Honesty, Humility, and Hope

We celebrated Indigenous Peoples’ Day this past Sunday. Not Columbus Day. We celebrated the fact that there were people here long before the Europeans ever came. People with a deep, rich spirituality and great respect for God’s creation.

I thought back about my experience visiting the Lakota tribe at their annual Mission Meeting in South Dakota in the summer of 2014.

I remember coming back elated and grateful that I got to see such a beautiful part of God’s creation and meet such beautiful, kind and gentle people. And I came back carrying heaviness and sorrow for all the pain that they have suffered, and are still suffering.

When the white missionaries came, they taught the Bible to the indigenous peoples. They taught it first in their native language, then in English. And because they felt that their own English language and culture was superior to native American culture, they stopped teaching in the native language and only taught in English. So now the Lakota have no Bible in their native tongue. A group of people is currently working on translating it back into Lakota, but that will still take years to complete.

I met a man in his nineties who told me how he and his friends were beaten in school when they spoke Lakota. Others told how their grandparents’ mouths were washed with soap or even bleach when they spoke Lakota. Because of that, there now are very few people left who speak the language. Losing a language means losing a culture, a set of memories and shared experiences, and a means of identification for an entire people.

This is not unique to the Lakota tribe.

One woman said to me: “The white people came, they brought us the Bible, and they took our land.”

The white people thought they were doing a good thing. They thought they were bringing salvation to the Natives. But at the same time, they were destroying a culture – whether Christian or not, still a culture, something that God created – and eventually they tried to wipe out an entire people. They sterilized thousands of women. They took their children and sent them to boarding schools so they would be raised in the white culture.

I think this is a part of American history that we try to deny, because it’s hard to admit that a lot of wrong has been done in the name of Jesus. But I refuse to believe that this is what he meant when he said, “Go and make disciples of all nations.” Jesus was bringing good news. Not disrespect and death and destruction.

The people that I met live what Jesus preached and what most of us don’t live: They live forgiveness, humility, and grace. They welcomed us, white people, part of the race who had wronged them and their ancestors – they welcomed us with open arms to worship with them. They told us their stories, but they did not blame us. They did not complain. They just wanted us to listen, to hear their side of the story. They hold no resentment against us.

I’d like to see us treat people of other nations, cultures and religions that way. I’d like to see us forgive instead of seeking retaliation. I’d like us to stop thinking that we are better than other nations. And I definitely would like to see us stop abusing Jesus’ name to justify our judgment of others. We are not better than them. God does not love us more than God loves them.

We have sinned against God by sinning against them.

You may think, what does she mean, “We”. I wasn’t there. I didn’t do anything to them! No, you didn’t. But your ancestors did. It is not your fault, but it is your history and your responsibility. Healing can only take place when we face the wrong that has been done by our ancestors, and learn from their mistakes.

A Prayer for Healing and Hope                     

O Great Spirit, God of all people and every tribe, through whom all people are related: Call us to the kinship of all your people. 

Grant us vision to see the brokenness of the past; help us to listen to you and to one another, in order to heal the wounds of the present;          

Give us courage, patience and wisdom to work together for healing and hope with all of your people, now and in the future.                                       

Mend our hearts and let us live in justice and peace, through Jesus Christ, the one who comes to all people that we might live in dignity.

Amen.