Native American
On day of remembrance, churches confront their role in Indigenous boarding schools
By Emily McFarlan Miller — September 30, 2021
CHICAGO (RNS) — Several US mainline denominations — including the Episcopal Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the United Methodist Church — encouraged their members to observe a day of remembrance for US Indian boarding schools on Sept. 30.
Local Indigenous groups worry Bears Ears Monument will limit access to ritual space
By Joseph Hammond — September 24, 2021
(RNS) — The initial push for the monument was supported by the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition, but the two closest chapters of the Navajo Nation resisted the plans. At stake are two different visions of how to best protect sacred land.
Indigenous communities in Louisiana’s Delta overwhelmed by damage from Ida
By Emily McFarlan Miller — September 1, 2021
(RNS) — Monique Verdin, a member of the United Houma Nation, is afraid Louisiana’s Indigenous communities will be forgotten as faith-based disaster relief groups and other aid streams to New Orleans.
First Nations Version translates the New Testament for Native American readers
By Emily McFarlan Miller — August 31, 2021
(RNS) — 'We believe it's a gift not only to our Native people, (but) from our Native people to the dominant culture,' said Terry Wildman, the lead translator and project manager of the First Nations Version.
US churches reckon with traumatic legacy of Native schools
By Peter Smith — July 23, 2021
(AP) — The discoveries of hundreds of unmarked graves at former residential schools for Indigenous children in Canada have prompted calls for a reckoning over similar schools in the United States.
Uncovering boarding school history makes for monumental task
By Susan Montoya Bryan — July 15, 2021
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — They sat inside a dust-covered box that had been stashed away, untouched, for years: black-and-white photographs of Apache students who were among the first sent to a New Mexico boarding school bankrolled by East Coast parishioners and literary fans. The first showed the girls bundled in blankets with moccasins on their […]
US Catholic bishops pledge to assist country’s review of past Indigenous boarding schools
By Emily McFarlan Miller — June 30, 2021
(RNS) — ‘By bringing this painful story to light, may it bring some measure of peace to the victims and a heightened awareness so that this disturbing history is never repeated,’ said Chieko Noguchi, spokesperson for the USCCB.
Evangelical Covenant Church joins list of Protestant denominations rebuking Doctrine of Discovery
By Emily McFarlan Miller — June 29, 2021
(RNS) — While the Evangelical Covenant Church has been working on its resolution for the past five years, its action came the day after the Cowessess First Nation announced it had found indications of at least 751 unmarked graves near the former Marieval Indian Residential School in Saskatchewan.
Man charged in San Gabriel Mission blaze that destroyed rooftop of historic church
By Alejandra Molina — May 4, 2021
SAN GABRIEL, Calif. (RNS) — John David Corey faces two felony counts of arson of an inhabited structure and one count each of arson during a state of emergency, first-degree residential burglary and possession of flammable material, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office says.
Why Oak Flat in Arizona is a sacred space for the Apache and other Native Americans
By Alejandra Molina and Emily McFarlan Miller — March 5, 2021
SUPERIOR, Ariz. (RNS) — The Apache believe Oak Flat is a 'blessed place' where Ga’an — guardians or messengers between the people and Usen, Creator God — dwell. The site is at risk of being turned over to an Australian mining company.
US Forest Service temporarily halts transfer of Native American sacred site Oak Flat
By Emily McFarlan Miller — March 1, 2021
(RNS) — The move at least temporarily halts the transfer of Chi’chil Biłdagoteel, known widely as Oak Flat, to Australian mining company Resolution Copper.
Thousands sign petition in support of five charged in Junipero Serra statue toppling
By Alejandra Molina — December 9, 2020
(RNS) — Five people charged with the toppling of a Junipero Serra statue at a California church in October are scheduled to appear in court this week.
Churches return land to Indigenous groups as part of #LandBack movement
By Emily McFarlan Miller — November 26, 2020
KITCHENER, Ontario (RNS) — The returns come as some mainline Protestant Christian denominations have learned about and repudiated the Doctrine of Discovery, the justification for European Christians to seize lands already inhabited by Indigenous peoples.
Potawatomi Christian author Kaitlin Curtice on finding herself and God in new book
By Emily McFarlan Miller — May 5, 2020
(RNS) — Curtice wasn’t expecting to release her book amid a pandemic, but she believes the book can speak into this moment in history.
A court win for Standing Rock gives new life to defenders of sacred land
By Michael D. McNally — April 1, 2020
(RNS) — A federal judge’s call for an environmental study may not stop oil from flowing, but it brings some vindication for indigenous people’s fight to protect the sacred, in the courts and on the ground.
