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By Linda Bloom*
1:00 P.M. EST Sept. 29, 2010 | DENVER (UMNS)
Bishop Elaine Stanovsky walks a path at Sand Creek, the site of a
massacre of Native Americans led by Methodist pastor John Chivington in
1864. UMNS photos by Ginny Underwood.
View in Photo Gallery
When the Rev. Carol Lakota Eastin attended the 2007 dedication of
the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site in Colorado, she went
with a dual identity.
She represented both the United Methodist Commission on Christian
Unity and Interreligious Concerns and the denomination’s Native
American membership. With a Lakota father and mother with Yakima
heritage, she represented both the United Methodist Commission on
Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns and the denomination’s
Native American membership.
It was Lakota Eastin’s identity as a Methodist pastor — the same
identity as John Chivington, the man who led the massacre — that
she found most disquieting as she pondered what led to such violence.
At the time, she wrote, “I am reminded that sin abides in us all,
and evil can and will assert itself even through the very vessels which
hold the souls of Christians.”
Now, the Illinois pastor is co-chairperson, with Blenda Smith, of
the commission’s task force to lead The United Methodist Church to an
“act of repentance” for past injustices toward indigenous peoples around
the world.
Authorized by the 2008 General Conference, the denomination’s top
legislative body, a resolution called “Healing Relationships with
Indigenous Persons” charges the commission “with the necessary study and
preparation of resources for the process of listening, repentance and
reconciliation to occur.” It is one of 18 resolutions supporting Native
Americans in the United Methodist 2008 Book of Resolutions.
United Methodists made an initial apology at the 1996 General
Conference in Denver, when a resolution was adopted to support
government restitutions to the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes for wrongs
against humanity.
But the process of repentance must represent more than an apology or
worship service, said the Rev. Steven J. Sidorak Jr., the commission’s
top executive.
The Rev. Thom White Wolf Fassett, a retired United Methodist staff
executive, made his first visit to the Sand Creek Massacre site on Sept.
24. He is leading an advisory council for the denomination’s 2012 Act
of Repentance.
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“It is imperative for us to struggle spiritually with the
ecclesiological implications attendant to this Act of Repentance and to
provide ample and compelling evidence of demonstrable denominational
contrition for our collective responsibility,” he emphasized to his
directors.
Listening to indigenous voices
The commission has begun its work by listening to indigenous voices,
both in the United States and in places like the Philippines. Last
November, the task force visited the Northern Cheyenne reservation in
Lame Deer, Mont. Otto Braided Hair and his family, who have been
involved for years in the efforts to create the historical site, were a
part of that visit. He and other tribal members came to Denver to
speak about the massacre and journey with the commission to what he
considers a sacred spot.
At least 165 Native Americans were killed in the Sand Creek
Massacre, Nov. 29-30, 1864, when troops led by Colonel Chivington
attacked an encampment largely consisting of women, children and
elderly people. The village was flying an American flag and one of the
chief was wearing a peace medal given to him by President Abraham
Lincoln.
To the Northern Cheyenne, the slaughter remains a fresh tragedy.
Braided Hair said he has overcome his anger enough to realize that they
would have to start talking about Sand Creek with others, including
Methodists. “It took some understanding to see that others wanted to
heal,” he said.
The Rev. Thom White Wolf Fassett, a Native American and retired top
executive of the United Methodist Board of Church and Society,
understands those wounds.
Methodists were among those who “entered into collusion with the
government” as it continued to push into new territories in the western
United States. “We culturally displaced native peoples, and we
destroyed family systems,” he said.
The struggle of Native Americans to fight that forced assimilation
is “continuing to happen in the United States of America,” added
Fassett, who is chairperson of Sidorak’s advisory council for the 2012
Act of Repentance. Similar cultural dynamics, he said, are “repeating
themselves among the various geographies around the world.”
Repentance is not an apology, but a reclaiming of history to try to
undo injustices, the Rev. George Tinker, professor of American Indian
Cultures and Religious Traditions at Iliff School of Theology, told the
commission.
The Rev. Carol Lakota Eastin (right) offers solidarity to Reginald
Killsnight Sr. (left) of the Northern Cheyenne tribe, during an
emotional dialogue about the Sand Creek massacre. At center is David
Halaas, a Colorado historian.
View in Photo Gallery
“Your job is to unearth this history and tell it in a whole new way,” he said.
Re-telling history
The history of Sand Creek will be told in a new way at the Sand
Creek Massacre National Historic Site Research and Learning Center. By
General Conference action, the church is donating $50,000 to be used in
the development of the center, located near the historic site in the
town of Eads, in partnership with the National Park Service, which has
pledged a matching grant.
“We hope to be able to leverage that into additional grants and
donations,” said Alexa Roberts, park superintendent for the Sand Creek
site.
Denver Area Bishop Elaine Stanovsky made her own spontaneous pledge
of support after joining commission members in a Sept. 24 trip to the
massacre site.
Stanovsky, her husband and three 20-something sons are participating in this year’s annual “healing run.”
Now in its 12th year, the November anniversary run, open to anyone,
has become a way for the Cheyenne and Arapaho to memorialize Sand Creek
ancestors. Some make the three-day run from the massacre site while
other runners join in for a shorter route in Denver.
Noting that the tribes often lack funds to bring in runners from
their reservations, Stanovsky announced that she would be asking members
of the two annual (regional) conferences she supervises to make
donations for the healing run in honor of her Oct. 12 birthday. An
immediate pass-the-hat collection from the commission yielded more than
$1,000.
“What we’re talking about is promoting the healing process among the descendants,” Stanovsky said.
For Lakota Eastin, being able to bring the commission to the
massacre site offered an opportunity for healing for the church as well.
“It’s important to know it’s been a really long journey,” she said.
*Bloom is a United Methodist News Service multimedia reporter based in New York. Follow her at http://twitter.com/umcscribe.
News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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