News and Views

From the Baltimore-Washington and Peninsula Delaware Committees on Native American Ministries

We honor the lives of Indigenous peoples, show our gratitude for the significant and countless contributions they have made to our world, and renew our commitment to respect tribal sovereignty and self-determination. 

The General Conference of The United Methodist Church affirms the sacredness of Native American people, their languages, cultures, and gifts to the church and the world, past and present. As people of faith, wecelebrate and honor Native American peoples and commemorate their histories and cultures. We call upon the world, and the people of The United Methodist Church to receive and affirm the gifts of Native Americans, including American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians. Together, we are those created in God’s image.

We invite all to seek to fully understand the history of this day, respect and learn from Indigenous peoples, and support their struggles for social justice, religious freedom and inclusion of their traditional knowledge. Learn more here.  

We also offer a portion of this White House proclamation to observe Indigenous People’s Day for your review and fifteen ways to honor this day and native peoples.

"The story of America’s Indigenous peoples is a story of their resilience and survival; of their persistent commitment to their right to self-governance; and of their determination to preserve cultures, identities, and ways of life.  Long before European explorers sailed to this continent, Native American and Alaska Native Nations made this land their home, some for thousands of years before the United States was founded.  They built many Nations that created powerful, prosperous, and diverse cultures, and they developed knowledge and practices that still benefit us today.  But throughout our Nation’s history, Indigenous peoples have faced violence and devastation that has tested their limits.  For generations, it was the shameful policy of our Nation to remove Indigenous peoples from their homelands; force them to assimilate; and ban them from speaking their own languages, passing down ancient traditions, and performing sacred ceremonies.  Countless lives were lost, precious lands were taken, and their way of life was forever changed.  In spite of unimaginable loss and seemingly insurmountable odds, Indigenous peoples have persisted.  They survived.  And they continue to be an integral part of the fabric of the United States." See the full 2023 White House Proclamation on Indigenous People’s Day here.

15 Ways to Honor Indigenous Peoples Day

1. Recognize the original indigenous people who’ve lived on the land you occupy. This land is holy ground. A tool that may be helpful is https://native-land.ca/. Then tell us about the tribes you’ve discovered here, https://forms.gle/AG1thDsFtgBhskuP6.
2. Craft a Sunday service around Indigenous Peoples Day. As you plan your service, invite those within your congregation who are Native people to participate in the planning and the service itself. Work to find out the pre- and postcolonial history of the land you are worshiping on and the Native peoples who have lived there.
3. Build and strengthen connections to nearby Native communities. Make plans to attend an event hosted by a Native group, organization, or cultural center. Find out how your congregation can be of assistance regarding the issues nearby groups are working on or struggling with.
4. Study the Doctrine of Discoveryand work to eliminate its effects. The United Methodist Church condemns the Doctrine of Discovery as a legal document used for the seizing of lands and abusing the human rights of indigenous peoples. The United Methodist Church will work toward eliminating the use of the Doctrine of Discovery. Study and discuss the Doctrine of Discovery  in your congregation and speak against it.
5. Provide age-appropriate education on Native lives and cultures as part of your congregation’s religious education programming. Take active steps to counter the dominant message that Native peoples are history by offering examples of present-day American Indian life, art, etc. Resources include: Giving Our Hearts Away: Native American Survivalby Thom White Wolf Fassett (a resource sponsored by United Methodist Women); On This Spirit Walk: The Voices of Native American and Indigenous Peoples by Henrietta Mann and Anita Phillips; and the “Return to the Earth” project of the Mennonite Central Committee. These are all study guides to culturally relevant American Indian traditions that provide an opportunity for The United Methodist Church to engage in its commitment for Restorative Justice.
6. Hold a movie screening with a discussion afterward.There are a plethora of films that can generate rich discussion. Check out VisionMaker Video, a video catalog by Native American Public Telecommunications of films by and about Native folks (see, for example, the film Columbus Day Legacy).
7. Host a congregation-wide common read and book discussion. Possible titles include: An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United Statesby Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz; A Little Matter of Genocide by Ward Churchill; Off the Reservation by Paula Gunn Allen; Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown; Reinventing the Enemy's Language edited by Joy Harjo and Gloria Bird; The Woman Who Watches Over the World by Linda Hogan; and Soul Work edited by Marjorie Bowens-Wheatley and Nancy Palmer Jones.
   You can also find books on the particular tribes in your area — check out a listing of books by tribes from Native Languages of the Americas. For more reading suggestions, visit Bringing the Doctrine of Discovery Back Home.
8. Engage with “Immigration as a Moral Issue.” Indigenous peoples of Central America are a big part of today’s desperate wave of migration to the United States. Find out how the United States has continued Columbus’s violent legacy of colonialism against Central American peoples. Check out the study guide from Multicultural Growth & Witness.
9. Begin Building the World We Dream About, a transformational Tapestry of Faith curriculum on race and ethnicity. This program allows participants to take concrete steps to heal, individually and as a congregation, the ways in which racism separates us from one another and spiritually stifles each of us.
10. Take action for the rights and needs of Native peoples! Visit https://www.umcjustice.org/who-we-are/social-principles-and-resolutions/native-people-and-the-united-methodist-church-3321to learn how.
11. Support efforts to end Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls, https://www.niwrc.org/resources/topic/missing-and-murdered-native-women. See a proclamation on Murdered and Missing Persons Awareness Day here. 
12. Support The Bicameral Indigenous Peoples’ Day Act reintroduced in Congress 2023 to replace Columbus Day as a federal holiday and designate the second Monday of October as Indigenous Peoples’ Day.
13. Pray for and support Native/Indigenous ministries, community groups, and businesses. In addition to giving on May 1, consider making a monthly or quarterly donation to Native American ministries and scholarships in your area. Or you can give to the denomination-wide Native American Comprehensive Plan here.
14. Learn about the Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition, the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative and support the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act, https://indiancountrytoday.com/news/us-boarding-school-investigative-report-released and https://boardingschoolhealing.org/truthcommission/
15. Share the Oklahoma City Public School lesson plan for Thanksgiving with your youth in preparation for Thanksgiving Day, https://www.okcps.org/cms/lib/OK01913268/Centricity/Domain/130/NASS%20Thanksgiving%20Lesson%20Plan%20Booklet.pdf?fbclid=IwAR0w3a9e-w5VBeKJnIkoZttu1oEksJYXZwmoGI5rxfWHd-UWapBqGPgSBfM

More Resources

• Coalition partner: The Friends Committee on National Legislation: This Quaker organization has long sought to live in right relations with Native peoples, working in respectful partnership with them on the issues most important to them.
• Coalition partner: Amnesty International: Amnesty is devoted to documenting and ending violence against Native women.
• Human trafficking in Indian Country: http://www.ncai.org/policy-research-center/research-data/prc-publications/TraffickingBrief.pdf
• National American International Caucus, http://www.naicumc.org

 Additional Information can be found at https://www.umcjustice.org/who-we-are/social-principles-and-resolutions/native-people-and-the-united-methodist-church-3321

Additional Content Credit: https://www.uua.org/multiculturalism/dod/indigenous-day