Bridges in Understanding: Aboriginal Christian Men Tell Their Stories

John Steckley teaches in the Human Studies Program at Humber College in
Toronto. He is the author of Beyond Their Years: Five Native Women’s
Stories.

Bridges in Understanding comprises the life stories of five male
Aboriginal Christian Elders and a poem-structured soliloquy by another
such Elder. The Elders belong to a diverse group—Cree, Inuit, Ojibwa,
and Siksika (Blackfoot)—and demonstrate a clear respect for their
traditions, blending them in well with their Christianity.

The stories are mixed in voice. Some are in the first-person voice of
the Elder, some are a combination of first and third person, some are
completely third person. The first-person narratives offer more
effective teaching than the third-person narratives, which sometimes
stray from the gentle teaching quality that comes from Elders freely
telling their stories. The highlight of the collection is the
first-person narrative of Andrew Atagotaaluk, who likens Inuit shamans
to “Old Testament prophets” and says that “When God calls me, / he
is calling me / as an Inuk person; / he is not trying to move me / into
another culture.”

The history of interaction between Aboriginal people and Christianity
has been a troubled one. This engaging book gives hope that there are
positive forms of connection between the two great traditions.