Christ Is a Native American

John Steckley teaches human studies at Hunter College in Toronto.

In 1984, Pope John Paul II said that “not only is Christianity
relevant to the Indian peoples, but Christ, in the members of his Body,
is himself Indian.” Father Peelman sets out to test the validity of
that statement by investigating how Natives in Canada (mainly the Cree
of northern Alberta, the nearby Dene, the Ojibwa of northern Ontario,
and the Abenaki) and the United States (almost exclusively the Lakota)
are attempting to reconcile indigenous spiritual traditions—visions,
the sacred pipe, and such rituals as the Sun Dance—with Christian
beliefs related to Jesus Christ. His book is a combination of competent
summaries of the literature on some of the traditions, some frequently
long and esoteric theological discussions, and loosely linked
interviews.

Peelman identifies two key kinds of actors on this spiritual stage: the
Natives themselves and “Christian ministers who are truly moved by
Amerindian spirituality.” Too often, though, we hear from and about
the latter. And when the Natives do speak, their spiritual voices are
constrained by the author’s excessively directed interviewing
technique.

There is a clear bias in this work. Peelman glosses over the horrendous
effects of sickness and the spiritual bullying of some of the early
missionaries by stating that “[s]ince the Indians were under no direct
compulsion to embrace Christianity, there could have been no Native
Christian communities unless they had voluntarily converted
themselves.” Further, he completely avoids mention of the residential
schools, arguably the most destructive manifestation of relations
between the Natives and the Christian missionaries.

A book that illuminates Native experience in order to heal the wounds
of spiritual division in Native communities is long overdue. This is not
that book.