Living out ELCA’s Commitment to Truth and Healing for Native America

In April, Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton called on ELCA congregations to increase our understanding of our colonizing impact on indigenous people in the past and in the present. She has asked us to reflect together on what it would mean to live in right and healthy relationship with the indigenous people of North America.  We’re responding to Bishop Eaton’s call by offering books, programs, and opportunities to discover more about Native Americans. It’s easy to forget about what we don’t see. Together we can open our eyes, our minds, and our hearts to new understanding, new appreciation, and new respect. This list is a work in progress. We’ll add more resources at the top of the list as we find them — older material is towards the bottom.

Added August 29 —In September of 2022 ELCA’s BOARDING SCHOOL TRUTH-SEEKING AND TRUTH-TELLING INITIATIVE began to study Lutheran involvement in Indian boarding schools and day schools in the United States. Volunteers from four states (Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Michigan) are already working; volunteers from six more states, including Indiana, will meet in late September to begin their work. To learn more about the ELCA initiative, go to elca.org and search “Indian Boarding Schools.” If you are interested in being a part of this volunteer program (the Initiative notes “a particular need for skills in research, data collection, education and organizing”), click the button at the bottom of the webpage and complete the online form. For further information, go to  Volume 1 of the Federal Boarding School Initiative Investigatory Report and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland’s Remarks on Abuse of Native American Children.

Reckoning with History — Here are resources to help understand what has happened and what’s hoped for as ELCA members and Indiana Lutherans reexamine our history with indigenous peoples.

A Declaration of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America to American Indian and Alaska Native People

ELCA’s Repudiation of the Doctrine of Discovery — 2016

ELCA’s Office for Indigenous Ministries and Tribal Relations

Thousands of Native American remains, a legacy of offensive research and the effort to move forward — Indiana Daily Student

IU, Miami Tribe of Oklahoma will co-host National NAGPRA Review Committee Meeting in Bloomington — Indiana Daily Student

Material prepared for the Mission Committee’s 2023 Summer Focus Topic

Read all about it in this article from the May newsletter.

Movies and TV Shows about the Indigenous Peoples of the United States – Representation is the watchword. Here’s our list so far.

Road Trips! Take a look at our list of historic sites from Prophetstown to Evansville. What have we missed? Please let us know!

The Eiteljorg Museum of Native and Western Art and Artifacts has completely reimagined and redesigned its gallery of Native American art. They write, “The Eiteljorg has taken the initiative to change the way museums typically tell Native Americans’ stories by creating a space for the peoples themselves to tell their own stories. … the complete reconstruction of the second floor Native American Galleries, showcasing Native art in a modern space. The galleries provide a contextual experience organized around the themes of relation, continuation, and innovation, demonstrating the continuum of Native art. Art is an essential part of being. It has always been and continues to be a way for Native peoples to express, exist, persist, and resist.”