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A. Barriers to effective ministry.
1. Paternalism (refusal to acknowlege any substance to Native American values, attitudes, and experiences).
a. indifference due to lack of information.
b. reception of new information.
c. denial of any validity to new information; affirmation of indifference.
learning process stops. Or, one goes from denial of validity of information
to fear.
d. fear.
i. fear of venturing outside of one's "emotional safety zone."
ii. fear of Natives due to decades of conditioning by the mass media.
e. guilt and anger.
i. feeling personally responsible for past injustices.
f. denial.
i. denial of one's own emotions. leads to rejection of new
information. learning process stops. individual returns to
indifference.
2. Romanticism.
a. indifference due to lack of information.
b. reception of new information.
c. fear.
i. fear of venturing outside of one's "emotional safety zone;" which
can lead to the next step. creation of an artifical Indian culture, with
substitute authorities, rituals, and identity. the learning process
stops, and actually retrogresses.
e. guilt.
i. people who choose to build artificial Indian cultures seek approval
or "absolution of their sins" from Indians.
ii. painful guilt and information overload causes sympathy but
inaction. learning process stops, or sparks anger, which leads to next
step.
f. anger (at past injustices).
i. cynicism and despair that any creative response is possible.
learning process stops, or proceeds to next step.
g. dialogue.
i. acceptance of, and sympathy and understanding for, Native
problems.
ii. refusal to deify or to demonize Native Americans.
iii. beginning of dialogue toward partnership with Native Americans
for seeking solutions to problems.
B. Issues of which to be aware.
1. power and lack of power in cross-cultural relationships.
i. political obstructions to self-determination.
A. Seven Major Crimes Act. removal of felony jurisdiction
from Indian communities.
B. Allotment (Dawes) Act. Drastic reduction of Indian land
base in the late 1800's.
C. Indian Reorganization (Howard-Wheeler) Act. instituted
constitutionally-based tribal governments. Results: presence
of two tribal governments, traditional and progressive.
potential for installing figureheads in tribal governments who
will enforce policies without regard to well-being of Native
communities.
D. Termination Act. shifting of Native population to urban
areas. Results: difficulty of access to ritual specialists,
materials, and privacy necessary for ceremonies. creation of
reservation and urban power bases. division of families.
ii. legal regulation of Native American religions.
A. legal regulation of ritual practices, ceremonies, and sacred
sites. may include restriction to, or annexation of, sacred
sites.
B. legal regulation of endangered species which are an
integral part of Native religions (panther, eagle feathers).
C. lack of adequate guarantee of protection or privacy for
sacred sites (double-standard in legal regulation, allowing
outsiders access to sacred sites and restricting Native access.
This allows for periodic disruption by tourists and non-Indian
shamans of Natives on religious retreat at sacred sites).
D. refusal to prisoners of access to Native ritual objects,
ritual practitioners, and ceremonies, while allowing the same
privileges for Christian religions.
iii. religious paternalism.
A. refusal to ordain Native clergy. maintenance of an
administrative "glass ceiling" for Native clergy. insistence
upon Western standards of qualifications, without regard to
Native values.
B. permanent status of Indian communities as mission fields.
C. "fulfillment theology" which sees Native religions as
"foreshadowing" or being "fulfilled" in Christianity.
D. denial of cultural expression and experience of
Christianity.
iv. cultural exploitation.
A. erosion of traditional religious authority by substitution of
cultural outsiders as "authorities" (Western scholars; New
Age shamans; non-Indian religious leaders).
B. pressure from outsiders who insist on attending
ceremonies, or on practicing Indian religions, based on their
"freedom of religion."
C. disturbing human remains and burial grounds. possession
of same by museums or by individuals.
D. the appropriation, misuse, and redefinition of Indian
words and cultural symbols (Indian sports mascots; use of
Indian names and images to sell products, etc.).
2. intergenerational trauma.
a. deterioration of cultures.
i. breakdown or weakening of extended family unit.
A. shifting of Native population to urban areas.
B. periodic legal assaults upon Indian Child Welfare Act.
C. expectation that Indians will shift from extended family to
nuclear family unit.
D. the introduction and persistence of alcohol in Indian
Country. the appearance of new forms of substance abuse.
b. living with collective memory.
A. internalized negative emotions and attitudes (such as
shame due to being Native American).
B. the experience of conscious and unconscious racism.
C. the ambiguity of Native identity (can be positive or
negative). sharp distinction between "insiders" and
"outsiders." lack of an adequate way to distinguish between
Indians and non-Indians.
D. removal of Indian children from their homes.
II. Engaging in pastoral care to Native Americans
A. Some examples of unexpected conflict.
1. pastor talks too much or interrupts (Native value of respect demands that one
person is heard before the other person begins talking).
2. pastoral charge asks for money, then gives it to someone else (sharing of
resources in traditional cultures).
3. pastor shows up for appointment; is irritated when pastoral charge isn't there
(different cultural experiences of time).
4. pastoral charge says how much he like's pastor's shirt or hat, then stalks off
when pastor says "thank you" (appropriate cultural response is to make a gift of
the hat or shirt).
5. pastor arrives at dinner at local Indian center. he/she is hungry and bounces up
to get in line when dinner is announced (deference to elders; elders eat before
anyone else; food is always blessed before eating).
6. pastor is asked to make Lakota funeral arrangements; calls in a Pawnee
medicine man (intertribal animosities can cut across generational lines).
B. Direct social service: referrals.
1. the local Indian community.
a. first stop: the local Indian Center (if available).
i. JTPA (job training).
ii. Indian Child Welfare.
b. local tribal or Indian community office.
i. tribal enrollment and tribal services.
c. Indian spiritual centers (local and national).
d. Indian community agencies.
2. federal government.
a. Indian Health Service (under U.S. Public Health Service).
b. Bureau of Indian Affairs.
3. general community agencies
a. culturally-sensitive religious agencies or churches.
C. Pastoral care and ceremonial protocol.
1. the sponsor assumes total responsibility (including financial) for a ceremony.
2. who is responsible for sponsoring a ceremony?
3. mixed-gender and single-gender ceremonies.
4. elements which work against the effectiveness of a ceremony.
a. the presence of drugs, alcohol, or intoxicated individuals.
b. the presence of menstruating females at ceremonies.
i. Indian sacred power is accumulated. A woman "in her moon" has
tremendous sacred power, and can neutralize the power of a pipe or
of a ritual specialist.
ii. for the same reason, it is a violation of ritual protocol to smudge
women without knowledge of whether they are in their moon time.
This has been handled in ways including (1) asking women not to
come if they are in their moon. A traditional woman will already
know not to do this, and (2) requesting prior to the ceremony that
women in their moon time remove themselves from the sacred space.
c. the presence of non-Indians at bereavement ceremonies.
D. Death and bereavement.
1. immediate pastoral care.
a. bring food to bereaved.
b. call community members to inform them.
2. available ritual responses to grief.
a. the pipe ceremony.
b. the sweat lodge.
c. the informal prayer circle.
d . the honoring powwow.
e. the soul-keeping ceremony: an institutionalized grieving process.
f . Christian ceremonies--to adapt or not?
1. funeral arrangements.
a. securing a ritual specialist.
b. securing a "drum" (singers) for an honoring powwow.
c. locating a space for the ceremony.
d. funding or "sponsoring" for a bereavement ceremony.
e. cooking for the ceremony.
2. long-term pastoral care
a. food offerings for the departed.
b. what to do if the deceased's spirit contacts the living.
c. periodic ceremonies to comfort the bereaved.
E. Build relationships with local Native communities.
1. Offer help to local Native communities; they are your primary source for
referrals. Work with them, not for them.
2. Maintain consistent presence at public Native events to demonstrate your
sincerity and support.
3. Seek continuing education for work in Native communities.