Racial Reconciliation - Native Americans
- Feb 6, 2006 - comment
Ron Custalow of the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention says that about 95 percent of the Native American population is unsaved. He says many Native Americans “live out their entire lives hearing only their tribal language” and never hear the gospel. But before individuals or groups go charging off toward some reservation to carry the gospel to Native Americans, Custalow says there are some things to do.
- Begin by praying for the ministry to the people.
- Don’t assume that all Native Americans are in dire need of some church group to come and “save” them. While the need for the gospel is real, some cross-cultural training concerning how to approach them is a must.
- Before going, learn about the culture of the people so that they may be shown that you care for them and respect them.
- Prepare for the need. Meeting the physical needs of people will more often provide a point of contact for sharing the gospel. Find out if they need food and clothing or housing or medical care and arrange for people to go on the trip who can provide those things.
- Prepare for a long-term partnership and relationship with the people. Returning for further ministry on several occasions may provide for a more open door to evangelism.
- Don’t forget Native American people where you live. Prepare to minister to them on an on-going basis once you return from your mission trip.
Mission Trip to Native Americans Entails More Than ‘Here We Come’, August 13, 2003 [Accessed October 4, 2005]
Eleven years ago, Gregg Bourland, owner of a video store in Eagle Butte, South Dakota found a drunk in the dumpster behind his place of business. After asking himself why people do that kind of thing, he realized that all too often it is because of unemployment and despair. So Bourland, whose Native American name means Eagles Watch Over Him, went to the tribal chieftain to ask what was being done to remedy the situation. He found that nothing was being done. So he ran for the office of tribal chairman and, though he had no idea he would win the election, he did. His message was one of tribal self-sufficiency rather than waiting for government handouts. The 33 year-old was the youngest person ever elected to the office.
Under his management, unemployment was cut from 75 percent to 25 percent. Welfare roles were dropped from 500 families to 150 families. And all of this occurred without one casino. How did he do it? He took stock of what was available to his tribe. They had no timber to sell or coal to mine. But they had the Internet. So Bourland “turned the Cheyenne River Telephone Authority into a satellite-TV, cell-phone and Internet-service provider.” He also created a new data-processing company called Lakota Technologies, Inc., which employs 20 people. His vision is for 1000 workers spread out over the 2.8 million acre reservation. To get the needed workers, he persuaded Cisco Systems to set up a networking academy on the reservation. And students at the local high school learn how to design, build and maintain computer networks.
Bourland also helped tribal members to start a buffalo ranch, open a hospital, start a college, and begin a wellness center that treats alcoholism. Meanwhile, he’s still a high-tech guy. He says, “the future Little Big Horn may be in cyberspace.”
“Winning Big Without Casinos,” Time, June 18, 2001
“It’s cool to be an Indian now.” So says Ummerteskee, the tribal enrollment officer for the Cherokee Nation. She has seen all manner of “evidence” to support claims by people who want to be included as a Cherokee. She sees approximately 1,000 people a month passing through her door seeking to be included. Why is this happening? Experts and tribal officials point to several factors: gambling revenue, minority scholarships and affirmative action guidelines, widespread interest in genealogy and perhaps most important, the erosion of the stigma once borne by Native Americans.
According to experts, the number of Native Americans has always been understated, partly because of distrust among the Indian population of the government and partly because past censuses have not had the options available that the 2000 census afforded. Now a person can claim more than one race and many did so in the last census. Many people now claim Indian ancestry. But proving it is another matter. Various tribes have different standards concerning who is, and who is not, a Native American. Some tribes require one quarter Indian blood while others will settle for as little as 1,000th degree.
“Native American Roots, Once Hidden, Now Embraced,” http://www.washingtonpost.com , April 7, 2001 [Access fee required]
Denny McAuliffe, a member of the Osage tribe of Oklahoma and a former night foreign desk editor at the Washington Post, became aware that too few reservations and tribal colleges had their own newspapers. A review of American newspapers also revealed few Native Americans in the press. So McAuliffe, now the University of Montana’s Native American journalist in residence, set up a website for an online Native American newspaper at http://www.reznetnews.org. The online news journal draws coverage from 13 tribes in 12 states and 17 colleges. Twenty Native American reporters and photographers who are students “from all over Indian country” contribute to it. They receive guidance in reporting and photography, and McAuliffe edits each article. The students are paid $50 for a story or photograph (maximum $200 a month) so they get the feel of what it is like to work as a paid journalist. The goal is to get more Native Americans in the field of journalism. It seems to be working.
“Indian Web Founder Aims to Inspire,” http://www.nytimes.com , November 15, 2002 [Access fee required]
“According to the latest federal statistics, nearly 10,000 Indian and Alaska Native children, or about 1.2 percent, are in foster care, living with relatives or others. (Indians and Alaska Natives make up 1.5 percent of the nation’s population.) The federal data, from the Department of Health and Human Services, show that about 1.8 percent of African American children and about 0.5 percent of white children are in foster care.
“Terry L. Cross, executive director of the National Indian Child Welfare Association, based in Portland, Ore., said that at least 25,000 Indians under the age of 18, or 3 percent, were living in foster care or with relatives, although he acknowledged that his surveys, which do not include Alaska Native children, probably failed to take into account many more informal living arrangements.
“‘I think Native Americans aren’t really on anybody’s radar,’ said Richard Wexler, executive director of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform, based in Alexandria, Va. ‘When people write federal legislation, they keep leaving the tribes out.’
“While the shuttling of children between relatives is typical in inner cities and poor rural areas—and much public attention has been paid to the large numbers of African American and other minority children in foster care—the crisis is growing more acute on the many isolated Indian reservations, several experts said.
“‘Basic human needs are in very short supply,’ said Esther Wattenberg, professor of social work and an associate at the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs at the University of Minnesota. ‘That is, food, shelter, income and a sense of having access and availability to services.’
“As public assistance benefits have dried up under time limits for federal welfare payments, Professor Wattenberg said, Indians and their children who were living in cities have begun to return in significant numbers to their reservations. There, they may find space on a relative’s couch and add more families to the roster of the desperately poor.”
Excerpted from Sarah Kershaw, “Crisis of Indian Children Intensifies as Families Fail,” http://www.nytimes.com , April 5, 2005 [Access fee required]
Further Learning
Learn more about: Citizenship, Racial Reconciliation