
I will leave this section of the study and briefly highlight some missionaries at the
height of Protestant missions in western Canada. The study of Protestant missionary
endeavours in N.A. presents a sharp contrast with the Jesuits, complicated by a number of
factors: the divisiveness and competitiveness between Protestant denominations and
mission institutions; and the diversity of faith expressions
193
including American born
sects (such as Mormons and later Jehovah’s Witnesses). The Anglican John Stuart, born
in Virginia in 1736, made his way north to minister to the Mohawks and the Five
Nations. By the late 1700s he too had little fruit for his labours as he saw “that [the
190
Wanhalla, In/visible Sight, 1.
191
See Pilditch, The Letters and Journals of Reverend John Morgan.
192
Erasmus, Buffalo Days and Nights, xv-xxix, 305.
193
This is not to ignore territorial tensions between missionaries representing various Catholic orders.
90
Indians] were deteriorating in character, and rapidly declining in number: indolence,
quarrelsomeness, and a passion for ardent spirits, were their besetting sins; and while they
had not the advantage of any resident teacher, they were constantly exposed to the
corrupting influence of the more abandoned white settlers.”
194
Thomas Crosby (1840-
1914) was dubbed “the most famous Methodist missionary in British Columbia, if not all
of Canada.”
195
His reputation grew in part through self-promotion. Jan Hare and Jean
Barman, in Good Intentions Gone Awry, demonstrate the tremendous responsibility
carried by his wife Emma (1849-1926), which included her twelve children plus full
responsibility for the mission while her husband travelled. The ethos of mission at the
time was to reach the whole world in one generation. The times also dictated strict roles
for missionary wives as support personnel who were to be helpmeets for the real
missionaries: their husbands. Women Salvation Army officers as missionaries were an
exception.
196
The first self-sufficient woman homesteader in Alberta, the widow Mrs.
George McDowell, taught “Indian women Christian concepts” and domestic skills.
197
An 1855 picture of Rev. Henry Bird Steinhauer shows him clothed in a suit, with
an English style haircut.
198
Steinhauer was an Ojibway, proficient in Cree, English, Greek
and Hebrew, and applauded as an example of an “improved Indian.” He joined James
194
“The Rev. John Stuart,” Project Canterbury, Early Canadian Missionaries, from The Colonial Church
Chronicle and Missionary Journal, no. ii (Aug. 1847), 61-66; no. viii (Feb. 1848), 298-306; no. ix
(March, 1848), 333-338; transcribed by the Right Reverend Dr. Terry Brown, Bishop of Malaita, Church of
the Province of Melanesia, 2008; Anglican History, accessed Jan. 11, 2014, http://anglicanhistory.org/
canada/early_missionaries1847.html.
195
Jan Hare and Jean Barman, Good Intentions Gone Awry (Vancouver, BC: UBC Press, 2006), xix.
196
Knowles, Canada, 113, re “The Hallelujah Lassies” and their impact in 1887 in Vancouver.
197
Ibid., 107.
198
Patterson, The Canadian Indian, 104.
91
Evans as a Methodist missionary in translating Scripture into Cree—the rare Indian who
earned clergy status as assimilated, a mark of success, and subservient.
199
The Methodists as a whole began to lose interest in Indians. They were not alone.
Other missions faced similar struggles. By the end of the 1800s some Christians
questioned the validity of missions to Indians as ‘money wasted’ with so little return for
the dollar. John McLean commented: “here are many doubters as to the success attending
the labours of missionaries among the red men. With them it is the practical question of
dollars and cents. A definite amount had been expended on an Indian mission, and the
exact equivalent in conversion according to some ideal standard must result.”
200
McLean
affirmed the power of the gospel in that “the Indian manifests no less than the white man
the power of the Spirit of God.”
201
Politicians, citizens, missions, and denominations who
weigh the worth of work to/with Indigenous peoples on the basis of how much money is
being ‘wasted’ will be encountered again in Chapter Three. At this point, I note that
exceptional missionaries (either for positive or negative reasons) are most likely to have
biographies as a legacy. One assumes most missionaries with the best of intentions, and
perhaps better methodologies, are less accessible.
On the east coast, “After a generation or so not a single Beothuk was left alive, at
any rate none who would admit their tribal identity.”
202
The defining moment for ultimate
control over Indigenous peoples’ lives had occurred far to the east with the Battle of the
199
Knowles, Canada, 10. In recent times, it has been proposed that the work which made Evans well
known and admired was, in fact, work accomplished by Steinhauer such as translation.
200
John McLean, The Indians: Their Manners and Customs (Toronto: William Briggs, 1889; reprinted
Toronto: Coles, 1970), 287.
201
Ibid.
202
William Brandon, The Rise and Fall of North American Indians: From Prehistory through Geronimo
(Lanham, Maryland: Roberts Rhinehart Publishers, 2003), 260.
92
Plains of Abraham (1759), on which hung “the fate of a continent.”
203
The official
formation of Canada (1867) cemented control. A story not as well-known involves the
scalp bounties. They had first been introduced by the Dutch. Eventually they were
implemented in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Nova Scotia, and California. William
Brandon wrote, “Of course, no one could be sure the scalps brought in were the scalps of
whatever Indians happened to be enemies at the moment. Missionaries had to keep a
frantic watch over their Indian flocks during bounty years.”
204
Aboriginal status continued to decline as Indigenous roles diminished in
developing the new nation. Culturally and numerically, the Indian assumed the status of
alien in the land. The Indigenous person was to co-operate, assimilate or get out of the
way. If resistant, European descendants dealt with them in ways common to their values.
The White man became the default position for humanity. (White women were
not yet considered persons by the Law.) The perplexing problem of why Indians did not,
would not, change has been analyzed from both political and religious vantage points.
The 1844 Report on the Affairs of Indians in Canada, discussing their non-compliance
with the plans to convert and transform them, contained this explanation:
The chief obstacle to their conversion is a joint determination on the part of
certain of their chiefs to persevere in their rejection of Christianity…. The glaring
inconsistency, which they cannot fail to discover, between the profession and
practice of the nominal Christians among the white people who have settled
around them, and who are generally of very bad character, has furnished them
with a plausible objection to the Christian religion.
205
203
Joy Carroll, Wolfe & Montcalm: Their Lives, Their Times and the Fate of a Continent (Richmond Hill,
ON: Firefly Books, 2004).
204
Brandon, The Rise and Fall of North American Indians, 260. He contends, “The French used the scalp
bounty to have the inoffensive Beothuk of Newfoundland cut off, as the phraseology of the time had it…”
205
Patterson, The Canadian Indian, 84.
93
“The Indian problem”
206
impeded the desire to open the west for settlement
following the birth of Canada. Ridding the country of Indians became a priority. The
1870s brought the completion of the transcontinental railroad with Winnipeg as the major
hub in western Canada. The inevitable influx of European immigrants followed. With the
buffalo gone and orchestrated famine stalking the Indians, submitting to treaties seemed
the only way out of starvation and impending extinction. Consequences of first contact on
the prairies include decimation of wildlife impacting sustainability of the hunting/
trapping lifestyle. Fur-trade and governmental policies had similar affects.
207
Missionaries often played significant roles in convincing people to sign these treaties.
208
The three issues from a governing perspective continued to be land, the civilizing
project, and resistance to assimilation. In spite of those like Father Lacombe who desired
Indians “to live there in pastoral contentment and certainty of food,”
209
they were not
succeeding at farming. In part, the problem can be attributed to governments issuing poor
quality seed, old cattle, incompetent farm instructors, and forced relocation to scrub
land.
210
Even the prime minister had doubts about the scheme.
211
Other challenges were
broken treaties which left them without promised equipment. One analysis of the ‘Indian
problem’ concluded that a blunder was made in assigning the work to men, who “were
206
Candace Savage, A Geography of Blood: Unearthing Memory from a Prairie Landscape (Vancouver/
Toronto/Berkeley: Greystone Books, 2012). Savage is non-Indigenous. This is a story of deliberate death to
buffalo, Indian (our adpted son’s people), and Métis on the part of both the American and Canadian
governments. Berg tells the similar story for an American audience. Scott W. Berg, 38 Nooses: Lincoln,
Little Crow, and the Beginning of the Frontier’s End (New York, NY: Vintage Books, 2012).
207
See James Daschuk, Clearing the Plains: Disease, Politics of Starvation, and the Loss of Aboriginal Life
(Regina, SK: University of Regina Press, 2013), and, Savage, A Geography of Blood.
208
See Erasmus, Buffalo Days and Nights, Métis interpreter for missionaries and government officials.
209
Patterson, The Canadian Indian, 125, quoting Hughes, Father Lacombe.
210
Hugh Shewell, Enough to Keep Them Alive: Indian Welfare in Canada, 1873-1965 (Toronto: University
of Toronto, 2004), 224.
211
Daschuk, Clearing the Plains, 115f.
94
used to ‘spectacular’ occupations … whereas women were best suited to those which
were ‘humdrum’” and therefore would have been more successful at farming.
212
As
pointed out by Hugh Shewell, it was not recognized that “sustenance gardening was
probably not a viable proposition for any culture” on the lands assigned.
213
Indigenous communities were de-stabilized. The “Old Men” or Elders had played
an essential role in community life. Some Native communities were patriarchal (to the
extent of plural wives), some matriarchal, and others egalitarian. In the latter, older
women were also Elders. The responsibilities of these Elders were manifold.
The Old Men have had a responsible and important position to fill with the band.
In a sense, they have supplied our moral code, taking the place of historians and
legal advisors. Theirs has been the task of firing the spirits of the young men
through stories of daring deeds done in times past. … [I]t was the Old men who
were the influence for good, who sought to right wrongs and to settle disputes.
214
Three primary factors that caused the social demotion of Elders were: the confusion
created by the rapid pace of change; the role played by the imposition of laws in conflict
with social norms; and, the missionaries seeking to protect “their Indians” from the
greater evil of their fellow citizens. Missionaries provided medical care, acted as judges
in disputes, preached, taught basic schooling, set moral codes, issued advice, and acted as
arbitrators with the government. The missionary thus replaced and usurped the role of the
Elder in many communities. This aided in the loss of important cultural touchstones.
By the late 1800s the Canadian Government had “consolidated its control over
Canada’s First Nations” not in small part through starvation.
215
Erasmus records “a
212
Shewell, Enough to Keep Them Alive, 224. Our adopted son is from the first First Nation, starved into
submission by the policies of Prime Minister Macdonald, that signed Treaty 4, George Gordon FN., SK.
213
Ibid.
214
Rev. Canon Edward Ahenekew (1885-1961), in Edward Ahenakew and Ruth M. Buck, Voices of the
Plains Cree (Regina, SK: University of Regina, 1995), 10.
215
Shewell, Enough to Keep Them Alive, 166.
95
growing resentment among various native people that men from the [HBC] … should be
called into consultation with the big [White] chief while the Indians and half-breeds,
those chiefly concerned, would be ignored completely. It was worse than useless to try to
justify these facts or explain them to native thinking.”
216
An increasingly important figure, who would come to dominate Native life and
create resentment, was the Indian Agent. He imposed government policy and daily
oversight of “wards of the state.” Some agents did this with kindness; others with
pharisaic rule, and ruthless disregard for life.
217
Church steeples representing all the
major European denominations dotted the landscape almost from sea to sea to sea by
1880. Rapid change also brought transient workers who settled in slums faster than city
fathers could respond. Desperate poverty in the cities led to the growth of city missions.
In what is now Ontario, 1781 to 1857 witnessed the signing of formal Treaties
with eleven major people groups and clans. In the Canadian prairies, between 1871 and
1923, eleven numbered Treaties plus the Williams Treaty were signed. It would be 1996
before another negotiated treaty would be signed. It should be noted that “less than half
of 1% of land south of the 60th Parallel was set aside as Native Reserves—a tiny amount
compared to the vast territory of Canada.”
218
If all the reserve land in Manitoba were to
be gathered together, plus the disputed land, and placed on an envelope, it would be the
size of a normal stamp. This is less land mass than belongs to Parks Canada. Regarding
the treaties, the claim is made that missionaries often “lent ‘the authority and prestige of
216
Erasmus, Buffalo Days and Nights, 227.
217
Agents were always White men. However, a particularly brutal sub-agent who was “mixed-blood” led to
the Frog Lake Massacre. See Daschuk, Clearing the Plains, 151-153.
218
Meredith MacArdle, The Timechart History of Canada (London: Worth Press, Ltd., 2003), 3.
96
white man’s religion’ to convince the Indians to sign.”
219
Were the missionaries unwitting
pawns of the government? Of traders? Of chiefs? Of the North West Mounted Police? It
is argued, yes, to each of these in various circumstances.
Andrew Walls’s study of the eighteenth century missionary movement led him to
conclude that many Europeans were seeking “to bolster [the Christian model] and deepen
communal Christian allegiance by the infusion of ‘real’ Christianity.”
220
“Real”
Christianity expressed itself as devout and holy, and sought commonality of purpose.
We have seen how a sense of common purpose could link groups in different
countries who stood for “real” Christianity …. There have been illuminating
studies of the networks developed among evangelicals in Britain and how these
networks crossed the Atlantic; … links were established between missionary
societies in different countries. ... All the springs for the Protestant missionary
movement lay in the movement for “real” Christianity within Christendom.
Overseas missions were not a separate growth from home missions or European
missions; they arose in the same soil and were rarely rivals.
221
The North America frontier gradually grew as a destination of choice for mission
activity. Psalm 2:8 seemed to refer to just such a harvest field, “I shall give you the
heathen for your inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession.”
222
Former efforts to convert Indians are notable: John Eliot (1642) in Martha’s Vineyard;
Thomas Mayer, Jr. began earlier and lasted until 1657 in Massachusetts, but David
Brainerd’s efforts (1718-47) are legendary. It is difficult to assess the results of his efforts
219
Patterson, The Canadian Indian, 180.
220
Andrew F. Walls, “The Eighteenth-Century Missionary Awakening,” in Christian Missions and the
Enlightenment, Studies in the History of Missions, ed., Brian Stanley; gen. eds., R.E. Frykenberg and Brian
Stanley (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2001), 40f.
221
Ibid. Our family volunteered in the early 1990s at a Shantyman camp in order to expose our Saulteaux
son to other Saulteaux children. At one camp, a 5 or 6 year old girl walked up to me and asked, “What
denomination are you?” Her question illustrates the divisions introduced into reserve communities.
222
See Jane Samson, “Ethnology and Theology: Nineteenth-Century Mission Dilemmas in the South
Pacific,” in Christian Missions and the Enlightenment, Studies in the History of Missions, edited by, Brian
Stanley and R.E. Frykenberg, (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2001), 99.
She states this verse was “much cited in … missionary meetings and periodicals”.
97
with the understanding his converts had of conversion given the turmoil during the Great
Awakening.
223
Brainerd’s interviews with converts led later scholars to conclude, “[W]e
can see that there is also something indigenous taking place in terms of a contest and
confrontation of spiritual powers.”
224
But is this “something indigenous” an
expectation—accurate or misconceived— of what and how pagan Indigenous peoples
should experience conversion? Certainly the stories abound that the convert’s “spirit of
conjuration left him entirely.” Are these reflections of missionary assumptions of what
converts should experience? Do we really need “help … to establish the conditions for
narratable evangelical conversion?”
225
These questions will not be pursued further.
226
Studies relative to first contact are readily available on the Doctrine of Discovery,
the concepts of terra nullius, manifest destiny, and capitalism/consumerism—to name a
few. The role played by the so called Protestant work ethic in evaluating the value of the
“other” is another; however, “The pursuit of profit remained the most powerful driving
force behind Britain’s bid for North American colonies.”
227
The Doctrine of Discovery
provided them (and other European colonialists) the moral authority. Robert Miller refers
to the 1823 U.S. Supreme Court decision acknowledging the legitimacy of Discovery.
Discovery meant that when European Christian nations encountered new lands
that the discovering country automatically gained property rights over non-
Christian nations even though the Native people already owned, occupied, and
223
D. Bruce Hindmarsh, “Patterns of Conversion in Early Evangelical History,” in Christian Missions and
the Enlightenment, Studies in the History of Missions, ed., Brian Stanley; gen. eds., R.E. Frykenberg and
Brian Stanley (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2001), 82-84.
224
Ibid., 83.
225
Ibid., 93.
226
I think of a movement in my home city a decade ago. One of the “manifestations of the Spirit” was an
uncontrollable shaking. Curiously, a woman who experienced the Spirit in this way entered the women’s
washroom, stopped shaking, tweaked her make-up, etc., left the washroom, and immediately resumed
shaking as she made her way back to her seat. Similar experiences are what lie behind my questions.
227
James, The Rise and Fall of the British Empire, 11.
98
were using their lands. In addition, the discovering country also gained
governmental rights over the Native people and their governments ….
228
Lawrence James relates a popular opinion in the early seventeenth century that “the
American continent was a richly endowed virgin bride awaiting a husband.”
229
Miller
states the place of Christianity as foremost. “Religion was a significant aspect of the
Doctrine. Under Discovery, non-Christian peoples did not have the same rights to land,
sovereignty, and self-determination as Christians.”
230
The seventeenth through the nineteenth centuries’ toll on North America’s
Indigenous peoples can hardly be exaggerated. Scalp bounties, fraudulent treaties,
depletion of resources, land grabs in all their forms, Indian removals, Indian reserves/
reservations, Indian agents, education-for-assimilation policies, construction of railroads,
warfare, disease, starvation, and alcohol—all combined with their agency in the fur trade,
conspiring together to insure marginalization.
By the end of the nineteenth century, Canada had succeeded in claiming, often
unlawfully even by their own standards, rights to all Indians as wards of the State,
according to the Indian Act
231
and all land (including the lands reserved for Indians) not
owned under Canadian law. In the U.S, Indians were still “other” with voting rights
granted in 1924 but withheld in seven states until 1948.
232
228
Robert J. Miller, “Christianity, American Indians, and the Doctrine of Discovery,” in Yong and
Zikmund, Remembering Jamestown, 59.
229
James, The Rise and Fall of the British Empire, 12.
230
Miller, “Christianity, American Indians,” 59f. Mark Charles, Navajo, has taken it upon himself to
educate his fellow American citizens on this matter. See his blog, Wirelesshogan: Reflections from the
Hogan, accessed Jan. 18, 2018, http://wirelesshogan.blogspot.ca/2014/12/doctrine-of-discovery.html.
231
“Indian Act,” Canadian Encyclopedia, accessed Jan. 18, 2018, http://www.thecanadian
encyclopedia.ca/en/article/indian-act/.
232
“Indigenous Peoples and Resources,” posted by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada,
Feb. 3, 2014; accessed Feb. 3, 2014, https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152132 168057976
99
Conclusion
[L]ess has been accomplished towards the civilization and improvements of
Indians in Canada in proportion to the expenses incurred than has been done for
the native tribes in any other colonies. −Lord Grey
Marginalization continued unabated in every sphere of the Indigenous reality,
including the Halfbreed experience. Religion provided no exception. In historical works,
when addressing faith, Native peoples are viewed not as contributors, but receivers. The
learning/giving is mono-directional as is the typical role of Indigenous peoples in
relationship to governance, education, media— in daily life in Canada both then and now.
When we Westerners call people ‘natives’ we implicitly take the cultural colour of
our perception of them. We see them as wild animals infesting the country …, as
part of the local flora and fauna and not as men of like passions with ourselves. So
long as we think of them as “natives,” we may exterminate them or, as is more
likely today, domesticate them and honestly … believe that we are improving the
breed, but we do not begin to understand them.
233
The Jesuits were fully aware of European Protestants and Catholics engaged in
doctrinal wars (1618-48), “an unholy Christian holy war which sapped the evangelical
and Catholic energies.”
234
The French were surrounded in the New World by the old
enemy, England, her American descendants, and the Dutch. One thing all newcomers
agreed on concerned Native spirituality: it was savage, pagan, and immoral—“nothing in
&set=a.378473232975.160482.318668727975&type=1&theater. I include this Facebook citation since
social media has become an educational and rallying tool for Indigenous peoples worldwide.
233
Arnold Toynbee, A Study of History (London: Oxford University Press, 1946) as quoted in E. Palmer
Patterson, The Canadian Indian: A History Since 1500 (Don Mills, Ontario: Collier-MacMillan Canada,
1972). Also see Erasmus, Buffalo Days and Nights, 112. As Métis guide for Englishmen documenting plant
specimens in the late 1800s, Erasmus feared that if he accepted their invitation to England “I would be a
curiosity to their associates and would probably be viewed in the same way as the specimens so carefully
preserved by the party. Most Englishmen …considered themselves made of superior cloth; even the most
ignorant and pitiably helpless individuals faced with … living in the West all looked down on the native
inhabitants as inferior beings, even though …their very lives were dependent on … our people.”
234
Martin Marty, The Christian World: A Global History (New York: Modern Library, 2007), 119.
100
the Native spiritual expressions was valid, and that their own versions of the Christian
replacements had to prevail, still under European national flags and at the expense of
other types of Christians.”
235
Converting Indigenous people globally tended to be a more
difficult task than missionary enthusiasm predicted, while some adopted concepts, many
rejected the message. “Although Indian missions rarely conformed to their benefactors’
expectations, Christianity still had far-reaching implications for native culture.”
236
[T]he Maori people had developed a worldview that kept them in harmony with a
spiritual universe and enabled them to respond in meaningful ways. The values
thus expressed have been in many cases Christianized … Yet these values are
essential to Maori self-identity …..”
237
Success in evangelization at the global, regional and local levels was and is often
assessed by how far a people group has assimilated. Assimilation is captured in paintings
and photographs of Indigenous peoples who are dressed in European fashion. An 1884
photograph from Auckland touting the work of the doomed Baptist Māori Mission shows
missionary Alfred Fairbrother seated while a young Māori protégé stands behind, his arm
resting on the former’s shoulder. The child is not named. He is attired in a western suit
with hair cut short, hand in one pocket, one leg crossed over the other ankle—assuming
in all ways the airs of a typical English child. The photograph is identified as belonging
to Thomas (son of Charles) Spurgeon’s scrapbook.
238
These superficial visuals belie the
deeper fact that many Indigenous peoples grew to love the person of Jesus.
As access to land passed from Indigenous peoples to foreigners, as the latter
passed a multitude of laws to control the First Peoples, as denominational and mission
235
Marty, The Christian World, 63.
236
Eliga H. Gould as quoted in Norman Etherington, ed. Missions and Empire, Oxford History of the
British Empire, Companion Series (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005), 21.
237
J. Irwin, “Maori Primal Religion,” 59.
238
Keam, Dissolving Dream, 90.
101
conflicts escalated, as alcohol and residential/boarding school abuses multiplied, the self-
respect and self-identities of the First Peoples continued to deteriorate. Families and
communities imploded upon themselves. Coming centuries would reveal that the
festering wounds have not healed. Isolated pockets of resistance grew.
There is disagreement over the role of missionaries in exploitation of new lands
and new peoples during the initial phases of colonization, with differences in degree
between Protestant and Roman Catholic missions. Both used education and trade as a
bridge to the gospel, and often for personal (or group) survival or enrichment. The
changes they sought as proof of conversion stayed at what Paul Hiebert identifies as
“surface culture.”
239
Various triadic formulations have expressed the relationship to
colonization: Civilized, Christianized, Catholic;
240
Pacification, Progress, Prosperity;
241
God, Gold, Glory;
242
or, Commerce, Civilization, Christianity.
243
Andrew Walls’s
summarization of mission motivations points elsewhere.
The missionary movement, first Catholic, then protestant, then both at once,
makes up a single story that arises out of the great European Migration. … It
arose among the radicals of Christendom, and it remained the sphere of the
radicals, the enthusiasts, people usually of minor significance in the church, rarely
the holders of ecclesiastical power or the leaders of ecclesiastical thought. … The
final reason for their existence was to point to Christ. With all the failures,
contradictions, and ambiguities that belong to the human condition, missionaries
were migrants for Christ’s sake.
244
239
Paul G, Hiebert, Transforming Worldviews: An Anthropological Understanding of How People Change
(Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008), 316.
240
Moore, Indian and Jesuit, xi-xii.
241
Ward, Life among the Maoris, viii.
242
Cushner, Soldiers of God, 46.
243
“Most missionaries in the modern era saw their task as both Christianizing and civilizing the ‘natives.’
To these, [David] Livingston added the third C, ‘commercializing,’ because he believed that free trade
would obviate slavery.” Hiebert, Transforming Worldviews, 209.
244
Andrew Walls, “Afterword: Christian Mission in a Five-hundred-year Context,” Mission in the 21st
Century: Exploring the Five Marks of Global Mission, ed. Andrew Walls and Cathy Ross (Great Britain:
Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd., 2008), 197.
102
Indigenous peoples responded to external political forces, the persuasiveness of
missionaries, their own ambitions, and the gospel with acceptance, acquiescence, or
resistance—both passive and aggressive. Chapter Three will present the histories of
selected Indigenous resistance strategies during crises at the global, regional, and local
levels which lay the foundations for retraditionalization and reclamation movements.
This summary does not fully answer the question Michael Rynkiewich poses: Why
were the Europeans able to dominate most of the rest of the world in the period between
1500 and 1900?
245
He references Jared Diamond’s book Guns, Germs, and Steel—
noting that Europeans could take no credit for the origins of this triad. What they can take
credit for is prolonged warfare with deadly war strategies.
246
However, “This does not
answer the question of why Europeans would want to plunder, migrate and confiscate, or
settle and stay. That question cannot be answered by citing the accidents of history, but
by searching the hearts and minds of the Europeans.”
247
Although this topic is not central
to this study, some insights into the formation of this history can be gleaned throughout.
245
Rynkiewich, Soul, Self, and Society, 172. This begs the question, Why the 1900 cut-off date? N.A.
Indigenous people would testify that European descendants still dominate.
246
Ibid., 172f.
247
Ibid., 173. And this may well lead back to Schoeck’s work, Envy: A Theory of Social Behaviour.
103
CHAPTER THREE
CRISES AND RESISTANCE: SOCIOPOLITICAL ACTIVISM
Out of the belly of Christopher’s ship / a mob bursts / Running in all directions/
Pulling furs off animals / Shooting buffalo / Shooting each other / left and right
…/ Civilization has reached / the promised land …/ The colossi / in which they
trust / while burying / breathing forests and fields / beneath concrete and steel/
stand shaking fists / waiting to mutilate / whole civilizations / ten generations
at a blow… −Jeannette Armstrong
This chapter continues with consequences that reverberate from First Contact to
Event 2, Crises and Resistance. The story of resistance is couched in terms such as
“massacre, “murder,” “rebellion,” and “revolt;” whereas terms describing a dominant
culture’s actions include “victory,” “quashing rebellion,” “execution,” and “just war.”
Indigenous resistance by the end of the 19th century is seldom violent in New Zealand or
North America. This does not imply acquiescence. Resistance only comes to public
attention when a particular event overwhelms and compels the oppressed to take public
action. The action may be individual or by organizations formed through innovative
alliances, using a variety of strategies to transform the status quo. In many senses,
resistance has been a centuries-long conversation, albeit often one-sided. This chapter
continues to braid together research and stories of organizations which play innovative
roles, events which serve as historical pivot points, and individuals who act as change
agents. The above excerpt from Armstrong’s poem, “History Lesson,”
1
is an example of
1
Jeannette C. Armstrong, “History Lesson (1978, 1991),” in Native Poetry in Canada: A Contemporary
Anthology, ed. Jeannette C. Armstrong and Larry Grauer (Peterborough, ON: Broadview Press, 2001),
110f. Armstrong self-identifies as Okanagan, Penticton First Nation. Ellipses are in the original.
104
Event 3, a proliferation of literature as resistance strategy. At the Global level, the
consequences of breaking the Treaty of Waitangi 1840 led to treaty renewal in 1975. The
formation of AIM [American Indian Movement] in 1968 resulted from pressures at the
Regional level. At the Local level, the Canadian Government published an ill-advised
policy paper in 1969. Individual 1, Pauline, will be introduced as an exemplar of
education gone awry. The Table below illustrates the elements of this chapter.
Table 3.1. Elements of Chapter Three
ELEMENT
Triad I
GLOBAL
New Zealand
Triad II
REGIONAL
North America
Triad III
LOCAL
Canada & Winnipeg
EVENT 2
Retraditionalization
Consequences Crisis
Treaty of Waitangi 1840
Treaty of Waitangi 1975
1970s Political scene
Consequences Crisis
Wounded Knee: AIM
Occupation (1973)
Consequences Crisis
Political: The White Paper
(1969)
EVENT 3
Retraditionalization
Reclamation
Resistance Literature
Word Power
Resistance Literature
Word Power
Resistance Literature
(1969 –Present)
Word Power
INDIVIDUAL 1
Colonization
Pauline
Pauline
Pauline
Andrew Walls states that William Carey (1761-1834) has been miscredited with
“heralding the new era of missions… [for] Carey is clearly conscious that missionary
work is already and has long been in progress.”
2
Carey held a higher regard for the
potentiality of Indigenous peoples than many Europeans, for he considered their “souls
are immortal as ours, and [they] are as capable as ourselves, of adorning the gospel, and
contributing by their preaching, writing, or practices to the glory of the Redeemer’s
2
Andrew F. Walls, “The Eighteenth-Century Protestant Missionary Awakening in Its European Context,”
in Christian Mission and the Enlightenment, ed. Brian Stanley (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub.
Co., 2001), 32.
105
name, and the good of his church.”
3
However, his plea to prospective missionaries asked,
“Can we hear that they are without the gospel, without government, without laws, and
without arts and sciences; and not exert ourselves to introduce amongst them the
sentiments of me, and of Christians?”
4
Merchants, traders, missionaries, and settlers
echoed Carey’s perception that Indigenous peoples had a civilization void. From First
Contact, the colonizer and missionary evaluated First Peoples by their productivity−an
explicit bias based on the “Protestant work ethic”
5
combined with an implicit cultural
value in favor of physical material objects, thereby judging Indigenous peoples and their
cultures as inferior. These may be distilled to a series of equivalences:
Table 3.2. Perceived Deficits of Indigenous Cultures
6
No Books
=
No History
No Church or Temple
=
No Religion
No Courts or Jails
=
No Law
No Legislative Building
=
No Governance
No Factories
=
No Productivity
No Tombstones
=
No Cemetery
No Buildings
=
Land Free for the Taking
No Productivity
=
Laziness &/or Stupidity
No Material Prosperity
=
Wild or Noble Savages
3
William Carey, An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the
Heathens, 69-70, as quoted in Brian Stanley, “Christian Mission: A Reevaluation,” in Stanley, ed.,
Christian Mission, 11.
4
Carey, as quoted by Walls, “The Eighteenth-Century Protestant Missionary Awakening,” 11f.
5
Also called the Puritan work ethic, it values hard (physical) work, busy schedules, thrift, self-discipline, a
sense of vocation and commitment, and appropriate use of time. Accumulation of wealth and material
goods is viewed as a sign of God’s blessing or reward for hard work—a forerunner of the Prosperity
Gospel. The Gospel Coalition provides a brief overview in John Starke, “The Myth of the Protestant Work
Ethic” (Aug. 7, 2012), The Gospel Coalition, accessed Oct. 7, 2016, https://www.thegospelcoalition.
org/article/the-myth-of-the-protestant-work-ethic.
6
This may well be a forerunner to the “prosperity gospel” wherein an abundance of material possessions
signifies God’s favor or blessing.
106
This viewpoint is foundational to the mindset behind the Age of Discovery, the
Doctrine of Discovery,
7
terra nullius, and Manifest Destiny.
8
Brian Stanley theorizes that
Christian missions “appropriated the intellectual legacy of the Enlightenment”
9
which
informed its theology, theory, and practice.
Crises and Resistance at Global Level
The Europeans have brought us much [the Maori say], but along with it also
illness and destruction, and in exchange for this they have taken our land and want
to take more and more, until they have it all in their power .… Our land is our
greatest good. … Let them be content with what they have…. We do not want
them to spread themselves any further across our land. −John F. Riemenschneider
Colonization, at one level, seems to be primarily about land and resources. While
land remains a foremost and emotional connecting point to self-identity, self-governance,
self-theologizing, and cultural identity, colonialism requires total subjugation and
assimilation. In the aftermath of the 1860s land wars, Bishop Selwyn, Church Missionary
Society [CMS], lamented that the Māori no longer held him in high regard as their father.
7
A Canadian Roman Catholic response, arguing that the Doctrine of Discovery was clarified by Pope Paul
III in 1537, states: “When Saint John Paul II visited Canada in 1987, he addressed a gathering of
Indigenous people at Fort Simpson, recalling again the words of Paul III: ‘At the dawn of the Church's
presence in the New World, my predecessor Pope Paul III proclaimed in 1537 the rights of the native
peoples of those times. He affirmed their dignity, defended their freedom and asserted that they could not
be enslaved or deprived of their goods or ownership. That has always been the Church's position….’” See
Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, “The ‘Doctrine of Discovery’ and Terra Nullius: A Catholic
Response” (2016), accessed Sept. 26, 2016, http://www.cccb.ca/site/images/stories/pdf/ catholic%20
response%20 to%20doctrine %20of%20discovery %20and%20tn.pdf.
8
As a counterpoint to this, one Catholic website states: “A 30-year effort to get the Pope to take back the
words of two15th century popes got another boost this summer when Leadership Conference of Women
Religious … passed a resolution calling on Pope Francis to repudiate the doctrine of discovery. …”
Michael Swan, “Doctrine of discovery first repudiated in 1537,” The Catholic Register, (Oct. 02, 2004),
accessed Sept. 26, 2016, http://www. catholicregister.org/home/international/item/18900-doctrine-of-
discovery-first-repudiated-in-1537.
9
Brian Stanley, “Christian Missions: A Reevaluation,” in Christian Missions and the Enlightenment
(Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans, 2001), 2. An early missionary in New Zealand, Samuel Marsden, is
used to exemplify this theory.
107
The people had no Christian leadership as CMS influence waned. “[Selwyn] had always
actively resisted the ordination of Māori ministers, and minimized the training of Māori
teachers during the most crucial periods of mission development.”
10
This reluctance to
train leaders adequately, and the reluctance to disempower White leaders, persists.
Denominational and missional boundary disputes were too common, yet there is
also evidence of co-operation.
11
Sociologist Hans Mol argues:
If, then, we want to provide a social-scientific sketch of religion in New Zealand
… we must pay suitable attention to a phenomenon unknown in primitive
societies, yet crucial in Western societies imposed on them. This phenomenon is
the separating out of religious organization as an identity in its own right distinct
from the various other identities (such as tribes, families, individuals, nations,
communities etcetera). The descriptive shift from religious function to religious
organization is necessary if one wants to trace typical New Zealand problems of
race relations and the effect which the denominations have on them.
12
In the conclusion to his study, Mol observes that “in an embryonic way a variety
of ‘religions’ have begun to emerge which unite Maoris and Pakeha [White New
Zealanders].”
13
These religions or groups emphasized the role of the prophetic. Mol
names five leaders and movements from the later 1800s with influence into the mid-
1900s. The impetus to “consolidate Maori identity in the face of Western onslaught”
14
10
Keith Newman, Bible and Treaty: Missionaries among the Maori–A New Perspective (Rosedale, NZ:
Penguin Books, 2010), 297 and 305.
11
See Peter Oettli, God’s Messenger: J.F. Riemenschneider and Racial Conflict in 19th Century New
Zealand (Wellington, Aotearoa NZ: Huia Publishers, 2008), 129f, for example of cooperation. See
Newman for disputes, both involving Riemenschneider. Newman, Bible & Treaty, 225.
12
Hans Mol, The Fixed and The Fickle: Religion and Identity in New Zealand (Waterloo, ON: Wilfred
Laurier University Press, 1982), 4. This study dealt with the era 1926-1971.
13
Ibid., 97.
14
Ibid., 30. It is worth noting here that Christianity was not the only religion vying for converts. See
Marjorie Newton, Mormon and Maori (Draper, UT: Greg Kofford Books, 2014) which addresses the
history of Mormon mission in New Zealand since 1880.
108
drove the movements. In a very real sense, these prophets and spiritual leaders practiced
both resistance and self-theologizing.
Discontent erupted into active resistance in the latter half of the twentieth century.
“In 1969, a large march of Christians occurred along Queen St. in Auckland, with the
Maori prophet-evangelist, Muri Thompson, in the forefront. It was a sign of a new
generation of youth rejecting the marginalization of classic Christianity.”
15
The march
played a role in the overall revival led by charismatic leaning individuals from the 1960s
through the 1980s,
16
both Māori and Pakeha. It did not seem to affect the dynamics of
separate interracial worship already in place. In fact, Viv Grigg suggests that the
movement choose the prosperity gospel and materialism over reconciliation and acts of
justice; noting that while some leaders did address reconciliation, and some even initiated
contact with Pakeha Christians in order for them to hear the pain caused to their Māori
brothers and sisters, “The renewed church, in general, did not obey.”
17
This silence by the
Church is a factor in historical crises and resistance to colonization.
Crisis: The Aftermath of the Treaty of Waitangi 1840
New Zealanders recognize two main historical events in Pakeha and Māori
relationships. The first is the culmination of First Contact: the Treaty of Waitangi 1840.
The second is the culmination of the consequences from the almost immediate breaking
of that treaty with continued immigration and land theft. Sociopolitical activism led to the
Treaty of Waitangi 1975.
15
Viv Grigg, The Spirit of Christ and the Postmodern City (Lexington, KY: Emeth Press, 2009), 125.
16
Ibid., 127.
17
Ibid., 142.
109
There are two social science theories which impacted the latter half of the
nineteenth century and into the twentieth. One is the theory of evolution, itself evolving
to include humanity in the aftermath of Darwin’s visit to New Zealand (NZ) and the 1859
publication of The Origin of Species.
18
Keith Newman notes that newspapers kept
colonizers informed of European debates as Christians struggled to respond to worldview
challenges. He argues that race took on a new detrimental meaning as the theory was
applied to the First Peoples and racial slurs became common.
19
The second theory is
eugenics. Building on and deepening racism, eugenics taught that human characteristics
are embedded in one’s race—innate and inherited.
20
A propensity towards criminality, for
example, is influenced by the shape of one’s skull and nose. David Hume contended that
differences were innate while others attributed differences to civilization.
21
18
See under “Darwin fuels racism,” in Newman, Bible and Treaty, 286-289.
19
Newman, Bible and Treaty, 287. In personal correspondence, Michael Rynkiewich noted: “This is a long
and complex development. Darwin himself said little about races or about what came to be known as
‘cultural evolution.’ It was Herbert Spencer while talking about societies as organisms [who] introduced the
term ‘the survival of the fittest.’ This did not make it back into Darwin’s The Origin of Species until the 6th
edition. Ironically, churchmen tended to reject biological evolution while accepting the speculations of
cultural evolution theory. Finally, within Anthropology, Cultural Evolution as a theoretical paradigm died
around 1910. However, the cat was out of the bag, so to speak, because the ideas escaped into other
disciplines (Biblical Studies, Sociology, Psychology, Political Science) as well as into the imagination of
the general public. So, while Anthropologists had moved on to Functionalism and derided cultural
evolutionary language, the rest of the world didn’t get the memo.”
20
See Nicholas Wade, A Troublesome Inheritance: Genes, Race, and Human History (New York, NY:
Penguin Books, 2014). Basing his thesis on the ongoing impact of decoding the human genome, Wade
writes, “It would be of the greatest interest to know how people have evolved in recent times and to
reconstruct the fingerprints of natural selection as it molded and reworked the genetic clay. …But the
exploration and discussion of these issues is complicated by the fact of race…. [A]nyone interested in
recent human evolution is inevitably studying human races, whether they wish it or not … [and] public
policy interest of not generating possibly invidious comparisons that might foment racism.… [and] the
assertion that there is no biological basis for race” (pp. 1-2). He further argues, “Analysis of genomes from
around the world establishes that there is indeed a biological reality to race, despite the official statements
to the contrary of leading social science organizations” (p. 4). Brian Bethune’s article “Battles over
Inheritance” challenges Wade’s conclusions, especially regarding more recent human evolution. See Brian
Bethune, “Battles over Inheritance,” in Maclean’s, May 26 (2014): 60-61. Wade’s challenge to the “social
science creed” (p.5f) that race is a cultural construct is beyond the scope of this paper.
21
See Stanley, ed., Christian Missions and the Enlightenment, 171.
110
At the local level, Sir John A. MacDonald, second Prime Minister of Canada,
22
betrays this mindset in his educational strategy which planted the seeds for Residential
Schools: “When the school is on the reserve, the child lives with his parents who are
savages; he is surrounded by savages, and though he may learn to read and write, his
habits and training and mode of thought are Indian. He is simply a savage who can read
and write.”
23
Maintaining this understanding of “savage” requires ignoring Western and
colonial examples of savagery including crucifixion, Inquisition tortures, Viking “blood-
eagle” killings, the guillotine,
24
British execution by “drawing and quartering,” slave
ships, “tarring and feathering,” and Ku Klux Klan lynchings. Ironically, First Nations
chiefs petitioned in 2000 to have the Nova Scotia scalp bounty laws for Indian scalps
rescinded.
25
American Indians had addressed similar concerns in 1990.
26
22
He served from 1867, the Confederation of Canada, until 1873, and was re-elected 1878-1891.
23
“Sir John A. MacDonald, second Prime Minister of Canada, House of Commons, 1883” in “Residential
Schools,” Creator-Land-People, Living Sky School No. 201, Treaty 6 Education, accessed Sept. 26, 2016,
https://treaty6education.lskysd.ca/residentialschools.
24
Philip Martin argues that beheading was practiced in Europe by warriors and civil authorities and
bounties offered by the British in Ireland, but in N.A. colonists reduced the bounty to just scalps with
graduated rates for male, female, or children. Phillip Martin, “Scalping Fact and Fantasy,” Rethinking
Columbus: The Next 500 Years, edited by Bill Bigelow and Bob Peterson, 2nd ed. (Rethinking Schools,
Milwaukee, 1998), 58-59, accessed Sept. 27, 2016, https://www.manataka.org/page1438.html.
25
“[N]ative chiefs asked the premier to remove scalping laws from the books. The 1756 proclamation
offers a bounty for each Mi'kmaq scalp. It's never been removed and the province has never apologized.”
See “Two hundred year-old scalp law still on books in Nova Scotia,” CBC News, Canada (Jan. 4, 2000),
accessed Sept. 27, 2016, http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/two-hundred-year-old-scalp-law-still-on-books-
in-nova-scotia-1.230906. Due to public pressure, the process has begun to rescind the proclamation.
26
In an effort to address this issue, an online scholars’ forum reads “in 1990, the federal government passed
the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, which mandated the return of sacred Indian
artifacts and of remains. As museums combed through their collections, they found scalps that were clearly
Indian. Some even had documentation identifying the scalp-takers as colonists. Historical records confirm
that Colonial authorities offered a bounty on Indian scalps. … In Salem, redeemed scalps were hung along
the walls of the town courthouse, in full view of the public, until the building was torn down in 1785.”
Diane E. Foulds, “Who Scalped Whom? Historians Suggest Indians were as Much Victims as
Perpetrators,” Hawthorne in “Salem” [North Shore Community College], accessed Sept. 27, 2016,
http://www.hawthorneinsalem.org/ScholarsForum/MMD2263.html.
111
In this century, Mark Charles (Navajo), at the regional level, has made it his
mission to educate the American public on the inclusion of the phrase "merciless Indian
Savages" in the U.S. Declaration of Independence (1776) just thirty lines below the
statement, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that
they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights ….”
27
As a follower of
Jesus, Charles is an active participant in reclaiming culture.
The mid-to-late 19th century immigrants solidified and formalized Euro-based
power structures at all three levels. In New Zealand, Lord Grey continued at “his ongoing
manipulations to acquire as much Māori land as possible.”
28
Remarkably, the Māori
increasingly self-identified as Christians, yet their resistance to land grabs persisted as did
exercising their agency in trade. Since the 1820s the Māori were noted for seeking the
upper hand in trade. Colonizers resented Māori agency. “The natives regard fish hooks
equivalent to copper, axes and hoes to silver and muskets and powder to our gold. Nor
can we [any longer] dictate to them which of these they must receive in payment for their
property and services. They dictate to us.”
29
Missionaries and Māori still clashed over land acquisition.
30
Some Māori
advocated for retention of land at all costs; others “become tired of debating and gladly
hand over their possessions to land agents. Against this state of things no aboriginal race
27
Charles states, “[T]he Declaration of Independence both codifies that racial bias and justifies the violent
history that resulted.” See Mark Charles, “The Declaration of Independence. It's not what you think,”
Wirelesshogan: Reflections from the Hogan (July 3, 2016), accessed Sept. 29, 2016, http://wireless
hogan.blogspot.com/. Mark is co-writing a book along with Soong-Chan Rah dealing with the Doctrine of
Discovery and Manifest Destiny.
28
Newman, Bible and Treaty, 260f.
29
Ibid., 59, quoting the mission teacher and justice of the peace, Thomas Kendall.
30
Ibid., 255-265 cites Anglican Bishop Selwyn as colluding with the government while others such as
CMS missionary Thomas Grace standing up for the Māori, albeit with a paternalistic and ethnocentric view
of the Natives. Yet, Newman also claims Selwyn defended their military defenses at times. Ibid., 286.
112
on earth can stand long…”
31
One missionary recorded Māori sentiments in 1853: “We
and our children have nothing left but are forced to throw ourselves into labouring and
carrying out the trade of the lowest class of the Europeans to find our livelihood. We
Maori do not intend to do that. Our land is our greatest good. … Let them be content with
what they have….”
32
Europeans from a variety of nations presumed a “natural” authority over the
Māori. German missionaries included Johann Riemenschneider who served under the
North German Mission Society (1843-1866), arriving soon after the signing of the Treaty
until the 1860s wars.
33
Twenty-two Europeans were killed on the day he arrived. The
“Wairau massacre” resulted from “Māori anger about their cavalier treatment by Pākehā,
and a dispute about the sale of a parcel of land… [They] had underestimated the Māori
determination to resist.”
34
Oettli comments, “Almost every report that Riemenschneider
wrote in the early fifties contains one or more bitter complaints about the behaviour of
Māori towards him and his family or towards each other.”
35
For example, the Māori
young people, “If I earnestly reproached them for their godless foolishness, they laughed.
If I ordered them to leave, they defiantly replied that this land was their own and they
could send me away, but I could not send them away. So we had to put up with it.”
36
31
David Grace, A Driven Man: Missionary Thomas Samuel Grace (Wellington, NZ: Ngaio Press, 2004),
79f quoted in Newman, Bible and Treaty, 265.
32
Oettli, God’s Messenger, 121.
33
Ibid., ix. Oettli notes that John [Johann] Riemenschneider was falsely accused of siding with the Pakeha.
34
Ibid., 33.
35
Ibid., 119.
36
Ibid., 120.
113
The American Baptist Māori Mission leader William Snow, in 1887, wrote an
account of his journey through northern NZ: “When comparing them as a whole with
other aboriginal and indifferently civilized people they are universally declared by the
white residents in New Zealand, as well as studious tourists, to be decidedly a superior
race.”
37
Ironically, one mark of this superiority is how Māori protect land “from the
covetous grasp of the white man.”
38
CMS missionary John Morgan (1849) remarked favorably vis-à-vis the “progress
of civilization amongst the aborigines. A general desire now exists amongst the natives to
rise as near as they can to a level with Europeans.”
39
Indigenous traditions fell under the
scrutiny of missionary and settler alike. The Māori haka (a traditional dance) was no
exception. By the late 1870s, it served as part of the growing tourist package offered in
New Zealand. Keam wrote,
For suitable recompense guests were offered entertainment in the form of haka. …
However it had become expected that the audience treat the performers to
alcoholic refreshments … [W]hen it was sensed that the potential audience might
be responsive, it was hinted that for extra payment certain extra facets of the
dances could be included. These were haka known as poteteke where the
performers danced topless or completely naked.
40
In 1851 Morgan wrote, “I am very anxious to direct the attention of the
Aborigines to the arts of civilized life. If we can engage their attention and fully occupy
their time with agriculture, spinning, weaving, etc. their thoughts and attention will be
37
R.F. Keam, Dissolving Dream: The Improbable Story of the First Baptist Maori Mission (Auckland, NZ:
University of Auckland, 2004), 28f.
38
Ibid., 29.
39
Jan Pilditch, ed. The Letters and Journals, Reverend John Morgan: Missionary at Otawhao, 1833-1865.
vol. 1 (Glasgow, Scotland: Grimsay Press, 2010), 206. Emphasis in original.
40
Keam, Dissolving Dream, 45.
114
drawn off from their petty land quarrels, and they will find their time too valuable to be
spent in this way.”
41
Morgan reveals additional pressures on the Māori:
We must bear in mind they are not converts from civilized society, but from
savage life, and that 10 or 12 years ago they were cannibals. At that time their
only property consisted in their lands, a few pigs, and maize and potatoes. In
reference to land, very few tribes have derived any advantage from the sale of
land to Government. In this district not a single shilling has been received. … As
we discourage as many as possible the wearing of native clothing, the Aborigines
out of their limited income have 1st, to provide clothing and various other
necessities … for the use of their families. Their entire income is unequal to this
expenditure, and hence the adults are often poorly clothed, and the children
naked.
42
Morgan and other missionaries struggled with another issue, the relationship of
evangelization to the “promotion of civilization.” In 1852 he wrote:
My pleasure in the promotion of civilization is the hope that under God’s blessing
the Gospel of Christ may be more permanently established thereby. I am fully
aware that many dangers and temptations attend the promotion of civilization, and
a transition state, but what are we to do? Are we to preach the Gospel and baptize
the converts, but leave them the same dirty, idle, uncivilized people we found
them? Can they continue Christians at heart, and remain barbarians in manner?
Shall we point to our converts basking idly in the sun, or following their
ploughs….? Shall we leave them as we found them, sitting naked, and sleeping
men women and children huddled together in their warm houses, like so many
pigs, or shall we endeavor to improve their habits, and give them the means of
enjoying the comforts of small farmers at home?”
43
Morgan desired to teach the Māori “how they can obtain all the comforts of
Europeans.”
44
He understood that consumerism required encouragement. Western
consumerism is an innovation from an Indigenous perspective. In Riemenschneider’s
1859 reports, he complained that just as God had rescued the Israelites from the
Egyptians, so God had rescued Māori (through colonialism) and they should therefore not
41
Pilditch, The Letters and Journals, vol. 2, 449.
42
Ibid., 446. Letter dated 24th March, 1852.
43
Ibid., 480f.
44
Ibid., 481.
115
express ungrateful rebellion.
45
Oettli comments, “[Riemenschneider] was incapable of
understanding that what he saw as blessings of European civilization might be regarded
by another culture with distaste and as a curse.”
46
He also expressed vexation over Māori
“callous ingratitude” as “they view with contempt and suspicion the Queen as well as the
local government and the officials who have done everything possible for their welfare
…, who let them have all protection and freedom and who strive most earnestly to help
with the promotion of their civilization and education in every possible way.”
47
By 1856, some were sounding the death knell for the Māori, just as they did for
First Nations in America, believing the European race was destined for survival. “Our
plain duty as good compassionate colonists is to smooth down their dying pillow. Then
history would have nothing to reproach us with.”
48
Yet, the desperation for self-
preservation had led to three distinct wars.
49
The Taranaki Wars occurred in the district
Riemenschneider inhabited and where he had he preached that his parishoners were
“physically and spiritually decayed people.”
50
A Māori leader conversing with him about
a battle, stated that the Pakeha in effect were no different than the Māori as both killed,
yet the Māori “give the enemy a chance to defend themselves” whereas the Pakeha
“undertakes his expeditions of destruction at sea with warships and their guns” for which
45
Oettli, God’s Messenger, 158f; cf. Pilditch, The Letters and Journals, vol.2, 621, where Morgan states
that he sides with the government.
46
Ibid., 120f.
47
Ibid., 120.
48
Newman, Bible and Treaty, 339, note 20; cf.321. Here Newman champions missionaries as cultural
mitigaters providing literacy, etc. at great sacrifice to themselves and their supporters.
49
The earlier Musket Wars (1830), the Taranaki Wars (1860-61) – with roots in the previous wars and
resultant migrations (1860-61) – and the Waikato Wars (1863) were all preceded by other clashes.
50
Oettli, God’s Messenger, i, & 122. At one point he expressed his preference for a parish of Europeans
“independent of the natives and their narrow-minded toleration,” but chose to stay. Ibid., 127.
116
the Māori had no defense.
51
The Māori violence in 1860 led to the Riemenschneider
family’s permanent removal. “His dream of a flourishing village community of
Europeanized Māori, trading and working harmoniously with the colonists and learning
useful skills from them, had literally turned to ashes.”
52
As the Indigenous people shifted to minority status, the churches shifted their
focus.
53
The British Crown appointed an Anglican Bishop in 1856 for the South Island.
His responsibilities included parishes, a college, and cathedral, replacing a missionary
focus.
54
The Māori were apparently already Christian, with little pastoral care other than
for baptisms.
55
It seemed they performed below the colonists’ standards.
56
This was a
time of denominational discord over worship styles and governance
57
which would last
for decades while the island’s population expanded with settlers and gold-seekers.
The Crown, not unlike a termite’s appetite for wood, continued its determination
to consume all available land. Māori resistance came in many forms at different stages.
An astute political move by the Māori involved the establishment of their own
monarchy.
58
The Kingitanga (Kingmaker) Movement developed on the North Island. In
51
Oettli, God’s Messenger, 172.
52
Ibid., 174.
53
Manuka Henare, “Christianity: Maori Churches,” in Dominic O’Sullivan, Faith, Politics and
Reconciliation: Catholicism and the Politics of Indigeneity (New Zealand: Huia Publishers, 2005), 124.
54
Colin Brown, Marie Peters and Jane Teal. eds., Shaping a Colonial Church: Bishop Harper and the
Anglican Diocese of Christchurch, 1856-1890 (Christchurch, NZ: University of Canterbury, 2006), 11.
55
Ibid., 162f.
56
Ibid., 165.
57
Ibid., 25-27.
58
I say “astute” as that is the impression left from time spent in January 2011 with Māori, who are very
proud of the decision by their ancestors and their present King. Ward’s interpretation is of a king with
“pseudo-royal honours” (p. 323), although he acknowledges that had his government taken different steps
117
1852 a gathering met to cement the “land league.” The concept seemed simple enough:
unite the tribal concerns around land by forming pan-tribal representation, as promised in
the Treaty, through a Māori King who would function alongside the British Queen’s
representatives.
59
Influential Christian chiefs, such as Wiremu Tamihana, joined. He had
tried writing to the governor explaining his rationale based on the Bible (an example of
self-theologizing). He felt the solution to “the river of blood” lies in scriptures such as
Deuteronomy 17:15
60
and Proverbs 29:4;
61
the Māori needed to appoint the right kind of
king over their own people.
62
In 1854 a ceremonial covenant formalized a pan-tribal
agreement. The people chose chief Pōtatau Te Wherowhero to be King. At first he
refused, but in 1857 he was installed as Pōtatau I
63
creating a more balanced position for
negotiation with the British as a change agent. His marae (meeting place) still serves as
the emotional-connecting point for the Māori King Movement,
64
an innovative strategy.
much bloodshed would have been avoided. He does seem to forget that England was not always united
under a monarchy. See Chapter XIV “Appointment of a King” in Robert Ward, Thomas Lowe and William
Whitby, Life among the Maories of New Zealand: Being a Description of Missionary, Colonial, and
Military Achievements (Breinigsville, PA: n.p., 2009), 316-341. John Morgan wrote, “Politics has occupied
the time and attention of the Kingites, while the plough and the cultivation of wheat has been neglected….”
in Pilditch, The Letters and Journals of John Morgan, vol. 1, xxvii. The editor of this volume notes that
Morgan felt the Māori were forgetting they were “subjects not rulers” and that he regarded the movement
as “a delusion of Satan, to urge on the people to destruction and arrest the work of God.” Ibid.
59
Not all chiefs joined the movement. See Chapter 13 “The Royal Resistance Movement” in Newman,
Bible and Treaty, 275-296 for a succinct analysis.
60
“You shall surely set a king over you whom the LORD your God chooses, one from among your
countrymen you shall set as king over yourselves; you may not put a foreigner over yourselves who is not
your countryman.” (NASB)
61
“The king gives stability to the land by justice, But a man who takes bribes overthrows it.” (NASB)
62
Newman, Bible and Treaty, 294.
63
Ibid., 282; cf. Oettli, God’s Messanger, 157; and Pilditch, The Letters and Journals , vol. 2, 618ff.
Morgan declared “It is deplorable to see how the people are carried away with this foolish idea.” Ibid.
64
According to my companions at Tūrangawaewae Marae, official residence of King Tuheitia Paki.
118
As emotions heated up, Selwyn wrote a letter to the Secretary of Crown Lands
arguing “that the colony owed a debt of respect and gratitude for the willing and prompt
surrender by Māori tribes of millions of acres of land, including all the best harbours for
trifling payments.”
65
He warned that unjust actions would have disastrous consequences
“to the English Colony and the Native race.”
66
The governor dismissed the movement,
increased land acquisitions, issued an ultimatum, and followed it up by declaring martial
law. As such things often happen in human affairs; a relatively minor incident related to
the land issue
67
brought a disproportionate response. The British military entirely wiped
out and burnt the community where Riemenschneider resided, leaving only his church
standing. In 1861, Morgan wrote to his superiors about the Māori resistance:
The present is one of the most critical moments in the history of New Zealand.
Our only refuge is in prayer to God, that it may please Him to overrule the hearts
of the assembled chiefs, to humble their pride and dispose them to submit
themselves peaceably to the authority of the Queen. … the preservation of the
Maori race requires that the Queen’s supremacy should be maintained, and that
the Maori flag should no longer be a rallying point for the Aborigines to lead them
on to war. … [T]he natives are utterly incompetent to establish order and carry out
law without the assistance of the British.
68
“The Natives” were not persuaded. Morgan received private communication to
quietly prepare the settlers to leave before the military acted.
69
War continued throughout
65
The letter was written 28 April, 1860. Newman, Bible and Treaty, 286.
66
Ibid.
67
The incident involved Māori response to surveyors and has a number of parallels to the Red River
Rebellion/Resistance, by Métis the following decade as Canada helped itself to land. See Joseph Boyden,
Louis Riel & Gabriel Dumont, in Extraordinary Canadians Series, ed. by John Ralston Saul (Toronto, ON:
Penguin Group, 2010).
68
Pilditch, The Letters and Journals, vol. 2, 621-662, in a letter dated May 29, 1861.
69
Ibid.,, 625. His communication reflects a deep-seated confidence and belief in “the Queen’s supremacy”
to which the “obstinate” Māori needed to submit if only God would humble them. Ibid. (July 21, 1861),
627f. Morgan faced chastisement from fellow missionaries for supplying the Government with information
on Māori opinions and intentions. See his response to allegations by the CMS Secretary in New Zealand,
119
much of the 1860s. Colonizers passed provocative legislation such as the Suppression of
Rebellion Act and the New Zealand Settlement Act, thereby confiscating land totaling
three and a quarter million acres in the northern tribal areas alone.
70
The Native Land
Acts of 1862 and 1865 “helped to undermine the Māori system of communal ownership
of land”
71
as non-Māori owned almost 95 percent of the North Island by 1900. In the
aftermath some missions left the area, and some missionaries switched allegiances.
72
When missionary Robert Ward concluded his autobiographical account of Māori
history in 1872, the people had resisted Pakeha control and negotiated for representation
in the House of Representatives. “The part they take, however, does not extend beyond
the vote, for ignorance of the English language, as well as their crude ideas of law and
order, prevent them from being of much real service in the senate house,” stated Ward.
73
dated 17th December 1863. Ibid., 636-641. One of many sad postscripts to Morgan’s life in these years of
conflict was the rape of his daughter followed by fellow missionaries discrediting it as a rape, saying she
had consented. Morgan writes a painful and lengthy letter with many Māori witnesses confirming her
innocence on Dec. 23, 1863. Ibid., 648-656.
70
Newman, Bible and Treaty, 299. A plan with a humorous twist occurred in Aotearoa during this period.
The Māori set up a blockade allowing only those who paid a predetermined toll to proceed. Toll fees
included the following: Pig driven in a cart £006; Cow or horse £020; Māori policeman £5 00; Pakeha
policeman £500 00; Minister of the Gospel £50 00; and evasion of toll £5 00.
70
Ward comments: “The gate
with its tolls may be considered as a clever piece of policy, for it completely shuts out the settlers from
going in search of their cattle and horses which strayed beyond the boundary, or which had been taken
away by hostile natives ….” Ward, Life among the Māoris, 412f.
71
New Zealand Parliament, Research Papers, “The Origins of the Māori Seats” (Nov. 2003 [updated May
2009]), accessed June 26, 2014, http://www.parliament.nz/en-nz/parl-support/research-papers/00PLLaw
RP03141/origins-of-the-m%c4%81ori-seats.
72
Newman, Bible and Treaty, 303. CMS missionaries had served as army chaplains, for which Selwyn
became an apologist of sorts.
73
Ward, Life Among the Maoris, 470. As an aside, I am reading the autobiography of Nelson Mandela as
my “pleasure reading” at the same time as I am researching this section. The contrast could not be greater
between the critical interpretation of tribal hierarchies by Robert Ward (see 316ff) and Mandela’s warmth
expressed towards his tribal heritage of acceptance and honoring of his tribal hierarchies. Cf. Nelson
Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom (New York, NY: Little, Brown and Company, 1994, 2014). See “Part
One, A Country Childhood.”
120
Resistance may be analyzed at multiple levels: religious (Indigenous prophetic
movements), political (demonstrations, armed resistance), the arts (literature, media),
environmental issues (opposition to hydro projects or mining), and education concerns
(decolonizing, demanding access) for examples. In the religious arena it seems that
Indigenous prophetic movements rose as a coping mechanism.
74
Mol contends that,
The New Zealand religious scene is particularly interesting to the social scientist
because of the abundant examples of the Maori, change-absorbing, charismatic
movements of the nineteenth century and twentieth centuries. … These
movements revitalized Maori identity by stripping the old tribal patterns and by
welding new ones, better adjusted to changed conditions. The Maoris had to
borrow this effective mode of dealing with change from Christianity, since their
own tapu-hedged meaning-system was less able to cope with it.
75
References to the Western education required to fully assimilate the Māori are
plentiful in mission and government documents. The push for assimilation had some
church leaders strategizing to keep “my natives” closer to home base. For example, in
1849, with government aid, Morgan had started an “industrial system” as part of his
boarding school initiative to help defray costs and to teach trades.
76
Morgan’s compiler
rejects the binary view of missionary agents/colonizer and Natives/colonized, stating as
the better kind of missionary, Morgan considered “Māori to be his ‘own people’,
although these feelings are conceptualized in largely Western and paternalistic terms.”
77
Pilditch concluded he did have the best interests of the Māori at heart. Repeatedly,
Morgan stressed in his correspondence that more funds were necessary for schools and
74
Taylor is appalled in 1845 by a movement that practices self-flagellation. He realizes the Māori are
applying 1 Cor 9:27, which they read as “I beat my body with my fists.” See Owens, The Mediator, 108.
75
Mol, The Fixed and The Fickle, 3. I have not confirmed his conclusions.
76
Pilditch, The Letters and Journals, vol. 1, 313-16. Establishing a school was not a given.
Riemenschneider was unable to establish one. See Newman, Bible and Treaty, 227.
77
Ibid., xxiv.
121
supplies.
78
He believed that every missionary needed a sound understanding of good
pedagogy.
79
If the Aborigines are to survive the attendant evils of European civilisation, if they
are to rise as a nation, and become a people fearing God and working
righteousness, and if the Church Missionary Society are to be one of the main
instruments in effecting in a few brief years this glorious and important change,
they must endeavour to draw the young together into proper Institutions where
they will receive a sound English education combined with religious and
industrial training.
80
Marie Peters analyzed the factors which “completed the marginalization of
Māori.”
81
The quotations contained in this section demonstrate the colonial enterprise to
civilize the Indigenous people through approved productive work that left them landless
and penniless, but with an increased appetite and necessity for material goods. Mission
and governance personnel remained baffled at the Māori lack of appreciation. If the 1840
Treaty were all the Pakeha claimed it to be, and if there had been at least an attempt to
honour it, the Treaty of Waitangi 1975 would have been unnecessary.
Resistance: Treaty of Waitangi 1975
It might be safely admitted that the Maori mind is more sensitive on the subject of
losing his land than on any other [matter]. …It can hardly be expected that the
noblest principles of colonization—of peopling the waste places of the earth, of
improving an unformed race till it be amalgamated with the most refined portions
of mankind [were beyond their comprehension]. −Robert Ward
Nelson Mandela illustrates the global Indigenous resistance in his comments on
the South African Black Consciousness movement: “[It] was less a movement than a
78
Pilditch, The Letters and Journals, vol.1, 314.
79
Ibid., 446f.
80
Ibid..
81
Marie Peters, “Homeland and Colony,” in Brown et al., Shaping a Colonial Church, 29-30.
122
philosophy and grew out of the idea that blacks must first liberate themselves from the
sense of psychological inferiority bred by three centuries of white rule. Only then could
the people rise up in confidence and truly liberate themselves from repression.”
82
The
form of resistance taken is influenced by the proportionate ratio of the marginalized to the
dominant culture. Resistance looks different for a small minority such as the American
Indian when compared to the African-American population. The Māori population was
significant enough to impact the majority. The Māori marched down the length of the
North Island in 1975 in resistance to a government “unsympathetic to reconciliation.”
83
The Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975 had been passed, but it did not meet the needs for
justice and reconciliation as land lust had never abated. The Māori declared “Not one
more acre of Maori land to be surrendered to the Pakeha”
84
and demanded “control of
Maori land in perpetuity.”
85
In Aroha Harris’s text, Hīkoi: Forty Years of Māori Protest,
86
Harris looks back
from the 2004 hīkoi (protest march) on the parliament building in Wellington. He claims,
since the “last land grab of 1967”
87
Māori resistance ebbed and flowed with new groups
of protestors organizing Waitangi Day protests against the dis-honored treaty, racism, a
partisan justice system, inequitable treatment, and the “double-dose of discrimination”
82
Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom, 486.
83
O’Sullivan, Faith, Politics and Reconciliation, 198.
84
Ibid.
85
Ibid.
86
Aroha Harris, Hīkoi: Forty Years of Māori Protest (Wellington, NZ: Huia Publishers, 2004), 88-99.
87
Ibid., 29.
123
against women.
88
Literature raised the volume of the conversation in1984 with the
publication of two books by Māori authors: Maori Sovereignty and Whakapohone.
89
Activism grew alongside the “cultural renaissance.” In addition to whakapohone (i.e.,
“mooning”), strategists produced T-shirts, wrote literature, created protest art and dramas,
as well as offered workshops and educational kits.
90
They also protested cultural
appropriation and cultural violation, in particular against the University of Auckland’s
engineering students (all Pakeha) who continued to perform a derisive haka in mocking
attire with obscenities and racial slurs painted on their bodies. The university took no
action. Emotions boiled over in 1979, leading to Māori arrests and imprisonment. Yet, the
marches continued, including a significant 2004 march. At last sociopolitical resistance
led to positive change: Māori was declared an official language, Māori education
(although limited) was introduced, and Māori radio and television were born.
91
Steps
have been taken to recompense for confiscated land and a formal apology made by the
government. Anglican, Presbyterian, Methodist, and Roman Catholic churches also
moved towards a meaningful reconciliation. However, Donovan O’Sullivan expresses his
opinion that only the Catholic documents state the theological reasons for
reconciliation.
92
88
Harris, Hīkoi, 88-91.
89
Harris labels these two books as “provocative”: Donna Awatere, Maori Sovereignty and Dun Mihaka,
Whakapohone. The latter title refers to the act of “mooning”. In fact, “mass mooning” was a protest
strategy. See Harris, Hīkoi, 88.
90
Ibid., 91.
91
Ibid., from a promotional summation of this book, accessed Sept. 26, 2016, http://penguin.co.nz/books
/hikoi -9781869691011.
92
O’Sullivan, Faith, Politics and Reconciliation, 207.
124
In 2006, Māori Monté Ohia wrote on the ongoing reclamation or “transformation”
movement for re-establishing a traditional values-based culture.
93
In his dissertation, Ohia
does self-theologizing, incorporating his Christianity with his traditional values as the
spiritual basis for decolonizing education.
94
Ohia served as the co-founder and a vision
keeper of the World Christian Gathering on Indigenous Peoples (see Chapter Four).
Resistance did not belong solely to one era; however, the 1960s and 1970s proved
significant as an active resistance phase for Indigenous peoples globally.
95
Crisis and Resistance at Regional Level
When a war between nations is lost / The loser we know pays the cost
But even when Germany fell to your hands / Consider, dear lady, consider dear
man. / You left them their pride and you left them their land, / And what have you
done to these ones.
Has a change come about Uncle Sam / Or are you still taking our land /
A treaty for ever George Washington signed / He did, dear lady, he did, dear man.
And the treaty’s being broken by Kinzua Dam,
96
/And what will you do for these
ones?
Oh it’s all in the past you can say / But it’s still going on till today
The government now want the Iroquois land / That of the Seneca and the
Cheyanne. / It’s here and it’s now, you must help us, dear man
Now that the buffalo’s gone. − Buffy Sainte-Marie
Poetry and song have risen as major elements of modern resistance, featured as
Resistance Literature in this work. The “word power” packaged in these genres resonates
93
Monte Rereamoamo Ohia, “Towards a Values-Based Transformation Movement for Māori
Advancement: The Case for Spiritual, Ethical and Moral Imperatives within Māori Transformational
Movements” (PhD thesis, University of Auckland, 2006).
94
Ibid., 6.
95
Linda Smith, Decolonizing Methodologies, 108-115.
96
Kinzua Dam is referenced and footnoted in Chapter 2. See also Christina Rose, “9 Reasons NOT to
Celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Kinzua Dam” (10/7/15), in Indian Country Today Media Network,
accessed Sept. 30, 2016, http://indiancountrytodaymedianet work.com/2015/10/07/9-reasons-not-celebrate-
50th-anniversary-kinzua-dam-161995.
125
with Indigenous communities. The tactic of using literature to express discontent and
demand justice has been particularly effective in Canada, as will be demonstrated, but it
has crossed borders with songs and books shared globally. This section first examines
events that lead to the American Indian Movement [AIM] and Wounded Knee 1973.
Crisis: The Inconvenience of Being “Indian”
The actions of colonizer and colonized were replicated in the United States. It
would be hyperbolic to pretend a utopian world existed in pre-European North America.
However, as colonization advanced, Indigenous peoples were increasingly confined
physically in reservations away from the civilized under the oversight of Indian Agents
97
and progressively marginalized and restrained by legislation. Randy Woodley
(Keetoowah Cherokee) charges both American governments and missions with
complicacy in the marginalization of Indigenous peoples.
Deep-seated racism exhibited through normalized white supremacy … was the
impetus for the majority of the mistreatment Native Americans received whether
by the US government or through missionary endeavors. The ever-present agenda
in such looming endeavors was land theft … like the Land Act of 1804, the
Military Tract of 1812, the Georgia Land Lottery, the Preemption Act of 1841, the
Donation Land Claim Act of 1850, the Homestead Act and the Boomer/Sooner
Oklahoma Land Run, found few notable objections from mission organizations.
They too saw the Indian as a problem more often than understanding that they
were people with dignity to be empowered.
98
97
“Indian agents” is a term used in both U.S. and Canada. The agent’s word was law. Depending on the
territory and treaty people, he had power to take children from parents and send them to schools, regulate
and distribute all supplies including food, to act with police/military, etc. One task of the agents in Canada
was to grant passes. “The pass system was at first to be issued only to ‘Rebel Indians;’ however, [Prime
Minister] Macdonald insisted that the system should be applied to all First Nations. In early 1886, books of
passes were issued to Indian agents, and subsequently First Nations people could not leave their reserve
unless they had a pass signed by the Indian agent and describing when they could leave, where they could
go, and when they had to return. The pass system, however, was never passed into legislation and as a
result was never legal—although it was enforced well into the 1940s.” See “Indian Policy and the Early
Reserve Period,” Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan, accessed Sept. 29, 2016, http://esask.uregina.ca/entry/
indian _policy_and_the_early_reserve_period.html.
98
Randy S. Woodley, “Mission and the Cultural Other: In Search of the Pre-colonial Jesus,” Missiology:
An International Review 43 no. 4 (Oct. 2015): 461.
126
The dispossessed experienced disease, destitution, and despair. Oppressed
communities imploded with violence. Suicide rates escalated. In his book, The
Inconvenient Indian, Thomas King
99
succinctly summarizes why the First Peoples
continued to be harassed: because they were and are impediments, and therefore
inconvenient, to imperial expansion−and they had what others wanted.
Gene Green contrasts this reality with the attribute and high value of Indigenous
hospitality he calls “welcoming,” as exemplified by Tecumseh in the winter of 1811:
Brothers. – When the white men first set foot on our grounds, they were hungry;
they had no place on which to spread their blankets, or to kindle their fires. They
were feeble; they could do nothing for themselves. Our fathers commiserated their
distress, and shared freely with them whatever the Great Spirit had given his red
children. They gave them food when hungry, medicine when sick, spread skins
for them to sleep on, and gave them grounds, that they might hunt and raise
corn.
100
As in New Zealand, American Indians bore the biases of Western concepts. John
McLean chided, “Point not to the influences of civilization as the cause of the
deterioration of the Indian nature, but rather ascribe their degeneracy in morals and
debilitated physical condition to the evils that follow in its train.”
101
He chided White
men for thinking Indian customs strange given that Indians inversely considered them
“white savages” for institutionalizing orphans rather than adopting them into their homes.
99
Thomas King, The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America
(Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 2012).
100
Bob Blaisdell, ed., Great Speeches by Native Americans (Mineola, NY: Dover, 2000), 4; in Gene L.
Green, “The Death of Mission: Rethinking the Great Commission,” in Journal of NAIITS, vol. 12 (2004),
81-110.
101
John McLean, The Indians, 285. On the other hand, he expressed repulsion that the Cree left dead bodies
wrapped in blankets in trees, rather than burying them since “Christian burial” is a sign of advancement.
127
Resistance: AIM and Wounded Knee 1973
Domesticating, civilizing, integrating, or assimilating–no matter the term used−
has generated generations of resisters. The Lakota Sioux, Indigenous to the Great Plains,
are one of the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ confederation, or Seven Council Fires. Active resistance
against the U.S. Army is recorded in 1854
102
and is germane to the history of Individual
3, Richard Twiss. On the American Indian Movement’s [AIM] website, it is clear that
AIM is simply a continuation of that resistance, “the movement existed for 500 years
without a name. The leaders and members of today's AIM never fail to remember all of
those who have traveled on before … [for] the survival of the people.”
103
“Wounded
Knee was the brainchild of [AIM].”
104
Organized in 1968 by disenchanted and angry
young men and women, AIM strategized and fashioned a national agenda. In 1972
protestors made their way to Washington, DC. Richard Twiss participated in the
occupation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
105
The intention had been a discussion with
the president, which never materialized. The resulting event at “Wounded Knee … was
intended to force the U.S. government to make good on its word.”
106
102
S.C. Gwynne, Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches,
the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History (New York, NY: Scribner, 2010), 14f.
103
Laura Waterman Wittstock and Elaine J. Salinas, “A Brief History of the American Indian Movement,”
accessed May17, 2016, http://www.aimovement.org/ggc/history.html.
104
Wittstock and Salinas, “A Brief History of the American Indian Movement,” NAPT: Native American
Public Telecommunications, accessed Feb. 28, 2013, http://www.media-diversity.org/en/index.php?option
=com_content&view=article&id=53:napt-native-american-public-telecommunications&catid=61:north-
america&Itemid=84.
105
Richard told me about this time in personal conversations. See Richard Twiss, One Church, Many
Tribes: Following Jesus the Way God Made You (Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 2000), 7-10.
106
LauraWaterman Wittstock and Elaine J. Salinas, “A Brief History of the American Indian Movement”
American Indian Movement Grand Governing Council, accessed Feb. 28, 2013, https://www.aimovement
.org/ggc /history.html.
128
Before nightfall on February 27, 1973, about 250 … Sioux, residents of Wounded
Knee Village, Indians from all over the United States, unaffiliated Vietnam
veterans and AIM moved into and occupied the little village. …Tipped off, FBI
agents and U.S. marshals were already there, having been called out to protect the
Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) building from an attack by AIM. Over time, they
would completely surround Wounded Knee … Armored personnel carriers,
overflying jets, and semi-military tactics were used …. It would later be disputed
in court whether the U.S. Army and Air Force had authority to move in on the
Indians as they had.
107
Negotiations led to a promise by President Nixon’s representative to meet with AIM to
discuss treaties and land compensation. After 73 days, “The Sioux National Anthem
filled the air at sunrise on May 8, and 125 Wounded Knee defenders surrendered to
federal authorities in three predetermined groups. The federal authorities overran the
village, searching for expected explosives and large weapons. None were found…”
108
During American Indian Heritage month (November 2016) the Standing Rock
Reservation made international news as the Hunkpapa Lakota and Yanktonai Dakota
protested a pipeline which they fear will contaminate their only water supply. While
Standing Rock is an ongoing resistance in spite of being met with trained attack dogs,
mercenaries, and military, it has faded from news cycles. Typically issues related to First
Peoples arise in the midst of crisis but in the end, the collective attention span pivots and
“Indians” are in Aldred’s words, “the flavor of the month.”
109
Squalor, poverty, suicides,
underfunded education and health, incarceration, and broken promises remain.
107
Laura Waterman Wittstock, Blog, Wounded Knee 1973 (Feb. 15, 2013), accessed March 17, 2018,
https://www.visionmakermedia.org/blog/wounded-knee-1973. See also We Are Still Here: A Photographic
History of the American Indian Movement (self-published, Borealis Press, 2013).
108
Ibid.
109
A term Ray Aldred, Cree, has used in conversation on similar occasions.
129
Even though nearly all of 1973 America knew [of AIM
110
and] of the occupation
of the little village of Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge Reservation and came to
know of the atrocious conditions under which many of the Lakota people lived
out their lives, time has faded memories. As the 40th anniversary of Wounded
Knee approach[ed], many of those who were part of the occupation … have died.
Appallingly, conditions have not improved in the lives … on the Pine Ridge
Reservation. Some of these are the children and grandchildren of the original
occupiers. It was thought that much more would have happened; much more
would have changed than it has.
111
Wounded Knee 1973 lives on as a bitter memory, one more added to centuries-
long injustices.
112
In the decades following AIM’s actions, the end results of
confrontations in Canada (though less overtly violent) would replicate those of Wounded
Knee.
113
The ongoing Standing Rock Dakota protest against oil lines drew global
attention and support, reopening old wounds.
114
Crisis and Resistance at the Local Level
When we Westerners call people ‘natives’ we implicitly take the cultural colour
of our perception of them. We see them as wild animals infesting the country in
which we happen to come across them, as part of the local flora and fauna and not
as men of like passions with ourselves. So long as we think of them as ‘natives,’
[‘Indians’ or ‘Savages’] we may exterminate them or, as is more likely today,
domesticate them and honestly … believe that we are improving the breed, but we
do not begin to understand them. −Arnold Toynbee
110
For the list of 20 claims made to the U.S. government, the text of the 20-point Manifesto, the timeline of
events pre-and- post-1973, and the contributions AIM has made to American Indian lives post-1973, see
their website American Indian Movement, accessed May 17, 2016, http://www.aimovement.org /ggc/
history.html.
111
Wittstock and Salinas, “A Brief History.”
112
In September 2016, Lakota land and occupation protests based at Standing Rock made news headlines
for months following. The issue is land use and environmental protection of water from potential oil spills
plus destruction of burial grounds. Thousands of First Peoples from Global, Regional and Local locales
have gathered physically for prayer or added their collective voices through social media in support.
113
Resistance incidents include: The Oka Crisis (1990), Ipperwash (1995), Attiwapiskat (2011), and
IdleNoMore Movement (2012 to present).
114
Standing Rock Sioux Tribe- Home/ Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/Standing-Rock-Sioux-Tribe-
402298239798452/.
130
The arrival of Scottish Presbyterian settlers in 1812 distressed the French
speaking fur traders from the Northwest Company. At the Local level in the Red River
Settlement/Winnipeg, First Contact with missionaries occurred in the early nineteenth
century in the aftermath of settler clashes:
The Battle of Seven Oaks [ensued] in which twenty-two whites, including the
governor of the colony, lost their lives. As it was evident to the noble founder that
no permanent success could be achieved without the aid of religion, he obtained
from the Bishop of Quebec two missionaries …. To establish his missions
securely, Bishop Provencher invited to his diocese the Oblate Fathers ….”
115
The Red River Settlement served as a distribution point for missions, for
ministering to settlers and educating Indians. As a continuation of Catholic and Protestant
animosities, their followers settled on opposite sides of the Red River. Education of
Indians (boarding and industrial schools) remained integral to Catholic mission.
116
In 1869 the Métis community and several First Nations groups organized under the
leadership of Métis Louis Riel. They resisted the government over land issues and the
treatment of the Indigenous population. The government defeated the 1885 uprising
(second phase of resistance in Batoche, Saskatchewan) and hanged Louis Riel. In
numerous ways the hanging of Riel and the end of the so-called Riel Rebellion spelled
defeat for both Métis and First Nations. The defeat of the Métis ambition for political
parity and a land base broke the spirit of aggressive resistance. Occasionally minor
pockets of resurgence popped up like prairie gophers, but it would be a hundred years
before Indigenous voices grew strong—together—again.
115
“Catholicity in Canada” (1910), New Advent, in Catholic Encyclopedia, accessed Oct. 4, 2016,
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03231a.htm. This article claimed that in 1910 “Of a native population of
111,043, Canada officially counts today 40,820 Catholic [Treaty] Indians,” but closer to 55,000 if non-
Treating and “halfbreeds” were included. My family was included in the halfbreed estimate.
116
“Grey Nuns,” New Advent, Catholic Encyclopedia, accessed Oct. 4, 2016, http://www.newadvent.
org/cathen/07031a.htm.
131
In the twentieth century, new technology provided the government easier access
to Indigenous children, and provided corporations with easier access to resources. The
role technology played is already noted in 1938 by an Anglican missionary in northern
Ontario: “With the advent of air travel and radio and later mines springing up all around
and bulldozers opening up winter roads so that tractor trains could reach every major
trading post …, suddenly all Indian life was becoming engulfed in the white man’s
culture, bringing with it great repercussions to the economy and spiritual lives of the
native people.”
117
The introduction of television brought a non-traditional form of
storytelling with stories and faces foreign to the far northern First Peoples, competing
with the Elders’ stories.
It has been argued that there are only two distinct periods of Canadian policy
related to Indigenous people: Confederation (1867) to World War II, and post-war.
118
The
first was marked by continued cultural repression with churches and the Department of
Indian Affairs administering policies, assisted by the Hudson’s Bay Company. The post-
war phase emphasized integration via granting earned citizenship rights. Indians were not
now viewed as the problem, but rather as “having problems, which scientifically
conceived programs could address and fix.”
119
Yet, under The Indian Act, which applies
only to First Nations, “Indians” were forbidden to: vote, bring litigation against the
government, leave their reserve without a pass, form political organizations, enter a pool
hall or beverage room (pub), practice traditional religion or celebrate with a potlatch. Nor
117
Leslie Garrett, My Album of Memories (Saskatoon, SK: Western Tract Mission, n.d.), 29.
118
Hugh Shewell, Enough to Keep Them Alive (Toronto: University of Toronto, 2004), 22.
119
Ibid., 23.
132
could a woman married to a White man remain on her reserve. Anyone accepted to
university lost their status. Amendments were gradually made in post-war years.
Poverty and welfare remain the lot of many Indigenous peoples. “Indian
dependency on welfare is not simply an episode in the history of their dispossession; ... it
has been a consistent part of state attempts to assimilate Indians.”
120
Paulette Regan
writes, “Many Canadians still believe that Indigenous people have been the fortunate
beneficiaries of our altruism.”
121
There is little patience for homelessness or
panhandlers.
122
G. K. Chesterton points to the strange dichotomy society holds between
poverty and charity: “I happen to think the whole modern attitude towards beggars is
entirely heathen and inhuman. … I should say it is intrinsically insane to urge people to
give charity and forbid people to accept charity.”
123
The social value granted to or
withheld from Indigenous peoples cannot be separated from two widely accepted beliefs:
(1) the poor are poor due to moral shortcomings or genetic/ethnic deficiencies; and,
(2) charity is provided by moral and ethnic superiors. This has suited governments, as
welfare dependency, “the language of domination,”
124
was intended “to maintain the
pacification achieved during the post-Confederation period and to teach Indians the
principles of individual self-reliance, often through harsh measures.”
125
In the late 1960s,
120
Shewell, Enough to Keep Them Alive, 23.
121
Paulette Regan, Unsettling the Settler Within: Indian Residential Schools, Truth Telling, and
Reconciliation in Canada (Vancouver, BC: UBC Press, 2010), 84.
122
CBC News online has disabled the comments section on any story related to First Nations, Metis or Inuit
given the propensity for readers to respond with racial slurs and to break “hate laws”.
123
G.K. Chesterton et al. Lent and Easter Wisdom from G.K. Chesterton: Daily Scripture and Prayers
Together with G.K. Chesterton's Own Words (Liguori, Mo: Liguori, 2007), 90.
124
Shewell, Enough to Keep Them Alive, 337.
125
Ibid., 166.
133
when their existence was threatened yet again, First Nations tackled the task of re-
educating settlers causing some to reflect, “What does our historical amnesia reveal about
our continuing complicity in denying, erasing, and forgetting this part of our own history
as colonizers while pathologizing the colonized?”
126
Crisis: The White Paper 1969
Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and Minister of Indian Affairs Jean Chrétien
played key roles in producing the 1969 White Paper crisis. A “white paper” is a Canadian
policy paper—an ironic name when applied to Indigenous peoples. The paper’s official
title was “Statement of the Government of Canada on Indian Policy, 1969.” Harold
Cardinal, a 24-year-old Cree, led the “Red Power” reaction. Trudeau claimed he would
lead Canada to becoming “The Just Society” when he ran for election in 1968. This
phrase prompted Cardinal to entitle his book, The Unjust Society.
127
“The 1969 White
Paper … attempted to abolish previous legal documents pertaining to Indigenous peoples
in Canada, including the Indian Act and treaties, and assimilate all ‘Indian’ peoples under
the Canadian state.”
128
Trudeau was attempting to fix the Indian problem and its
staggering socio-economic realities as outlined in The Hawthorne Report
129
published
just prior to his election. Politicians failed to abide by Indigenous leaders’ council. It is
necessary to provide background to the legislation before addressing the Indian responses
126
Regan, Unsettling the Settler Within, 6.
127
Harold Cardinal, The Unjust Society: The Tragedy of Canada's Indians (Vancouver, BC: Douglas and
McIntyre, 1969).
128
“The White Paper 1969,” Historica Canada, Canadian Encyclopedia, accessed Sept. 26, 2016,
www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/the-white-paper-1969/.
129
Harry Hawthorn, ed., A Survey of the Contemporary Indians of Canada: Economic, Political,
Educational Needs and Policies, 2 vols. (Ottawa: Queen’s Printer Press, 1966–1967).
134
to the paper. Foundational to government interaction with the First Peoples is The Indian
Act. It is the 1876 consolidation of the Gradual Civilization Act (1857) and the Gradual
Enfranchisement Act (1869), with some amendments, and overseen by the Department of
Indian Affairs (now Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada). This Act,
… afforded the government sweeping powers with regards to First Nations
identity, political structures, governance, cultural practices and education. These
powers were extremely paternalistic, and allowed officials to determine rights and
benefits based on “good moral character.” Further, the Act replaced traditional
structures of governance with band council elections—all at the discretion of the
Department and its agents.
130
Ironically, within Trudeau’s vision of “the Just Society,” he declared “The Just
Society will be one in which the rights of minorities will be safe from the whims of
intolerant majorities.”
131
Four sentences later, he wrote “The Just Society will be one in
which our Indian and Inuit population will be encouraged to assume the full rights of
citizenship through policies which will give them both greater responsibility for their
own future and more meaningful equality of opportunity.”
132
Trudeau’s goal “was to
achieve equality among all Canadians by eliminating Indian as a distinct legal status.”
133
130
“Indian Act,” Canadian Encyclopedia, accessed May 19, 2016, http://www.thecanadian
encyclopedia.ca/en/article/indian-act/. Many First Nations are afraid to have it rescinded, as Cardinal
explains, “We do not want the Indian Act retained because it is a good piece of legislation. It isn’t. It is
discriminatory from start to finish. But it is a lever in our hands and an embarrassment to the government,
as it should be. No just society and no society with even pretensions to being just can long tolerate such a
piece of legislation, but we would rather continue to live in bondage under the inequitable Indian Act than
surrender our sacred rights. Any time the government wants to honor its obligations to us we are more than
happy to help devise new Indian legislation.” Cardinal, Unjust Society, 140.
131
Pierre Elliott Trudeau, “The Just Society” in The Essential Trudeau, ed. Pierre Elliott Trudeau and Ron
Graham (Toronto: M & S, 1998), 16-20.
132
Trudeau, “The Just Society.”
133
“The White Paper 1969,” Indigenous Foundations, University of British Columbia, accessed to Feb. 28,
2018, http://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/?s=The+White+Paper+1969.
135
Paternalistic as the Act is, First Nations fear it is the only buffer between cultural
genocide cloaked as assimilation and the loss of remaining lands.
Resistance: Red Power Movement as Resistant Literature
Red Power Movement
Indian leaders from across Canada responded in outrage to the unmistakable goal
of full assimilation, a final solution to the inconvenience they had always posed to
colonizers. Cardinal asserted, “In spite of all government attempts to convince Indians to
accept the White Paper, their efforts will fail, because Indians understand that the path
outlined by the Department of Indian Affairs through its mouthpiece, the Honourable Mr.
Chrétien, leads directly to cultural genocide. We will not walk this path.”
134
The National Indian Brotherhood, the Indian association of Alberta, the newly
formed Union of BC Indian Chiefs (140 bands) along with many other leaders, produced
numerous documents—two of which became known as the Brown Paper and the Red
Paper.
135
Throughout Canada, leaders organized protest marches, and did whatever else
they could to raise public awareness. The Canadian Encyclopedia explains,
Pierre Trudeau was against special status for any group of people, and fully
intended to eliminate Aboriginal peoples as a distinct group. … This included
reserve lands, fishing and hunting rights, education rights, medical services, use of
land, and economic development on reserve lands. Understandably, the White
Paper was met with [opposition] … Due to the fierce and continued opposition by
Aboriginal groups and their supporters, the Canadian government quickly
withdrew the White Paper.
136
134
Cardinal, The Unjust Society, 139.
135
“Citizens Plus” was the official title of the Red Paper and “A Declaration of Indian Rights: The BC
Indian Position Paper” was dubbed the Brown Paper.
136
“Indian Act,” Canadian Encyclopedia, accessed May 19, 2016, http://www.thecanadian
encyclopedia.ca/en/article/indian-act/.
136
A contemporary of Trudeau claimed that the Prime Minister “angrily stated: ‘We’ll keep
them in the ghetto as long as they want.’”
137
The backlash came to be called the Red
Power Movement. The resistance generated then endures. “The legacies of the 1969
White Paper continue to be felt today in government policy meetings, and Canadian and
Indigenous activist groups, academic circles and grassroots communities.”
138
Resistance Literature: Word Power Momentum
The words of Indigenous people have been selectively recorded, translated, and
transmitted since first contact. Determining which words were deemed worthy of
recording for posterity fell under the purveyance of non-Indigenous people until
Indigenous peoples learned Western modes of transmission. Projects by anthropologists
and linguists, some of whom were Indigenous, have recorded countless traditional songs
and stories both in traditional languages and/or in English. In recent years, various
anthologies have been published to make these more readily accessible. An Anthology of
Canadian Native Literature in English is one example.
139
The various editions contain
translated Inuit songs, traditional Southern First Nations stories, letters and speeches by
Mohawk and Ojibway from the late eighteenth to early twentieth centuries, as well as
poetry and other contemporary writings.
As stated, the year 1969 is noteworthy as government policies motivated First
Nations to write documents in opposition. One such document is entitled “Message of the
Grand Chief,” by David Courchene Sr. who is Anishinaabe (Sagkeeng First Nation). It is
137
“The White Paper,” Canadian Encyclopedia, accessed Sept 24, 2016, http://www.thecanadian
encyclopedia.ca/en/article/the-white-paper-1969/.
138
Ibid.
139
Moses and Goldie, An Anthology. The first through fourth editions were published in 1992, 1998, 2005,
and 2013.
137
reprinted in the book Manitowapow: Aboriginal Writings from the Land of Water.
140
Courchene wrote, “We, the first people of this land called Manitoba, are a people of
indomitable will to survive, to survive as a people, strong and creative.”
141
Two years later the publication of a slim volume simply titled Halfbreed
142
changed the Canadian literary landscape in profound ways, contributing to the survival of
Canada’s Indigenous voices. Maria Campbell, the author, simply told her story. Raised in
northern Saskatchewan, her family lived in shacks in the “road allowances” since Métis
were not wanted in towns (such as Prince Albert or Saskatoon) and not permitted to live
on reserves. A rough childhood in abject poverty and violence led her to marry “a white
man” at the age of 15, grasping at marriage as her escape route. Predictably, it did not go
well. In Halfbreed, Campbell provides an unsettling and stark frame to view the colonial
impact on First Peoples. As mainstream readers read about life from an Indigenous
perspective for the first time, they could no longer deny realities that challenged the
Canada-as-benevolent mythology.
143
I read Campbell’s book the year it was released. It
made an indelible impression, being the first Indigenous autobiography I had ever read.
In the process of this dissertation work, I intuitively sensed Campbell’s work was
groundbreaking as a sociopolitical innovation. Research led to confirmation of that
impression through a number of different theoretical approaches: “A Revisiting of Maria
140
David Courchene Sr., “Message of the Grand Chief” [1971] in Manitowapow: Aboriginal Writings from
the Land of Water, eds., Niigaanwewidam James Sinclair and Warren Cariou (Winnipeg, MB: High Water
Press, 2011), 126-131.
141
Ibid., 127.
142
Maria Campbell, Halfbreed (Vancouver, BC: Douglas & McIntyre, 1973).
143
See Regan, Unsettling the Settler Within, Introduction (p. 1ff) and Chapter 3, “Deconstructing Canada’s
Peacemaker Myth,” (83ff) for example of a non-Indigenous Canadian grappling with re-education and its
ramifications.
138
Campbell’s Halfbreed,”
144
her inclusion in anthologies and Native Studies such as
Looking at the Words of our People,
145
Native Writers: Voices of Power in the Native
Trailblazers Series,
146
and “Reading the Reception of Maria Campbell’s Halfbreed.”
147
The latter work approaches a study of her identity, considered “politically mobilized” as
Native, Métis, and/or hybrid; from the “theoretical movement known as ‘post-positivist
realism’ [as it] may offer a way to understand these multiple identities within
Halfbreed.”
148
Furthermore, some view “her text [as] an ‘intervention’ in some very
particular ‘social debates of its time’” including the White Paper 1969.
149
Regardless of
the theoretical approach, Campbell’s work serves as an example of creating conversation
within the Indigenous community, as a trailblazer that opened markets for Indigenous
literature, and as an example of history told from the “other” side.
150
Campbell’s 1973 work proved to be a watershed moment in retraditionalization in
Canada, foreshadowing a renaissance of resistance literature. Support for this idea may be
144
Janice Pelletier Acoose, “A Revisiting of Maria Campbell’s Halfbreed” in Looking at the Words of Our
People: First Nations Analysis of Literature, ed. by Jeannette C. Armstrong (Penticton, BC: Theytus Press,
1993), 148.
145
Jeannette Armstrong, Looking at the Words of Our People: First Nations Analysis of Literature,
(Penticton, BC: Theytus Press, 1994).
146
Kim Sigafus and Lyle Ernst, Native Writers: Voices of Power in the Native Trailblazers Series
(Summertown, TN: 7th Generation, 2012). See Chapter 8, “Maria Campbell, Métis.”
147
Kristina Fagan et al., “Reading the Reception of Maria Campbell’s Halfbreed,” in The Canadian Journal
of Native Studies, 29, no. 1 & 2 (Brandon, MB: Society for the Advancement of Native Studies, 2009), 257-
281.
148
Ibid., 257.
149
Fagan et al., citing Cheryl Suzak, “Law Stories as Life Stories: Jeanette Lavell, Yvonne Bedard, and
Halfbreed” in Tracing the Autobiographical, eds. Marlene Kadar, Linda Warley, Jeanne Perreault, and
Susanna Egan (Waterloo, ON: Wilfred Laurier University Press, 2005), 117-42, 123, in Fagan et al.,
“Reading the Reception of Maria Campbell’s Halfbreed,” 266.
150
See Bruce G. Tigger, “The Historians’ Indian: Native Americans in Canadian Historical Writing from
Charlevoix to the Present,” in Robin Fisher and Kenneth Coates, Out of the Background: Readings on
Canadian Native History, New Canadian Readings (Toronto, ON: Copp Clark Pitman Ltd., 1988), 19-44.
139
found in books such as Emma LaRoque’s When the Other is Me: Native Resistance
Discourse, 1850-1990.
151
A perusal of LaRoque’s bibliography of over 300 texts reveals
that the majority of the literature dates from the mid-1970s through 1990s. An anthology
of poetry from 1960 to 2000, entitled Native Poetry in Canada,
152
contains many poems
which could be described as resistance literature. Additional anthologies are An
Anthology of Canadian Native Literature in English,
153
The Remembered Earth: An
Anthology of Contemporary Native American Literature,
154
Through the Eye of the
Deer: An Anthology of Native American Women Writers,
155
and Our Story: Aboriginal
Voices on Canada’s Past.
156
At the local level, Maitowapow: Aboriginal Writings from
the Land of Water is a collection of “writings” by Indigenous peoples of Manitoba
beginning with rock paintings and an ancient scroll through to modern times.
157
Courchene included in his Chief’s message three “fundamental facts:”
First, we are determined to remain a strong and proud and identifiable group of
people. Second, we refuse to have our lives directed by others who do not and
who can not know our ways. Third, we are a 20th-century people, not a colourful
folkloric remnant. We are capable and competent and perfectly able to assess
151
Emma LaRoque, When the Other is Me: Native Resistance Discourse, 1850-1990 (Winnipeg: University
of Manitoba Press, 2010).
152
Jeannette C. Armstrong and Larry Grauer, eds., Native Poetry in Canada: A Contemporary Anthology
(Peterborough, ON: Broadview Press, 2001).
153
Moses and Goldie, An Anthology.
154
Geary Hobson, The Remembered Earth: An Anthology of Contemporary Native American Literature
(Albuquerque, NM: Red Earth Press, 1979, reprint 2003).
155
Carolyn Dunn and Carol Comfort, eds., Through the Eye of the Deer: An Anthology of Native American
Women Writers (San Francisco, CA: Aunt Lute Books, 1999).
156
Thomas King et al., Our Story: Aboriginal Voices on Canada’s Past (New York, NY: Random House,
2004).
157
James Niigaanwewidam Sinclair and Warren Cariou, Manitowapow: Aboriginal Writings from the Land
of Water (Winnipeg. MB: Highwater Press, 2011).
140
today’s conditions and develop ways of adjusting positively and successfully to
them.
158
In the decades following, Indigenous peoples have adapted their oral storytelling
skills (and humour) to the written page, television, theatre, and social media. This
reclamation of word power to inform and influence has served the Indigenous community
well. In this manner, literature has gained momentum as a form of resistance.
Crisis and Resistance through Education
A Montana American Indian college named in honor of the nineteenth century
North Dakota Cheyenne Chief Dull Knife uses a quotation from him as their slogan: “We
can no longer live the way we used to. We cannot move around anymore the way we
were brought up. We have to learn a new way of life. Let us ask for schools to be built in
our country so that our children can go to these schools and learn this new way of life.”
159
However, the Royal Commission Report on Aboriginal Peoples concluded that the
education offered through Canadian Residential Schools amounted to “cutting the artery
of culture.”
160
The concept of education proved to be a complex and controversial project
at the global, regional, and local levels. At times, Indigenous people have requested
Western education. More often, missionaries set educational goals before leaving their
homelands. As the colonizers gained purchase in new lands, church and state combined
158
Courchene, “Message of the Grand Chief,” 127f.
159
Chief Dull Knife [1810-1883], known to his people as Vooheheva−Morning Star, was a northern
Cheyenne leader who managed to save less than 80 of his people from extinction at the hands of the U.S.
government and army. See Tribal College, “The Future of the Tribal College Movement,” Journal of
American Higher Education, 24, no. 2 (Winter 2012). This Journal contains a Timeline dated 1884 to 2013
highlighting achievements in “American Indian Higher Education Consortium”( between pages 34 and 35).
160
Government of Canada, Royal Commission Report on Aboriginal Peoples, vol. 3 (Ottawa, CA:
Government of Canada), 442-499.
141
their efforts to educate for civilization, assimilation, and trades intended to service the
higher strata in society.
One Christmas season the church bulletin in a church we had just begun to attend
featured an announcement which read “Is There Room in the Inn?” It requested help for
Cecilia Jeffrey Indian Residential School children from nearby Kenora, Ontario, who
required a place to spend Christmas. We lived in a Manitoba housing project at the time,
but of course we had room. Six-year-old Irene joined us for Christmas and then for Easter
holidays. The next Christmas season we received a phone call telling us that Irene’s
thirteen-year-old brother had frozen to death. They asked if five-year-old Lillian could
join us for the holidays. Again, we agreed. This served as our first introduction to and
first-hand knowledge of Residential Schools.
Residential Schools and Pauline
The first humble church structure raised at the Red River Settlement is credited to
the Roman Catholic Church in 1818. Four years later, the first Anglican Church followed.
Eleven years after, a school for both the children of influential parents and an educational
arm for “the training of native missionaries” were erected.
161
Soon Presbyterians (1851)
and Methodists (1868) arrived to meet the needs of specific settler groups. These came to
be known as the “old mainline” churches in Manitoba, along with the United Church
(Methodist, Congregationalist, and Presbyterian)
162
and Lutherans in 1888.
163
These
161
James B. Hartman, Manitoba History: The Churches of Early Winnipeg, Manitoba Historical Society
Online, Number 45 (Spring/Summer 2003), accessed Sept. 25, 2016, http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/mb_
history/45/winnipegchurches.shtml.
162
The United Church formed in 1925 “when the Methodist Church, Canada, the Congregational Union of
Canada, and 70 percent of The Presbyterian Church in Canada entered into a union” in “Historical
Timeline,” The United Church of Canada, accessed Sept. 25, 2016, http://www.unitedchurch.ca/community
-faith/welcome-united-church-canada/historical-timeline.
142
became the primary participants in missions to Indians until the mid-twentieth century.
The Presbyterian Church of Canada Archives state
The PCC first began its mission work with aboriginal people in Canada in the
mid-1860s. … By the early 1880s, however, the Federal Government became
focused on a system of off-reserve, residential (ie. “boarding”) schools for the
education of aboriginal children . … Generally speaking, the Church was
responsible for operating the schools while the government provided funding and
oversight, and established the policies …
164
The presence of numerous other denominations, world religions, Christian sects,
and New Religious Movements eventually created a very different religious scene.
Mennonites, Pentecostals, various Evangelical missions, Jesus-Only churches, Jehovah’s
Witnesses, and Latter-day Saints joined the mainline churches to convert Indians. The
concept of over-gospelling is a common phenomenon on reserves, causing dissensions
and dividing families.
165
Meanwhile, inner city missions developed. As more First
Nations were permitted to move to Winnipeg, including those who the government
degreed had lost their status, more missions located in the inner core.
Increasingly education was taken from parents and entrusted to the churches,
which suited the agendas of both church and state. The Anglican and Catholic Churches
held inordinate influence over political powers. The United Church served as a third
163
“Lutherans,” Canadian Encyclopedia, accessed Sept.25, 2016, http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia
.ca/en/article/lutherans/#h3_jump_1.
164
“Guide to Records Relating to the Residential Schools,” Presbyterian Church of Canada Archives (Nov.
23, 2011), 6, accessed Oct. 4, 2016, http://www.presbyterianarchives.ca/RS%20-%20FA-Residential%
20Schools%20Thematic%20Guide.pdf.
165
“Over-gospelling” is my term for the competitiveness that split communities and families, leaving
confusion over “what actually is the gospel?” This term was used (1620-1677) in a sentence which reads,
“For men are always given to over-gospelling and inlarging (sic) their privileges.” The context suggests the
sense of over-extending the meaning of the gospel for personal gain. Thomas Manton, A Second Volume of
Sermons Preached by the Late Reverend and Learned Thomas Manton in Two Parts (n.p.), Sermon xxxvii;
available at Early English Books Online, accessed Sept. 24, 2016, http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/
pagevieweridx?cc=eebo;c=eebo;idno=a51846.0001.001;node= A51846.0001.001%3A10;seq=1077;
vid=59992;page=root;view=text.
143
power broker. However, it was the Bagot Commission Report, 1842, that altered the
course of First People’s lives. Charles Bagot had invested two years investigating
conditions on reserves. He endorsed the need for Indians to undergo Western schooling
“to acquire ‘industry and knowledge,’ if they were to become valuable members of
society.”
166
Five years later, a report by “Egerton Ryerson, the Methodist head of
education in Upper Canada”
167
affirmed the idea, with the addition of assigning the task
to others in the form of “a partnership between government and church, and that the
schooling be of a religious nature.”
168
The Davin Report in 1879, based upon a study of U.S. schools, “praised the
‘aggressive civilization policy of the Americans,’ deemed successful because it
effectively cut children off from the presumed negative influences of their families.”
169
It
continued, “‘If anything is to be done with the Indian we must catch them very young,’
wrote [Nicholas Flood] Davin. The difficulty here was that ‘the influence of
the wigwam was stronger than the influence of the school.’”
170
The tipping point was
reached with the Anglican Bishop recommending "continual residence."
171
This sealed
the fate of thousands of children, their families, and communities as Prime Minister
McDonald introduced Indian Residential Schools. The last one, Cecilia Jeffery, closed in
1996. Thus, schools turned into virtual prisons to protect the children from their own
166
David Napier, “Sins of the Fathers” (May 2, 2000), Anglican Journal, accessed Oct. 1, 2016,
http://www.anglicanjournal.com/articles/sins-of-the-fathers-6853.
167
Ibid.
168
Ibid.
169
Ibid.
170
Ibid.
171
Ibid.
144
parents and culture with mandatory attendance.
172
Children suffered. Children died.
Government paid. Churches taught. Neither fulfilled their role well.
Resistance: Truth, Resilience, and Reconciliation
Anglican, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, and Methodist churches
173
“ran
approximately 130 Indian residential schools that dotted the national map from Alert Bay
on Vancouver Island to Nova Scotia, where some 105,000 children attended.”
174
The
Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (1995) declared “The basic
premise of resocialization, of the great transformation from ‘savage’ to ‘civilized,’ was
violent… [Government] aimed at severing the artery of culture that ran between the
generations and was the profound connection between parent and child sustaining family
and community. In the end … ‘all the Indian there is in the race should be dead.’”
175
Phil Fontaine, Grand Chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, told his
“shocking testimony of sexual abuse” at a Residential School in 1990, a tale that “stunned
the nation.”
176
“As early as the 1960s, stories of abuse at residential schools were leaking
172
See n. 3 on Duncan Scott’s role in Regan, Unsettling the Settler Within, 239.
173
Although the Methodist churches and most of the Presbyterian had joined The United Church of Canada
in 1925, in the case of the Cecilia Jeffrey Indian Residential School named in this segment, it functioned as
a Presbyterian institution. “Only two schools−Birtle School in Manitoba and Cecilia Jeffrey School in
Kenora, Ontario - remained the responsibility of The Presbyterian Church in Canada (PCC).” The
Presbyterian Church in Canada: Archives Guide to Records Relating to the Residential Schools (Nov. 23,
2011), 6, Presbyterian Church of Canada, accessed Oct. 4, 2016, http://www.presbyterianarchives.ca/
RS%20-%20FA-Residential%20Schools%20Thematic%20Guide.pdf.
174
Napier, “Sins of the Fathers,” accessed October 1, 2016.
175
Canada, Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, vol. 1, “Looking Forward, Looking
Back” (Ottawa: Minister of Supply and Services Canada, 1996), pt. 2, “False Assumptions and a Failed
Relationship,” chap. 10, “Residential Schools,” Indian and Northern Affairs Canada; as cited in Regan,
Unsettling the Settler Within, 100.
176
“Phil Fontaine’s shocking testimony of sexual abuse” (Oct. 30, 1990), CBC Digital Archives, video,
accessed October 2, 2016, http://www.cbc.ca/archives/entry/phil-fontaines-shocking-testimony-of-sexual-
abuse. Fontaine would continue in politics, serving also as National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations
145
out.”
177
After Fontaine spoke on national media, “accounts of abuse erupted from Native
communities, tearing lives apart.”
178
Pauline, as a child from a Saskatchewan reserve, is
Individual 1. [See Appendix 5 for Pauline’s Story, “A Prayer God Could Not Answer.”]
She represents children harmed by government and church actions at the Global,
Regional, and Local levels of this study. Pauline stood as an elderly woman before the
assembly in Hull, Quebec, and recalled the feelings she experienced as she was forced to
board a plane at seven years of age. Her voice quivering, she relived the fear, the
humiliation, the panic of not understanding English, the pain of punishment for speaking
Cree, the violence, the hunger from meager rations, the manual labor forced upon
children, and the loneliness when away from family two years at a time. She spoke of her
troubled adult years, describing herself as “the most hated drunken Indian” in her town.
179
The concept of contextualizing educational methodology or preserving cultural
values was the antithesis of the educational intent. The intent was to produce a non-
Indian-Indian. To change all but skin colour
180
as Pauline’s story clearly demonstrates.
One administrator of the school on George Gordon First Nation, the band to
which our adopted son belongs, has been convicted of the sexual abuse of 10 boys
181
and
[AFN] for three terms during 1997-2009. Fontaine endured sexual abuse at the Roman Catholic Oblates of
Mary Immaculate Residential Schools on his home reserve. Note: Napier states he first publicly spoke of
his abuse in 1992, however, CBC archives this interview dated 1990. Cf. Napier, “Sins of the Fathers.”
177
Ibid.
178
Ibid.
179
Wendy Peterson, Pauline’s Story: “The Prayer God Could Not Answer,” in Appendix 5.
180
The movie The Rabbit Proof Fence, capturing the Australian experience in 1931 of “The Stolen
Generation,” argues against that statement by demonstrating the intent to ‘breed out’ the dark color. The
Rabbit Proof Fence, directed by Philip Noyce (Australia: HanWay Films, 2002).
181
“History of George Gordon,” George Gordon First Nation, accessed May 18, 2016, http://www.george
gordonfirstnation.com/history.html. Kaneonuskatew (George Gordon) signed Treaty 4 in Saskatchewan,
146
given a four and one-half year prison sentence.
182
A staggering 230 boys claim to have
been abused by the same man over a ten year period.
183
In addition to abuse, schools are
held accountable for hiring unqualified teachers, the malnourishment that at times led to
deaths due to government underfunding, and the medical experiments performed on
children such as those in Cecilia Jeffrey Indian Residential School.
184
The Truth and
Reconciliation Commission [TRC] concluded that this is “an ignoble chapter in Canadian
history”
185
and the clear intent was cultural genocide. The overall effect is well
documented elsewhere.
186
My knowledge of Residential Schools had expanded from reading books and
news items, hearing personal stories of sexual abuse shared by friends, and from
attending the TRC in Saskatoon (June 2012). I had purchased a book in 2015 entitled A
1874. Formerly it was known as Gordon Indian Reserve (near Punnichy, SK). It became the site of the
longest running Residential School in Canada, 1889-1996, operated by the Anglican Church.
182
“Residential Church School Scandal,” Canadian Encyclopedia, accessed May 19, 2016,
http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/residential-church-school-scandal/.
183
Ibid.
184
These medical experiments took place during and after Canada fought Nazi Germany. See “Church
apologizes to Kenora residential school survivors: Cecilia Jeffrey school students were subjected to ear,
nutritional experiments,” CBC News (Aug.14, 2013), accessed Oct. 2, 2016, http://www.cbc.ca/news/
canada/manitoba/church-apologizes-to-kenora-residential-school-survivors-1.1318382. “‘I want to
acknowledge that at Cecilia Jeffrey, there was physical abuse and sexual abuse and emotional abuse. For
that, I am profoundly and deeply sorry,’ said Peter Bush of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. ‘We sinned,
and I am sorry for that.’"
185
“Residential Church School Scandal,” Canadian Encyclopedia, accessed May 19, 2016,
http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/residential-church-school-scandal/. This article was
published in 2003, and last edited in 2013. Since then a much fuller story has been revealed through the
TRC which culminated in 2015.
186
E.g. John S. Milloy, A National Crime: The Canadian Government and the Residential School System-
1879 to 1986. (Winnipeg, MB: The University of Manitoba Press), 1999; Napier, “Sins of the Fathers;”
Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, accessed Oct. 1, 2016, http://www.trc.ca/websites
/trcinstitution/index.php?p=3. See also Journal of North American Institute for Theological Studies:
NAIITS, vol. 3 (2005), especially “Where Do We Go from Here?” by Anita Keith.
147
National Crime by John Milloy.
187
I flipped to the Index and looked up Cecilia Jeffery
Indian Residential School. Tears filled my eyes as I read the story of Irene’s and Liliane’s
brother, learning the truth at last. He had run away from the school with a friend in
winter, trying to make it across an impossible distance to their homes. They both froze to
death.
188
No one was held accountable. A decision was eventually made to teach kids
survival skills. The decision did not address abuse.
Consequences of Crises and Resistance
The CMS (New Zealand) missionaries had three measurements in place from
1840 to 1870 as a strategy to insure they would complete their missions well—the “three
selves.” The tenets of this approach sought to establish churches that would be self-
governing, self-supporting, and self-propagating.
189
In spite of the best intentions of the
theory of mission propagation, Dana Robert states, “As the British presence moved from
informal to formal empire … pressures grew to shift the goal of missions from the ‘three
selfs’ to a more permanent ‘trustee’ model of missions, in which Europeans were needed
to lead churches permanently to ensure efficient organization and orthodox theology.”
190
This trustee model has been the norm in missions to Indigenous peoples in Canada. That
187
Milloy, A National Crime.
188
Dennis is not named in the account, but the timeline fits exactly. A boy who has gained national fame
through musician Gord Downie froze to death years earlier from the same school. See “The Secret Path,” at
Secret Path, accessed Mar. 16, 2018, secretpath.ca. They are not the only children to suffer this fate. See
Milloy, A National Crime, 286-289. Technically, the school had been turned over to the Canadian
Government to run in 1969. However, in a recent discussion (Oct. 27 & 29, 2016) with Peter Bush, the
Presbyterian man who wrote their official response to the Residential School apology, he did concede that
not all the staff changed. More research is needed on the role PCC and its members had at this point.
189
Morgan, vol. 1. xxviii. The concept is attributed to Rufus Anderson and Henry Venn.
190
Dana Robert, ed., Converting Colonialism: Visions and Realities in Mission History, 1706-1914 (Grand
Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2008), 14.
148
missionaries aided the colonial endeavor is hardly debatable at this point in history. To
what extent they were vehicles for the process is still debated. That they frequently
sought to mitigate the process can certainly be demonstrated. The book Converting
Colonialism is written from the perspective of how missionaries and their converts
struggled against competing ideas of the gospel, at times creating “emerging Christian
movements.”
191
At the Regional Level, Jared Taylor, writing in 1992, identified race as “the great
American dilemma.”
192
He claimed, “Neither Indians nor blacks are full participants in
America.”
193
He noted the irony that a director of the University of Texas’s Minority
Information Center denied American Indians access to its services “as it was already busy
enough serving blacks and Hispanics.”
194
Taylor admits that “even as the nation becomes
a mix of many races, the quintessential racial divide in America … is between black and
white.”
195
Paradoxically, Taylor only addresses the existence of American Indians three
times in his book Paved with Good Intentions. The world of the under-class, he contends,
is seen by most as consisting of Black Americans and the former “is as remote from them
as Indian reservations are. However, we cannot let our inner cities become reservations
…. to turn them into reservations would be the starkest sort of cruelty.”
196
191
Ibid., 5.
192
Jared Taylor, Paved with Good Intentions: The Failure of Race Relations in Contemporary America
(New York: NY Carroll & Graf Publishers, 1992), 9.
193
Taylor, Paved with Good Intentions, 9.
194
Ibid., 198.
195
Ibid., 10.
196
Ibid,, 353.
149
In late 2016, a candidate for the president of United States repeatedly and
mockingly called a competitor “Pocahontas,”
197
while another candidate raised a short-
lived media storm by stating “I have a lot of experience dealing with men who get off the
reservation.”
198
While racist remarks against Black Americans and Mexicans are re-
cycled repeatedly, and the speakers held accountable to public backlash, slurs against
Native Americans typically have a short shelf life. My point is this: In United States, the
Indigenous peoples are virtually invisible to the political powers and to the Church. This
is not a minor consequence of colonization. In many ways, the “Inconvenient Indian” has
been replaced by a shield of invisibility which erases responsibility for addressing
injustice let alone laying a new path forward. What is needed is a new common
memory−a memory which acknowledges the sins of the past and addresses the sins of the
present, that it may mitigate the sins of the future.
Two consequences of crises at all three levels are marginalization and resistance
that is leading to resurgence of Indigenous identity, power, and dignity.
Marginalization and Resurgence
Non-Western historians, probing the records from 1706 to 1914, demonstrate how
the colonized functioned pragmatically and “interacted with specific historical
contexts.”
199
Without debating the analysis, I contend that the original inhabitants of
197
Michelle Ye Hee Lee, “Why Donald Trump calls Elizabeth Warren ‘Pocahontas’” (June 28, 2016 ),
Washington Post, accessed Oct. 23, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/factchecker/wp/2016
/06/28 /why-donald-trump-calls-elizabeth-warren-pocahontas/.
198
Hillary Clinton referring to Donald Trump. Simon Moya-Smith, “An Ugly Truth about America behind
Hillary Clinton’s ‘Reservation’ Comment” (May 2, 2016), CNN Opinion, accessed Oct. 3, 2016,
http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/02/opinions/clinton-comment-native-americans-smith/.
199
Robert, Converting Colonialism, 5.
150
places as far flung as Auckland, Sioux Falls, and Moose Factory all share the same social
consequences such as high rates of incarceration,
200
shorter life spans, violent deaths,
gender and sexual violence, lower economic earnings, and systemic discrimination. These
distinct people groups share the history of imposed foreign laws, marginalizing them in
their own lands. It is appropriate to identify the common denominator, which is Western
colonialism. That is not to be forgotten in the perpetual dissecting of the past.
Globally, Indigenous peoples are occupying inner cities that have been vacated by
the dominate culture group’s movement to the suburbs. In Hans Mol’s study of Race
Relations and Religion, he points out the disproportionate number of Māori in prison in
1975 comparing their incarceration rate of almost 50% of the prisons, yet less than one-
tenth of the population.
201
Updated to the twenty-first century, a comparison of the
incarceration rates are reproduced in the following table:
200
For example, 51 percent of New Zealand people incarcerated in March 2016 were Maori (cf. 34 percent
Europeans), whereas only 15 percent of the population identified as Maori a few months previously in
2015. The next census is due in 2018. See “Prison Facts and Statistics – March 2016,” Department of
Corrections, New Zealand Government, accessed January 7, 2017, http://www.corrections.govt.nz/resource
s/research_and_statistics/quarterly_prison_statistics/PS_March_2016.html. Also see “How is our Maori
Population Changing?” Stats New Zealand Government, accessed Jan. 7 2017, http://www.stats.govt.
nz/browse_for_ stats/people_and_communities/maori/maori-population-article-2015.aspx.
201
Mol, Race Relations and Religion, 64f.
151
Table 3.3. Incarceration Rates of First Peoples
Indigenous Peoples
New Zealand
2013202
U.S.A.
2010-2015203
Federal only
U.S.A. State of
South Dakota
2017204
Canada
2013205
Percentage of
Total Population
15.8 %
1.6 %
9.00 %
4.00 %
Percentage of
Incarcerated
Population
ca 50.0 %
2.2 %
3.09 % men
50.00 % women206
23.20 %
Mol attributes this in part to the stresses of modern urbanization and its impact on Māori
identity, however, “the social disorganization that accompanies urbanization and is so
vividly expressed in the Maori crime statistics also undermines Pakeha disorder.”
207
It
also recycles prejudice, racism, and marginalization through yet another generation.
Suicides and spousal/partner abuse are common repercussions of displacement
and Residential Schools. "There is enormous abuse of women and girls," claims Mary
Wells, a Toronto-based social worker and expert on sexual abuse. One fact is known,
Wells says. "Basic parenting skills were lost as a result of residential schools, which left
202
“Reducing Re-offending among Maori,” Government of New Zealand, accessed Dec. 1, 2017,
http://www.corrections.govt.nz/resources/strategic_reports/reducing_re-offending_among_maori.html.
203
These stats are compiled from: “Facts for Features: American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month:
November 2016,” United States Census, accessed Dec. 1, 2017, https://www.census.gov/newsroom/facts-
for-features/2016/cb16-ff22.html. “The American and Alaska Native Population: 2010 Census Briefs,”
United States Census Bureau, assessed March 1, 2018, https://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/
c2010br-10.pdf.
204
“Quick Facts: South Dakota,” United States Census Bureau, accessed Dec. 1, 2017,
https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/SD.
205
“Backgrounder-Aboriginal Offenders-A Critical Situation,” Government of Canada, accessed Dec. 1,
2017, https://www.canada.ca/en/sr.html?cdn=canada&st=s&num=10&langs=en&st1rt=1&s5bm3ts21rch
=x&q=indigenous+incarceration&_charset_=UTF-8&wb-srch-sub=.
206
Compiled from “Statistics: Adult Corrections, Adult Inmates by Race/Ethnicity,” South Dakota
Department of Justice, accessed Dec. 1, 2017, http://doc.sd.gov/documents/InmatesbyRaceEthnicity
November12017.pdf.
207
Mol, Race Relations and Religion, 97.
152
behind an enormous residue of anger and self-hatred."
208
This is evident in “Lateral
Violence workshops” offered for this self-destruction
209
as First Nations implode.
Nelson Mandela understood that education in a dominant culture’s institutions has
value; he “learned the language and customs of his oppressor so that one day he might
better convey to them how their own freedom depended upon his.”
210
By 1975, a small
minority of “educated Indians” began to use the tools of the Western intellectual world
against the still colonial-minded governments. For example, Indigenous voices are
retelling the story of Canada’s development, placing their people at the center of the
story. One text, Cultural Education—Cultural Sustainability, edited by Bekerman and
Kopelowitz, addresses the issue of community controlled education in diverse cultural
groups. Ohia’s doctoral thesis
211
focuses on education with a time-line for reclamation of
Māori identity and culture. Some are calling this the de-colonization of their history.
212
Indigenous people, as will be evidenced by NAIITS, are increasingly seeking higher
education globally to serve as change agents. Alongside resistance literature,
208
“Kweykway: Building Stonger, More Connected First Nations Communities,” KweykwayConsulting,
accessed Jan. 13, 2014, http://www.kweykway.ca/.
209
Napier, “Sins of the Fathers,” accessed May 19, 2016, http://www.anglicanjournal.com/articles/sins-of-
the-fathers-6853.
210
Barack Obama, addressing the memorial gathering for Nelson Mandela, Dec. 10, 2013, Nelson Mandela
Foundation, accessed Dec. 10, 2013, http://www.nelsonmandela.org/news/entry/ remembering-nelson-
mandela-remarks-by-president-barack-obama.
211
Ohia, “Towards a Values-Based Transformation.”
212
E. Palmer Patterson, Canadian Indian: A History Since 1500 (Don Mills, ON: Collier-MacMillan
Canada, 1972), 181. See also Linda Smith, Decolonizing Methodologies; Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Decolonizing
the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature (Oxford, UK: James Currey, 2011); and Marie
Battiste, Decolonizing Education: Nourishing the Learning Spirit (Saskatoon, SK: Purich Publishing,
2013).
153
education−as much as possible on their own terms− functions as a part of global
Indigenous resurgence and revitalization.
Patterson suggests correctly that resurgence existed in embryonic form prior to the
1970s, yet 1969 to 1975 is clearly a tipping point for sociopolitical activism at all three
levels. (Patterson also noted this parallel resurgence in other colonized countries.)
Resurgence has been explored by authors such as Harold Cardinal and his 1977 text, The
Rebirth of Canada’s Indians.
213
Indeed, it appears from this vantage point to be the
strongest on-going resurgence of Indigenous voices in Canada’s history. Demands are
being made, not always with a ‘please’ attached and not always in a manner that pleases
the dominant culture. It is obvious that First Peoples have refused to assimilate, to melt
away, or to go quietly into the night. Non-Indigenous people often find this stance
uncomfortable, and so they turn the focus on finances, protesting the waste of tax-dollars.
Marginalization has motivated Indigenous scholars, religious and political leaders,
and ordinary citizens to seek alliances and solutions globally. Terms such as cultural
sustainability, revitalization, reindigenization, retraditionalization, decolonization, and
reclamation of culture speak of methodologies designed to reverse, or at least diminish,
the Western-culturalization processes. Actions to protect natural resources has led to
court battles demanding recompense for environmental damage. An additional aspect of
resurgence is the fight against cultural appropriation which juxtaposes First Nations
salvaging their dignity from exploitation by non-Indigenous religions, academic
213
David R. Newhouse, Cora J. Voyageur, and Dan Beavon, eds., Hidden in Plain Sight: Contributions of
Aboriginal Peoples to Canadian Identity and Culture (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2005), 35.
154
institutions,
214
corporations, and entertainment entities colonizing Indigenous art,
artifacts, clothing, and traditions.
215
Jeremy Rifkin addresses exploitation of Indigenous
cultures as they are “transformed into ‘access zones’ reserved for those who can afford to
pay for the privilege of experiencing someone else’s culture.”
216
The revenue gained from
the commodification of culture and land is far from the Indigenous people’s reach, but
credited to corporate balance sheets. Yet, First Peoples are finding ways to have their
voices heard. “[The] Indigenous population are [sic] ‘the other “other”’ in United States;
[yet] social media is providing a forum for an entirely new means of resistance.”
217
Professionals and other leaders are committed to deconstructing the walls of
marginalization without assimilating; while IFJ are resisting through the added dimension
of the Reclamation of Culture Movement.
214
While Academia is taking initiatives to confront colonialism, not all First Nations are enamored. Crosby
writes, “Increasingly, we as First Nations people assert our national and cultural differences against the
homogenizing effects of academic discourse, mass culture and government legislation. … Historically,
Western interest in aboriginal peoples has really been self-interest. … [As to] the West’s recent self-critique
of its historical depiction of ‘the other,’ I am not entirely convinced that this is not just another form … or,
more specifically, the ultimate colonization of ‘the Indian’ into the spaces the West’s postmodern
centre/margin cartography.” Marcia Crosby, “Construction of the Imaginary Indian,” in Reading and
Writing across the Disciplines, Academic Reading, 2nd ed., Janet Giltrow, ed. (Peterborough: Broadview
Press, 2002), 488.
215
For example, see “Sweat Lodge Leader Sentenced to Two Years in Prison,” CNN (Nov. 18, 2011),
accessed Oct. 3, 2016, http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/18/justice/arizona-sweat-lodge-sentencing/. The recent
production of The Lone Ranger movie using a non-Indigenous actor for Tonto is another case in point.
216
Jeremy Rifkin, The Age of Access: The New Culture of Hypercapitalism where all of Life is a Paid-for
Experience (New York: Tarcher/ Putnam, 2000). Simon Moya-Smith, “Native Americans: We are not Your
Mascots,” CNN Opinion, May 19, 2014, accessed May 19, 2014, http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/19/opinion
/moya-smith-native-american-racism/index.html?iref=allsearch. He departs from Canadian experience
when he argues, “First, the term ‘redskins’ is a pejorative. … The term ‘Indian’ isn't a racial slur.’”
“#ProudToBe, is a video and photo campaign that uses the web and demonstrates that we are more than a
costume. We are more than a mascot. … The [other part of the] campaign … is aptly called
#NotYourMascot." … Moya-Smith, “Native Americans: We are not Your Mascots.”
155
Conclusion
The Treaty of Waitangi 1975, Wounded Knee 1973, and the White Paper 1969 all
ignited an awakening of active sociopolitical resistance and served as pivot points in their
respective lands. First Nations people found the White Paper insulting.
Your government recently announced their new Indian policy, their grand design
for Indian emancipation, for Indian assimilation. This new policy was not
developed with Indian participation, co-operation, or consideration. It is a white
man’s white paper, conceived in isolation and as far as Indians are concerned
aborted at birth. No single action by any Government since confederation has
aroused such a violent reaction from Indian people — never have Indians felt so
bitter and frustrated as they do today.
218
According to recent Prime Minister Harper, Canada has experienced a century
and a half of “untroubled democracy. …We also have no history of colonialism.”
219
This
alternative reality clashes with the lived experiences of First Peoples. Since first contact,
they have moved from autonomy and sovereignty to being classified a social burden. Yet,
there has always been resistance to assimilation. The contextualization movement in
many ways parallels sociopolitical activism and resurgence. The intent is to de-colonize
the gospel, not create a new gospel, but rather reveal the true story with more power for
heart transformation−seeking wholeness in place of humiliation and loss.
Henri Blocher, in commenting on Genesis 4:17-27, states “The descendants of
Cain, a race of inventors, invent violence within civilization. … Just as Lamech is more
‘civilized’, able to forge weapons with which to deliver his ‘seventy-sevenfold’ blows, so
218
Patterson, The Canadian Indian, 178. The White Paper was eventually withdrawn.
219
Stephen Harper, quoted in David Ljunggren, “Every G20 nation wants to be Canada, insists PM”
Reuters, US Edition, Sept. 25, 2009, accessed Feb. 26, 2013, http://www.reuters.com/article/2009
/09/26/columns-us-g20-canada-advantages-idUSTRE58P05Z20090926. See also the daily newspaper
called Times Colonist “the oldest newspaper in Western Canada” (ca. 1858). “About the Colonist,”
accessed Feb. 26, 2013, www.timescolonist.com.
156
also he possesses the art of words and of phrases to express brutality.”
220
Indigenous
peoples have been the object of such violence. In recent history they have had to learn the
art of words in the dominant language. Some are utilizing these tools in breaking down
colonial walls and forging a better future.
On the political stage, Indigenous leaders have made it very clear to the Canadian
government that the days of paternalism are over. The years of consultation are upon us.
The White Paper and the Red Power Movement altered that pattern. Social attitudinal
changes in understanding the Māori or “Indian problem” seem to be improving in
dominant cultures’ responses in New Zealand and Canada. It is less evident in the U.S.A.
Indigenous literature, music, poetry, art, theatre, and media function as protest-
conversation, seeking correctives to one-sided mythologies. This is influencing macro
cultures and bringing marginalization to the forefront at the local level, extending the
conversations. The Journal of NAIITS is one example of literature used by the
Reclamation of Culture Movement as Indigenous followers of Jesus join the resistance.
Cardinal’s Unjust Society and Campbell’s Half-Breed were just the beginning. The good
news is in the high value many Indigenous people hold for the gospel and the Name of
Jesus. The New Zealand Christian Network has produced a booklet which includes the
statement, “in spite of human failings and limitations, the Creator’s purposes will be
established in these islands.”
221
Many Indigenous people at all three levels choose to
believe this even while fighting for recognition and correction of systemic injustice.
220
Henri Blocher, In the Beginning: The Opening Chapters of Genesis (Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity
Press, 1984), 199.
221
See New Zealand Christian Network, “A Statement for the Gospel Bicentenary: Aotearoa New Zealand,
August 2014.” Gifted to me by Māori David Moko one of the writers of the statement.
157
CHAPTER FOUR
THE INNOVATION AND DIFFUSION
OF THE RECLAMATION OF CULTURE MOVEMENT [ROCM]
Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the
throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the
river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every
month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
−Rev 22: 1 & 2 NASB
Many North American Indigenous followers of Jesus regard the leaves of cedar,
tobacco, sage, and sweetgrass as agents of healing—as medicine in a holistic sense.
Communicating this to non-Indigenous people requires self-theologizing. Given that
Indigenous storytelling is circular with ideas repeating and yet building upon one another,
self-theologizing follows a similar pattern, leaving it vulnerable to be judged as “other,”
thus incompatible with Western standards or categories.
In this fourth chapter, anthropological and sociological theories are used to
analyze the Reclamation of Culture Movement [ROCM].
1
This will be accomplished
through telling the stories of specific events, organizations, and individuals, with the
intent of demonstrating evidence of innovation and diffusion, networking, and self-
theologizing by Indigenous followers of Jesus. The content is as follows:
1
In researching data bases, I did not find “reclamation of culture” as a movement. The closest equivalency
is in the sense of “language reclamation and culture revitalization.” See Drew H. Gitomer and Courtney A.
Bell, Handbook of Research on Teaching, 5th ed. (Washington, DC: American Educational Research
Association, 2016), eBook, accessed Dec. 5, 2017, https://ebooks.aera.net/catalog/book/handbook -
research-teaching-fifth-edition. “Reclamation of culture” is used by Indigenous people as evidenced by a
new radio program, Reclaimed. “Reclaimed is a weekly series on CBC Radio that explores the many
worlds of contemporary Indigenous music …. Equal parts celebration, resistance, and reclamation,
Reclaimed introduces listeners to a new generation of Indigenous artists reclaiming their culture through
music and song.” See “Reclaimed – CBC Music,” CBC Radio, accessed Feb. 12, 2018,
www.cbcmusic.ca/programs /reclaimed.
158
Table 4.1. Elements of Chapter Four
ELEMENT
TRIAD I
GLOBAL
New Zealand & North America
TRIAD II
REGIONAL
North America
TRIAD III
LOCAL
Canada & Winnipeg
EVENT 4
Retraditionalization
Reclamation
Sacred Assembly
(1995)
EVENT 5
Government Attempt at
Decolonization
The Apology
(2010)
ORGANIZATION 2
Reclamation
World Christian Gathering on
Indigenous People
World Christian Gathering
on Indigenous People
World Christian Gathering
on Indigenous People
ORGANIZATION 3
Reclamation
Wiconi International
Wiconi International
ORGANIZATION 4
Reclamation
Aboriginal Task Force -
Evangelical Fellowship of
Canada
ORGANIZATION 5
Reclamation
NAIITS (2017)
NAIITS
NAIITS
INDIVIDUAL 2
Reclamation
Richard & Katherine Twiss
Richard & Katherine Twiss
Richard & Katherine Twiss
INDIVIDUAL 3
Reclamation
Terry& Bev LeBlanc
Terry & Bev LeBlanc
Terry & Bev LeBlanc
INDIVIDUAL 4
Reclamation
Cheryl Bear
Cheryl Bear
Theoretical Basis of Study
The gospel is reconciliation: to Creator, to creation, to one’s self, and to one’s
neighbor. As an essential dynamic of reconciliation, reclamation is a step towards the
restoration of a healthy self-identity by Indigenous followers of Jesus [IFJ].
2
Tito Paredes
asserts that “People groups must always be studied in relation to their past and their
future, in relation to other groups and classes, and in relation to larger national and
2
See Wendy Peterson, “An Aboriginal Missiology of Identity: Towards Revitalization for Canada’s
Indigenous Peoples through Healing of Identity and an Aboriginal Missiology of Reclamation,” The Asbury
Journal: 65 no. 1 (Spring, 2010): 48-64, accessed March 2, 2018, http://place.asburyseminary.edu/asbury
journal/vol65 /iss1/5.
159
international interests and goals.”
3
Furthermore, “we can no longer deny that integral to
the proclamation of the gospel of the kingdom is the proclamation of hope for social
justice through social change.”
4
We live glocally in a local community set in “a ‘global
village’ in which the dealings and interests of one society affect and influence others.”
5
This is true of the universal Church (Matt 16:18; 1 Cor 12:12-14)
6
and of the IFJ in New
Zealand, Australia, and North America wanting to walk a global path of peace.
Diffusion of Innovations [DOI] Theory, the legacy of Everett Rogers,
7
is the
primary anthropological model that undergirds this study. The theory originated in
communication;
8
however, it is widely applied to marketing, public health issues,
political surveying,
9
in promoting new technology,
10
and in occupational science.
11
In this
study, Innovation begins with the agreement between two or more IFJ who propose new
3
Tito Paredes, “Culture and Social Change,” in Vinay Samuel and Chris Sugden, eds., The Church in
Response to Human Need (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 1987), 74.
4
Ibid., 62.
5
Ibid., 77.
6
Matt 16:18 “I also say to you, you are Peter and upon this rock I will build my church …”; 1 Cor 12:12-14
“For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are
many, are one body, so is Christ … For the body is not one member, but many.” NASB
7
DOI was developed in 1962. See Everett M. Rogers, Diffusion of Innovations, 5th ed. (New York, NY:
Free Press, 2003).
8
Wayne W. Lamorte, “Diffusion of Innovation Theory,” Behavioral Change Models (Boston, MA: Boston
University School of Public Health, 2016), accessed Nov. 30, 2017, http://sphweb.bumc.bu.edu
/otlt/MPHModules/SB/BehavioralChangeTheories/BehavioralChangeTheories4.html.
9
See Rogers, Diffusion of Innovations, 18, 82-89, for examples; Lamorte, “Diffusion of Innovation
Theory,” n.p. See also, Russell K. Schutt, Investigating the Social World: The Practice and Process of
Research, 5th ed. (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Pub., Pine Forge Press, 2006), 113, Exhibit 4.9 & 272f.
10
However, there are limitations to complex IT technologies. See Kalle Lyytinen and Jan Damsgaard,
“What's Wrong with the Diffusion of Innovation Theory? The case of a complex and networked
technology,” in Diffusing Software Product and Process Innovations, ed. M. A. Ardis et al. (2001),
accessed Nov. 28, 2017; https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/978-0-387-35404-0_11.pdf.
11
Occupational Science falls within the field of Behavioral Science (a multi-discipline perspective in the
field of psychology), e.g. a Study of gang graffiti “tagging” by E. Russell, “Writing on the Wall: The Form,
Function and Meaning of Tagging,” Journal of Occupational Science, 15, no. 2 (2008): 87-97.
160
means of interpretation and methodology for transmitting the gospel of Jesus Christ, by
rejecting outsider requirements to conform to a pre-determined model for Christian life
and worship. The decision to contextualize and the questions regarding the ceremonies
chosen for contextualization are complicated by a number of factors: (1) Are the ones
doing contextualization living in urban centers, on home territory, or splitting time
between both locations? (2) Are there individuals on the home territory who have
continued the ceremonies (perhaps secretively)?
12
(3) Are the ceremonies traditional to
their people or adapted from other Indigenous groups? (4) Is permission and mentoring
required to use and/or adapt the ceremonies? The resulting innovations are expressed in
new worship forms, contextualized hermeneutics, and the formation of groundbreaking
organizations and programs. Diffusion begins when a premise is adopted allowing IFJ to
live into his or her God-given indigeneity and culture without pressure to choose between
indigeneity and Jesus. Diffusion methodologies in the ROCM include conversation,
gatherings and events, social media, formal education, church services or new forms of
doing church, and through the publication of literature.
Social Network Theory [SNT] is a sociological theory designed to demonstrate
the ways that networks are involved in social change. “In its most simple form, a social
network is a map of all of the relevant ties between the nodes [people and organizations]
being studied.”
13
Social Cognitive Theory [SCT], also a sociological theory, is relevant to
the formation of relationships which support innovators and change agents in the ROCM.
“The unique feature of SCT is the emphasis on social influence and its emphasis on
12
Given that cultures are not static and that post-contact pollination of terminology, epistemologies, and the
presence of Christian language and understandings, it is highly unlikely there are pre-contact ceremonies
untouched by Western influence.
13
Ryan T. Cragun and Deborah Cragun, Introduction to Sociology (Wikibooks, 2006), 81, accessed Dec. 4,
2017, https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Introduction_to_Sociology.
161
external and internal social reinforcement.”
14
An additional consideration is the rate of
change influenced or produced by an innovation which “allows a system to achieve the
maximum benefits of an innovation and yet not produce disequilibrium.”
15
The work by
Malcolm Gladwell introduced the sociological term “tipping point.”
16
It represents the
point in time where small changes are of enough significance that their accumulation
stimulates large (perhaps irreversible) changes. It does not necessitate an entire
population consenting to or adopting the change.
17
Ultimately, it is the guidance of the
Holy Spirit as the supreme change agent who determines the value, achievements, and
rightness of the ROCM to inspire living as both fully Indigenous and fully Christian.
Reclamation of Culture Movements
The grandiose social experiments with my people were based upon the idea you
could kill the savage and save the man. Is it really possible to do that? After you
have thrown away all the unnecessary trappings of culture, do you have anything
left? ...[N]ow children throw themselves away … Forgetting who they are and
where they are from, the next generation has abandoned its deepest identity.
Without value, thrown away, Native American identity appears disposable.
−Ray Aldred, “Freedom,”
14
Lamorte, “Diffusion of Innovation Theory,” n.p.
15
Rogers, Diffusion of Innovations, 452.
16
Maxwell Gladwell, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference (Boston, MA:
Little, Brown and Company, 2000). Rogers identifies this as the “Take-off” point. See Rogers, Diffusion of
Innovations, 11, Figures 1-2.
17
See J. Xie et al., “Social consensus through the influence of committed minorities,” in Jrnl Phys. Rev E
84, 011130 24 no. 1 (July, 2011), the authors research the dynamics of social change (p. 1). Their
conclusion is that the critical value is 10%. Citing the Suffragette and African-American civil-rights
movements, they state, “we have demonstrated here the existence of a tipping point at which the initial
majority opinion of a network switches quickly to that of a consistent and inflexible minority” (p. 5). Yet,
racism and sexism remain; the tipping point, therefore, cannot literally mean “the entire population” adopts
the change. Also see “Tipping point,” English Oxford Living Dictionaries, accessed Dec. 1, 2017,
en.oxforddictionaries.com.
162
Terminology of Revitalization and Reclamation Movements
Ray Aldred captures the pathos which drives Indigenous peoples to reclaim
culture−a desire for respect, dignity, a healthy identity. Other motivations are the need for
a spiritual connection more accessible than what Western Christianity typically provides,
a leadership style compatible with community values, a desire to protect remaining
traditions, and a longing for those traditions to continue into the next generation. The
Reclamation of Culture Movement in this sense is a revitalization movement.
Revitalization and Reclamation within the Māori Context
Anthony Wallace’s term, revitalization movements, describes group endeavours
to create social change when life becomes unsatisfying or even unbearable.
18
A classic
example is the 19th century ghost dance in N.A. analyzed by Alice Beck Kehoe.
19
Her
ethnographical narrative clearly places the movement within social crises attributed to
colonization. Elsewhere, Bronwyn Elsmore writes about the Kohiti faith in New
Zealand.
20
She suggests its leader attempted to meet Māori spiritual needs and contends
that “[a] revival of traditional values and practices often occurs in response to a clash of
the cultures … [when] the former beliefs do not transfer well to the new world … the
results may be extremism where the entirety of the old is cast off … for the adoption of
18
Richard H. Robbins, Cultural Anthropology: A Problem-Based Approach, 4th ed. (Belmont, CA:
Thomson Higher Education, 2006), 142f. See also Michael A, Rynkiewich, Soul, Self, and Society: A
Postmodern Anthropology for Mission in a Postcolonial World (Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2012), 151.
19
Alice Beck Kehoe. The Ghost Dance: Ethnohistory & Revitalization, 2nd ed. (Long Grove, IL: Waveland
Press, Inc., 2006).
20
Bronwyn Elsmore, Te Kohititanga Marama – New Moon, New World: The Religion of Matenga Tamati
(Auckland, NZ: Reed Books, 1989), 79.
163
new methods that bring wealth; or else a rejection of the new in protection of the old.”
21
These are examples of innovations designed to reverse losses and bring revitalization.
Māori followers of Jesus are attempting to contextualize the gospel in this age, not to
create new religions or to return indiscriminately to former beliefs. The term regenesis
seems to be uniquely Māori, yet it parallels the self-determination and self-theologizing
of the ROCM. Rangi Nicholson, “a contextual theologian and clergyman,” uses the term
regenesis in the sense of retraditionalization or reclamation.
22
He chooses cultural
regenesis as one theme to explore in his doctoral thesis. He notes that Māori theological
writings were rare, with 1971 being the first he cites. He reviews the writings of twenty-
three individuals from 1991 to 2007.
23
They represent diversity in Māori IFJ and are
significant in their parallels at the regional and local levels: (1) questioning the need for
God/Jesus to be presented as White; (2) examining the historical realities of theological
education and attempts to decolonize it; (3) exploring Māori ecclesiology becoming truly
Indigenous; (4) questioning the subjection of inculturation to denominational ownership;
(5) promoting contextual theology; (6) examining the relationship of Māori and land, and
Māori spirituality to ecclesiology; (7) investigating a model for cultural exegesis based on
Exodus 19, plus Māori retention and reconciliation of tribal spirituality with Christian
spirituality, and the concern over violence against women.
21
Elsmore, Te Kohititanga Marama, 80.
22
Rangi Nicholson, “Ko te Mea Nui Ko Te Aroha: Theological Perspectives on Maori Language and
Cultural Regenesis Policy and Practice of the Anglican Church,” doctoral thesis (University of Auckland,
Nov. 8, 2015), 120f, accessed May 23, 2016, http://web.its.auckland.ac.nz/maitk/rangi_nicholson. Also,
see Te Waaka Melbourne, “Maori Spirituality in the New Millennium,” in First Peoples Theology Journal
1, no. 3 (2005): 112. For example, as the term Regenesis is used in his doctoral thesis title: Nicholson,
“According to the Oxford Dictionary, the ‘earliest use [is] found in Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881).’” C.v.
“Regenesis”, Oxford Dictionaries, accessed May 23, 2016, http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us
definition/american_english/regenesis.
23
Nicholson, “Ko te Mea Nui Ko te Aroha, 112, accessed May 23, 2016, http://web.its.auckland.ac.nz/
maitk/rangi_nicholson. He indicates that there are few emerging Māori theologians.
164
A Word on Self-Theologizing
Dean Shingoose (Saulteaux) writes, “Not only did colonizers regard Native
Spirituality as foolish, many did and do demonize all things Native—be they drums,
rattles, feathers, dancing, [or] powwows.”
24
Ray Aldred nods his agreement with George
Tinker in that Native Americans have not been trusted to interpret Christianity.
25
“I
would propose that the gospel story itself has not been entrusted to the aboriginal
community, except the one that is read through the lenses of Euro-American and Euro-
Canadian theology. This is particularly true of those trained in a Western academic
institution.”
26
Nicholson claims that “Māori have been doing Christian theology
implicitly since the first interactions with Pākehā missionary.”
27
Is self-theologizing an
organic response to encountering the gospel? Te Waaka Melbourne states, “A spiritual
discourse fuses more than the dimension of wairua [spirit]. It is a struggle over world-
view, over Maori knowledge, history and … the realms in which we function as
humans.”
28
Land can become a tiresome topic to non-Indigenous people, yet spirituality and
land are central to Indigenous identity and life. The Māori word for land, whenua, is also
the word for placenta. The name of the land, Papatuanuku [or Papa] is female–thus, land
24
Dean Shingoose, a former pastor, now a hospital chaplain, in personal correspondence, Jan. 14, 2018. I
was in Dean’s church in Calgary when he shared with me that the Indian (from India) congregation that
rented the upstairs space could play their traditional drums, but he was warned that if anyone brought a
Native drum into the space rented by First Nations, their lease would be cancelled. On the same theme, at
Sacred Assembly a Déne woman challenged this “paganism” perspective: “You have your tooth fairy,
Easter bunny, Santa Claus; you celebrate Halloween with witches and ghosts; you make the sign of the
cross, kiss rosaries and wear medals for protection. And you call us pagans!” Personal notes, Dec. 1995.
25
George E. Tinker, Missionary Conquest : The Gospel and Native American Cultural Genocide
(Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1993), 115, as noted in Ray Aldred, an untitled paper sent in August 2011.
26
Aldred, an untitled paper, August 2011.
27
Nicholson, “Ko te Mea Nui Ko te Aroha, 112.
28
Melbourne, “Maori Spirituality in the New Millennium,” 109.
165
is “a female created being.”
29
She is mother, can suffer abuse, weeps over the suffering of
land and the people who live on it. “The fact that tangata [humans] are linked to Papa
through whakapapa [genealogy] is the key to the significance of the relationship with
whenua [land].”
30
Since “a landless Maori is literally a non-person; there is no ‘place’
they belong.”
31
How then do Maori become persons in the aftermath of land loss? When
arguing for the spiritual connection to the land, Helen Bergin and Susan Smith state,
“secular society of Aotearoa does not have ears to hear such conversation.”
32
Self-
theologizing inevitably includes the Indigenous place on the land.
Events
In Chapter One I identified five events which have created crises or spurred
Indigenous innovations—Event 1, First Contact and Consequences; Event 2, Crises and
Resistance; Event 3, Resistance Literature; Event 4, Sacred Assembly; and Event 5, The
Apology. In Chapters Two and Three I have discussed the first three events. I now
consider the fourth and fifth events.
Event 4 - Sacred Assembly: Canada, 1995
Elijah Harper, Cree, former Chief of Red Sucker Lake, delivered a speech in 1990
as an elected member of the Manitoba Legislative Assembly. He sat holding an eagle
29
Helen Bergin and Susan Smith, eds., Land and Place: He Whenua, He Wāhi: Spiritualities from
Aotearoa New Zealand (Auckland, NZ: Accent Publications, 2004), 31.
30
Bergin and Smith, eds., Land and Place, 38.
31
Ibid.,, 31.
32
Ibid., 40.
166
feather, registering a “no” vote which changed the course of Canadian history.
33
(See
photo in Appendix 2.) Following five years as a Member of Parliament, he reflected that
“During those days when I stood in the Legislature to speak for Aboriginal people, our
voice was one. I could feel the strength of all our people, a generation of people giving
strength to my voice.”
34
Consequent to these times, Harper was stricken with a
mysterious ailment. In desperation he turned to Jesus Christ and was healed. He attributed
his illness to God's desire to humble him following his rise to national prominence.
During this period, sociopolitical frustrations were besetting Indigenous Canada. The
Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples [RCAP] Report had been released. Leaders
feared that the work of the commission would simply be one more hard-fought and hard-
won battle that ended up in volumes of history and solutions collecting dust on
government shelves. After a profoundly moving experience that Harper described as a
vision to unite all Aboriginal peoples around the concept of land as a gift from Creator
(not unlike the Hebraic perspective),
35
Harper called for a sacred assembly in late 1995.
33
See photograph and article at “The Death of the Meech Lake Accord,” The Canadian Encyclopedia,
accessed Nov. 8, 2012, http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm =TCESearch&Params
=A1. Also, “Elijah Harper,” The Canadian Encyclopedia, accessed Jan. 11, 2018, http://www.thecanadian
encyclopedia.ca/en/article/elijah-harper/.
34
Hon. Andrew Swan, ‘Orders of the Day – Government Business; Motions of Condolence, Elijah Harper,”
Legislative Assembly of Manitoba (Monday, May 12, 2014), Hansard, accessed Dec. 5, 2017,
http://www.gov.mb.ca/legislature/hansard/40th_3rd/vol_53/h53.html.
35
Extracted from personal notes, Sacred Assembly, Dec. 1995. For a discussion of this concept of land as a
gift see Bryan D. Cummins, “Only God Can Own the Land:” The Attawapiskat Cree, Canadian
Ethnography Series, edited by Bryan D. Cummins and John L. Steckley, vol 1 (Toronto: Pearson Prentice
Hall, 2004). For OT theologies of land, see Walter Bruggemann, The Land: Place as Gift, Promise, and
Challenge in Biblical Faith, 2nd edition (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2002); Walter Bruggemann,
“Land: Fertility and Justice” in Theology of the Land, ed. Leonard Weber (Collegeville: The Liturgical
Press, 1987); Christopher J.H. Wright, God's People in God's Land: Family, Land, and Property in the Old
Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co, 1990); and, Norman Habel, The Land Is Mine: Six
Biblical Land Ideologies: Overtures to Biblical Theology (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1995). Palestinian
Yohanna Katanacho offers another perspective similar to the Canadian Indigenous view in his paper
entitled “A Palestinian Christian Perspective on the ‘Land’: Jesus Christ is the Owner of the ‘Land’,”
unpublished paper (Deerfield, IL: 2003), accessed Nov. 22, 2012, http://www.twinstours.com/PDF%20
Files/A%20Palestinian%20Christian%20Perspective%20on%20the.pdf.
167
Leaders responded to Harper's vision. Approximately 2500 people from every
region of Canada gathered in December for a four day Sacred Assembly in Hull, Quebec.
Top leadership from most Christian organizations attended. Government leaders arrived,
including Prime Minister Chrétien, who made a brief appearance and speech.
36
The
Assembly convened around four themes: Sacred Foundations, Spiritual Reconciliation,
Aboriginal Justice, and Political Responsibilities. The grand finale showcased a sacred
fire and a staking ceremony, borrowed and adapted from the Sioux (Dakota/Lakota/
Nakota peoples). I was honored to be chosen as one of two leaders to represent the
Evangelical community. Six others represented the mainline denominations. My
participation demonstrated my commitment to being a change agent in the pursuit of
reconciliation and justice between evangelicalism and Indigenous peoples.
I have selected this event for a variety of reasons including: Terry LeBlanc’s role
as a panelist and co-author of the resulting Reconciliation Proclamation; the momentum
Residential Schools gained in the political realm--culminating in The Apology (Event 5);
and the Aboriginal Task Force addressed as Organization 4. The late Elijah Harper served
as innovator and change agent by positioning others to move his vision forward. A
NAIITS scholarship has been established in his honour and with his family’s permission.
Event 5 - The Apology: Canada, 2010
The treatment of children in Indian Residential Schools is a sad chapter in our
history.
For more than a century, Indian Residential Schools separated over
150,000 Aboriginal children from their families and communities. In the 1870's,
the federal government, partly in order to meet its obligation to educate
Aboriginal children, began to play a role in the development and administration of
these schools. Two primary objectives of the Residential Schools system were to
remove and isolate children from the influence of their homes, families, traditions
and cultures, and to assimilate them into the dominant culture. These objectives
36
Extracted from personal notes, Sacred Assembly, 1995.
168
were based on the assumption Aboriginal cultures and spiritual beliefs were
inferior and unequal. Indeed, some sought, as it was infamously said, "to kill the
Indian in the child". Today, we recognize that this policy of assimilation was
wrong, has caused great harm, and has no place in our country.
37
−Prime Minister Steven Harper
“What began as a whisper of litigation in the mid-1990s has now become a storm:
to date, a staggering 6,324 native plaintiffs (not including class-action suits) are suing the
federal government and, in many cases, the Roman Catholic,
38
United, Anglican, and
Presbyterian churches.”
39
On June 11, 2008, across the Dominion of Canada elders and
families affected by the Indian Residential Schools
40
sat before televisions wondering
what his words would be—weighing their own reaction. On that day Prime Minister
Harper rose in the House of Commons to read the “Statement of Apology to former
students of Indian Residential Schools, on behalf of the Government of Canada.”
41
37
Full text of Apology available at Government of Canada, “Prime Minister Harper offers full apology on
behalf of Canadians for the Indian Residential Schools system” (11 June 2008), Indigenous and Northern
affairs Canada, Government of Canada, accessed Dec. 6, 2017, https://www.aadncaandc.gc.ca/eng/
11001000 15644 / 1100100015649.
38
“The following text considers and repudiates illegitimate concepts and principles used by Europeans ….
The presuppositions behind these concepts also undergirded the deeply regrettable policy of the removal of
Indigenous children from their families and cultures in order to place them in residential schools.” See “The
‘Doctrine of Discovery’ and Terra Nullius: A Catholic Response” (2016), Canadian Conference of Catholic
Bishops, accessed Sept. 26, 2016, http://www.cccb.ca/site/images/ stories/pdf/catholic%20response%20to
%20doctrine %20of %20discovery%20and%20tn.pdf.
39
“Residential Church School Scandal,” Canadian Encyclopedia, accessed May 19, 2016,
http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/residential-church-school-scandal/.
40
The Apology was addressed only to First Nations. It did not include the day schools on reserve or those
attended by Métis children or Residential Schools for “Eskimo” (Inuit/Yupik/Inupiat) children. Litigation
for those similar experiences still wended its way through the court system. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
travelled to Newfoundland and Labrador, on Nov.24, 2017, to apologize to students of that region at five
boarding schools operated by the Moravian Mission and International Grenfell Association. Justin Trudeau,
Prime Minister of Canada, News, accessed Dec. 7, 2017, https://pm.gc.ca/eng/news/2017/11/24 /remarks -
prime-minister-justin-trudeau-apologize-behalf-government-canada-former.
41
Government of Canada, “Prime Minister Harper offers full apology on behalf of Canadians for the Indian
Residential Schools system” (11 June 2008), Indigenous and Northern affairs Canada, Government of
Canada, accessed Dec. 6, 2017; https://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1100100015644/1100100015649.
169
Phil Fontaine (Ojibway), National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, one of
the first to publicly speak about sexual abuse, responded on behalf of First Nations:
Prime Minister, Chief Justice, members of the House, elders, survivors,
Canadians: for our parents, our grandparents, great grandparents, indeed for all of
the generations which have preceded us, this day testifies to nothing less than the
achievement of the impossible.
This morning our elders held a condolence ceremony for those who never
heard an apology, never received compensation, yet courageously fought
assimilation so that we could witness this day.
Together we remember and honour them for it was they who suffered the
most as they witnessed generation after generation of their children taken from
their families' love and guidance. For the generations that will follow us, we bear
witness today in this House that our survival as first nations peoples in this land is
affirmed forever.
Therefore, the significance of this day is not just about what has been but,
equally important, what is to come. Never again will this House consider us the
Indian problem just for being who we are.
… Finally, we heard Canada say it is sorry.
42
The Prime Minister’s text includes a clear admission of attempted cultural
genocide. Terry LeBlanc analyzed the Apology as two sides of the same coin. “On one
side are the Canadian Government’s words: We were Wrong; on the other side are the
words of Indigenous people: We were Right—we were right to resist assimilation and
cultural genocide.”
43
This event is included as a Take-Off moment—a Tipping Point—at
the sociopolitical level of resistance to assimilation. A major outcome is the Truth and
Reconciliation Commission [TRC] on the Residential Schools which issued 94 “Calls to
Action” for the Canadian government, churches, citizens, new immigrants, and in areas
42
Full text available at Phil Fontaine, “Indian Residential Schools Statement of Apology - Phil Fontaine,
National Chief, Assembly of First Nations,” Transcript, Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada,
Government of Canada (June 11, 2008), accessed Dec. 6, 2017, https://www.aadncaandc.gc.ca/eng/1100
100015697/1100100015700.
43
Terry LeBlanc, Personal conversation, Feb. 21, 2018.
170
as diverse as education, athletics, business, governance, and proselytizers.
44
The TRC
was birthed in both the RCAP Report and First Nations survivors’ stories.
45
As Cheryl
Bear points out, reconciliation was the idea of Residential School survivors, a gracious
response from the victims of abuse.
46
A Word on Dynamic Activism
Since the final decade of the twentieth century through to the early months of
2018 when acceptance of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples
47
is before the Federal Government for the second reading as Bill-262,
48
Canadian Indigenous peoples are in an unparalleled period of activism and innovation—
44
Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada Calls
to Action (2015), accessed Dec. 7, 2017, http://www.trc.ca/websites/trcinstitution/File/2015/ Findings/Calls
_to_Action_English2.pdf.
45
Phil Fontaine (Ojibway) told his story publically in 1992 at an Assembly of First Nations meeting in
Yukon: “I was criticized by some at the meeting who thought there were other, more pressing issues,"
recalls Fontaine, who was sexually assaulted as a child at the Oblates … Residential School in Sagkeeng,
Man. Undaunted by this initial rejection, Fontaine took his message to a gathering of about 200 journalists
in Toronto a few weeks later. The news hit the media like a hammer on a drum, and his message resonated
almost immediately with people throughout Native communities who were deeply moved, to the point of
activism. All of a sudden, people who had hidden the abuse in their pasts from friends and family, started
coming forward, talking about their pain, searching for healing and demanding justice.” See David Napier,
“Sins of the Fathers,” Anglican Journal, accessed May 19, 2016, http://www.anglicanjournal.com/
articles/sins-of-the-fathers-6853.
46
Cheryl Bear, “We Can Be Better Together: What are the First Steps?” in Faith Today, January/February
(2018), 32-34.
47
Commonly referred to as UNDRIP by activists in Canada, authors have been at work writing and
promoting it for 33 years. One of its framers Andrea Carmen honoured NAIITS in June 2017 as opening
plenary speaker. Her PowerPoint Presentation is available from either Terry LeBlanc or me.
48
Margo McDiarmid, “NDP bill adopting UN Indigenous declaration begins debate with Liberal support:
'It's the first fundamental step towards reconciliation,' sponsor Roméo Saganash says,” CBC News, Politics,
(Dec. 5, 2017; updated Dec. 6, 2017); accessed Dec. 7, 2017; http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/ romeo-
saganash-un-declaration-indigenous-rights-1.4432858. See also House of Commons of Canada; First
Session, “Forty-second Parliament, 64-65 Elizabeth II, 2015-2016 , BILL C-262, An Act to ensure that the
laws of Canada are in harmony with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples;”
First Reading, April 21, 2016; accessed Dec. 7, 2017, http://www.parl.ca/DocumentViewer/en/42-1/bill/C-
262/first-reading.
171
from sea, to sea, to sea. The TRC’s ongoing influence is awakening churches. “Liberal”
churches responded quickly. Evangelicals seem to be still in the processing stage.
49
“Idle No More,” one of the most successful sociopolitical innovations, originated
as a uniquely Canadian form of activism birthed in an e-mail discussions over Bill C-45,
a Conservative government bill, which four women in Saskatchewan deemed to be a
threat to Indigenous rights and the environment.
50
It then emerged as a Facebook Page,
November 2012,
51
and exploded into a full blown protest movement. Diverse strategies
spontaneously erupted including teach-ins, flash-mob round (friendship) dances in malls,
rail line blockages, marches, outdoor rallies, a 1600 kilometer walk by six Cree boys
from northern Québec to Ottawa,
52
and a hunger strike by Chief Theresa Spence (Cree,
Attawapiskat First Nation).
53
Idol No More spread across the country, becoming “one of
the largest Indigenous mass movements in Canadian history.”
54
It caught international
imaginations. Supporters from New Zealand to Ukraine and beyond posted pictures on
social media supporting the movement with their own Idle No More signage. Five of the
49
Wendy Peterson, “Evangelicals Still Reaching for Reconciliation with Indigenous People,” Faith Today,
January/February (2018), 37-39. The title is not my wording and is the opposite of my intent.
50
Resource Extraction is a major issue to Indigenous peoples. Issues include pipelines on Indigenous land
and/or vulnerable waterways, harm to hunting and fishing, fracking damage, pollution to potable water, etc.
Phil Fontaine’s perspective is, “The reality is for most First Nation communities, that they live in resource
rich parts of the country that offer very little alternate opportunity. And we cannot make decisions that
doom First Nations to a life of perpetual poverty. Resource development can be done appropriately and in
an acceptable manner – that's the challenge." See Shawn McCarthy, “First Nations leader Phil Fontaine:
An angry radical embraces compromise,” Globe and Mail (May 16, 2014; updated March 25, 2017),
accessed Dec. 5, 2017, https://www.theglobeandmail.com/ report-on-business/careers/careersleadership
/first-nations-leader-phil-fontaine-an-angry-radical-embraces-compromise/article18726592/.
51
Tabitha Marshall, “Idle No More,” Canadian Encyclopedia, accessed Dec. 7, 2017, http://www.the
canadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/idle-no-more/.
52
Ibid.
53
Ibid.
54
Ibid.
172
board members who were attending a NAIITS board retreat in Portland joined a protest
there, participating in an outdoor round dance in January 2013. (See photo in Appendix
2.) Reluctantly, the four Idle No More innovators responded to media pressure to
articulate the movement’s purpose. The resultant vision statement reads: "Idle No More
calls on all people to join in a peaceful revolution, to honour Indigenous sovereignty, and
to protect the land and water."
55
A slogan on their website reads “Turn the Tables—Self-
Determination not Termination.”
56
Niigaanwewidam James Sinclair (Anishinaabe) ties
this movement to the example Elijah Harper set in politics. “Without Elijah Harper there's
no Idle No More.”
57
Organizations
Prior to the formation of organizations to advance contextualization, individuals
connected in small conversational groups, asking questions and deliberating on common
church and community realities. Gradually, planned casual meetings (coffee, meals) in
their individual local areas allowed for longer conversations. As an example, in 1994 I
met Terry LeBlanc at Providence College where I was teaching and where he set-up a
missions’ display in his role as the Manager, Aboriginal Programs, World Vision Canada.
I mentioned I am Métis and we immediately engaged in conversation about our identities,
our people, and related concerns. This is an example of Stage 1. As Terry crossed paths
with individuals in his travels, Stage 2 was born and grew as regional conversations.
Stage 3 occurred when regional IFJ enlarged the circles to include individuals holding the
55
Marshall, “Idle No More.” There are no dates and no persons named or credited on the site.
56
A stylized slogan on the website of IdleNoMore, accessed Dec. 7, 2017, http://www.idlenomore.ca/.
57
The statement is by Niigaanwewidam Sinclair in “Elijah Harper, Iconic Aboriginal Leader Who Scuttled
Meech Lake Accord, Walks On” (5/08/13), Indian Country Today Media Network, accessed Oct. 2, 2016,
http://indiancountrytodaymedianet work.com/2013/05/18/elijah-harper-iconic-aboriginal-leader-who-
scuttled-meech-accord-walks-149411.
173
same conversations outside of N.A.; thus, isolated conversations converged, resulting in
the formation of the World Christian Gathering on Indigenous Peoples—Stage 4.
Conversation partners multiplied through new adopters and diffusion spread at
regional and local levels, reversing the order of diffusion after the first global event, in
turn spawning new organizations and events—Stage 5. The selection of key organizations
is based on those which hosted events where it is assumed innovators, change agents, and
early adopters networked, experimented in contextualization in a supportive environment
for reclaiming culture, and/or served as communication channels
58
or diffusion centers.
Richard Twiss identified significant organizations in addition to the ones following,
which are not addressed further here: “Eagles Wings Ministry, …Mending Wings, Son
Tree Native Path, Tacoma First Nations, Reztoration Ministries, Indigenous Messengers,
[and] White Eagle Ministries.” He described them as “active participants of this
movement.”
59
Asbury Theological Seminary, in a formal partner relationship with
NAIITS (2004), negotiated by Terry LeBlanc, agreed to seven full scholarship-non-
resident spots for doctoral work.
60
These organizations all assumed an early
innovator/adopter role in ROCM.
Organization 2 – World Christian Gathering on Indigenous People [WCGIP]
Monté (Ngati Pukenga, Ngaiterangi, Te Arawa-Māori) and Linda (Te Atiawa o Te
Waka-a-Māui) Ohia, are credited with the idea and framework for gathering together
58
“[T]he means by which messages get from one individual to another.” Rogers, Diffusion of Innovations,
18. Also, “Diffusion is a very social process that involves interpersonal communication relationships,” 19.
59
Richard L. Twiss, “Native-led Contextualization Efforts in North America: 1989-2009,” 67. The copy I
am using is the final approved copy sent for publication which Richard emailed to me.
60
Personal conversation with Terry LeBlanc, Feb. 21, 2018. Other early negotiations are not developed
here, but include the Religious Studies Department at McGill University and Sioux Falls Seminary.
174
Indigenous people involved in contextualization and reclamation. At the time of his
sudden death in 2008, Monté was an electoral candidate for the Maori Party and a
doctoral student. His doctorate in the field of education was awarded posthumously.
61
Monte’s thesis critiqued existing educational models for disregarding “the moral, ethical
and spiritual elements foundational in Māori cultural life, in favour of more popular
political explanations.”
62
The Ohias served as the first Keepers of the Vision until
Monte’s passing. Other Vision Keepers include Sam (Māori) and Thelma (Irish)
Chapman, Richard (Sicangu Lakota Oyate) and Katherine Twiss (both U.S.), Ray and
Sharon Minniecon (Kabi Kabi and Gurang-Gurang Nations, Australia), plus Terry and
Beverly LeBlanc (Mi’kmaq/Acadian, Canada).
63
The inaugural WCGIP, hosted in
Aotearoa in 1996,
64
had over 2000 people from 32 countries participating.
65
The Maori
“expression Kanohi kitea or the ‘seen face’, which conveys the sense that being seen by
the people—showing your face, turning up … –cements your membership.”
66
Thus,
participants are considered members of WCGIP.
61
Selwyn Katene and Rahui Katene, eds., Point of Order Mr Speaker?: Modern Maori Political Leaders
(Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand: Huia Publishers, 2017), Introduction.
62
University of Auckland, “Posthumous Doctorate awarded to outstanding leader in Māori education”
(May 17, 2010), accessed Jan. 23, 2018, http://www.education.auckland.ac.nz/en/about/news/news-
2010/2010/05/18/Posthumous-Doctorate-awarded-to-outstanding-leader-in-Mori-education.html.
63
Terry LeBlanc, telephone conversation, Jan.23, 2018. He explained that the preposition in World
Christian Gathering on Indigenous People took some time to clarify as the word ‘on’ was first used, then
‘of’. Eventually ‘on’ was chosen.
64
From Wiconi website (page dated 2012): World Christian Gathering of Indigenous Peoples, Wiconi
International, accessed Dec. 3, 2017, http://www.wiconi.com/index9440.html. This site states the WCGIP
Core Values, Mission and Vision Statements. See also video recording of The Inaugural World Gathering
of Indigenous People,” accessed Jan.24, 2018, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxfMkE1s6aw.
65
Second World Christian Gathering of Indigenous People, (n.d.), accessed Dec. 7, 2017,
http://www.ad2000.org/re71215.htm.
66
Linda Tuhiwai Smith, Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples (Dunedin, NZ:
University of Otago Press, 1999), 15.
175
Figure 4.1. ROCM Networking: Casual conversations lead to innovation.
The Twiss and LeBlanc families co-hosted the second gathering in Rapid City,
South Dakota, September 1998. An online advertisement describes the event as an
opportunity for Indigenous people to celebrate unity and diversity, “to bring an offering
of praise and worship to the Lord in culturally redeemed ways;” a global invitation “to
grow in their faith and in methods of evangelism;” a time for reconciliation with God and
their identity “to collectively explore cultural and linguistic formats to bridge the gaps
between Jesus Christ and their people;” as well as repentance so God will “heal their
lands.”
67
Organizers viewed those who gathered for WCGIP events as representing a partial
fulfillment of Revelation’s concern (and prophesy) for the conversion of the nations,
bringing the glory of the nations in their unique forms of worship—their regalia, stories,
dances, musical instruments, and songs—in all their beauty before Creator and the other
67
Second World Christian Gathering of Indigenous People, accessed Dec. 7, 2017, http://www.ad2000.
org/re71215.htm.
176
nations, citing Rev. 14:6, 15:3, 21: 24- 26.
68
Opposition to the second gathering was
clearly anticipated. The Wiconi website cautioned: “Because of the redemptive dynamic
regarding native cultures, there will be a tremendous amount of spiritual warfare and
heated opposition to the vision.”
69
Evangelical/conservative Christians (Indigenous and
non-Indigenous) often vocally opposed reclaiming culture as unnecessary and spiritually
dangerous. However, the Keepers of the Vision believed, “The redeeming of native
cultures for the glory of God and building up of the Body of Christ among the nations of
the earth has been held in check by the enemy for centuries. We see an emerging among
native Christians occurring all over the earth. The fact that the first Nations of North
America are hosting the gathering is significant.”
70
Moreover, “A growing number of
leaders around the country believe that this event has the potential to break the authority
of some significant [spiritual] strongholds in the land as it relates to native people and
God's redemptive purposes for the nations.”
71
The anticipated 10,000 attendees in 1998
never materialized;
72
yet, this event fortified the participants and grew the ROCM.
68
From Wiconi website (2012): World Christian Gathering on Indigenous Peoples, Wiconi International,
accessed Dec. 3, 2017, http://www.wiconi.com/index9440.html.
69
Ibid. This site also states the WCGIP Core Values and Vision Statement.
70
Lower/Upper cases as in original.
71
Second World Christian Gathering of Indigenous People, online (n.d.), accessed Dec. 7, 2017,
http://www.ad2000.org/re71215.htm.
72
On Aug. 29, 1998 over 6,000 pilots from Northwest Airlines went on strike, precluding my plans to
attend. There are no records of how many attendees this affected. See Laurence Zuckerman, “Northwest
Pilots Strike as Talks Fail on Contract,” New York Times (Aug. 29, 1998), accessed Dec. 7, 2017,
http://www.nytimes.com/1998/08/29 /us/northwest-pilots-strike-as-talks-fail-on-contract.html.
177
Table 4.2. WCGIP Events: 1996-2011
73
WCGIP
GATHERING
LOCATION
HOSTS
YEAR
ATTENDEES
[approximate]
First
Māori
Rotorua
Aotearoa/New Zealand
1996
51 Indigenous Groups
2000 Attendees
Second
Native North Americans
Grand Rapids, SD, USA
1998
37 Indigenous Groups
1200 Attendees
Third
Australian Aborigines
Windsor Blue Mountains
New South Wales, AU
2000
43 Indigenous Groups
970 Attendees
Fourth
People of the Kingdom of Hawaii
Hilo and Honolulu
Hawaiian Islands
2002
46 Indigenous Groups
870+ Attendees
[Total both Locations]
Fifth
Saami of Scandinavia
Kiruna, Sweden
2005
31 Indigenous Groups
350+ Attendees
Sixth
Tribal People of the Philippines
Davao City, Philippines
2006
50+ Indigenous Groups
800+ Attendees
Seventh
Jewish People in Israel
Israel
[Monté Ohia passed away;
Linda Ohia participated]
2008
50 Indigenous Groups
400 Attendees
Eighth
Māori
Location 1: Rotorua, Hamilton
Location 2: Auckland
Aotearoa/New Zealand
2011
25 Indigenous Groups
270 Attendees
33 Indigenous Groups
450 Attendees
Ongoing
Young Adult Leaders
forge a new path forward
2011 –
Present
Contextualization continued to be addressed at WCGIP workshops into 2011.
74
Due to discord at the leadership level surrounding the 2008 gathering and continuing into
2011, the second gathering to be hosted by Māori would be the last WCGIP to date. Each
of the gatherings had particular spiritual themes and goals. A number of the adult children
of the original Keepers of the Vision joined together to develop a new vision for a new
73
In 2002 and 2011, the event was split into two separate locations; therefore, the totals will have some
duplicate attendees given people who participated in both locations.
74
Personal copy of program, Friday 14th January 2011: World Christian Gathering on Indigenous People
(WCGIP) 2011, Sunday 9th January – Sunday 16th January 2011, Version 2, September 23, 2010.
178
generation. In a PowerPoint presentation prepared by Matt LeBlanc, Hannah Chapman,
and Larissa Minniecon for a NAIITS Board meeting in 2012, they summarized the
movement as WCGIP: Past, Present, Future. They projected the WCGIP journey would
continue from dependency, “through the challenges of Independence,” and into “the
desired future.”
75
“The desired future” expresses the goals of the next generation to
restore “the intergenerational nature of our communities; Reconnecting the elders and the
coming generations; Recovering the community-centred, child focused models of our
people; Using the context, the place, including the family, as the primary focus of
teaching/learning; Providing for continuity of our values and change in our methods.”
76
If
I understand their intentions correctly, their goal has been to embrace not only a
contextualized faith, but a fully contextualized lifestyle as they live out their lives as fully
Indigenous and fully followers of the Jesus Way.
H.G. Barnett states: “Innovation does not result from the addition or subtraction
of parts. It takes place only when there is a recombination of them.”
77
In this sense,
cultural reclamation is “perceived to be new.” In this phase and context of the ROCM, the
Ohias serve as Innovators; the other Keepers of the Vision serve as Change Agents.
Organization 3 - Wiconi International
Wiconi International [WI] is an American-based organization founded by Richard
and Katherine Twiss in 1997 in Vancouver, Washington. The couple is profiled below as
75
Matt LeBlanc, Hannah Chapman et al., “WCGIP: Past, Present, Future;” PPT presentation from 2009,
my files. Most of the data in the chart is extracted from the PPT slides. Matt is the son of Terry and Beverly
LeBlanc. He provides leadership to iEmergence in North America and in the Philippines.
76
The final lines read: “Moving beyond just the drums, feathers, dances and beads means we dig deeply
into the values of our people, parsed by scripture to determine what our lives should reflect in the present.”
77
H.G. Barnett, Innovation: The Basis of Cultural Change (McGraw-Hill, 1953), 9.
179
Individual 2. Although Richard’s name and presence overshadowed Katherine’s in
public and in literature, it is clear that WI succeeded due to her involvement.
WI intentionally sought to educate towards a greater capacity in the Church to
welcome and respect Indigenous people, promoting integration of Indigenous forms of
worship and leadership. Under WI, a number of initiatives served to advance both
evangelization and reclamation of a healthier identity. Contextualization and innovation
were at the forefront.
On the heels of the WCGIP in Rapid City, Wiconi International convened twenty
‘Many Nations, One Voice’ [MN1V] celebrations in eighteen cities across North
American from 1999 to 2005, which served as significant catalytic events to
introduce and promote these new ideas. Thousands of people attended these
events … many of whom then went home and began their own contextualization
efforts in their local contexts.
78
Richard wrote, “One of the most important contributions to contextual ministry made
by the MN1V Celebrations was they provided a national ministry platform for Native
leaders. Leaders representing 29 different tribes and 28 ministries spoke at the events.”
79
Moreover, they provided permission to pursue innovation in reclaiming culture. “Many
people now involved in various contextual endeavors point to the MN1V gatherings as
‘the’ place where they felt affirmed, empowered and ‘called’ to pursue contextualizing
the gospel in their unique local cultural contexts.”
80
78
Sue Martell and Ray Martell, Dreamcatching: Following in the footsteps of Richard Twiss (Cleveland,
TN: CPT Press, 2017), 62; quoting Richard Twiss, “Making Jesus Known in Knowable Ways,” Mission
Frontiers, (September-October, 2010), 8. I participated in one event with Monte and Linda in Ottawa.
79
Twiss, “Native-led Contextualization,” 139.
80
Ibid.
180
“Dancing Our Prayers” was another innovation.
81
Participants in these performing
arts teams accompanied Richard globally.
82
Richard’s booklet, Dancing Our Prayers,
was published in 1998
83
as an apologia for contextualization. For Daniel LaPlante
(Cheyenne), the concept of dancing prayers provided a way to both express prayer and to
evangelize, which included an outreach in Salt Lake City at the 2002 Olympic Games.
84
Terry LeBlanc had a similar outreach called Dancing The Way.
85
Richard responded to
an interviewer’s question about the meaning of dancing one’s prayers: “When I’m
dancing in the pow-wow, every step is a prayer: I dance my prayers for the people.
Sometimes I imagine my prayers, I fantasize my prayers; they’re not always audible.
Sometimes my prayers are expressed in artistic ways.”
86
He explained how dancing is
communal and is for those who cannot physically join:
81
The phrase originated with Daniel LaPlante (Cheyenne). Maria Scandale, “Dancing Our Prayers,” In His
Strength Newsletter (May 2002), accessed Jan. 29, 2018, http://inhisstrength.tripod.com/newsletter
/id3.html. This phrase is used by other ministries such as 4Fires which began in 2007. See 4Fires
Ministries, accessed Jan. 29, 2018, https://www.4fires.org/dancing-our-prayers. See also Mending Wings,
Dancing Our Prayers, youth team, Facebook (last post 2013), accessed Jan. 29, 2018, https://www.
facebook.com/events /224877467681720.
82
Richard had invited me to join the team to Peru, but I was prevented by my father’s death. I engaged in
an e-mail conversation with him in Pakistan telling me of how he was able providentially to spend hours
talking to a major Muslim leader about the Prince of Peace.
83
Sue Martell, e-mail communication, Jan. 29, 2018. Sue Martel, former staff of WI and biographer of
Richard. The booklet Dancing Our Prayers is described in a product overview: “Perspectives on
Syncretism, Critical Contextualization and cultural Practices in First Nations Ministry. This booklet
provides the reader with clear Biblical answers to the difficult questions being asked by Native believers
today concerning the use of historical Native music, art, dance, symbolism, and ceremonial forms as
legitimates expressions of Biblical worship. Can First Nations believers use their traditional style drums on
Sunday morning? Can they write and arrange new worship choruses utilizing the traditional styles, sounds,
and instruments of their tribal traditions? How about dance?" Richard Twiss, “Dancing Our Prayers,”
Wiconi Resources, Wiconi International (1998), accessed Jan. 29, 2018, http://store.fastcommerce.com/
WiconiResources/dancing-our-prayers-by-richard-twiss-ff808081175e96dc01176560e2de7a3a-p.html.
84
"We dance our prayers," he summed up, "Christians are praying people, and what better outlet than the
dance?" Scandale, “Dancing Our Prayers.”
85
This was a team of twelve dancers started in 2002, and then two teams for the years 2003-2008. Terry
LeBlanc, interview with author, Tyndale University, Toronto, Feb. 21, 2018.
86
Kate Rae Davis and Richard Twiss, “Dancing Prayers: An Interview with Richard Twiss,” in The Other
Journal: An Intersection of Theology & Culture, The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology, no. 21:
181
When I’m dancing, sometimes more consciously than other times, I’m thinking
about all the people who are sitting there and can’t be here dancing. I’m not
dancing to entertain them or to perform for them; I’m dancing to encourage them.
I’m praying for them. My dances are my prayers, asking Creator to bless them,
encourage them, heal them, help them, and a variety of other things. We say that
every step is a prayer for the people.
87
A third WI innovation is the annual Mni Wiconi Wacipi “Living Waters
Powwow” and Family Camp, started in 2004. It evolved into the Richard Twiss
Memorial Powwow and Family Camp. It is “designed to be a place where campers can
experience … how to live out one’s faith as followers of Jesus in an Indigenous
context.”
88
These three initiatives are samples of the innovations in the ROCM.
89
WI appointed Casey Church (Potawatomi), as interim director upon Richard’s
passing. WI changed to simply Wiconi when it joined Indigenous Pathways in 2016;
Casey is the director. Lora (Dine/Navajo), his wife, and their children are dancers who
participate in events with Casey. Sue and Ray Martell wrote, “Wiconi … continues to
reach out to Indigenous people, encouraging them to be who God created them to be as
Native people and followers of Jesus, as Richard believed and lived.”
90
Prayer Issue (December 10, 2012), accessed Jan. 29, 2018, https://theotherjournal.com/2012/12/10/
dancing-prayers-an-interview-with-richard-twiss/.
87
Communal is my word, interpreting his full response.
88
Family Camp, Wiconi: Removing Barriers and Building Bridges, accessed Jan. 30, 2018;
https://www.wiconi.com/page-2/. An additional innovation was a co-sponsored Northwest Native Women’s
Conference held twice. See Twiss, “Native-led Contextualization,” 169.
89
In 2011, Richard developed a vision paper with guiding values introducing a new innovation, Salmon
Nation Internship House which he did not live to bring to fruition. He distributed a three page document
entitled “Wiconi International,” e-mailed to me Aug. 17, 2011.
90
Sue Martell, e-mail correspondence, Jan. 29, 2018.
182
Organization 4 – Aboriginal Task Force, Evangelical Fellowship of Canada
Brian Stiller, as President of Evangelical Fellowship of Canada [EFC], addressed
Sacred Assembly. Referencing Pauline’s story of hiding when men came to take her,
threatening to imprison her father if she would not board the plane, Stiller avowed that
while Evangelical denominations had not operated the Residential Schools, evangelicals
are guilty of sins of omission.
91
He stated that the Jesus he knew would never force a
young girl to make a decision that would send her father to jail. This event increased
Stiller’s awareness of Indigenous issues. He invited IFJ to form an Aboriginal Task Force
[ATF] under EFC. In a side meeting, we considered and then accepted Stiller’s invitation.
Wally McKay (Cree) and I were appointed as co-chairs by those present. Other initial
members included Ray Aldred, Terry LeBlanc, Adrian Jacobs (Cayuga-Six Nations), and
later Cheryl Bear—all of whom would be involved in the ROCM.
92
We began by framing our mandate. Members spoke of the need for reformation of
relationships within churches. The word “reformation” struck some non-Indigenous EFC
staff as too strong. We kept the word and expressed our mission: “To promote Christian
unity among the Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Community through Relationship,
Reconciliation, and Reformation.” Our first task was responding to the Royal
Commission on Aboriginal Peoples [RCAP] Report—a herculean task considering the six
91
This is not entirely accurate. Both Baptist (Kenora, Ontario) and Mennonite (Whitehorse, NWT) are
officially listed as Religious Affiliation for one school each. See Recognized Indian Residential Schools,
Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada, Government of Canada, accessed Dec. 8, 2017,
https://www.aadncaandc.gc.ca/eng/1100100015606/1100100015611.
92
Other members included Dean Shingoose (Saulteaux), Mavis Etienne (Mohawk), Larry Wilson (Cree),
James Kallapa (Makah), Bruce Brown (Haida), Joe Elkerton (Chipewyan), and Larry Sault (Mohawk).
183
large bound volumes. I served as editor and included Pauline’s story.
93
This written work
foreshadowed a future of writing and editing for a number of the ATF team.
In 2004, the EFC morphed the task force into the Aboriginal Ministry Council
[AMC] with Ray Aldred and I continuing as co-chairs until Ray assumed the role as
chair. Cheryl Bear and others joined the council. Our work included trips to Parliament in
Ottawa, meetings with politicians, and presentations to denominational leaders. In 2012
the council members determined we had met all the goals we would likely meet and
voted to disband. Reformation within Evangelical churches seemed a pipe dream; yet,
EFC continues to consult with some of us as needed. In October 2017, Aileen van Ginkel,
Vice-President of Ministry Services, requested that we meet with denominational
representatives at the Canadian Mennonite University. Larry Wilson (Cree) and I
attended as advisors (along with NAIITS board member, Shari Russell, and Pastor A).
Fifteen denominations had sent representatives. The topic focused on reconciliation in
response to the TRC’s Calls to Action. There is a seven member Next Steps working
group (including Shari Russell and me) who will be attending the 2018 NAIITS
Symposium as the first next-step. A number of the ATF occasionally write for the
magazine Faith Today (working partner with EFC). The January/February 2018 issue
includes articles by Cheryl Bear and by me on the theme of reconciliation.
ATF-EFC has been included as an innovation which ties individuals and
organizations into the network of the ROCM ’s narratives, initiatives, and theologizing.
The ATF provided the team members opportunities to network nationally and to hone
skills which advance the ROCM agenda.
93
Wendy Peterson, “The Prayer God Could Not Answer,” in Wendy Peterson, gen. ed., RCAP Report, The
Aboriginal Task Force of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (Markham, ON, 2000).
184
Organization 5 – NAIITS: An Indigenous Learning Community
Also of great importance to me is to assist in forming an international coalition of
Indigenous leaders world-wide, to be vitally involved in developing a coalition for
the formation of a North American Native theology, examining from a
theological, missiological, anthropological, and historical perspective, the place of
redeeming Native culture for the purposes of reaching lost Native people and
equipping the church to become all God intends for her to be.
−Richard Twiss, 1996
There are two primary reasons for the creation of NAIITS. The first is grounded
in a lack of Indigenous generated theological resources. The second is “in response to the
inability of the Christian evangelical church to include Indigenous North Americans in a
manner that affirmed who their Creator has shaped them to be.”
94
Globally, the shield of
syncretism is quickly wielded to protect Western Christianity from adaptation by and
integration of its Indigenous siblings. “The struggle for equality on the part of Native
Christian leaders in the dominant culture church today is part of a longstanding historical
stream of resistance, one with very little success to show for it, particularly in
theology.”
95
Other reasons include the need for an educational delivery system more
suited to Indigenous realities and informed of on-reserve challenges. Christian churches
and academic institutions failed IFJ in their inflexibility and self-assurance. “It is the
inherent distrust of all things indigenous that First Nations theologians are challenging,
and correcting … Western evangelical propositionalism that assumes that one’s own
statements are the essence of eternal truth precludes any ability to change to account for
new information or context.”
96
However, the decisive impetus for founding the North
94
“NAIITS: An Indigenous Learning Community,” a digital promotional document emailed to me by Terry
LeBlanc, Dec. 4, 2017, 1.
95
Twiss, “Native-led Contextualization," 170.
96
Ibid.,173.
185
American Institute for Indigenous Theological Education: NAIITS resulted from
opposition to contextualization—specifically, the U.S. publication of a policy paper
entitled “Boundary Lines.”
97
The comprehensive document is printed in the first NAIITS
Journal.
98
It is accompanied by two brief documents: “CHIEF, A Biblical Position by
Native Leaders on Native Spirituality,”
99
and “A Biblical position by the Native
American Fellowship of the Assemblies of God on the Presentation of the Gospel within
the Context of Native Cultures.”
100
This triad of position papers opposed to
contextualization was intended to smother the Indigenous contextualization movement in
its infancy. The first document sought to set “both theological and cultural guidelines”
with the key question posed being, “Do you believe that the teaching of redeeming of
sacred objects used in traditional or contemporary Native American animistic practices
and worship constitute unbiblical, heretical, and false doctrine?”
101
The issue was not
culture per se, but rather spiritual culture. The dilemma is that lacking a westernized
dichotomy, IFJ relate everything to the spiritual realm.
97
Craig S. Smith, “Boundary Lines: The Issue of Christ, Indigenous Worship, and Native American
Culture,” Report of the Native Theological Task Force, Journal of North American Institute for Indigenous
Theological Studies: NAIITS, 1 (2003), 101-139. This document is addressed also by Terry LeBlanc and
Jeanine LeBlanc Lowe, “Missions and Primal Religions: Case Study on Contextual Mission, Indigenous
Context,” in Witnessing to Christ in a Pluralistic Age: Christian Mission among Other Faiths,” ed.
Lalsangkima Pachuau and Knud Jorgenson (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2011), 231f.
98
Smith, “Boundary Lines.” It self-identifies as the work of the C&MA [Christian and Missionary
Alliance, U.S.] for its members and the wider Evangelical community, 102f.
99
C.H.I.E.F., “CHIEF, A Biblical Position by Native Leaders on Native Spirituality” (April 2, 1998),
Journal of North American Institute for Indigenous Theological Studies: NAIITS, 1 (2003), 141-143. This
presents a statement of seven “We Believe” affirmations.
100
Native American Fellowship of Assemblies of God, “A Biblical position by the Native American
Fellowship of the Assemblies of God on the presentation of the Gospel within the Context of Native
Cultures” (Albuquerque, NM: n.p., Oct.31, 1998), Journal of North American Institute for Indigenous
Theological Studies: NAIITS, 1 (2003), 145-6.
101
Smith, “Boundary Lines,” CHIEF134f. The position paper did allow for some cultural forms to be used
as a bridge to evangelism (p. 136).
186
The first symposium formed an initial defence of contextualization and pointed to
a healthier way forward. “Since its conception in the late 1990s, and organizational birth
in the year 2001, NAIITS has become a well-recognized and well-respected group of
Indigenous women and men (and non-Indigenous colleagues) dedicated to the
advancement of Indigenous people within the wider compass of those who follow the
Jesus way.”
102
Journalist Sue Careless covered the inaugural symposium, noting 150
people attended. She wrote: “Participants, including native and non-native missionaries,
theologians, pastors and scholars from many denominations, wrestled with vexing
questions about cultural practices that may water down spiritual truths, and teachings by
Christians that unnecessarily denigrate native culture.”
103
She interviewed a professor
who said: “The anglo-hermeneutical community should trust the new, emerging
aboriginal community that the Bible is their text too. …We should be in dialogue."
104
The
Journal of NAIITS has documented each symposium.
The founding board of directors consisted of Terry LeBlanc, Richard Twiss, Ray
Aldred, Cheryl Bear Barnetson, Cornelius Buller (non-Indigenous), Adrian Jacobs, Steve
Cheramierisingson (Biloxi-chittamacha), and Wendy Peterson.
105
Terry served as board
chair and director alongside his role as director of My People International [MPI] until
102
LeBlanc, “NAIITS: An Indigenous Learning Community,” 3.
103
Sue Careless, “Not a White Man’s Religion,” Christian Week, January 8, 2002; accessed Feb. 1, 2018,
http://www.christianweek.org/not-a-white-mans-religion/. (Christian Week no longer publishes in hard
copy.)
104
Michael Fullingim, Oklahoma Wesleyan University, in Sue Careless, “Not a White Man’s Religion.”
105
As listed in The Journal of NAIITS, 1, p. iii. LeBlanc, Buller, and Peterson signed the organizational
documents submitted to government. The early ethos of NAIITS is captured in the story of how Cheryl
became a founding member. At the end of the first symposium, as the board gathered on stage for a group
photo, Richard called, “Cheryl, get up here.” Thus, Bear joined the board. Later board members have
included Randy Woodley, Casey Church, and Gavriel Gefen (Jewish).
187
2010.
106
He assumed the role of Executive Director of the newly created Indigenous
Pathways [IP] in 2016, with NAIITS being one of the four families of ministries under
his directorship. As of 2017, the Board of Directors consists of Ray Aldred, Cheryl Bear ,
Shari Russell, Joe Dion (Cree), Marc Levasseur (Algonquin Metis), Siouxsan Robinson
(Lakota/Blackfoot), Andrea Smith (Cherokee-Ojibway), and Wendy Peterson.
Annual symposiums remain at the heart of the NAIITS community. “Finding little
in print that addressed the theological, biblical and missiological issues at hand, this small
band determined to gather a group of people together to explore and write on the issue of
contextualization of culture and faith.”
107
Hence, the NAIITS community was founded on
the need for self-theologizing and theological education. Perhaps the most important
initial development in NAIITS has been the seminal partnership with Asbury Theological
Seminary [ATS]. We believe it is the first N.A. educational partnership where one side is
Indigenous. ATS professors Daryl Whiteman and Eunice Irwin served as adopters and
diffusers of NAIITS goals as well as change agents in supporting the relationship that
resulted in Richard, Randy, Terry, and Roger Boyer (Mississauga Anishinaabe)
completing doctoral programs. I am the last of five who, by written agreement, received
scholarships without adhering to full residency requirements in the E. Stanley Jones
School of Mission and Evangelism.
108
The intent is to demonstrate that Indigenous
students can perform well while remaining in their communities. Partnering with
106
MPI was launched in 2001 also. It and NAIITS amalgamated in 2007. In 2016, IP was formed with My
People [MP], NAIITS, iEmergence and Wiconi functioning under one Executive Director, Terry, who also
serves as the director of NAIITS.
107
Terry LeBlanc, “NAIITS: An Indigenous Learning Community,” promotional document, 1.
108
See Appendix 6 for a list of dissertation topics and books based on those topics. One other person, the
sixth, pursued a degree through London School of Theology and moved to University of Toronto. A
seventh was rejected.
188
educational institutions has remained a central strategy as evidenced by the co-hosts of
the fourteen symposiums.
109
In forging other partnerships, NAIITS has graduated
seventeen students in masters programs, has thirty-six students enrolled in masters
degrees and five in doctoral degree programs as of January 2018. Jeanine LeBlanc’s 2008
case study
110
and Christine Folch’s 2016 analysis
111
provide insights into the strengths
and weaknesses in NAIITS.
In 2013 we changed the organizational name to retain only the acronym as we
added community development programs to the theological emphasis. In 2015 we
published a bi-lingual paper which led to the current name—NAIITS: An Indigenous
Learning Community / Une Communauté Autochtone D’apprentissage. The Elijah Harper
Scholarship was established in 2016. The following figure illustrates the progress.
109
Canadian Mennonite University, Winnipeg, MB; William and Catherine Booth College, Winnipeg, MB;
Crestmont College, Crestmont, CA; Asbury Theological Seminary, Wilmore, KY; Sioux Falls Seminary,
Sioux Falls, SD; Trinity Western University, Langley, BC; Portland Seminary (formerly George Fox),
Newberg, OR; Ambrose Theological Seminary, Calgary, AB; Wheaton College, Wheaton, IL; Tyndale
University College and Seminary, Toronto, ON; and in 2018, Acadia University, Wolfville, NS.
110
Jeanine LeBlanc, “Walking ‘The Good Red Road’: NAIITS, The Obstacles it Faces and How They are
being Overcome,” Journal of NAIITS 6 (2008): 5-20. Jeanine is Terry and Bev’s daughter.
111
Christine Folch, “Reflections and Vindications: Looking to NAIITS’ Past for Wisdom for the Future,”
Journal of NAIITS, vol. 14 (2016), 7-22, 9f. She categorizes symposium topics (emphasis in original):
“NAIITS’ history may be thought of as a movement between four stages:1) it began by defending
contextualization [May 2001; recorded in Volume 1]; 2) and then, bolstered by this defense, moved into
experimenting with what self-theologizing might look like (these theologies are pragmatic, historically-
nuanced, and prophetic) [May 2003-June 2011; recorded in Volumes 2-9]; 3) after a few years, NAIITS
was confronted with the limits of a contextualization defense-oriented conversation, experiencing
something of contextualization fatigue [June 2012; recorded in Volume 10]; 4) and now, it has moved
into a time where NAIITS initiates discussions on topics of interest to Indigenous communities,
Indigenous Christians, and Indigenous academics [June 2013 – June 2015; Volumes 10-13].”
189
Figure 4.3. Diffusion: The Legacy of Elijah Harper.
The following year, due to ongoing engagement with Ray Minniecon, NAIITS
“Down Under” was launched, offering a Masters and Ph.D. through Whitley College,
University of Melbourne, Australia.
112
An undergraduate program is forthcoming in Fall
2018 at Providence University College (Manitoba).
Individuals
Contextualization or indigenization is the “encounter between gospel and human
contexts.”
113
It is the task of interpreting or putting “the gospel into human contexts so
that it is understood properly but does not become captive to these contexts.”
114
Paul
Hiebert states there are three views of contextualization: (1) Noncontextualization and
Minimal Contextualization are treated as the same view; (2) Uncritical Contextualization
112
NAIITS “Down Under” and Whitley College, accessed Feb. 23, 2018, www.naiits.com. It was launched
in July 2017.
113
Paul Hiebert, The Gospel in Human Contexts: Anthropological Explorations for Contemporary Missions
(Grand Rapids, Mich: Baker Academic, 2009), 13.
114
Hiebert, The Gospel in Human Contexts.
190
and Radical Contextualization are the second view; and, (3) Critical Contextualization is
his preferred view.
115
The first is rooted in theological positivism and grounded in one’s
own culture. It is the prevailing view that dominated/dominates the presentation of the
gospel to First Nations peoples. The second values dynamic equivalencies in translating
scripture, and moves to contextualization in the sending culture. The third is a move away
from equating the gospel with a culture and seeing the gospel as localized and yet
reflecting a universal reality.
116
Hiebert states: “we need to develop metacultural grids
that enable us to evaluate different worldviews, to translate between them, and to
negotiate between them.”
117
I would contend that Indigenous peoples have been forced to
walk in at least two worldviews so are positioned to see through a metacultural grid—yet,
for Indigenous followers of Jesus, have been permitted one option—to be considered
“Christian,” their mode of worship must be Western in content and appearance.
Michael Rynkiewich, Asbury Theological Seminary, introduced his class
to the idea that the Apostle Paul was in fact an innovator. Citing Acts 22:1-6 and 6-16,
Rynkiewich states,
It is not an initial experience of faith, and not exactly a change from one faith to
another faith. Paul was involved in innovation. Note that he was not immediately
accepted, nor did he immediately fit in. All of his life he had to struggle both
against the Jews and the Christians to get his innovations accepted.
His conversion experience introduced a new set of data and demanded a
recombination of elements and relationships. He made a conscious decision that
changed his life, from a particularized Jewish faith to a more universal Jewish-
Christian faith.
118
115
Hiebert, The Gospel in Human Contexts, 19-29.
116
Ibid., 26-27. A summarization of this section.
117
Hiebert, The Gospel in Human Contexts, 28.
118
Michael Rynkiewich, Class Notes for MB700 Introduction to Anthropology, Fall semester, 2007.
191
Twiss, his student, presented a similar idea in that “‘the “sweat lodge’ is an
ancient ritual, but the way it is being used by these followers of Jesus within the Native
evangelical community is considered a new thing.”
119
Contemporary contextualization, as represented in the Reclamation of Culture
Movement, is driven by the loss of identity through colonialism combined with the
damage done by governments empowering themselves to provide Indigenous peoples
with an imposed identity. It is also driven by a desire to see Indigenous peoples as
disciples of Jesus Christ and fully integrated into the life of the Church. Rejecting
assimilation in Western modes of worship, Indigenous reclaimers of culture desire above
all else to live integrated lives as fully Indigenous and fully Christian. For IFJ, “the
problem with colonial missions is that the gospel had become captive to 17th and 18th
century contexts.”
120
The individuals introduced here are choosing a different path to self-
identity and influence.Three individuals (two as couples) have been selected as
representative of those who have grown the ROCM. Individual 1, Pauline, was
highlighted in Chapter Three.
Individual 2 - Richard and Katherine Twiss
Richard Twiss (1954-2013) self-identified as Sicangu Lakota Oyate from
Rosebud Sioux Reservation in South Dakota. His Lakota name is Taoyate Ob Najin (He
Stands with His People). Richard’s journey—which is documented in One Church, Many
Tribes, in his dissertation,
121
and online in video format—included a childhood lived with
119
Richard L. Twiss, “Native-led Contextualization Efforts in North America” (D.Miss. dissertation,
Asbury Theological Seminary, August 2011), 127.
120
Terry LeBlanc, Personal conversation, February 20, 2018.
121
Richard Twiss, One Church, Many Tribes: Following Jesus the Way God Made You (Ventura, CA:
Regal Books, 2000). Also see section “My Story” in Twiss, “Native-led Contextualization,” 98ff.
192
his single mother on Rosebud Reservation, followed by moves to poverty areas in cities.
He came to lament “legislative social engineering” as an “ignoble scheme”
122
that
negatively impacted his family by moving Native Americans to urban centers. His young
adult years included a political activist period in the American Indian Movement
(including the 1972 occupation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs building in Washington,
D.C.), animosity towards White oppressors, and a 1974 dramatic conversion to Jesus
Christ on a beach in Hawaii. A move to Alaska followed his conversion where he met
and married Katherine. He became a pastor and together they spent a short period on
Rosebud Reserve, eventually settling in Vancouver, WA, where they created Wiconi
International. After his passing, Katherine described Richard: “He had an amazing ability
to deliver a hard truth in the robe of humor …. He was able to speak as a truth teller and
state things as they were. But he was not poisoned by anger."
123
Richard credits Katherine
in 2011 for her role in WI: “My wife Katherine and I have been married for 32 years and
we have four sons. Together we lead an organization, Wiconi International ….”
124
This is
not tokenism as he made clear in his statement, “I am deeply grateful for you and what
we have forged together.”
125
Cheryl Bear wrote about her first encounter with Katherine:
“The first speaker I heard was Katherine Twiss. … She was so eloquent. I even remember
what she was wearing. It was a powerful moment.”
126
Richard describes the early elation
122
Twiss, “Native-led Contextualization,” 99f.
123
Danny Moran, “Life story: Richard Twiss, Pastor and Author, wove Native American heritage into
Christianity,” Oregonian/OregonLive (Mar. 2, 2013), accessed Jan. 29, 2018, http://www.oregonlive.com
/clark-county/index.ssf/2013/03/life_story_richard_twiss_pasto.html.
124
Twiss, “Native-led Contextualization,” 251. “Since 1990, my wife Katherine and I, through the
organization we founded in 1997 … have played a key role in the innovation and diffusion of current
contextualization efforts in North America,” 139.
125
Twiss, Rescuing the Gospel, dedication page.
126
Cheryl Bear, text message, February 6, 2018.
193
experienced in the burgeoning movement of two events: Sacred Fire (Florida) and Many
Nations One Voice.
Three months after the Rapid City Gathering, twenty of us First Nations national
ministry leaders met in Florida to discuss how to keep the momentum going ….
Some in attendance were my wife Katherine and I, Terry Leblanc, Lynda Prince,
Suuqiina …. We decided to hold a series of North American conferences
patterned after the WCGIP to promote this new contextual approach to Native
ministry that was beginning to grow ….
The first event was held four months later (April 1999) in Kansas City,
Missouri and it was called the Many Nations One Voice Celebration (MN1V).
More than 300 people attended from across Canada and the United States. Much
of the excitement and enthusiasm from Rapid City carried over and several dozen
again wore their traditional powwow dance outfits and danced with great joy and
freedom during the extended and free-flowing worship times. Lynda Prince had
commissioned the making of 120 hand-drums …. Jonathan Maracle played the
large drum … as the 120 were randomly distributed to people in the crowd played
in time with him, creating a dynamic sound that filled the building and hearts of
all the people there. People … went back to their local communities/churches
across the land and convened similar gatherings …. Often, it was these early
innovator leaders who were invited to speak and/or lead the music worship times
at these new gatherings.
127
Richard published a study guide in 1996 to teach others to develop their own
contextual models, Christ, Culture and Kingdom Seminar Study Guide – Presenting
Biblical Principles for Native Ministry that Honor God, His People and His Creation.
128
In 2000, he became chair of the WCGIP; he also chaired NAIITS from 2010 until his
passing in 2013. He titled a NAIITS presentation on his doctoral work, “Rescuing
Theology from the Cowboys.” It would be reframed as Rescuing the Gospel from the
Cowboys: A Native American Expression of the Jesus Way—published posthumously.
129
127
Twiss, “Native-led Contextualization,” 138. Terry LeBlanc named the Florida event as “Sacred Fire.”
Terry LeBlanc, interview by author, Tyndale University, Toronto, Feb. 21, 2018.
128
He stated that he used it for seven years. Twiss, “Native-led Contextualization,” 168f.
129
Richard Twiss, Rescuing the Gospel from the Cowboys: A Native American Expression of the Jesus
Way, ed. Sue Martell with Ray Martell (Grand Rapids, MI: IVP Books, 2017).
194
One month to the day before Richard walked-on, I spent a few hours in his office
with him. He rifled through his cupboards and drawers, generously offering a box filled
with posters, videos, and papers—memories of his journey through the early years of the
ROCM. Often, he would stop and comment, “I had forgotten about this” while holding a
poster, a gift, or a note from someone. When I entered that same office following his
memorial, I saw a diagram of consecutive circles drawn on the white board. Richard had
been thinking through the levels of integration of Native culture as evidenced by degrees
of reclaimed culture.
130
My interpretation follows: The inner circle represents “fully
integrated,” in public and private—practicing private smudging, for example. The second
circle is “mostly integrated” in that the person dances in powwows, is involved in “tribal
society” and language learning. The “mild” circle occupants may have received a Native
name, may be learning a tribal language, and may dance in private. The outer circle read
“surface (pansy).” This level of involvement references “tribal affiliation?”, “listening to
CDs?”, and wearing [Native] jewelry. The question marks and notations point to a work
in progress.
131
In a 1993 sermon Richard spoke of a vision he had a year or so after committing
his life to Jesus Christ: “I saw myself before great crowds, being a leader of people. I saw
myself being used in substantial ways in the Christian Native American community.”
132
130
Traditional elements of ROCM include some or all of the following: living on the land and hunting,
harvesting medicines, wearing and/or making traditional clothing, beadwork, language learning, music,
dance, community gatherings (e.g. powwow and pot latch), Indigenous art, educational methodology, and
recognizing values such as the Seven Sacred Teachings (respect, honour/honesty, truth, wisdom, love,
bravery/courage, humility), also known as the Seven Sacred Grandfather Teachings or The 7 Sacred Laws.
Traditionally, each teaching is embodied by an animal. See “The 7 Sacred Teachings,” The Sharing Circle,
accessed Dec. 4, 2017, http://www.thesharingcircle.com/sacred_teachings.html.
131
I asked permission from the office personnel to photograph the white board. My interpretation stems
from those pictures.
132
Martell and Martell, Dreamcatching, 28; quoting Richard Twiss, “Following God’s Dream for Your
Life” (sermon presented at New Discovery Community Church, Vancouver, WA, Feb. 1993).
195
At his passing, Richard had fulfilled the roles of son, brother, husband, father,
grandfather, friend; activist, pastor, scholar, international educator, entertainer, author,
and speaker before great crowds; an IFJ used in substantial ways in Indigenous
communities globally. The 1000 plus individuals from numerous countries who attended
his memorial on March10, 2013, attest to God’s faithfulness to Richard’s vision.
Individual 3 - Terry and Beverly LeBlanc
Terry and Bev LeBlanc (Mi’kmaq-Acadian) have been married for over 40 years.
They have a son Matt, who serves as director of iEmergence, a ministry of Indigenous
Pathways, and twin daughters who are faculty with NAIITS. Jeanine is a Ph.D. student at
University of Alberta; Jennifer works at the Mi’kmaq Wolastoqey Centre, University of
New Brunswick. Terry and Bev live in Prince Edward Island, having formerly lived in
Manitoba and Alberta. As a couple, they began their journey in Indigenous ministry in
1979, with Terry working full-time in various organizations. He was ordained in 1983.
He is the founding chair and director of NAIITS. Terry earned a Ph.D. through the
Asbury-NAIITS agreement (which seems to have been dissolved). He teaches in areas as
wide spread geographically as Acadia University in Canada, Portland Seminary in U.S.,
and Whitley College in Australia. He has served Inter-Varsity Canada on its board,
spoken at Urbana, and has been honored with numerous awards.
133
Terry has learned
asset-based community development and reconciliation process. His community related
service includes his appointment as Elder of the B.E.D. Program at Tyndale University
College and Seminary where is he is modeling new delivery systems for indigenized
133
Awards include the Dr. E.H. Johnson Memorial Award for Innovation in Mission (in recognition of
NAIITS), the Distinguished Christian Leader award from Providence Theological Seminary, and the
honorary Doctor of Divinity from Acadia University.
196
education.
134
As Executive Director of Indigenous Pathways, Terry oversees NAIITS, My
People, iEmergence, and Wiconi. He writes and travels extensively.
This brief biography does not adequately capture the influence of the LeBlanc
family –especially Bev’s—in the ROCM. Terry’s contributions have been braided into
every phase of innovation and diffusion in this chapter. He, Richard, and Adrian Jacobs
co-authored the first article in the first NAIITS Journal entitled “Culture, Christian Faith,
and Error.”
135
The article has longevity and is rooted in the deep relationships these three
men and their families forged over a decade of discussions and innovation. Terry has
served as a primary innovator, inventor, and recruiter—tying others into the ROCM and
advocating for new paths forward to all who will listen (and even those who choose not
to hear), pushing hard for transformation. This is evident beyond the shores of N.A. In
Australia, Ray Minniecon enlisted Terry to create NAIITS “Down Under.” It has just
emerged from its cocoon and is drying its wings. Hannah Chapman, Māori, writes:
I've watched [Uncle Terry] sow seeds for years in communities like ours in
Aotearoa ... chipping away at “the establishment” and encouraging the hearts of
the indigenous people in order to bring this vision about. It's often at great
personal sacrifice and sometimes without bearing tangible fruit. However, the
intangible can never be underestimated−the transformed hearts and minds of the
people and communities he serves.
136
NAIITS marches and, at times, stumbles forward. We do have our weaknesses;
one is communication.
In terms of communicating the innovation of NAIITS more effectively, there is
certainly room for growth in this organization. There is a definite need to
134
Terry’s community service activities include application of asset-based community development and
reconciliation process; his appointment as Elder of the B.E.D. Program at Tyndale University College and
Seminary; and international conversations and speaking engagements.
135
Adrian Jacobs, Richard Twiss, Terry LeBlanc, “Culture, Christian Faith and Error,” Journal of NAIITS 1
(2003), 5-36.
136
Hannah Chapman, e-mail correspondence, Feb. 6, 2018.
197
communicate in a manner that allows for “trialability” (learning by doing),
“observability” (with the innovation being visible to others), and in a way that
addresses the issue of “complexity.” The lack of communication may be
overcome when the loose networks are continually brought closer and after some
of the PhD students have graduated, giving them more time to commit to NAIITS.
This may allow for more “observability.”
137
Since Jeanine wrote this, communication about NAIITS has improved greatly;
communication within NAIITS (board members, students, and community levels)
requires improvement. In part, this is due to busyness, but is also affected by a lack of
financial resources for hiring staff.
138
A redistribution of responsibilities should be
undertaken by the board to alleviate Terry from raising all the finances. It is my
perception that Terry has advanced NAIITS through personal sacrifice (a position with
which he will disagree), but not only NAIITS. He has researched, innovated, steered,
cheered, and negotiated the path forward for countless individuals who have sought post-
graduate education compatible with Indigenous prerequisites. Cheryl agrees. “Terry has
done all the work, and has made us look good.”
139
Shari Russell modifies that by noting
others who contribute, but essentially agrees on his contribution.
140
Each person in NAIITS has brought their giftedness to serve in attaining the same
goal. For example, Katherine Twiss claims that Ray Aldred is the scholar; Terry LeBlanc
is the statesman; Adrian Jacobs, the poet.
141
Adrian responded through poetry to his and
137
Jeanine LeBlanc, “Walking ‘The Good Red Road,’” 19.
138
Ibid., 20f. The addition of Gene Green to NAIITS staff assures better communication going forward.
139
Cheryl Bear, telephone conversation, Feb. 6, 2018. Emphasis is Cheryl’s. Katherine frequently said, “It
takes a lot of people to make Richard Twiss.” It has taken many support people to make Terry as well, as
noted by Shari Russell. Shari Russell, interview by author, Tyndale University, Toronto, Feb. 20, 2018.
140
Personal conversation with Shari Russell (board member and treasurer of NAIITS), Tyndale University,
Toronto, Feb. 20, 2018. Shari emphasised the role the NAIITS Journal has played.
141
Katherine Twiss, telephone conversation, Feb. 6, 2018. This is not to say others are not scholars. Other
contributions: Cheryl is the musician and storyteller; Randy is the activist; Andrea Smith is brilliant at
projecting necessary indigenization strategies for the academy.
198
our grief over the loss of Richard. One stanza that stands out in capturing the relationship
of four or five NAIITS men who have played essential roles in ROCM (and who had
their battles, but who, according to Katherine, “Have aged out of their egos”
142
) reads;
One year ago today a colleague of ours fell
He was doing all that he did best
Speaking, joking, singing and drumming
Making all of us jealous and proud.
143
In losing Richard Twiss, “we lost our rock star.”
144
Terry, who ministered to Richard and
his family as Richard passed, has stabilized and grown NAIITS in the aftermath of the
tragedy and kept us moving forward in a good way.
Individual 4 – Cheryl Bear
Cheryl Bear self-identifies as Nadleh Whut’en from the Dakelh Nation and
Dumdenyoo Clan (Bear clan).
145
She has completed a D.Min at Fuller, co-founded a
Native Church and Bible College while ordained with The Foursquare Church, is a band
councillor (First Nations political position), and an associate professor at Regent College
(Vancouver, B.C.). She is the vice-chair of Indigenous Pathways. Moreover, she is an
award-winning musician and song writer,
146
who travels internationally speaking and
performing at both Indigenous and non-Indigenous events. She and her family have
visited over 600 of the 1000 reserves and reservations in N.A. with her humour-filled,
hope-filled, and Jesus-filled messages. Her three grown sons were home schooled as their
142
Katherine Twiss, telephone conversation, Feb. 6, 2018.
143
Adrian Jacob, untitled poem, (Jan. 6, 2013), Facebook post, Feb. 5, 2018.
144
Cheryl Bear, telephone conversation, Feb. 6, 2018.
145
The Canadian government had called her people Carrier, an example of reclaiming identity.
146
“Three Indigenous People’s Choice music awards, two Covenant Awards and a Native American Music
Award.” Cheryl Bear, accessed Feb. 6, 2018; cherylbear.com.
199
family traveled. She has accomplished all of this in spite of family tragedy when a child.
Her mother is a Residential School survivor.
Cheryl’s “doctoral work presents an approach to First Nations ministry from the
foundations of an indigenous worldview and values. She believes that leaders who are
more fully informed about Native beliefs, values, and practices will see a dramatic
increase in their effectiveness in ministering to indigenous people in North America.”
147
This work has prepared Cheryl for engaging with global audiences, since “the practical
missiological and theological principles explored can be implemented in any cross-
cultural ministry context.”
148
Music is one avenue for contextualization and reclamation which penetrates
beyond a surface level to root deep in the heart.
149
She credits Richard with her song-
writing style. They first met in Uclulet, B.C. where he was speaking and her team
performing. She explains, “Richard asked me questions that changed the course of my
life.”
150
Those questions spurred Cheryl to rethink music: “Richard asked, ‘Why don’t
Native people write their own songs?’” So, she did. He then added, “But, why don’t our
Native people write songs using our own style and instruments?” So, she does. Cheryl
innovates, and she influences change at the global, regional, and local levels.
In the years I have known Cheryl I have lost count of the tragic deaths that have
impacted her life. On her website, she states, “our people go from grief to grief because
147
Bear, cherylbear.com.
148
Ibid.
149
“In 1995 a Mohawk musician, Jonathan Maracle, wrote a song that was selected for use in the national
March for Jesus soundtrack used all across Canada that utilized some Mohawk words, drumming and
style.” The WCGIP in 1999 opened Jonathon’s perspective further. See Twiss, “Native-led
Contextualization,” 161f.
150
Cheryl Bear, telephone conversation, Feb. 6, 2018.
200
our families are huge …. There is such a beauty and complexity in our story.”
151
Cheryl
does not run from grief. She attended most of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission
events and addresses the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous girls and women (in
song and teaching) from having lost friends and acquaintances to this violence.
152
Cheryl
is active at the sociopolitical level, as every band councilor is since First Nations remain
in a fiduciary relationship to Canada and given the corporate desire to extract resources.
This informs her response to The Apology. Cheryl wrote “Indigenous people have been
negotiating with Canada for hundreds of years. Yet we still feel Canadian paternalism,
misunderstanding, and racism. If an apology is only words, with no changed behaviour,
then it is meaningless. And if reconciliation is desired, there must be restitution.”
153
In a
recent article, she explained:
The reason we are talking about reconciliation is because of the residential school
survivors who decided as a part of their settlement they wanted Truth and
Reconciliation events across Canada. They courageously wanted Canada to hear
and understand their stories, and they also wanted reconciliation. The victims of
brutal crimes asked for reconciliation. There’s some grace. In writing this I feel
like there should be a selah placed here so we take some time to reflect on this.
154
Opposition to Reclamation and Contextualization
Four centuries ago George Dunne wrote, “It is the duty of [human]
instrumentalities to put no obstacles in the way of the operation of grace, and to scorn no
means, provided in itself good, which might serve, by whatever winding ways, to carry
151
Cheryl Bear, homepage, accessed Feb. 6, 2018; cherylbear.com
152
In her work in inner city Vancouver, B.C., the notorious Downtown Eastside, she personally knew
women murdered in the Robert Pickton case, “the largest serial killer investigation [65 women, 1995-2001]
in Canadian history.” See “Robert Pickton Case, Canadian Encyclopedia, accessed Feb. 25, 2018,
http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/robert-pickton-case/.
153
Cheryl Bear, text correspondence, Dec 8, 2017.
154
Cheryl Bear, “We Can be Better Together: What are the First Steps?” in Faith Today: Canada’s
Christian Magazine, (January/February 2018), 35. Draft copy emailed to me by editor Dec. 6, 2017.
201
grace and inspiration to human souls.”
155
It is my observation (albeit biased) that the
Reclamation of Culture Movement is serving as a vehicle to carry grace and inspiration,
restoring dignity to Indigenous Jesus-followers; however, it was birthed in opposition.
One form of opposition is apathy. Adrian Jacobs laments, “the vast majority sit
back and as long as they have bread and circuses they are content to plug their ears to
Wisdom crying out for justice in the streets.”
156
Terry also addresses apathy, “there has
often been an attitude of apathy toward Native people which says that ‘all we need is the
Bible and the Holy Spirit.”’ Rogers explains that these kinds of interactions can be
described as ‘heterophilous’, or ‘the degree to which two or more individuals who
interact are different in certain attributes.”
157
Opposition has at times been harsh. Richard
Twiss captured some of the vitriol in a letter he wrote to ministry partners in 2003:
The opposition we face is far more than a debate about feathers, symbols, and
instruments because it is not a flesh and blood debate. Behind this conversation is
a strong religious spirit entwined with issues of territory, authority, and face. It is
a subversive thing that only sows suspicion, division, and antagonism among
believers. Though frequently maligned and organizationally marginalized, I refuse
to allow that to become part of how I go about my Father’s business.
I want you to know these tensions have dramatically escalated to the point
where those who disagree with my/our perspectives on some of these issues are
now sending communiques to major Christian organizations charging me/us of
being false teachers, teaching heresy, and promoting sin in the church.
158
155
As quoted in James T. Moore, Indian and Jesuit: A Seventeenth-Century Encounter (New Orleans:
Loyola University Press, 1982), 203.
156
Adrian Jacobs, Facebook post, Feb. 12, 2014; reposted Feb. 13, 2018.
157
Jeanine LeBlanc, “Walking ‘The Good Red Road,’” 14; also, Rogers, Diffusion of Innovations, 19.
158
Emphasis in original. Richard Twiss, letter to ministry colleagues (14 January 2003), as quoted in Sue
Martell and Ray Martell, Dreamcatching: Following in the footsteps of Richard Twiss (Cleveland, TN:
CPT Press, 2017), 67. In his dissertation, Richard address some of the opposition, such as “Native pastor
and bible teacher, Jim Chosa released a biblical training manual titled, Thy Kingdom Come. In the book’s
appendix the authors serve an indictment against the traditional native drum ….” See Twiss, “Native-led
Contextualization,” 152f.
202
In September 2012, the NAIITS board retreat had been booked at the Christian
Renewal Center in Oregon. Karen Ward, Terry’s assistant at the time, received an e-mail:
Whenever we have a new group register with CRC we take the time and
effort to research their beliefs and methods, etc. I have been doing that with
NAIITS and we must CANCEL your retreat with us. In NAIITS effort to "restore
culture" you are taking the indigenous people back into paganism, shamanism,
false gods and the occult. You are leading them away from the Gospel message of
the Bible. We pray you will rethink what you are doing to the very people you
love so much.
I will return your deposit. Thank you.
159
Richard expressed his deep pain over this rejection, but pursued a discussion to
which the registrar responded, “the Lord has asked us to take a very strong stand and we
can do nothing less.”
160
He recounted to her the positive role the center had played in his
early walk with Jesus, and then stated:
The accusations you make against us … clothed in the notion of protecting the
true gospel from native cultural ways of our native Christian community is plainly
offensive, theologically arrogant and judgmental at best, perhaps culturally racist
at worst. Your language of "the Lord has asked us to take a very strong stand"
against people like us and the way we express our faith in Jesus, biblically,
culturally and theologically is revealing of the kind of cultural oppression our
people face from an idealized and racialized view of scripture. If the goal is to
turn the CRC into a bastion of biblical protectionism, theological control and
cultural judgmentalism, your words reflect well that direction. … peace and grace
– Richard.
161
Richard tells of his invitation to speak at a Promise Keepers’ [PK] event in New
Mexico.
162
Just before the event, he received a phone call informing him “some Native
159
Judy Riegelmann, Registrar, Christian Renewal Center, e-mail correspondence to Karen Ward, Sept. 20,
2012.
160
Ibid.
161
Ibid.
162
For an analysis of Promise Keepers and the race reconciliation movement, see Andrea Smith, “‘The One
Who Did Not Break His Promises:’ Native Americans in the Evangelical Race Reconciliation Movement,”
in American Behavioral Scientist, vol. 50 no. 4 (Dec. 2006), 478-509.
203
ministry leaders from the Assembly of God Native American Fellowship in Albuquerque
were threatening to boycott the event and would work to get all the Assemblies of God
pastors in New Mexico to also boycott if I was allowed to be a platform speaker.”
163
The
burden of alleviating the situation fell to Richard. They requested he withdraw.
164
Terry
reports that others in the ROCM experienced the same treatment.
165
Adrian recalls “a
conversation brokered by PK that was inspired by opposition that began with Richard
using the words ‘drums,’ ‘regalia,” and ‘dances’” when he, as the Native American
Director of the International Bible Society, wrote “in the dedication page for a
commemorative New Testament to be distributed at the second [WCGIP].”
166
This
conversation occurred in Colorado Springs at the PK headquarters.
167
In PK convention,
two teams had been formed to debate the role of culture. The teams were named Team
Claus (after the Claus family, founders of C.H.I.E.F.
168
) and Team Twiss. Terry LeBlanc,
Adrian Jacobs, and Art Begay filled Team Twiss. Huron Claus, Craig Smith, John
Maracle (not musician Jonathon Maracle), Leon Matthews, Roger Cree, Jimmy
Anderson, and Tom Claus were on Team Claus. Raleigh Washington, the PK Vice
163
Twiss, “Native-led Contextualization,” 182. The event was in 2000. He continued, “In 2002 I actually
did speak at the Grand Rapids event through the sanctified subversive effort of a Native staff member and
close friend of mine, but it was the last time I, or another Native leader from the contextual “camp,” was
allowed to speak, though conservative “non-contextual” evangelical leaders were frequent speakers. So,
though PK did make room for a segment of the Native community at the table, they did not serve to bring
reconciliation to the varying points of view of contextualization, and even fostered greater division.”
Richard joked that he quit going to PK events as it was costing too much money for pedicures given
someone always wanted to wash his feet.
164
“In the ‘spirit of unity’ they asked me to voluntarily withdraw from participating as a result of the hostile
threat.” Twiss, Native-led Contextualization,” 182.
165
For example, he names Art Begay and Rita Beargray. Terry LeBlanc, Personal correspondence, Feb. 26,
2018.
166
Adrian Jacobs, e-mail correspondence, February 26, 2018.
167
The WCGIP was in 1998. Terry LeBlanc dates the conversation in 1997.
168
C.H.I.E.F or CHIEF, stands for Christian Hope Indian Eskimo Fellowship.
204
President, moderated. Several observers contributed their theological conclusions after
the debate: John Dawson (YWAM), Leonard Rascher (Moody Bible Institute), Douglas
Pennoyer (Biola University), and Danny Glover (Denver Baptist). Terry states, “[T]he
observers agreed there was a strong disagreement about the place or role of culture
before, during and after coming to faith, but that the motives of both groups were similar:
to see Indigenous peoples come to faith and be discipled. The method and context was
the issue.”
169
They mutually agreed, however, that the meeting would be kept confidential
and that another conversation would be scheduled. Terry adds,
Team Claus and Team Twiss agreed to meet again that year. Within a few
months, Team Claus had withdrawn, claiming, “We have no agreement on these
issues and therefore have nothing to talk about.” It was at this time we were first
hit with the challenge to our authority to speak theologically and missiologically
since, at that time, the only one with completed post-secondary education was me
– and that was a degree in Religious studies.
170
However, the triad of position papers by C.H.I.E.F., by the Christian and
Missionary Alliance, and by the Assemblies of God which are previously referenced and
are in the first NAIITS Journal, were produced and distributed. In the words of Adrian
Jacobs, “therefore these men violated the agreement we had made in the presence of
Promise Keepers!”
171
Another opponent, Dan Fredericks, described Wiconi as “heavy on culture and
light on Biblical doctrine.”
172
He wrote the opinion piece “Prayer’s Perversion, Perplexity
169
Terry LeBlanc, e-mail correspondence, Feb. 26, 2018.
170
Ibid.
171
Adrian Jacobs, interview by author, Tyndale University, Toronto, February 24, 2018. Terry adds,
“Someone mysteriously mailed all the documents to me—the only existing copy I know of—and I have
kept them.” Terry LeBlanc, e-mail correspondence, February 26, 2018.
172
Dan Fredericks, “Prayer’s Perversion, Perplexity & Pleasure,” in IFCA International, (Mar/Apr 2011),
accessed Jan. 29, 2018, http://www.ifca.org/home/140007594/140006917/docs/ PrayersPerversion
Perplexity-and-Pleasure-Fredericks-2011Mar-Apr.pdf?sec_id=140006917.
205
& Pleasure” opposing Dancing Our Prayers: “[C]ultural syncretism is a cause for great
concern which requires great discernment and biblical discipline. This is a dangerous and
potentially misleading, if not deceptive, way of teaching Native Americans how to
communicate with God.”
173
In the same year, Richard emailed an advertisement he saw
online to a number of us. The following excerpt captures the tone:
An extraordinary and ground-breaking event for Christian Native Americans and
First Nations People, will take place on the evening of October 6th, 2011. …
The Christ and Culture Forum will feature a “live” discussion with
prominent Christian Native leaders on the dangers of mixing native culture,
spirituality, instruments of worship, beliefs and practices with the Gospel message
of Jesus Christ! … the extreme contextual message of blending forms of “Indian
religion” with true Christianity. This trend or “fad” is being promoted by groups
and individuals who believe they are trying to advance their evangelism efforts by
reaching out through unbiblical contextual practices. Many of these “false
teachers” who believe wholeheartedly in their message are leading many of our
native people away from sound doctrines of the Christian faith, adopting many
idolatrous practices, all for the sake of evangelism.
174
When utilizing a search engine to locate WCGIP information, often the first site
displayed is “wcgip—Deception in the Church.” The deceptions listed include: “the false
teachings of the WCGIP [and] ... the propostion [sic] that men from Gentile cultures have
always been seeking God and that Gentile cultures were already worshipping the true
God ....”
175
Twiss and “The Indigenous People’s Movement” are frequent topics.
176
173
Fredericks, “Prayer’s Perversion, Perplexity & Pleasure.”
174
Richard Twiss, e-mail correspondence, Sept. 28, 2011 re AIC-TV broadcast. Emphasis added by
Richard. AICTV.org describes itself on its Facebook page as “The first 24/7 Christian Web Broadcast.” Its
website consists of a single page, under construction, but describes AIC as American Indian Crusade, Inc.
located in Oklahoma, accessed Jan. 29, 2018, https://www.aictv.org/.
175
Google search done Dec. 3, 2017. See Deception in the Church’s website article on WCGIP at
http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/wcgip.html. Terry adds, “The lead up to the 1998 gathering
inaugurated the appearance of this website – Sandy Simpson is – or was – the curator of it. Richard and I
and a few others had the dubious distinction of being the site’s first targets. I have screen shots of the first
postings in my archives ….” Terry LeBlanc, e-mail correspondence, Feb. 26, 2018.
176
Sandy Simpson, Deception in the Church, (05/02), accessed Dec. 3, 2017, http://www.deceptionin
thechurch.com/wcgip.html. See also “More False IPM Teachings,” Pacific Waves Newsletter 3, no. 5 (July
2006) accessed Feb. 25, 2018, http://op.50megs.com/pw/.../pwv3i5/pwv3i5.pdf.
206
In July 2017, Casey Church, Pastor A, and I attended the “United in Christ
Conference” advertised as a Native Christian leaders’ conference in an Evangelical Free
Church, Bemidji, Minnesota. It was co-hosted by CHIEF Ministries of Phoenix, Arizona,
and Oak Hills Christian College.
177
CHIEF (led at the time by Tom Claus) published the
initial opposition documents as referenced earlier. I assumed by this time, and given the
conference title, there would be a more accepting position on contextualization. I was
wrong. Casey had been invited by Huron Claus, now the leader of CHIEF, not as a
presenter, but to be available for those who want to know more about contextual
approaches to Native American ministries. An organizer told Casey to take down the
books he had on display on his friend’s ministry table–he would be permitted to “mingle”
but not to sell anything. We realized “United in Christ” did not include Wiconi and other
contextual ministries. Craig Smith, as a workshop presenter, mentioned Richard Twiss by
name and stated his opposition to contextualization because “God has never redeemed a
sacred object.” The stage was lined with seven guitars in stands, a keyboard, a drum set,
and other western instruments. There was not one object or decoration to represent local
Indigenous cultures or those of attendees. Special music featured a large family (non-
Indigenous) and blue grass music. Smith stated his opposition to “Native drums” without
any mention of the Asian manufactured drums used by invited bands. One of the
Indigenous speakers was applauded as the pastor of a multi-cultural church. He spoke as
a preacher in words and mannerisms contextualized to Black Americans—complete with
a folded white hanky in hand, with which he repeatedly wiped his brow. A mannerism I
have never witnessed by any Indigenous preacher. Craig Smith and others promoted a
177
Disclosure, I am a member of an Evangelical Free Church. I once taught a course at this college. See
invitation at “United in Christ 2017 Conference,” accessed June 1, 2017, http://chief.org/2017/05/12/united
-in- christ-2017-conference/.
207
“new approach” to evangelism and discipleship referencing statistics of on-going low
conversion rates in Native America. The chosen methodology is a non-Indigenous
program Smith had available for sale; the package includes a video, a book (4 Chair
Discipling), and other merchandise.
178
As someone who has taught an Evangelism and
Apologetics course at a seminary for many years, I was disappointed with the material.
The early ROCM documents, websites, and other records clearly demonstrate a
Pentecostal and/or Charismatic ethos in terminology (for example, “third wave”), in
worship expressions, and in ordination granting denominations for the main innovators.
Although this will not be developed further here, I suspect the freedom of physical
worship in the 1990s Charismatic Movement will prove to have been instrumental in
permitting and encouraging the pursuit of a greater physicality of worship that is
compatible with the reclamation of Indigenous dance and ceremony. My hunch is that
another major factor behind opposition stems from suspicion of the physicality aspects of
worship combined with the fear of demonic activity in many opponents to ROCM.
Opponents to ROCM typically argue that it is sufficient to find one’s identity in
Christ. Aldred responds:
The statement “my identity is in Christ”—what does it really mean? Does it
recognize that the sound of the wind and the smell of pine are a part of who I am,
or are these throwaway things, not important to the essence of who I am? Does it
mean that when I feel the beat of the drum resonate right to the middle of my soul
that is a part of who I am? Or just a throwaway part …? Can I be Indian anymore,
or is that something I can throw away?
179
178
Dann Spader, 4 Chair Discipling: Growing a Movement of Disciple-Makers (Chicago, IL: Moody
Publishers, 2014). The four chairs which the evangelist is to move the convert along are called: the lost
(Come and See), the believer (Follow me), the worker (Become a Fisher of People), and the disciple-maker
(Go and Bear Fruit).
179
Raymond C. Aldred, “Freedom,” Bruce Ellis Benson, Malinda Elizabeth Berry, and Peter Goodwin
Heltzel, eds., Prophetic Evangelicals: Envisioning a Just and Peaceable Kingdom, Prophetic Christianity
(William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2012), 152; accessed Dec. 8, 2017, https://books.google.com/books?
id=rC8S3IL7OfAC&pg=PA165&lpg=PA165&dq=%22Evangelical+Fellowship+of+Canada%22+aborigin
al+task+force&source=bl&ots=3S5WPCDHSs&sig=no2tBPVYZ3cgkbFuBlp1aNiPkZM&hl=en&sa=X&v
208
Analysis of Innovations, Innovators, and Change Agents in ROCM
This study has demonstrated ways and means that colonization produced multiple
change points for First Peoples. Some colonizers desired a speedy demise of an
inconvenient and “vanishing race.”
180
Others sincerely sought to cushion or channel the
inevitable changes, assuming the role of advocate. Individual Indigenous leaders served
as heroic resisters and prophetic voices, thereby functioning as change agents. Innovative
Native-led sociopolitical movements such as AIM and Idle No More have achieved
similar change agent roles. Authors such as Kehoe serve as change agents when they
sway opinions by providing a new narrative and demonstrating the diffusion of
revitalization initiatives. This chapter has focused on the innovators and innovations
which mark the emergence, development, and diffusion of the Reclamation of Culture
Movement through Indigenous followers of Jesus.
The Māori concept of regenesis parallels the self-determination and self-
theologizing of the ROCM in North America. With the organizations and individuals
highlighted here, the ROCM is seen to gather momentum through conversations and
networking. I view this as providential. It remains to be shown how this has impacted
leaders in Winnipeg. In naming key individuals and organizations, it is important to
acknowledge they are not the first to promote contextualization or reclamation—although
they may not have used those words. Richard Twiss’s and Casey Church’s doctoral
works trace the winding road and introduce many early innovators who have most often
worked in isolation. “I know of Native ministry leaders who gathered to discuss these
innovations before 1989 but they never gained the wider acceptance. … In fact several
ed=0ahUKEwj31JTfx_rXAhVBTd8KHa14Bg4Q6AEIOTAD#v=onepage&q=%22Evangelical%20Fellows
hip%20of%20Canada%22%20aboriginal%20task%20force&f=false.
180
Kehoe, The Ghost Dance, 147.
209
were painfully marginalized by their respective denominations or Native ministry peers
and even ostracized ….”
181
Notwithstanding these efforts, Richard dates the emergence of
a movement to the inaugural WCGIP in 1996, the tipping point, where “Fifty-two native
North Americans attended and participated.”
182
The 1998 gathering in South Dakota
furthered the movement. “It brought together hundreds of like-minded people for the first
time to declare publicly that the gospel can, and will be contextualized among Native
North Americans! It was here that many early adopters met for the first time.”
183
The Ghost Dance and other pan-indigeneity innovations helped Indigenous people
survive with a semblance of cohesion and hope “when being Indian was treated as if it
were a crime.”
184
Contemporary dancing at powwows plays a similar role. Powwows are
often pan-Indigenous (at times with global participants), providing a sense of cohesion,
hope, pride in ethnicity, a connection to the past, and a way of saying to the majority
culture “we have not gone away and we have no intention of being assimilated.” These
are not new innovations, albeit there are changes.
Contextualization and reclamation began at the local and then regional and global
levels. The WCGIP created the momentum to empower regional and local groups to
contextualize the gospel through examination of Indigenous teachings, values, and modes
of worship such as ceremonies and music, that add depth and meaning to living as Jesus
followers. Thus, reclamation continued to diffuse from the global level back to the local
communities—a process still ongoing. While the founding of organizations such as
181
Twiss, “Native-led Contextualization,” 129.
182
Ibid., 136.
183
Ibid.
184
Kehoe, The Ghost Dance, 52.
210
Wiconi International and My People International were not dependent upon one another,
they did influence each other. Pan-indigeneity is unavoidable since any human interaction
creates an atmosphere to transfer information and customs.
185
The question remains: Has
the Reclamation of Culture Movement impacted the Inner City of Winnipeg?
Figure 4.4. Diffusion of ROCM from Global to Regional and Local level.
One consideration in any diffusion study is that the adoption of an innovation is
not necessarily tied to its inherent value due to the limitations, real or imagined, in the
innovation. “Individual innovations do not become a part of cultural change until they are
integrated into the patterned way of life of the group.”
186
There may be social dynamics
or inbuilt biases that create an ethos for hesitation, fear, or rejection. There may also be
practices or items that are deemed to be incompatible with biblical adherence. (The
discernment belongs to IFJs, not those who are outsiders to the culture.) The history of
185
For example, bannock is considered “traditional” food, yet in its present form, this particular type of
bread originated from trading for flour from Europeans. See “Bannock,” Canadian Encyclopedia, accessed
March 30, 2018, http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/bannock/.
186
Michael Rynkiewich, Class Notes, MB700 Introduction to Anthropology (Fall 2007), Asbury
Theological Seminary.
211
discipling converts through teachings on the fear of demonic possession via their sacred
objects fashioned emotional and theological hurdles for ROCM.
Justo L. González, a change agent for missions, in addressing the Hispanic
context, critiqued the “three selfs” missionary objective for new churches since the
concept “did not envision self-interpretation or self-theologizing. …. The surprise of our
generation has been that the younger churches have provided insights into the meaning of
the gospel and the mission of the church that the older churches sorely needed.”
187
The
North American IFJ are about their Father’s business, applying the gospel to their
individual communities, following the example set by the Apostle Paul. Rynkiewich,
Asbury Theological Seminary, introduced his students to the idea that the Apostle Paul
was in fact an innovator. Citing Acts 22:1-6 and 6-16, Rynkiewich states,
It is not an initial experience of faith, and not exactly a change from one faith to
another faith. Paul was involved in innovation. Note that he was not immediately
accepted, nor did he immediately fit in. All of his life he had to struggle both
against the Jews and the Christians to get his innovations accepted.
His conversion experience introduced a new set of data and demanded a
recombination of elements and relationships. He made a conscious decision that
changed his life, from a particularized Jewish faith to a more universal Jewish-
Christian faith.
188
Twiss argues that the innovations he participated in were “New, not in the sense
of never heard of before, but new as being considered an appropriate cultural expression
of biblical faith.”
189
Through adapting Rynkiewich’s words, it is clear that the leaders in
NAIITS are also innovators, not responding to the Jewish faith, but to the deeply
enculturated Westernized gospel.
187
Justo L. González, Mañana: Christian Theology from a Hispanic Perspective (Nashville, TN:
Abingdon, 1990), 49.
188
Rynkiewich, Class Notes for MB700 Introduction to Anthropology, Fall semester, 2007.
189
Twiss, “Native-led Contextualization,” 197.
212
It is not an initial experience of faith, and not exactly a change from one faith to
another faith. NAIITS people are involved in innovation. They did not
immediately accept contextualization, nor did they immediately fit in. All of this
life they have had to struggle both against Indigenous Christians and non-
Indigenous Christians to get their innovations accepted.
Their conversion to the possibilities of contextualization introduced a new
set of data and demanded a recombination of elements and relationships. They
have made a conscious decision that changed their lives, from a particularized
Euro-Christian faith to a more universal Christian faith.
190
Conclusion
The founders of ROCM organizations have learned hard lessons from systems
which excluded. WCGIP, Wiconi International, and NAIITS have been intentionally
inclusive and thus have functioned as points for reconciliation, developing small and
large circles of relationships across ethnicities. Mark Buchanan, a non-Indigenous
scholar, challenges churches and fellow believers to consider how they may respond to
the TRC call for reconciliation. “‘Jesus, tell my white brother to divide the inheritance
with me.’ … [T]hat’s not quite what First Nations people, at least the ones I talk with
and listen to, are asking. … Almost every First Nations person I know wants something
else, something deeper. ‘Jesus, tell my white brother to reconcile with me.’”
191
The ROCM is an example of Indigenous agency exercised for the good of both
the Indigenous and non-Indigenous follower of Jesus. IFJ are frequently asked, “Is there
still a role for White church leaders, denominations, and missionaries in ministry to First
Peoples?” My response is affirmative, assuming those who minister do so alongside and
are submissive to First Peoples (not over) while respecting the culture with its lines of
authority—and they do not hinder the power of the gospel to transform.
190
Rynkiewich, Class Notes for MB700 Introduction to Anthropology, Fall semester, 2007.
191
Mark Buchanan, “Let the Sermon be Interrupted,” in Faith Today, January/February (2018), 31.
213
Is the reclamation of culture which is incorporated into an Indigenous Jesus-
follower’s life to be considered an innovation? I began this study with the presupposition
that reclamation of culture is in itself an innovation, and I sought to trace its diffusion.
Bronwyn Elsmore would argue, no it is not. In her analysis of the Māhori Kohiti faith and
its founder, she writes “[t]hat Matenga was not an innovator can be seen from the
doctrine and concepts of the religion. Few new elements were introduced as most of the
beliefs and practices had their basis in either the Maori system or the Old Testament
scriptures.”
192
Following her lead, I would argue that reclamation itself may not be an
innovation; reclamation by any of its synonymous terms, has frequently risen as a form of
resistance with varying degrees and measures of success. Yet, reclamation of culture
combined with self-theologizing at Indigenous-led conferences and formal partnership
agreements (treaties) for post-secondary education is indeed something new. The intent
of indigenizing the academy is a whole new initiative. I end this section with enhanced
clarity that NAIITS meets the definition of an innovation. Michael Rynkiewich wrote,
“we have organizations, we have people doing theology, we have theologians, and we
have Native Americans. But, we have never had Native American theologians organized
into a seminar for doing on-going theology. So, it is an Innovation.”
193
Furthermore, we
have never had IFJ in partnerships where they use the “bricks and mortar” of accredited
institutions to create curriculum and programs, determine delivery systems, and appoint
faculty while insisting NAIITS retains ultimate control. Is this something more? An
192
Elsmore, Te Kohititanga Marama, 91.
193
Michael Rynkiewich, e-mail correspondence, May 22, 2016.
214
invention? Definitions of invention extend to new processes. NAIITS is certainly a new
process.
194
In Chapter Five, the analysis of ROCM seeks to discern a tipping point towards
contextualization without the ever-present fear-based charge of syncretism. This is not an
easy task. In contemplating the U.S. situation, Richard Twiss realized its complexity:
So then I would question whether or not [a] critical mass has been reached for the
whole of the native Christian world community, or whether it is a primarily urban
Indian phenomenon or if critical mass can be reached in one community and not
another. It is possible there needs to be two critical masses or perhaps as many as
there are communities. One for the reservation and one for the urban context and
then one for the Apache, Navajo, Lakota, Hopi, etc. However, because the native
Christian community is so small there is always interaction between people living
on the reservation and those in the cities. … Neither location exists in isolation
from the other.
195
My remaining task is twofold: to explore the extent of the ROCM at the local
level of Winnipeg and to trace the influence of NAIITS there. Interviews and
participation observations will inform the research in the next chapter.
In the concluding chapter to his doctoral dissertation, Richard Twiss expressed his
coming-to-terms struggle with IFJ opposition rejecting contextualization in favor of
westernized worship songs and forms.
Yet, this has to be okay for me at some level, if I am going to love my neighbor
and not be perpetually disappointed or judgmental of their experience. There are
untold numbers of Native people in those churches who would testify how Jesus
genuinely saved them from enslavement to alcohol, violence, and drug abuse and
has set them free to be a better human being. That being said, it is a view of
Christianity that is waning, but will nonetheless still outlive me. The hope for this
194
Definitions: 1. “something that has never been made before, or the process of creating something that
has never been made before,” in “Invention,” Cambridge Dictionary, online, accessed Feb. 27, 2018,
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/invention. 2. “a device, contrivance, or process
originated after study and experiment,” in “Definition of invention,” Merriam-Webster, online,
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/invention.
195
Twiss, “Native-led Contextualization,” 222. See also pp. 224f for Twiss’s discussion of a 1970s-1980s
attempt at contextualization.
215
project is that it will encourage and empower the next generation(s) of native
followers of Jesus who are growing disillusioned with that old wineskin.
196
This is my hope also. But, I would expand on that hope. I hope those described in
the above quotation will be equally generous with those who find that Westernized
Christianity creates a void in their soul that the ROCM helps to fill;
Around the globe Christians from every quarter are learning to read the gospel
from and to their own communities. … As the Peruvian theologian Samuel
Escobar said, "All theology is contextual.” Church historian and theologian Justo
González adds that new and deeper understandings of the faith are emerging from
these communities who are now “self-theologizing.” Theologian Lamin Sanneh
argues that the translation of Scripture into the varied languages of humanity
implies the translatability of the faith into the varied cultures of the world. For
Christians there is no one culture “to rule them all.” Missiologist Andrew Walls
regards this global movement of self-theologizing as nothing less than a New
Reformation. NAIITS: An Indigenous Learning Community[/Une Communauté
Autochtone D’apprentissage] is a participant of this new global work of God. For
centuries Indigenous peoples had been told that in order to be faithful followers of
Christ they must succumb to the dictates of Western culture. NAIITS is writing
back to this engrained perspective by affirming that Indigenous Christians can and
should contextualize the gospel into their own communities, remaining faithful to
Scripture and relevant to their peoples. In doing this, the NAIITS community
offers faithful and fresh insights of the gospel for Native peoples but also presents
these as a gift for the whole church. They, as churches through history and around
the globe, are making substantive contributions to a truly catholic (universal)
theology. We understand Creator’s person and work more profoundly because of
their theological labors.
197
196
Ibid., 230. In fact, Twiss struggled with the word “contextualization.” “Over the past twenty years as I
have read about, observed, taught, practiced and now researched contextualization as a missiological
innovation, I am compelled to use the term less and less to describe what we are doing because it does not
adequately capture for me a cultural sense of gospel-telling that must occur for the story of Jesus to take
root in soil and soul of our indigenous people.” Ibid., 234. See also Twiss, Rescuing the Gospel from the
Cowboys, 216.
197
Gene Green, e-mail correspondence, February 25, 2018. Gene Green has resigned from Wheaton to join
the NAIITS team as of summer 2018. I asked him to write a paragraph reflecting on NAIITS.
216
CHAPTER FIVE
IMPERIALISM TO INDIGENEITY: IMPACT OF THE RECLAMATION
OF CULTURE MOVEMENT ON LOCAL LEVEL
To be able to share, to have something worth sharing, gives dignity to the giver.
To accept a gift and to reciprocate gives dignity to the receiver. To create
something new through the process of sharing is to recreate the old, to reconnect
relationships and to recreate humanness. −Linda Tuhiwai Smith
Innovators and change agents in the Reclamation of Culture Movement [ROCM]
offer each other strategies, insights, methodologies, epistemologies, theologies, and
literature. They share resources including financial, host one another, and issue
invitations to speak or teach in anticipation of effecting change in their local
communities−thus, diffusion follows. While it has been demonstrated why and how
Indigenous peoples have found ways to connect and create a global community “based on
commonality of lived experiences,”
1
it needs now to be shown how the local Winnipeg
community of Indigenous followers of Jesus [IFJ] is adopting or rejecting the ROCM.
The previous chapter establishes that it is not until the mid-1990s that IFJ have networked
consistently while intentionally engaging in self-theologizing. NAIITS leaders have
exercised influence on the city in a number of ways: 1). Those who have lived in or near
the city are: Terry LeBlanc (now P.E.I.), Ray Aldred (now B.C.), Cornelius Buller,
Adrian Jacobs (now rural MB), Shari Russell (now ON), and Wendy Peterson; 2). Others
who have accepted invitations to speak and/or teach are: Cheryl Bear, Richard Twiss, and
Casey Church; 3). Those who have organized conferences and events are: Terry LeBlanc,
1
Andy Ponce, Personal communication, Dec. 10, 2016.
217
Ray Aldred, Cornelius Buller, Adrian Jacobs, and Wendy Peterson. Those who now live
out of province are still receiving speaking and teaching invitations in the city.
In order to assess the impact of the ROCM and NAIITS in Winnipeg, this chapter
will present a short study of Winnipeg followed by information gleaned from five leaders
in the community and will then introduce a conference initiated in 2017. The intent is to
answer the primary question in this study: Has the contemporary reclamation of culture
movement by Indigenous followers of Jesus positioned Indigenous peoples to do self-
theologizing at the local level in Canada?
An Anthropological View of Winnipeg
Who am I in the middle of this city? My world has changed, but the things that
anchor my identity are sometimes the small and mundane things, almost
throwaway things that hardly even make it into the anthropology books. … Can I
be an Indian anymore, or is that something I can throw away? −Ray Aldred
2
The city of Winnipeg hangs on the edge of the Canadian Prairies just a few miles
west of the longitudinal center of Canada, and 108 kilometers (70 miles) from the U.S.
border. It is considered one of the coldest cities in the world. The Trans Canada Highway
connects the city to both Atlantic and Pacific oceans, passing along Portage Avenue,
Winnipeg’s most famous street. It stretches 85 kilometers (53 miles) from the Forks
Market, downtown Winnipeg, all the way to Portage La Prairie, following a centuries old
trade route. The historic intersection of Portage and Main originates from when Winnipeg
served as the railroad hub and financial center of western Canada. The international film
industry utilizes the historic sites from that era. The 1920 “Manitoba Legislative Building
2
Raymond C. Aldred, “Freedom,” in Bruce Ellis Benson, Malinda Elizabeth Berry, and Peter Goodwin
Heltzel, eds., Prophetic Evangelicals: Envisioning a Just and Peaceable Kingdom, Prophetic Christianity
(Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2012), 150-167, 151f. Personal copy of article
received from Aldred, Feb. 15, 2018.
218
is the undisputed architectural gem of Canada.”
3
In 2008, the distinctive architecture of
the Canadian Museum for Human Rights was added to the city’s skyline creating
numerous controversies over design and content, especially the limited space given to
Indigenous history.
4
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission [TRC] archives are
housed at the University of Manitoba. This adds to Winnipeg’s reputation as “the cultural
cradle of Canada.”
5
Culture, as it applies to the music scene, provides unique
opportunities for Indigenous musicians.
6
Winnipeg also has an excellent water delivery system which provides an
inexpensive and unlimited supply. An aqueduct built in 1914 delivers the water from
Shoal Lake. However, it required expropriating First Nations land, dispossessing and
displacing the people so that some are living on an island with no connection to the
mainland and with a contaminated water supply. They are reduced to importing bottled
water and living with a boil-water-advisory. Steve Bell and Steve Heinrichs, both non-
Indigenous followers of Jesus and allies of NAIITS, along with others, championed the
Shoal Lake 40 situation. The federal and provincial governments eventually agreed in
3
The quotation continues, “Yet few people know of its occult secrets,” Carolin Vesley and Buzz Curie, The
Hermetic Code: Unlocking One of Manitoba’s Greatest Secrets (Winnipeg, MB: Winnipeg Free Press,
2007), promotion quotation. “The Hermetic Code by the Winnipeg Free Press, Are You Game?” accessed
Dec. 19, 2018, http://www.mcnallyrobinson.com/articleshome/48/newsletter? page=40.
4
Vicky Gan, “What’s the Conflict over the Museum of Conflict?” Smithsonian,com, accessed Feb. 15,
2018, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/whats-conflict-over-museum-conflict-180948009/. This ia a
controversy which places it in good company with the Eiffel Tower. See Jill Jonnes, Eiffel’s Tower: The
Thrilling Story behind Paris’s Beloved Monument and the Extraordinary World’s Fair that Introduced It
(New York, NY: Viking, 2009), a book I happened to be reading at the time of the controversy.
5
“Arts & Culture–Spring/Summer,” Winnipeg, accessed Feb. 15, 2018, https://www.tourismwinnipeg.
com/plan/itineraries/display,itinerary/24/arts-culture-spring-summer.
6
Disclosure: I serve in a newly created advisory capacity to musician Don Amero, Metis.
219
2016 to construct Freedom Road.
7
It is under construction. I include this story to illustrate
the challenge for Indigenous concerns to capture the attention of the non-Indigenous
population.
Following Canadian Confederation in 1867, 19 percent of the population lived in
towns of 1,000 plus or in cities. By 2016, societal shifts flipped the statistics to 19 percent
rural and 81percent urban.
8
The City of Winnipeg is on Treaty One land and is the home
of the Métis Nation (Red River Métis). This is land that the British arbitrarily took
control of, gave to the Hudson’s Bay Company, and bought back for the new country of
Canada. Once entirely populated by Indigenous and then joined by mostly Métis people,
together they are now a much smaller minority. The 2016 Census calculated a total city
population of 778,489 (over 50,000 immigrants were added from 2011-2016). Filipinos
are the highest percentage of immigrants at 8.7 percent. The city has an Indigenous
population of 11.7 percent including the highest percentage of “registered Indians” of any
city (3.6 percent); there are more Métis than First Nations.
9
Only 3,660 speak an
Aboriginal language–mainly various Cree and Ojibway-Potawatomi languages, while a
7
For example, “The price of Water: Shoal Lake 40,” The Council of Canadians, accessed Mar. 3, 2018,
https://canadians.org/blog/price-water-shoal-lake-40. Steve Bell, “Road to Reconciliation: Shoal Lake 40
First Nation (Jul. 2, 2015), accessed Mar. 3, 2017, https://stevebell.com/road-to-reconciliation-shoal-lake-
40-first-nation/.
8
Statistics Canada, 2017, Winnipeg, CY [Census subdivision], Manitoba and Canada (table), Census
Profile, 2016 Census, Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 98-316-X2016001; released Nov. 29, 2017, accessed
Feb. 15, 2018, http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/ dp-pd/prof/index. cfm?Lang=E.
9
First Nations (American Indian) are 43,005 while Metis are over 47,085 by Ethnic origin. Note: people
who self-identify as Metis do not necessarily understand what the word means. This is especially true of the
urban Indigenous population since they are “non-registered Indians,” or non-status, because of government
policies; therefore, there is a confusion of identity. Statistics Canada does not delineate who has one or two
parents or one great grandparent who is “Native” and those who are legally Red River Métis. Thus, there
are “pigmentally-challenged” full status and yet dark skinned non-status Metis.
220
mere 25 Métis speak Michif.
10
Many First Nations people have connections with their
traditional band or reserve; most have lost “status” (treaty rights).
In the early years of the city, Settlers were primarily White Europeans. The Louis
Riel Rebellion/Resistance provided justification to push Indians and Métis out of the city.
Indigenous peoples were barely tolerated.
11
In spite of Winnipeg being the only Canadian
city on National Geographic’s Best Trip 2016 list,
12
Indigenous people have not fared
well. Their legacy is the marginalization the previous chapters have presented. Maclean’s
magazine published an article in 2015 entitled “Canada’s Race Problem? It’s Even Worse
than America’s.”
13
A few days earlier it named Winnipeg as the most racist city in
Canada.
14
Indigenous women and girls too frequently “go missing” and are assumed to
be involved with the sex trade, receiving a lower profile from law enforcement than other
women when missing and/or murdered. Two recent changes that are helping to mitigate
10
Michif is a mixture of Algonquin and French. See Census Profile, 2016; Statistics Canada, Government
of Canada, Aboriginal Fact Sheet for Manitoba, accessed Feb. 14, 2018, http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/89-
656-x/89-656-x2016008-eng.htm. A 1898 book stated “The prairie tribes are the Goths and Huns of the
New World.” John McLean, The Indians of Canada: Their Manners and Customs (London: Charles H.
Kelly, 1892), 312, in the Forgotten Books’ Classic Reprint Series. See chapter, “Christianity and the Red
Race.” In the next chapter, see subtitles: Do Indian Missions Pay? and The Red Aliens.
11
“The little-known legacy of Rooster Town—a long-since displaced community of shanties bulldozed to
make way for Grant Park Shopping Mall in the late 1950s –remains ingrained in the city’s character. …
Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman, on the anniversary of a Maclean’s magazine article declaring Winnipeg
the most racist city in Canada –held a public forum to pledge aboriginal accord. This would be the year of
reconciliation, he said. Bowman, it should be noted, is the first mayor of Métis heritage in the city’s history.
This is not of little significance, given the fractious and often violent relationship between Métis and
European settlers dating back to the deadly conflict of the Riel Rebellion that began in 1869, and has
permeated the city’s psyche for generations hence.” Randy Turner, “The Outsiders: The Story of Rooster
Town,” Winnipeg Free Press (01/29/2016, modified 01/31/2016), accessed Feb. 15, 2018,
https://www.winnipegreepress.com/local/The-outsiders-366764871.html.
12
“Winnipeg makes National Geographic's list of best trips on earth 2016,” (Nov. 19, 2015), CBC News,
Manitoba, accessed Feb. 14, 2018, http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/winnipeg-makes-national-
geographic-s-list-of-best-trips-on-earth-2016-1.3326474.
13
Scott Gilmore, “Canada’s Race Problem? It’s Even Worse than America’s,” Maclean’s (Jan. 25, 2015),
accessed Feb. 2018, http://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/out-of-sight-out-of-mind-2/.
14
Nancy Macdonald, “‘Welcome to Winnipeg’ Where Canada’s Racism Problem is at its Worst,”
Maclean’s (Jan. 22, 2015), accessed Feb. 15, 2018, http://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/ welcome-to-
winnipeg-where-canadas-racism-problem-is-at-its-worst/.
221
this, in addition to local embarrassment over the Maclean’s articles, are the formation of
the Bear Clan Patrol
15
and the public outcry over the murder of fifteen year old Tina
Fontaine.
16
The Bear Clan has gained admiration in part because they participate in
searches for non-Indigenous missing persons.
Another consideration is the extremely high rate of Indigenous children in the
foster care system (over 10,000 children or 5.7 percent of Indigenous population of
Manitoba; cf. 0.3 percent of non-Indigenous population).
17
To outsiders, the North End is
best known for the crime rate. The reality of communities in crisis often leads to a higher
rate of consumption of alcohol and drugs. On a related issue, two young innovative
Winnipeg brothers created the first Indigenous gang in the country (1978-’79): the
notorious Indian Posse, which spread nationally. They were 12 and 13 years of age.
18
The National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls
[MMIWG] is a formal inquiry−a potential change point. It is the Liberal government’s
response (in 2016) to a long-standing request for an inquiry into the high rate of
Indigenous women missing and/or murdered. The rate of young Indigenous girls and
women being murdered has risen—“(9 percent) of all female homicide victims in 1980 to
15
See Bear Clan Patrol Inc., accessed Feb. 15, 2018, https://www.bearclanpatrolinc.com/.
16
Cameron MacLean, “Police, hospital, child welfare workers all saw Tina Fontaine in 12 hours before
disappearance,” CBC News, Manitoba; accessed Feb. 10, 2018; http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba
/tina-fontaine-last-day-timeline-1.4529490. Update: Tina’s alleged murderer, a much older White man who
admitted to sexual relations with the 15-year old, was declared not guilty in Feb. 2018. Hundreds of people
are protesting across the country as I write this section.
17
Pamela Palmater, “Foster Care System One of the Paths to Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women,”
CBC News (Feb. 27, 2018), accessed Mar. 1, 2018. http://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/opinion-foster-
care-system-path-to-mmiwg-1.4552407. See also “Aboriginal Peoples: Fact Sheet for Manitoba,” Statistics
Canada, Government of Canada, accessed Feb. 15, 2018, http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/89-656-x /89-656-
x2016008-eng.htm.
18
Joe Friesen, The Ballad of Danny Wolfe: Life of a Modern Outlaw (Toronto, ON: Signal, McClelland &
Stewart, 2008).
222
one-quarter (24 percent) in 2015.”
19
Indigenous women and girls in U.S. are not any safer
as “on some reservations [2011], Native women are murdered at more than 10 times the
national average.”
20
Tina Fontaine may, in death, serve as a change agent in that
government agencies have played pivotal roles in her vulnerability to be murdered.
The world has come to the little city of Winnipeg. It has come in its migrating
peoples who hope for a fresh start in the North End. They join increasing numbers of
First Nations from the north even as foreign nations buy “rights” to the land and waters,
and other water systems are polluted from the extraction of resources. It has been said
correctly, “only people with the capital resources to own fishing gear get to fish in other
folk’s ponds.”
21
In response to the inner city / North End poverty, others are drawn to the
core area—a variety of charitable initiatives and churches.
22
Few have Indigenous staff;
fewer have Indigenous leaders, but this is very slowly improving.
The North End is located near the convergence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers,
within the Downtown district adjacent to Inkster—the district where Pastor A’s church is
located. (See map below.)
19
“Study: Women in Canada: Women and the Criminal Justice System,” Statistics Canada, (2017-06-06),
accessed Dec. 7, 2017, http://www.statcan.gc.ca/dailyquotidien/170606/dq170606a-eng.htm.
20
Mary Annette Pember, “Missing and Murdered: No One Knows How Many Native Women Have
Disappeared,” Indian Country Today, accessed Dec. 7, 2017, https://indiancountrymedianetwork. com/
news/native-news/missing-and-murdered-no-one-knows-how-many-native-women-have-disappeared/.
21
Brian J Walsh and Sylvia C. Keesmaat, Colossians Remixed: Subverting the Empire (Downers Grove:
InterVarsity Press, 2004), 28.
22
E.g., North End Family Centre, Inner City Youth Alive, Indigenous Family Centre, Union Gospel
Mission, Siloam Mission, Winnipeg Harvest, Salvation Army, North End Stella Mission, Lighthouse
Mission, and Teen Challenge. Churches in the area include Vineyard Church, Bethlehem Aboriginal
Fellowship, Turtle Island Community Church, First Nations Family Worship Center, and Calvary Temple.
223
- N-
Figure 5.1. Map of central Winnipeg city districts.
23
I have selected five people to interview including Pastor A (who serves as
Interview E) with the goal of assessing diffusion of ROCM through NAIITS. I emailed
survey forms (see Appendix 8), conducted phone interviews, and sought clarification
when required. Websites and literature provided additional biographical information.
These five are individuals who impact the inner city of Winnipeg. The results of my
interviews are braided into their stories as in the following table:
23
Map created by Matt LeBlanc.
224
Table 5.1. Individuals in Chapter Five
ELEMENT
and
CHAPTER
TRIAD III
Winnipeg
INTERVIEWEES
MINISTRY or OCCUPATION
of
INTERVIEWEES
TRIAD III
Winnipeg
INDIVIDUAL 5
INTERVIEW A
Diffusion Test
CHAPTER 5
KENT DUECK
Non-Indigenous
Permission to quote
Executive Director
Inner City Youth Alive
INTERVIEW B
Diffusion Test
CHAPTER 5
MIRIAM
Oji-Cree
Permission to quote
Withhold surname
INTERVIEW C
Diffusion Test
CHAPTER 5
ANDY WOOD
Non-Indigenous
Permission to quote
Senior Pastor
Vineyard Fellowship
INTERVIEW D
Diffusion Test
CHAPTER 5
KYLE MASON
Indigenous
Founder
North End Family Centre
INTERVIEW E
Diffusion Test
CHAPTER 5
PASTOR A
Permission to name
Permission to quote
• Pastor, Christian & Missionary
Alliance
• Director of First Nations Alliance
Churches of Canada
•Lead Vocals, Rising Above Band
PASTOR A
HOWARD JOLLY
James Bay Cree
Diffusion Gleaned through Research at the Local Level
Interview A: Kent Dueck, Non-Indigenous
24
Kent Dueck is a co-founder of Inner City Youth Alive [ICYA], a ministry in the
heart of the inner-city/North End. I first met Kent at Providence College when I was
giving a presentation around 1993. He and Mark Friesen had launched ICYA in 1986,
serving as volunteers for the first period, with Kent assigned the role of Executive
Director. Their original mission statement was brief and to the point: “Do Stuff.” And
24
Disclosure: Kent invited me to join the ICYA board. I am honoured to join as of Sept. 2018.
225
stuff they did, including reviving their statemen; “To bring hope and a future through
Christ to youth and their families in the inner city.” This they are doing along with the
stuff, impacting thousands of lives.
Kent and Mark and those they pulled into their circle of influence purchased a
building seven years after founding the ministry. In time, they opened a drop-in facility,
developed programs for building work skills including repairing and racing bicycles and
cars, established a fellowship night, and met community needs in a multiplicity of ways.
An Alliance church gifted them with a wilderness camp. An expansion to the building
allowed for the development of a school in partnership with an Anglican church in 2004.
Four years later, an arsonist caused the loss of one third of the building.
25
Rebuilding the
structure and creating new programs followed. In 2006, they launched their Community
Ministry Initiative that has now grown from one person to five. The leaders and staff of
ICYA are intimately involved in human tragedies—gang related drama, murders,
suicides, threats, drug overdoses, people hospitalized by violence, and in conducting
funerals. They are also deeply involved in giving and receiving hope—new births,
marriages, community pastoring, innovating programs that change lives, and friendships
outside the norm of Christian church experience. Many of the leaders and staff live in the
community; they are there to deal with “the sadness of lateral violence”
26
created by
Canada’s version of colonization. Increasingly staff and leaders are drawn from the
community, increasingly intentionally choosing Indigenous members, beneficiaries of
25
NewsFlash, A Newsletter of Inner City Youth Alive, Summer (2016).
26
Kent Dueck, NewsFlash, A Newsletter of Inner City Youth Alive, Summer (2016). This issue has a
particularly poignant and vulnerable article by Kent where he shares his struggle with understanding how
Indigenous people arrived at such a marginalized state. “If there is some specific evil genius who single
handedly designed the situation and could be blamed for the whole mess it would make sense…you could
hardly have designed a plan that would have been more effective at destroying a people group.”
226
ICYA programs. In 2014, Kent wrote the story of his reconnection with a man who
answers to the name Porkchop. He recalls the events the man participated in as a youth at
ICYA, and the providential re-connection when Porkchop visited to thank him: “Kent, if
it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be breathing.”
27
The newsletters distributed by ICYA include lead articles by Kent. They reveal a
man with a pastoral heart, a deep love and growing understanding for the Indigenous
community he serves, and a social activist on issues that will improve the life of inner-
city residents. In 2016, Kent’s team added the Indigenous Leadership Initiative to their
already full slate of programs. The intent is to support and develop local Indigenous
leaders in Winnipeg. It commenced with hiring four leaders. “It is amazing to see the
children and youth look up to these leaders and connect on an inspirational level.”
28
Inner City Youth Alive is the major sponsor, along with Indigenous Pathways, of
a new initiative, Ma’wa’chi’hi’to’tan Journeying in a Good Way [JGW] Conference.
Kent serves on the committee, as do I. It is chaired by an ICYA community minister.
In response to the formal interview (see Appendix 8 for sample form), Kent
indicated he has attended two NAIITS related events. He names Terry Leblanc (from
whom he took a course in 2013), Wendy Peterson, and Ray Aldred as being the most
influential in the area of practising (participating in) contextualized traditions/ceremonies.
There are some ceremonies he considers incompatible with following Jesus. In a follow-
up telephone conversation,
29
I asked Kent, How has NAIITS impacted your ministry? He
responded that ICYA is “taking our lead from NAIITS.” They are using the Journal
27
Kent Dueck, “Porkchop,” NewsFlash, Newsletter of Inner City Youth Alive, Summer (2014).
28
Indigenous Leadership Initiative,” The Urban Edge, A Newsletter of Inner City Youth Alive, Winter
(2017).
29
Kent Dueck, telephone conversation, Mar. 1, 2018.
227
articles, and the writings of Richard Twiss, Terry LeBlanc, and Ray Aldred. These
writings “have become a part of our circle discussions in setting our directions,” Kent
replied. He seemed surprised when I asked what he saw as a weakness in NAIITS. He
responded with some hesitation, “I don’t understand why NAIITS wiggles on some
questions.” Two examples of us doing just that immediately came to mind, which Kent
affirmed: direct questions requesting us to name specific ceremonies that people should
not participate in; and, a question related to spiritual warfare and/or demonic possession
that had been raised at a conference the previous year.
30
Interview B: Miriam, Indigenous
Miriam is from a northern First Nation in Ontario—a fly-in community. Her
position is Co-ordinator of the Indigenous Neighbours Program for Mennonite Church of
Canada [MCC]. She resides in downtown Winnipeg. She requested I withhold her
surname and community name, but granted permission to use other identifying
information. Recently, Miriam posted a Word Press blog sharing her grief and anguish
over the murder and “not guilty” decision in Tina Fontaine’s court case,
31
noting the
parallels in her and Tina’s lives. Both are from remote reserves. Both ended up in urban
areas separated from family at 15 years of age. Miriam was sent away as the only
recourse for continuing her education. “I could be Tina. As a young Indigenous woman in
Canadian society, I quickly learned my worth is devalued and my voice is suppressed,”
30
From my perspective, I hesitate to fall into supplying a list of “Do’s and Don’ts” that short-circuits
someone else’s struggle with these issues. Also, I have experienced non-Indigenous people jump to the
conclusion of “demonic possession” with an Indigenous child, where the same situation with a non-
Indigenous child would be written off as the child being over-tired.
31
Miriam, “We are Still Here,” MCC Ottawa Office Notebook, accessed Feb. 28, 2018,
mccottawaoffice.wordpress.com.
228
she writes. “Colonization is costing the lives of Indigenous peoples, my community and
my people. What price must we pay? What price must young Indigenous women pay?”
I first met Miriam when she attended Providence College, an Evangelical
institution, in 2002. She audited a course I taught on Indigenous issues. She and sixteen
other northern Indigenous students attended at the same time. This remains the largest
number of Indigenous students at one time at Providence. I invited them to form a casual
group for mutual support. We held a student chapel (with Terry LeBlanc as guest
speaker); we invited Manitoba Lieutenant Governor Dumont, Métis (the first and only
Indigenous person to hold the office) to campus; and he invited us to Government
house—both events conformed with royal protocol, except he also took us into his living
quarters. Miriam and I, and many of the others, have remained steadfast friends.
I introduced Miriam to Terry LeBlanc and invited her to NAIITS events where
she met Richard Twiss and others who made her feel welcome. She has attended two
symposiums and two other NAIITS related events. Since she left Providence, she has
been involved in her own journey of healing her identity and participating in ceremonies;
she does not identify as a follower of Jesus. There was some reluctance in speaking about
her beliefs in detail. Miriam’s community retains traditions such as Sundance,
32
sweat
lodge, and shaking tent. Miriam attributes the Sundance community as the most
32
Inquiries as to explanations and purposes of Indigenous ceremonies are met with a variety of responses,
depending on the person you ask and the tradition he or she comes from, and their bias for or against the
practise. All ceremonies are considered sacred. In general terms: Sundance ceremonies stretch from the
U.S. northern Plains to northern Quebec (but may not be limited to them). One man calls it “the ceremony
of ceremonies.” It is a man offering his body to Creator through piercing the skin of his chest, drawing
leather straps or thongs through, being attached to a center pole and dancing until they rip out--the ultimate
prayer dance. See one example at Jennifer Ashawasegai, “Sundance is the ceremony of ceremonies,”
Windspeaker, 30, no, 6 (September, 2012), 18, accessed Mar. 3, 2018, http://www.ammsa.com/publications
/ windspeaker /sundance-ceremony-ceremonies. See also “The Sundance Ceremony, Part 1,” aptn National
News (Aug. 14, 2013), accessed Mar. 3, 2018; http://aptnnews.ca/2013/08/14/the-sun-dance-ceremony/.
The comments on this 2013 site are revealing regarding the strong feelings people have about non-
Indigenous exploitation of their ceremonies.
229
influential on her beliefs. She self-identifies as Oji-Cree and “spiritual” with an emphasis
on the land. In a telephone interview she spoke about her understanding of being
Indigenous. She compared it to being a follower of Jesus. “[It is] more like understanding
Indigenous people as being people of the land and caretakers to protect the
environment—to be able to stand up for justice [for the earth] and understand earth takes
care of us too.”
33
When I inquired about influences on the way she worships, she
responded, “meeting different people along the way who helped me understand
traditional practises—not worshipping the land, but being a conduit for healing the land
and the people around us.” How has NAIITS impacted her life? She stated, “It has
definitely helped me shift my understanding of Christianity through an Indigenous lens—
helping me deconstruct some of the Christian teachings—seeing them in light of my own
culture. And in building relationships; and in being able to have difficult conversations in
a safe place.” My final question was: What do you see as weaknesses of NAIITS? Her
immediate response was that NAIITS needs to be more open to LBGT issues, since there
are “definitely Native Christians who identify as queer.” She also felt NAIITS needs to be
more open to Sundance, shaking tent, and sweat lodge. (We had a sweat lodge on the
shore of the Sea of Galilee at the WCGIP in Israel and at the Powwow at a Salvation
Army camp in Alberta, 2017. I am not aware of anyone in NAIITS whose traditions
include the shaking tent.
34
) We have never had a sweat lodge at a NAIITS event largely
due to time factors.
33
Miriam, telephone conversation, Mar. 1, 2018.
34
There are a number of online sites that give different versions of the shaking tent, which seems to be the
northern Ojibway, Cree, Innu and others. An anthropological view is at “Shaking Tent,” Historic Canada,
Canadian Encyclopedia, accessed Mar. 3, 2018, http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/shaking-
tent/.
230
Miriam recently went to the Philippines (Fall 2017) for iEmergence events led by
Matt LeBlanc and Terry. From this I am left to believe she is comfortable with our faith
in Jesus, and/or our relationships which override her hesitancy.
Miriam ended her Word Press blog with these thoughts: “We attend universities,
drink our cappuccinos like you and go to ceremonies. We work constantly to make our
daily lives better. We are resilient. We are the people our ancestors prayed and hoped for
[in] the future. We are still here.”
Interview C: Andy Wood, Metis and Canadian
Andy Wood is part of the Pastoral Executive of the Winnipeg Center Vineyard
Christian Fellowship [Vineyard Fellowship] in the North End. He has been a pastor and
leader for over twenty years. Vineyard Fellowship is more than a typical church. The
older renovated commercial building contains a number of ministries in addition to space
for a sanctuary: a communal living space called Flatlanders Inn, the Flatlanders Studio
(“a creative space used for making, practising, and performing art”
35
), drop-in facilities,
and a School of Justice (a seven month long program). The 2017 JGW Conference used
the facilities and Andy served on the planning committee and as host.
Andy identifies as “Metis-Canadian,” but indicated his group had adopted the
ways of Western Christianity. He has attended ten NAIITS related events and names both
Terry and Richard as persons who influenced him in the area of practising contextualized
traditions/ceremonies in the past eighteen years and served with me on the JGW
initiatives. On the interview form, he wrote:
35
Flatlanders Studio, Winnipeg Centre Vineyard, accessed Mar. 1, 2018, https://winnipegcentre
vineyard.com/flatlanders-studio/.
231
My discovery is currently unfolding. I did not grow up with the experience of
being indigenous; however I did grow up with stories of indigenous ancestors.
There was shame associated with that side of my family, so the Scottish heritage
was more fully acknowledged until my Grandfather came around. My
Grandmother was mocked because she was “Marrying an Indian.”
36
My mother
carried this but she still told the stories. I started to explore more fully a number of
years ago. I’m still finding my way. It’s an important part of who I am, but it’s not
the only part of who I am.
Interview D: Kyle Mason, Indigenous
Kyle Mason agreed to be interviewed to replace an individual who required
hospitalization.
37
Kyle is known as the founder and was the Executive Director of the
North End Family Center [NEFC], which opened its doors in 2009. Responding to a lack
of services in a certain section of the North End, a few blocks from where Kyle grew up,
“Kyle decided to meet with community members and leaders to determine what gaps in
service existed. As a result, programs were created to meet needs …, rather than
duplicating existing programs offered by other organizations and churches.”
38
The
Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada [PAOC] helped fulfill his vision with financial and
other assistance. Kyle explains his background which fed his concern for the area by
sending me an excerpt from his biography. "The son of two Indian Residential School
survivors, Kyle grew up in the North End of Winnipeg in a single parent family. Kyle's
family often struggled to make ends meet, at times struggled with secure housing, and
had to make use of food banks and other social programs. Determined to succeed in life,
Kyle avoided unhealthy life options, stayed in school, and earned a post-secondary
36
This is typical, unfortunately. Our family has a few of these stories. One of my aunts relates that our
family’s Roman Catholic priest, when she had catechism classes with him to convert and marry my uncle,
had said to her, "Why are you marrying an Indian, Jean? You can do better than the scum of the earth." Our
family had been RC for 3 generations at that time.
37
Anita Keith, who self-identifies as Mohawk/British, is an instructor in Indigenous Education at Red
River College. She submitted the interview form late so I have scanned it, but will not include here.
38
A write-up forwarded to me by Kyle Mason, e-mail correspondence, Mar. 2, 2018.
232
degree.”
39
In a telephone interview, Kyle explained that he had been raised in a United
Pentecostal Church, but was sent to the Zion Apostolic private school at the age of
twelve. Since he desired to attend the youth meetings at that church, he switched
denominations. He made another switch to the PAOC denomination at the age of 26
when he completed a B.BS. He was ordained through them. Each transition represented
“a slight move to the center.”
40
Kyle resigned from NEFC at the end of 2017. He
currently is the Director of Development for the Manitoba Lung Association with
responsibility for improving Indigenous relationships in light of the society having
operated notorious sanatoriums for Indigenous peoples inflicted with tuberculosis.
41
Kyle received his first introduction to NAIITS through our journals and the
writings of Richard Twiss via Cornelius Buller. He contacted Richard which led to
developing a digital relationship. In December 2012, Richard accepted Kyle’s invitation
to speak at the NEFC banquet. It would be the one time Kyle met Richard in person, and
the last time Richard came to Winnipeg.
As I had disclosed in Chapter 1, I served on the NEFC board of directors (as
treasurer) until the fall of 2017. The first time I entered the NEFC facilities, I was struck
by the fact that only the people were Indigenous (friends of the centre, as they are called,
rather than “clients,” include many non-Indigenous as well). Last year, Kyle replaced the
dated donated picture of an English countryside home and the “Home Sweet Home”
embroidery with framed prints of the Seven Sacred Teachings. He explains that at a time
when he was rethinking his theology NAIITS “showed me others who were well along
39
A write-up forwarded to me by Kyle Mason in email correspondence, Mar. 2, 2018.
40
Kyle Mason, telephone conversation, Mar. 2, 2018.
41
See Maureen K. Lux, Separate Beds: A History of Indian Hospitals in Canada, 1920s-1980s (Toronto,
ON: University of Toronto Press, 2016).
233
the path and [were] self-theologizing.” At this point, it has been a seven year journey,
especially for the “last four years as I have been speaking and facilitating.”
42
Kyle, his
wife (non-Indigenous), and son are looking for a new church home where they can
engage more fully as an Indigenous family. Kyle has served on the planning committee
for both JGW conferences.
Interview E: Howard Jolly, Indigenous, is Individual 5 - Pastor A
Howard Jolly, Cree, is best known as the lead vocals and guitarist in The Rising
Above Band which was formed in 2002. Howard’s birth occurred in Waskaganish,
northern Quebec, but he was raised in Moose Factory near James Bay, Ontario. He is
married to Karen, Métis, from northern Alberta. They live in a rural town in Manitoba.
Howard pastors at First Nations Community Church (Christian and Missionary Alliance)
in north-west Winnipeg (bordering the inner city, but connected to the Indigenous
population). He is also the Director of First Nations Alliance Churches of Canada. The
Rising Above conferences began as a 1992 First Nations initiative, now known as Rising
Above Abuse Counselling. They exist to offer “hope and healing from a biblical
perspective through teaching, counselling, music, support groups and resources.”
43
Karen
as well as Linda (Cree) and Rick Martin (non-Indigenous) are involved with the
conferences. The Martins are staff with My People ministry (Indigenous Pathways).
Howard and Karen volunteer in various inner city missions.
42
Kyle Mason, telephone conversation, Mar. 2, 2018.
43
Rising Above: “First Peoples, Helping First Peoples, Bringing God and Healing to Our Land,” accessed
Feb. 16, 2018, http://www.risingabove.ca/about_us/history. “The name Rising Above was chosen because
they believed that with God’s help First Nations people could rise above the hurt and pain to enjoy the
fullness of life intended by God. The motto, ‘First Peoples helping First Peoples’ conveyed the strong
unanimous resolve that First Nations people need to take the lead in providing help to those who are
suffering from the damaging effects of abuse and stopping the cycle of abuse … destroy[ing] our people.”
234
I first met Howard and Karen at Providence College in the same year I met
Miriam, 2002. Howard and Karen went on to complete master’s degrees from Providence
Theological Seminary, where I also taught. We are friends and have served together in
planning the JGW conferences. Howard attended part of the 2002 NAIITS Symposium in
Winnipeg. Until this point, I have identified Howard as Pastor A. Previously I described
my project to him and solicited his involvement. I chose not to identify him until he
granted permission to use his name after the interview, which he has now permitted.
I have attended Howard’s church, which is a 90 minute drive away, on numerous
occasions through the past two decades. First Nations Community Church [FNCC] is
located at 44 Tentler Street in the district of Inkster (see Figure 5.1). Tentler is a short J-
shaped street in a small residential area framed by four major thoroughfares hurrying
people elsewhere. Both Larry Wilson and Ray Aldred had filled the pastoral and
director’s role for the Indigenous churches prior to Howard.
44
I wrote an unpublished
paper called “What Constitutes a Healthy Aboriginal Church?” using Howard’s and
Karen’s church, as my focus in late 2009. My purpose was to assess the church’s health
and potential for growth for an Asbury Theological Seminary assignment by George
Hunter, III, on applying western principles of church growth. The church had been
founded in 1969 and moved into its present location in 1997. My earliest visits to the
church were likely around 2000 when Larry Wilson pastored. It is only in the past few
years that Indigenous posters and décor have been evident. I believe this is a result of
Howard and Karen growing into a healthier version of their Indigenous identity.
The selection of Howard as Individual 5, Pastor A, in the initial proposal for this
study, was based on his tentative position on cultural reclamation and contextualization at
44
Both men are Cree and are referenced previously in this chapter four.
235
that time. He first met Terry in 2003. The Indigenous students and I had planned a
student chapel. I had suggested Terry as speaker. Terry brought his drum and sang a
prayer song. I happened to be sitting behind Howard and Karen and was astonished to see
them visibly shake. In conversation later, I realized both of their Christian traditions had
taught them to fear the Native drum. Howard credits Ray Aldred as the most influential
person in helping him to think through reclamation and traditional practises. There are
some ceremonies such as the Sundance he would not participate in as piercing his body
“is not something I should be doing.”
45
He also named practices he doesn’t participate in
(shaking tent and smudging), “but I don’t see them as wrong, I am not comfortable [with
them] right now—they are not a part of my people’s culture.” He said he is not familiar
with the sweat lodge, but “it seems okay.” When I inquired about his style of worship, he
agreed his people had been assimilated into Western Christianity. “I have been
assimilated—feel kind’ of lost in it—I wonder why we don’t have any other musical
styles. [I am] saddened by that.” Howard’s community of Moose Factory “hosted” one of
the earliest Hudson Bay forts. Howard shared that he understood cultural biases, but “We
were considered inferior, heathen, and depraved. There was no understanding or wanting
to share wisdom. [It] has caused a real identity crisis and I grieve over that…. We seem to
believe the lie that everything about us needs to be redeemed or destroyed. .. We have
been ostracized; misunderstood, rejected…My own people think our culture is wrong too.
I connect the suicides to the breakdown of our people ….We have a long way to go. It
has been tough.” The Jollys and Martins are frequently called into communities in crisis.
Howard has been taking courageous steps to change his understanding—slowly. I
say courageous, because it may cause him to lose his place in his community. A few
45
Howard Jolly, telephone interview, Feb. 15, 2018.
236
years back, Howard dropped over one afternoon. He was excited about a new song he
was writing. I brought a guitar to him and he sang his song. I had tears in my eyes. He
was playing it on my father’s guitar, a man who had paid a heavy price for being
“Indian.” Howard describes the song this way:
The title track, Redeemed Redman’s Cry, was inspired by a longing to reclaim my
Cree heritage. I would attribute the stirring of this passion to the renewing work of
the Holy Spirit in my life. As a part of my healing journey in Christ I realized that
the accepting [of] my Cree identity and the expressing of myself from within that
framework was a necessary part of this new pilgrimage. This song has Aboriginal
musical flavor that may have its roots in the plains peoples of Turtle Island. The
distinct ‘chorus’ cries from the beginning to the end of the song move from the
mourning of losses, into a warrior’s battle cry (warring against the lies that say we
are second class, voices that say our culture is lost and that we need to assimilate
into a multi-nation identity, shaming or being ashamed of our Aboriginal identity
and dignity) and they crescendo with a victory cry of thanksgiving to Jesus Christ
for loving me as I am, affirming my uniqueness, redeeming me and calling me to
worship him from my Cree heart. I pray this song would encourage my people to
rise up to see and take their place in humanity.
46
At the 2017 JGW Conference, Howard was invited for the first time to sit at the
big drum—an invitation is an honor. He accepted. When Howard approached the mike at
the United in Christ Conference in Bemidji last summer, he gently challenged Craig
Smith’s assertion that the Indigenous followers of Jesus must not play a drum—that
action required a whole other level of courage. He had publically challenged, in a good
way, one of the primary opponents to both reclaiming culture and to contextualization.
Ma’wa’chi’hi’to’tan Journeying in a Good Way [JGW]
Andrew Reimer (non-Indigenous), a community minister with Inner City Youth
Alive, contacted me in 2016 about the possibility of holding a conference with
Indigenous Pathways speakers in the North End. Its purpose would be to help those who
minister in the inner city to come to an understanding of Indigenous culture and how
46
The Rising Above Band, Resources, accessed Mar. 2, 2018, http://www.risingabove.ca/resources/.
237
Christians would or should relate to traditional practises and ceremonies. Months of
meeting and planning ensued. The organizers consisted of Andrew, Kent, Howard,
Karen, Andy, Kyle, Cornelius Buller, Suhail Stephen (non-Indigenous) and Kristen Hicks
(ICYA staff, non-Indigenous).
Vineyard Fellowship was selected as the venue with registration capped at 100
due to space limitations. The unanticipated response encouraged us to forgo the comforts
of space and accept a total of 230 people. While ICYA committed as the financial
sponsor, Indigenous Pathways/NAIITS was named as the second major sponsor. Plenary
speakers and workshop leaders included: Terry LeBlanc, Ray Aldred (now with
Vancouver School of Theology), Cheryl Bear, Howard Jolly, and Wendy Peterson. The
conference was held in March 2017. Almost immediately a committee formed for the
next year’s conference based on the positive feedback and desire for a follow-up. In April
2018, Casey Church, Terry LeBlanc, Shari Russell, Howard Jolly, Larry Wilson, and
Anita Keith are scheduled as plenary speakers and workshop presenters. We are
anticipating 250 people from a number of provinces. Similar events are requested by
attendees in their home cities.
This new initiative provides NAIITS with an unanticipated opportunity to spread
understanding of the reasons for the Reclamation of Culture Movement and expressions
of self-theologizing, even if these innovations are not adopted by all attendees. However,
there is more to this. The people present at the first JGW were overwhelmingly young
adults. The older generation had met with NAIITS’ earliest attempts in the city with
suspicion or outright rejection almost two decades previously. Now this younger
generation seems ready to hear and implement change.
238
Analysis of Local Level Diffusion
The formation of NAIITS is traced in Chapter Four. In the interviews I conducted
with NAIITS board members, I asked questions to tease out the early ties and connecting
points between the founding board members and consequent loops of social networking.
The earliest connection is Cornelius Buller (non-Indigenous) and Terry LeBlanc in 1980.
Cornelius proved instrumental in the expertise needed in 2000 as the framework for
NAIITS was developed. Adrian Jacobs had previously met Richard Twiss in 1989. Terry
met Ray Minniecon in 1991 (both with World Vision at the time), foreshadowing the
2017 launch of NAIITS “Down Under.”
47
Richard and Terry met in 1993. The cluster
point comes in 1994. Terry, working for World Vision, joined with Brian Stiller (non-
Indigenous) of Evangelical Fellowship of Canada [EFC] to hold a consultation on
Aboriginal issues in Winnipeg. I had just met Terry and he invited me to attend, but I was
available only on the final day. Terry and I met Adrian at the event. Wally McKay, co-
chair with me of the Aboriginal Task Force-EFC, also attended. That same year Terry
and Ray Aldred and I connected—four future founding board members had now met. The
second cluster occurs in the years 2000 to 2002.
48
Richard had invited Cheryl Bear to the
first NAIITS symposium; Cornelius invited Shari Russell to the second one. (I had met
Shari earlier as a student at Providence.) My analysis leads me to conclude that Terry
LeBlanc has been the primary key to the networking that has grown the NAIITS
community. Each of us, in turn, introduced Terry and Richard to others in the Indigenous
community. My research also shows the networking impact Richard wielded on
47
Hannah Chapman (Māori), who has registered for the program, in personal communication called this a
“10 years in the making” conversation. Terry met Hannah’s family in 1996.
48
The early years of NAIITS overlapped with Terry’s initiative, Dancing Our Way (a team of twelve
dancers), the launch of My People International, and Wiconi International receiving charitable status.
239
Winnipeg, first through his writings. These relationships morphed into life-long
friendships. At the Winnipeg meeting just referenced, Indigenous and non-Indigenous
stood and held hands, joining in prayer as the meeting adjourned. Unexpectantly, the
Holy Spirit intervened. In what Adrian called “spontaneous reconciliation,”
49
participants
apologized to one another, confessing to racism in attitudes and actions. Everyone wept.
I posed a question to a few NAIITS board members: “What has NAIITS
contributed to your life’s journey?”
Shari, a Major in the Salvation Army, a product of the ‘60’s Scoop, fostered
numerous times and adopted out twice, responded, “NAIITS has given me a family—my
NAIITS family, plus the strength and courage to connect with my birth family; an
integrated self and identity; a voice and a fight to say what has happened is wrong, and a
way through it; and I can show it to others.”
50
She continued, “a vocabulary [to articulate]
my experience; a validity to who I am.” It has also helped her to understand why she
thinks and acts differently from the majority culture. When asked about NAIITS’
weaknesses, she expressed her concern that the symposiums can be too academic,
perhaps making some attendees feel “I am not smart enough to join this conversation.” In
response to the same question, Cheryl Bear talked about her role in NAIITS: “I want to
be pastoral—hosting, welcoming. [I] feel called to do what Richard did to me—[he]
called me out, spoke in an old-school way. I want to change [peoples’] lives.”
51
For this section of the study where I selected five individuals who minister in the
inner city of Winnipeg, I did not deliberately seek out opponents to ROCM since this is
49
Adrian Jacobs, interview with author, Steinbach, Manitoba, Feb. 24, 2018.
50
Shari Russell, interview with author, Tyndale University, Toronto, February 20, 2018. The write-up in
this paragraph is based on the same conversation.
51
Cheryl Bear, telephone conversation, Feb. 21, 2018.
240
not a quantitative study. Rather, I was seeking to understand in what manner the
Reclamation of Culture Movement has diffused and if that has positioned Indigenous
people to self-theologize.
Since all but one of the Interviewees had worked on a committee for the JGW
Conferences, I expected they were unlikely to be steadfastly opposed to
contextualization. However, due to questions raised at meetings around the issue of
smudging, for example, I sensed angst by two of the five. In the discovery phase, a few
unanticipated results emerged. My analysis at the local level reveals:
Miriam has clearly stepped away from following Jesus. She is the one interviewee
who has not participated in JGW. She is the most comfortable with her people’s
traditions and has been exposed to traditional practises for a greater part of her life
than the other interviewees. In this sense, she is not an adopter, but simply
returned to what makes her the most comfortable—in part as a reaction against the
harm Christians have done to her people.
Kent expressed more reservation about participation than I anticipated. He is open
and supportive to what NAIITS is doing. As a non-Indigenous person, he is being
cautious not to overstep. These are not his traditions to reclaim; however, he is a
person of influence. There are people in the community to whom he ministers
who are opposed to all things traditional, but there are others who desire to have
the freedom to be fully Indigenous. He has chosen not to be a stumbling block.
Andy expressed less reservation than I anticipated. Perhaps because he has
attended the most NAIITS related events, but also, as he stated, he is on a road of
discovery.
Kyle has changed his viewpoint greatly in the five years I have known him and is
clearly engaged in self-theologizing.
Howard, while expressing more specific reservations, grieves over the damage
done to his people. He desires change, but is hesitant. He is a cautious and careful
person by nature. I would describe Howard as a late adopter, based on the 16
years he has been exposed to NAIITS and has friendships with some of us.
Howard has expressed interest in further education (he has an M.Div), in the field
of Indigenous theology within a NAIITS program.
In the 2009 study I conducted of Howard’s church, I suggested “If it has not been
done, leadership could dialogue about the value of more intentionality in
Aboriginal cultural symbols, art, and music.” Art and symbolism have increased
measurably. Howard seems to be moving towards inclusion of a more traditional
Indigenous music style. (Although it must be said, country Western music and
guitar, have been adopted widely and owned as an Indigenous music style.)
The Ma’wa’chi’hi’to’tan Journeying in a Good Way Conferences are the most
surprising development during my research phase. The non-Indigenous leadership
241
of ICYA are clearly well-positioned in the community to initiate this conference.
Kent and his team have invested over thirty years there. They are trusted by both
the Indigenous and non-Indigenous people and organizations. Others, mostly IFJ,
readily joined in the task of planning not just one, but two events. It has been an
honor to work with each of them and the others who labour for the love of the
people, because of the love of Jesus.
Clearly the literature produced by the community of NAIITS is functioning as a
form of resistance to the negative impact of colonialism and as a means of
diffusion for ROCM.
Self-theologizing is happening, albeit, slowly. Howard’s song, Redeemed
Redman’s Cry, is an expression of self-theologizing.
The JGW conferences are spontaneous expressions of diffusion. This seems like a
tipping point, but may be premature to label it as such.
Perhaps Miriam’s move away from Jesus is a negative result of ROCM, but that is
inconclusive. It does serve as a caution to be very clear about the foundation of
our beliefs and why NAIITS is committed to the task of reclaiming culture,
contextualizing ceremonies and practises, and self-theologizing.
This study had demonstrated diffusion of the innovations inherent in the ROCM and
that NAIITS is the primary influencer on Indigenous and non-Indigenous followers of
Jesus in Winnipeg. NAIITS has impacted First Nations Community Church [FNCC]
though Pastor A—Howard Jolly. Kyle Mason, founder of North End Family Centre
[NEFC] first encountered NAIITS through literature which resists assimilation. The
founder and staff of Inner City Youth Alive [ICYA] reached out to NAIITS to enable
community education and discussion on contextualization. Vineyard Fellowship served
as the venue for the first JGW Conference due to Pastor Andy Wood’s connections with
NAIITS’ events. The initiative taken by ICYA to contact Terry and me as representatives
of Indigenous Pathways, both My People (their Nestooiak program) and NAIITS, in
order to pursue a path to contextualization, indicates the influence and reputation of the
executive director and board members. In turn, the interviewees serve as change agents
by influencing others in their organizations to attend JGW, leading to more late adopters
(or, in Miriam’s case, for Mennonite Church of Canada [MCC] staff to gain
242
understanding of her Sundance Community traditions). The diffusion from NAIITS to the
local level is illustrated below:
Figure 5.2. Diffusion at the Local level: Inner City Winnipeg.
Furthermore, the concept and model of Journeying in a Good Way has been
adopted by InterVarsity leaders from the University of Regina who are now planning a
similar conference in that city in November 2018 and have invited Indigenous
Pathways/NAIITS to consult and speak.
52
Does this indicate a critical mass point for
diffusion? My analysis tends towards a conservative “perhaps,” but it is too early to give
a definitive “yes.”
Another aspect of diffusion is uncovering the change agents who influence others
to adopt an innovation. These have been uncovered though interviews and conversation.
52
They requested permission to use the same conference name, but our committee decided against it.
243
For example, although I was the first person to meet Howard, to teach him a class on
Indigenous issues, and to introduce him to Terry LeBlanc, it is Ray Aldred he names as
his primary influencer. What we think we see is not always what is.
53
The following chart
lists the interviewees and the ties to persons they named as influencers in rethinking their
biases against Indigenous practices and ceremonies and/or contextualization.
Table 5.2. Influence of Change Agents at Local level
Change Agents
Interviewees
Ray
Aldred
Cornelius
Buller
Terry
LeBlanc
Wendy
Peterson
Richard
Twiss
Sundance
Community
Kent Dueck
ICYA
Andy Wood
Vineyard
Miriam
MCC
Kyle Mason
NEFC
Howard Jolly
FNCC
Going Forward in a Good Way
For NAIITS and others involved in ROCM, self-theologizing has often required a
defensive attitude, much like the stance of the early church apologists. The U.S. Native
Ministries arm of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship captures this in the name of their
ongoing conference, “Would Jesus Eat Frybread?”
54
This apologia-expectation, indeed
requirement, is likely to continue into the foreseeable future. One obvious next step for
NAIITS is an Indigenous theology textbook. The tension is to do theology without simply
replacing one rigid system with another or pitting theologians against one other so that
53
See Gabriel B. Tait, “‘Sight Beyond My Sight’: A Missiological Study of Liberian Identity and Renewal
through the Lens of Photography” (PhD Diss., Asbury Theological Seminary, Aug. 2011), 73.
244
IFJ are pressured to declare “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Calvin,” or “I am of LeBlanc.”
Community-centric and community-owned theologies can help to avoid those pitfalls.
In September 2017, through the influence of Indigenous Pathways board member
Shari Russel, the territorial Indigenous ministries consultant for the Salvation Army, the
Army held their first Powwow.
55
The appointment of Shari as consultant and sponsoring
the Powwow are unprecedented evidence of ROCM diffusion. Nevertheless, pursuing
answers to some remaining questions may help advance self-theologizing:
What does a healthy Indigenous church with fully contextualized and reclaimed
traditions look like?
Is there a role for denominationalism? Will denominations engage in culture in a
healthy way? Is it possible to reject contextualization and avoid paternalism?
What role if any is there for long established White-led mission organizations?
For example, is the recently announced initiative by Ethnos Canada [New Tribes
Missions] to begin missions to First Nations, comparing the bravery of their
famous-five martyrs to the determination needed for missions to “Canada’s
unreached First Peoples”—where the “conditions are going to be dangerous”— is
this wise, harmful, or exploitive?
56
Is there a role for White-led urban ministries? How can they move from no
Indigenous leadership, past a ‘token Indian’ on the board, to Indigenous
leadership being front and center in the planning and execution of mission
strategy, in a truly indigenous style?
How can bible-centric educational institutions best serve Indigenous students?
How can/should Christian organizations help adults who were raised apart from
their cultures reclaim their identities lost in foster homes?
Is reclamation of culture only an urban initiative or is it happening on reserves as
well? If the latter, does it parallel the movement described here?
What role has social media played in advancing or hindering the ROCM?
What impact has the ethos of Pentecostalism and the Charismatic Movement had
on the development and sustainability of the ROCM? Have the singular features
54
See WJEF 2017, Native Ministries, InterVarsity, http://native.intervarsity.org/wjef-2017. Mark Charles
(Navajo), who has attended a number of World Christian Gathering of Indigenous Peoples events and
NAIITS symposiums, has been featured as a speaker, as has Donnie Begay, NAIITS graduate.
55
Pamela Richardson, “Salvation Army Sponsors Public Pow Wow at Pine Lake Camp: Indigenous
celebration of culture makes history in Alberta,” Salvationist (Sept. 11, 2017), accessed Mar. 5, 2018,
https://salvationist.ca/articles/salvation-army-sponsors-public-pow-wow-at-pine-lake-camp/.
56
Tim Whatley, “Ethnos Canada,” Ethnos, Issue 4 (Dec. 3, 2017), 1.
245
of these theologies positioned IFJ to initiate innovations and others to be early
adopters? How so, in light of demonization of culture by some in those traditions?
What evidence is there that Evangelical churches are supportive of or hindering
ROCM?
Richard Twiss noted two characteristics of early ROCM innovators in his study:
all who created sustainable initiatives shared an urban background (those born on
reservations/ reserves had moved to cities), and, most are of mixed heritage. He
concluded, “I do not know these contextualization innovations could have occurred any
other way, in light of several centuries of Christian mission, and the state of the Indian
church being nearly completely Eurocentric.”
57
An additional reason may be attributed to
their having learned to communicate through two worldviews which positioned them to
choose integration over assimilation. Yet, there is one more factor I uncovered, but have
not analyzed: most of the innovators shared roots, often ordination, in Pentecostalism or
churches associated with the Charismatic Movement. Has this uniquely positioned their
initiatives for sustainability? Did all these leaders remain committed to their roots?
The research has revealed three primary clusters of elements that propelled the
ROCM forward as illustrated below.
57
Twiss, “Native-led Contextualization,” 223.
246
Figure 5.3. Three primary clusters as change points in the ROCM.
As noted previously, some Indigenous people have rejected Christianity
altogether, seeking to maintain or re-establish/re-create pre-European Native
Traditionalism. Indigenous Jesus-followers have been pressured to respond to this
retraditionalization, sometimes being challenged to reject Christianity as “White man’s
religion.” Others have rejected anything “Indian” and are therefore regarded as
assimilated. The subjects of this study, with the exception of Miriam, are seeking a more
moderate road, a way that is more incarnational through contextualization in the hope of
influencing a deeper experience of the abundant life Jesus offers—with identity and
dignity restored. This study has presented the ROCM as a way forward. Sociopolitical
activism paved the path, in part by modelling ways to resist and by producing resistance
literature. Indigenous activism has steadily increased. Activists include both Indigenous
peoples resisting government actions and non-Indigenous peoples empathetic to their
issues. Traditionalists are Indigenous peoples who fight to retain both traditional practices
247
and teachings. IFJ, represented as contextualists below, reside in a mid-point area of the
left hand column in the illustration below. They wish to retain both Indigenous
orthopraxy and orthodoxy, but interpreted through the lens of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The following illustration demonstrates that those who choose, or have been forced into,
assimilating into Western Christianity are the furthest removed from traditional practices
and teachings. X indicates traditional orthopraxy and orthodoxy.
Figure 5.4. Traditionalists, IFJ Assimilationists, and IFJ Contextualists
Brian Walsh and Sylvia Keesmaat look to Paul’s letter to the Colossians for a way
forward in general church culture, but they offer sound advice to IJF. “Colossians is a
subversive tract for subversive living, and it insists that such an alternative imagination
and alternative way of life is formed and sustained in the context of community.”
58
IFJ do
well to hold tightly to community values of leadership and consensus. Linda Smith
58
Walsh & Keesmaat, Colossians Remixed, 9.
248
reinforces that idea, in spite of the stark challenges marginalization presents. “Many
indigenous communities are spaces of hope and possibilities, despite enormous odds
aligned against them.”
59
This study acknowledges it presents a braid too thin since it fails to incorporate all of
the available strands which may be braided into the story of reclaiming identity through
culture and contextualization. They include:
Analyzing the extent and ramifications of the Protestant Work Ethic on the
missionary imagination as applied to both Christianization and civilization of
Indigenous peoples;
Analyzing the influence of Red-Letter Christians, Sojourners, Brian McLaren et
al. on individual innovators and change agents within ROCM;
Placing ROCM within historic re-traditionalization and in majority culture in
what Phyllis Tickle calls The Great Emergence;
60
Unravelling traditional gender roles and comparing those to gender roles in
ROCM; for example, Māori women initiate the welcome call and precede the
men; both do the haka; Six Nations is matrilineal, etc.;
Comparing the ROCM in diverse locales such as urban Canada, remote First
Nations, the northern isolated Inuit peoples, and Métis communities;
61
“It is especially important to remember that no standing form of organized Christian
faith has ever been destroyed by one of our semi-millennial eruptions. Instead, each
simply has lost hegemony or pride of place to the new and not-yet organized form that
was birthing.”
62
Tickle asserts that just as Eastern Orthodoxy survived the Great Schism,
each form of Christianity will be “freed to become fully itself and fully an expression of
59
Linda Tuhiwai Smith, Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples (Dunedin, NZ:
University of Otago Press, 1999), 98.
60
Phyllis Tickle, The Great Emergence: How Christianity is Changing and Why (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker
Books, 2008), 28. Tickle attributes the term to Diana Butler Bass. See also pp. 58 and 141f.
61
Does the work of J. Paul Pennington, Christian Barriers to Jesus: Conversations and Questions from the
Indian Context (Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 2017) have helpful paradigms?
62
Tickle, The Great Emergence, 27.
249
its own experience of living out the Christian faith in its own circumstances.”
63
If she is
right, the outcome for IFJ is a more Indigenous way of being Indigenous and Christian.
In which case, the reclamation of culture movement will have achieved its primary goal.
Where does the Canadian Evangelical non-Indigenous community sit on the matter of
reconciliation with Indigenous marginalization? The juxtaposition of two recent articles
by evangelical scholars and a NAIITS letter in response are revealing. The authors of
both articles are esteemed educators and authors. One is Mark Buchanan, who teaches at
Ambrose Seminary in Calgary. He is a former colleague of Ray Aldred and a close friend
of Cheryl Bear. His article, “Let the Sermon be Interrupted” clearly reflects a person who
has developed deep relationships in the Indigenous community. The other is John
Stackhouse, professor at Crandall University. His connection to the Winnipeg community
is as former Professor of Religion at the University of Manitoba and columnist on the
Faith Page of the Winnipeg Free Press. He has also written for the Evangelical
Fellowship of Canada and Faith Today magazine. Furthermore, Cheryl Bear was his
student when he was a professor at Regent in Vancouver. His article “In Search of
Reconciliation,”
64
is the antithesis of Buchanan’s. I first read it when Brian Stiller
(formerly referenced under Sacred Assembly in Chapter Four) shared it on Facebook. I
passed it along to some NAIITS board members for their reactions. The response and the
articles are in Appendix 7. Together they paint a picture of the evangelical divide over
reconciliation. Ray Aldred’s written words speak to this divide:
We wanted to provide a forum and develop a mentored approach to doing
theological education in concert with existing theological institutions. … I know I
am talking about racism and political realities, but evangelicals have a tendency to
63
Ibid.
64
John Stackhouse, “In Search of Reconciliation,” Context with Lorna Dueck, accessed Feb. 26, 2018;
http://www.contextwithlornadueck.com/2018/02/23/in-search-of-truth-and-reconciliation/.
250
want to run away from resisting injustice and engaging social issues right here. I
have seen many Christian organizations struggle to engage the issues of our
aboriginal people, because they are part of the problem. Many Canadians, and
Americans I would imagine, do not realize that the plight of our aboriginal people
will not change unless we change. Jan Elliot, who does antiracism workshops,
said, “Indians cannot solve the racism problem. It is not their problem to solve.
They are not the racists.”
65
Bagele Chilisa wrote, “The challenge for [Indigenous] researchers is how to
manage the literature that informs our research studies, where the literature that is
available on the colonized Other is written by outsiders and the literature by the colonized
Other is predominantly oral.”
66
This study has demonstrated this is changing. Indigenous
people are adding written words to their own traditions to effectively confront racism and
marginalization. There are Indigenous people who resonate with the words of Richard
Twiss who frequently said in his final years, “I am tired of quoting dead White men. I am
now quoting my people.” While recognizing the caution the academy has towards
unscholarly works, the church is impoverished itself when it dismisses the words of those
who lived/live the experiences of life under colonialism.
I had chosen the term Reclamation of Culture Movement to describe what has
been happening in Indigenous lands where the dominant culture is one that has been
imported during colonization.
67
I felt neither the term contextualization nor
retraditionalization captured the significance of the movement as it applies to Indigenous
65
Raymond C. Aldred, “Freedom,” Bruce Ellis Benson, Malinda Elizabeth Berry, and Peter Goodwin
Heltzel, eds., Prophetic Evangelicals: Envisioning a Just and Peaceable Kingdom, Prophetic Christianity
(William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2012), 150-167, 165, accessed Dec. 8, 2017, https://books.google.com/
books?id=rC8S3IL7OfAC&pg=PA165&lpg=PA165&dq=%22Evangelical+Fellowship+of+Canada%22+a
boriginal+task+force&source=bl&ots=3S5WPCDHSs&sig=no2tBPVYZ3cgkbFuBlp1aNiPkZM&hl=en&s
a=X&ved=0ahUKEwj31JTfx_rXAhVBTd8KHa14Bg4Q6AEIOTAD#v=onepage&q=%22Evangelical%20
Fellowship%20of%20Canada%22%20aboriginal%20task%20force&f=false.
66
Bagele Chilisa, Indigenous research Methodologies (Botswana: University of Botswana, Sage
Publications, 2012), 59.
67
This is not to suggest dominant culture has been or is stagnant.
251
followers of Jesus. Richard Twiss expressed the same uncertainties in his dissertation. He
wrote in his concluding chapter, “I think a legitimate reflection of what contextualization
means suggests we stop using the term ‘contextualization movement’ to describe what we
are attempting to do in our desire to simply tell Jesus’ story in a way that fits into a
simple narrative framework of a sacred story.”
68
Going forward, I anticipate someone
will find a more precise term.
Conclusion
The right words come today in their right order
And every word spells freedom and release
Today the gospel crosses every border
All tongues are loosened by the Prince of Peace
Today the lost are found in His translation.
Whose mother-tongue is Love, in every nation. −Malcolm Guite
69
This study began by posing questions. Answers have been sought by researching
the history of First Contact at the Global, Regional, and Local levels, seeking
commonalities and differences in experiences and consequences. It has demonstrated
both the agency and the resistance exercised by First Peoples. It moved through various
crises as the roles of Indigenous peoples spiraled downward to marginalization in their
ancestral lands. Their worldview mystified those who were the product of European
Enlightenment—particularly in viewing land as something other than a commodity. “It
68
Richard Twiss, “Native-led Contextualization Efforts in North America 1989-2009,” (D.Miss. Diss.,
Asbury Theologiucal Seminary, 2011), 234.
69
I choose this portion of “Pentecost” by Malcolm Guite, whom I have met through Steve Bell, because he
is a non-Indigenous British Anglican priest and academic. He was born in Nigeria to a Methodist father,
lived in Canada for a few years, and has lately come in contact with the marginalization of Indigenous
peoples here in Winnipeg. Thus, his poem while looking back to the first Pentecost, inadvertently expresses
an eschatological hope which appropriately brings European missions full circle.
252
might be safely admitted that the Maori mind is more sensitive on the subject of losing
his land than on any other [matter]. …It can hardly be expected that the noblest principles
of colonization [could be comprehended]—of peopling the waste places of the earth, of
improving an unformed race till it be amalgamated with the most refined portions of
mankind.”
70
Culture clashes have prevailed for over five centuries. While some advances
have been achieved, Indigenous peoples have not yet experienced the ideal as stated in
the above excerpt from Guite’s pen. By highlighting negative attitudes of missionaries
and colonizers in this work, I am seeking to flip the coin to examine the writing on the
other side that reveals the experience of the colonized. I acknowledge that this is
uncomfortable to those who have only had the opportunity of reading and experiencing
the positive aspects of North American history.
The first chapter introduced the community of Pikangikum with is spiralling
suicide rates of a decade ago. These rates are unabated in the midst of deplorable poverty
in one of the richest countries on earth.
71
The problems which plague the reserves follow
First Peoples into the inner cities at all three levels, creating new challenges. Loss of
dignity and identity through attempts at assimilation are not merely additional
challenges—they are the penultimate result of attempted cultural genocide.
72
70
Robert Ward et al., Life among the Maories of New Zealand: Being a Description of Missionary,
Colonial, and Military Achievements (Breinigsville, PA: N.P., 2009), 460.
71
Globe editorial, “The Unspoken Problem in Pikangikum,” Globe and Mail (July 25, 2017), accessed Oct.
9, 2017, https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/editorials/globe-editorial-the-unspoken-problem-in-
pikangikum/article35798480/?ref=http://www.theglobeandmail.com&.
72
Cultural genocide is a term Justice Murry Sinclair uses to speak of his conclusions from chairing the
TRC. Paul Hiebert explains the use of the term culture: “Historical particularists rejected the arrogance and
ethnocentrism associated with the word civilization and replaced it with the word culture. This shift in
language reflected profound changes in the way anthropologists were beginning to view other peoples.”
Emphasis in original. Paul Hiebert, The Gospel in Human Contexts: Anthropological Explorations for
Contemporary Missions (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2009), 94.
253
Since the mid-1970s Indigenous peoples have taken up pen, placard, and public
media to inform and more insistently rail against the power brokers in governments. At
all three levels, Indigenous peoples seem to have awakened, to somehow have regained
the strength and tenacity to say “No More.” Leanne Simpson uses the term “radical
resurgence.”
73
This resistance is ongoing at the sociopolitical level and creates angst for
the dominant culture. Story-telling through resistance literature is but one strategy that
has increased and kept the fires of resistance stoked. “Books and literature have served as
key diffusion and communication channels for the widespread introduction of
contextualization.”
74
For aboriginal people, story continues to be a prime carrier of identity. … This
includes the appropriation of the gospel story by Aboriginal communities because
if Aboriginal people cannot see themselves in the gospel story, then the gospel
story has become a “myth” …. Thus, an examination of the way Aboriginal story
works will prove fruitful for the theological enterprise because it may produce
“free” space in which collaboration is possible for a more inclusive Western
theology.
75
This free space being the distance between Aboriginal spirituality
contained in an aboriginal approach to story and academic theology.
76
Indigenous peoples have also resisted assimilation into a full-orbed capitalist
consumerism. This finds support in the book of Revelation. In addition to the book’s
caution about losing faith, two eschatological warnings revolve around the willingness to:
73
Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, As We have always Done: Indigenous Freedom through Radical
Resistance (Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 2017). See Chapter 1.
74
Twiss, “Native-led Contextualization,” 182.
75
Referencing Sophie McCall, "'What the map cuts up, the story cuts across': Translating Oral Traditions
and Aboriginal land title," Essays on Canadian Writing, no. 80 (2003): 318.
76
Ray Aldred, unpublished paper shared with me (Aug. 6, 2011).
254
(1) assimilate into culture in order to survive economically; and, (2) seek acceptance at
any price and thereby gain an easier life.
77
At the local level of Winnipeg, the past decade has been a tumultuous one with
the city being classified as Canada’s most racist, the activism over the city’s water supply
negatively impacting Shoal Lake 40 First Nation, the murder of Tina Fontaine, and
numerous other stress factors. It has also been a coming-of-age-awareness season for
Settlers,
78
many of whom have participated as allies in activism.
My research has been undertaken primarily through participant-observation from
an insider perspective, engaging in conversations, and conducting interviews. The
participant observer joins in day-to-day activities of the community and has the
advantage of gaining deeper insight. The disadvantage is a bias that may miss facets of
the community that outsiders perceive, whereas an outsider’s .bias may lead to
misinterpretation or demeaning what is not understood. The scope of this study leaves it
prone to generalizations that require discernment as to their veracity within individual
communities. While I acknowledge differences between individuals and eras, I sought
information which facilitated insight into similar attitudes and consequences that live on
in this generation, supporting the status quo of marginalization.
In the first chapter of this study (see page 157), I noted that Indigenous
storytelling is circular with ideas repeating and yet building upon one another and that
self-theologizing follows a similar pattern, leaving it vulnerable to be judged as “other,”
thus incompatible with Western standards or categories. Another difference is that
77
See Craig R. Koester, Revelation and the End of All Things (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans
Pub. Co., 2001), 141-143 and 197-205.
78
Emma Battell Lowman and Adam J Barker, Settler: Identity and Colonialism in 21st Century Canada
(Halifax, NB & Winnipeg, MB: Fernwood Publishing, 2015).
255
Indigenous stories and teachings do not insert an interpretive element, such as “the moral
of the story is ….” To interpret a story for the listener is to presume upon Creator’s intent
for her life. Each person is on his own journey. It is considered presumptuous and
interfering to “know” what another needs to learn. However, moving forward in
relationship may require a more direct approach, and thus, I would suggest the following
issues and questions that arise from this story (in addition to those previously stated on p.
244) as relevant to the ongoing mission of the church:
The past centuries of history told from an Indigenous perspective will test the
patience of descendants of both missionaries and colonizers. It is difficult to hear
one’s beloved stories reinterpreted and critiqued, let alone, on many occasions,
shown to be false.
Founding myths of nations and Christian organizations will benefit from a fuller
story told through the voices of both colonizer and colonized, the bearer and the
receiver of the gospel, with the latter freed to tell their stories in their own ways.
While many of the quotations referenced herein are deemed to be racist by today’s
standards, and given that the Holy Spirit teaches and guides into all truth in all
ages, mission studies must struggle with the tension between the claims inherent
in the built-in justification of the doctrine of discovery and manifest destiny and
the resultant harm that has befallen Indigenous peoples. What does it mean to be
“a product of one’s time?” In what ways do we, in our times, need to protect
ourselves and our mission endeavours from being the “product” of our time?
Students of missions must discern if a “church planting” emphasis is the most
beneficial approach to mitigating the harm done to Indigenous peoples. What do
we intend by church planting? How can we avoid the snare of importing and
imposing our own vision of church structure, leadership expectations, and/or Saint
Paul’s culture into communities where they do harm? Are we able to acknowledge
the existence of “church” which bears little resemblance to our concept?
In light of the Western value and interpretation of “work” and given the charges
of laziness directed towards Indigenous peoples, in what ways does that
interpretation (the “Protestant work ethic” for example, and resulting materialism
used as an measurement of work performed) inform our judgements of other
cultures? An analysis of Hebraic understandings of work may prove helpful here,
given the similarities of Old Testament values with Indigenous ones.
Regarding leadership, is it possible for westerners to raise-up church leadership
that does not reflect Western styles and values of leadership? What does
discipleship look like when it is divested of Western culture? Are Western leaders
willing and able to withdraw from dominant control of the answers?
History is now. History is who we are, encoded into the DNA of both individuals
and institutions. Mission organizations, Christian educational institutes, and
denominations must wrestle with the issue of prosperity built upon stolen lands
256
and stolen labour. Does this require examination of institutional history? Is there
cause for repentance?
While missions studies are increasingly cognizant of global theology in the sense
of Asian and Southern theologies, is there a place for First Peoples theologies—
those whose lands never cast off colonial rule? What is required to make room for
the gifts the Spirit has entrusted to First Peoples for the benefit of the global
church?
My experience with protocol informs my choice of the metaphor “a gifting of
sweetgrass.” Ceremony is an omnipresent feature of traditional Indigenous life. In both
actions and significance “it encompasses all of life.”
79
In a braid of sweetgrass, just below the tie off point, all the strands have lost their
individuality. They are not easily traced back to the triad in which the individuality of the
journey began; rather each now is transformed as a part of a collective, similar to an
Indigenous concept of community. When the flame ignites the braid, it is quickly blown
out, creating the cleansing smoke—the substance of the smudging ceremony. All the
strands now identified in the singular rise as holy or sacred smoke, which is cupped into
the recipient’s hand and gently directed to prepare the mind, the eyes, the ears, the mouth,
the heart, the feet –the whole of the individual—to prepare the smudged person to walk
with Creator in the new day.
79
One example is of a chief “drinking White man’s ‘firewater’.” Hugh Dempsey quotes a 1897 reference
regarding the manner in which a head Blackfoot Chief “dips his finger into the liquor and lets a few drops
fall to the ground; then a few drops are offered above; but he drinks the rest without further delay.” Hugh
Dempsey, Firewater: The Impact of the Whiskey Trade on the Blackfoot Nation (Calgary, AB Fifth House
Ltd., 2002), 8. Also, Alexander Henry et al., New Light on the Early History of the Greater Northwest: The
Manuscript Journals of Alexander Henry, Fur Trader of the Northwest Company, and of David Thompson,
Official Geographer and Explorer of the Same Company, 1799-1814 (New York: Francis P. Harper,
1897),723; as quoted in Dempsey, Firewater, 9.
257
Figure 5.5. A Gifting of Sweetgrass.
Robert Frost used the term “walling out” in his poem addressing the thoughtless
constructions of walls.
80
Elijah Harper had a dream to break down the dehumanizing
walls constructed through colonization: “In unity, there is strength. In unity, there is
power. In unity, there is hope. It is a feeling I know our people felt every day hundreds of
years ago and is a feeling I want all Aboriginal people to feel again.”
81
To amend a
previous quote by Nelson Mandela, “The ROCM grew out of the idea that Indigenous
peoples must first liberate themselves from the sense of psychological inferiority bred by
five centuries of white rule. Only then could the people rise up in confidence and truly
liberate themselves from repression.”
82
To a different people in a different era, Jeremiah counseled "Stand at the
crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way lies, and walk in
it, and you will find rest for your souls." (Jer 6:16.) Globally, Indigenous followers of
80
Robert Frost, Mending Wall. The reference I allude to reads “before I built a wall I’d ask to know/What I
was walling in or walling out/And to whom I was like to give offense.”
81
Hon. Andrew Swan, ‘Orders of the Day – Government Business; Motions of Condolence, Elijah Harper,”
Legislative Assembly of Manitoba (Monday, May 12, 2014), Hansard, accessed Dec. 6, 2017,
http://www.gov.mb.ca/legislature/hansard/40th_3rd/vol_53/h53.html.
82
Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom, 486. See page 122 in this study.
258
Jesus through reclamation of culture and contextualization of the gospel of Jesus the
Christ have sought the ancient paths, looking for the “good way” that will provide a sense
of hope and rest for their souls. The debate over the reclamation of culture will not fade
away anytime soon. There will likely be extremes on both sides of the issue. Whether or
not the diffusion of the innovation demonstrated in this dissertation is irreversible
remains to be seen. The resilience of Indigenous peoples suggests new forms of
resistance to assimilation will emerge if needed. Meanwhile, those who reject reclamation
of culture and its accompanying contextualization will try to protect the gospel from any
hint of syncretism. Contextualizers will seek to release their people from bondage that
God never intended and to restore their dignity on the new-ancient paths. By this means
they will seek to function as change agents active in society and in the church. Under
God’s grace, may the Holy Spirit provide the same direction he gave those who wrestled
with problems of ethnic conformity to Judaism in the early years of church history as
recorded in the fifteenth chapter of Acts.
