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Reclaiming history through repentance

 
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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.
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.
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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.
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.
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.
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“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.

Journey to 2012 Act of Repentance

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