A few months ago, I started a conversation with some friends about indigenous spirituality. We are all white people—two in Australia, one in Canada and myself in Scotland—which felt like a problem, but we had to start the conversation somewhere. My interest began with what I was discovering about the Celtic tradition, which went back towards the indigenous religion of the British Isles, albeit with few certainties and much conjecture. This brought to me a deep sense of earth connectedness which led to me wondering how much these ideas were held in common with other indigenous peoples. It will not surprise you to know that things are more complicated than that—what I began to get glimpse of was great complexity, anchored to very different world views and spiritualities. It was also clear that in many senses, asking this question in such a casual way risked further colonising and exploiting the faith systems of people already devastated by colonisation and exploitation. What right did I have to mine useful meaning from people in order to give power to my own versions of Christianity?
I could say a lot more about this search, but we hope to talk about this in a podcast in the near future, so if you are interested, watch for that (if you want to be part of this conversation, let me know). In the meantime, I want to share some words from this book, The First Nations New Testament.
This book was written by Terry Wildman. The First Nations Version New Testament is a new translation of the Sacred Scriptures by and for the Indigenous Peoples of North Americans. The idea for this project began in 2002 while Terry and Darlene lived on the Hopi Indian reservation in Northern Arizona. They were looking for ways to tell the story of the Bible to Native North Americans, in a culturally relevant context. This meant trying to frame the language in a way that took account of the hurt and harm done, often in the name of the same religion. What emerged from this process is a book that is not only useful for first nations people though. Here is Matthew Chapter 5…
(Matthew) Gift from Creator Tells the Good Story 5
1 When Creator Sets Free (Jesus) saw this great crowd, he went back up into the mountainside and sat down to teach the people. His followers came to him there, 2 so he took a deep breath, opened his mouth, and began to share his wisdom with them and teach them how to see Creator’s good road.
BLESSINGS OF THE GOOD ROAD
3 “Creator’s blessing rests on the poor, the ones with broken spirits. The good road from above is theirs to walk.
4 “Creator’s blessing rests on the ones who walk a trail of tears, for he will wipe the tears from their eyes and comfort them.
5 “Creator’s blessing rests on the ones who walk softly and in a humble manner. The earth, land, and sky will welcome them and always be their home.
6 “Creator’s blessing rests on the ones who hunger and thirst for wrongs to be made right again. They will eat and drink until they are full.
7 “Creator’s blessing rests on the ones who are merciful and kind to others. Their kindness will find its way back to them—full circle.
8 “Creator’s blessing rests on the pure of heart. They are the ones who will see the Great Spirit.
9 “Creator’s blessing rests on the ones who make peace. It will be said of them, ‘They are the children of the Great Spirit!’
10 “Creator’s blessing rests on the ones who are hunted down and mistreated for doing what is right, for they are walking the good road from above.
11 “Others will lie about you, speak against you, and look down on you with scorn and contempt, all because you walk the road with me. This is a sign that Creator’s blessing is resting on you. 12 So let your hearts be glad and jump for joy, for you will be honored in the spirit-world above. You are like the prophets of old, who were treated in the same way by your ancestors.
