The purpose of the survey is to identify both "native blood and native heart," that is, those who are Native American members, as well as those who are non-Native American advocates/allies, who may be involved in Native American ministries and/or wish to become involved. The survey form is available both as hardcopy and on the church Web page. [Note: no longer available online.] This survey serves as a first step in a two-step process.

The second step involves the use of a standard membership card, to be filled out only by Native American members of the church. While most of the members will already be listed in Membership Records, the card will help identify our Native American members through additional profile data in order to broaden the base of ministry and identify further needs. Membership Records, coordinated by Karla Zinn, World Church recorder, and the World Church Research Office, under the direction of Duane Graham, have been consulted in this process and have offered help as needed.

The rationale for a survey and membership profile data is easily justified. The use of a survey and enrollment data makes available ways in which the church might, through statistics, be held accountable for ministry, programs, and funding use, and provides a means through which "invisible Saints" may be seen. As Jim Wallis states in Who Speaks for God?: "When the voice of God is invoked on behalf of those who have no voice, it is time to listen."⁸

Allowing for the "differential undercount," identified in U.S. Census records since 1940 (which states that people of color and poor people in urban and rural areas are missed at a much higher rate than whites), there is an estimated combined Native American population in the United States of 2.4 million. Of those people 1.3 million live on reservations.⁹ Sixty percent are identified as under the age of twenty-five.¹⁰ Forty percent of all Native Americans in the last U.S. census were under twenty, compared with 28 percent for the general population. Native Americans are the youngest and fastest-growing minority in the U.S.¹¹ What an opportunity for the church, which promises to "engage 20,000 children, youth and young adults [and] establish 200 new congregations...bringing to the church new life, freshness of spirit, and ethnic and cultural diversity"!¹²

Native Americans are teachers, professors, poets, authors, activists, construction workers, doctors, nurses, college presidents, administrative and government officials, spiritual leaders, and more. Kevin Gover (Pawnee), the assistant secretary for Indian Affairs in the U.S. Department of Interior, calls these leaders of today noteworthy in the tradition of the great "patriot warriors" of the past. Those were the leaders who laid down their arms and faced many hardships and sacrifices to survive and preserve their people. "Patriot warriors" put the needs of the tribe before their own safety and comforts. They still do so today.¹³ Yet we need to consider also some other information regarding Native Americans.

Native Americans lead the United States in some of the most discouraging demographics:

• Native Americans have the lowest life expectancy of any population in this hemisphere, except Haitians.
• The average age of death for a Native American male is forty-one years old.
• A 1995 study found that 26.5 percent of deaths for Native American men were linked to alcohol; for women, 13 percent--that was 5.6 times the overall U.S. rate.
• Thirty-three percent live below the poverty level, compared with 13 percent for the total U.S. population.
• The teenage suicide rate for Native Americans (17.3 percent) is 70 percent higher than the rate for the U.S. general population. One out of every two girls on the reservation tries suicide by age sixteen, and one out of every three boys.
• Unemployment is around 50 percent on most reservations, rising as high as 90 percent on some. The rate for the U.S. population as a whole in July 1999 was 4.2 percent.
• About one in eight Native Americans develops diabetes--twice the rate for whites. Deaths from diabetes are three times higher for Native Americans.
• The school dropout rate is higher for Native Americans, especially those living on reservations, compared with the total U.S. population.¹⁴

Native American communities, both on and off reservations, suffer harshly with these negative realities. As one Native American member stated, "Well, they drank to keep from seeing how horrible their life was." Another notes, "defilement is rooted in bitterness--many Native Americans continue to defile themselves because of the bitterness of the past or present." One member of the task force explained, "Many Native Americans live in a history of the past, which creates broken people, bitterness and grudges....Many see themselves as victims of the past and present." Marginalized and in many ways "invisible" to the mainstream communities, there is much that the church can offer in proclaiming Jesus Christ and promoting communities of joy, hope, love, and peace.¹⁵

3. The Creation of a Native American Nations Advocacy Council

There is established protocol among Native Americans to meet in council to direct and implement Native American issues. Therefore, the creation of a Native American Nations Advocacy Council would support Native members when they encounter injustice, discrimination, and conflict; and specifically be a place and a person to contact. We recommend that such a council be established; that it be chaired by the T2000 Native American minister, have the support of a Web-page link, a development budget, and include liaison with the Peace and Justice Office and Human Rights Committee, as many of their goals overlap with the needs of Native American members.

We further recommend that the RLDS Church participate as an active member of the "Washington Interreligious Staff Community," in Washington, D.C. This role should reside at a World Church level. Also, our participation should include being on the Native American Working Group (NAWG) of the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL). (See Appendix.)

We also go on record as supporting the creation and hiring of a "Race and Ethnicity Specialist" at church headquarters. Such a person would be a valuable asset to the church community, supporting T2000 ministers and others as the need arises. As of this writing, a Diversity Action team has been created to explore the issues related to diversity. In part, they will explore future staffing recommendations of this type.

4. Education

Our educational goal is to raise the consciousness of the church toward a better understanding of Native American peoples.

We are pleased that Native American thought and spirituality were woven throughout the 1999 Peace Colloquy in words, actions, and music. We thank Andrew Bolton for his hard work in bringing this about. We are grateful for the efforts of Central Field members John Moody, Carole Barnes, and Linda McDaniel in providing the information and support for our role in presenting the name of Chief Jake Swamp for inclusion in the program. This element was the dream of many. The Tree of Peace planting and the interfaith dialogue available were significant representations of the experience and spirituality that Native Americans have to offer the church and the world.

We also anticipate methods of advocacy to include involvement and inclusion in all aspects of church resource production, e.g., Christian Education curriculum, Temple School coursework, Saints Herald articles, reunion workshops, hymnals, etc. To these endeavors we challenge all members to take part and assist by sharing your gifts with those who are responsible for the production of these resources. In this way we can all minister effectively to help strengthen Native identity, encourage individual self-esteem, and assist persons in "finding face, finding heart, finding vocation, and becoming complete--a whole sense of being human."¹⁶

While we do not anticipate this task force will continue to function following this report to the First Presidency and the World Conference, members of the task force have consulted with Temple School and committed their time and expertise to prepare a Temple School course on Native American Issues/Ministries, with a release date set for the Indigenous Leadership Conference in February 2001.

Additionally, we recommend to the World Church the development and promotion of a Native American Heritage Appreciation Day in January of each year. While we recognize the difficulties inherent in singling out an indigenous people, we feel a Native American Heritage Appreciation Day to be vitally important in focusing education and worship on the gifts and talents of Native Americans. Moreover, it can be used to bring awareness of peace and justice issues and further transformation and healing of all cultures. We suggest that Racial Justice Day in January be expanded to Racial Awareness Month, with different "races" acknowledged weekly in worship and education.

The philosophy of All Nations Sacred Circle is that it takes all people to make the circle whole. Offertory taken on the Sunday set aside for Native American Heritage Appreciation would provide needed funds for educational programs to broaden our base in supporting Native American members through cultural awareness, tying into such events as RLDS partnered/affiliated camps, pow-wows, mentors, and preventive measures to youth at risk.

It is our hope that information coming out of such educational efforts will compassionately lead the church to an intentional expression of reconciliation, with an apology as part of the process of reconciliation. In speaking of the development of an apology from the church, we would like to submit information on a few others who have made such apologies:

Following a report made by the Royal Commission on Aboriginal People, which condemned Canada's treatment of Indians and Inuit, the Canadian Government formally apologized in January 1998 "for past actions that resulted in weakening the identity of aboriginal peoples, suppressing their language and cultures, and outlawing spiritual practices."^{17 "}In 1986, the United Church of Canada, in an official ceremony, apologized for organized religion's role in suppressing native cultures."¹⁸ In January 1992, prompted by studying an alternative view to the quincentenary of the "discovery" of the Americas by Christopher Columbus, the Mennonite Central Committee Canada issued an apology to Native people. In February of that same year, the joint Canadian-American Mennonite Central Committee in session in Wichita, Kansas, approved a nearly identical statement.¹⁹

The RLDS Human Rights Committee was established by World Conference action in 1984 and was subsequently charged with the responsibility of assisting church members to actively support human rights both globally and locally. The goal of the committee is to: "Create a sense of global community that values the diversity of culture and experience, upholds the worth and contribution of all persons, and recognizes that we have much to learn from each other."²⁰ We believe that important aspects of this committee's work can assist the church in terms of Native American ministry, especially in facing prejudice and racism within the church. We may be uncomfortable in examining our own failings to be truly Christian, where "...by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free...for the body is not one members, but many" (I Corinthians 12:13-14). Yet Carol Hampton (Caddo), writing in Sojourners, states,

Those very people who would disavow their racism would obstruct American Indian access to sacred sites, trivialize tribal traditions and cultures, interfere with tribal and intertribal religious practices, denounce tribal governments...and, at the same time, repudiate American Indian existence. Such actions "isolate, separate, and exploit" American Indians.²¹

Today--and in the future as we study and learn--the church must recognize its own gains made by our ancestors in land acquisitions from multilayered treaties, encroachment, and mandatory removals forced upon Native Americans. Such actions made it possible for the settlement of the Midwest, the "cradle" of the Reorganization. We must acknowledge the cultural understandings of the day, in which the church reflected--and reflects--the attitudes and opinions of the dominant white society in the United States of America and Canada. George Tinker (Osage) challenges us

...to consider in our own historical and theological context, namely, What is our blindness today? With the best of intentions, and with the full support of our best theologies and intellectual capabilities, do we continue to fall into the same sort of traps and participate in unintended evils? [Tinker's] presupposition is that without confronting and owning our past...we cannot hope to overcome that past and generate a constructive, healing process, leading to a world of genuine, mutual respect among peoples, communities and nations.²²

All of us must examine our own hearts and actions and challenge ourselves to be no less than the body, which the apostle Paul addressed. Repentance starts with us, with our awareness. We have the opportunity to address the historical events and understandings if we open ourselves to the giftedness of others and opportunities for ministry today. We will need to find the "reconciliation process" that can lead us to such an understanding, to such penitence.

Black Elk (Oglala Lakota) in 1948 made the following comment on inner peace and healing:

The first peace, which is the most important, is that which comes within the souls of men when they realize their relationship, their oneness, with the universe and all its Powers, and when they realize that at the center of the universe dwells Wakan-Tanka, and that this center is really everywhere, it is within each of us. This is the real Peace, and the others are but reflections of this. The second peace is that which is between two individuals, and the third is that which is made between nations. But above all you should understand that there can never be peace between nations until there is first known that true peace which, as I have often said, is within the souls of men.²³

Repentance starts with us...

Jim Wallis tells us that "racism" is ultimately a spiritual matter.

In fact, there is no such thing as "race" in the eyes of God--in whose image we are all created equal. Race is rooted neither in biology nor culture. Race is a social construct created by human beings for the purpose of justifying oppression. The issue here is much deeper than "managing diversity" as some corporations now define the task. Enjoying each other's music and restaurants, handling each other's artifacts in a superficial multiculturalism won't be enough.²⁴

Donald W. Shriver Jr. asks a compelling question in "Bridging the Abyss of Revenge" in Christian Century magazine: "Is there indeed such a thing as collective guilt--and forgiveness...?²⁵ He believes that "until leaders, [members], and institutions do something about the [negative] past, their present and future relations are likely to be corrupted by undercurrents of hostility."²⁶ Shriver identifies four major dynamics that mark the path to spiritual health and the call to do justice. They are:

1. Forgiveness begins when victims abandon revenge and perpetrators abandon professions of innocence. First, we must conquer in ourselves the propensity to cry victim or innocent. Kevin Gover states, "We [Native Americans] need to take the chip off our shoulders and have a dialogue."²⁷ The church as well must look honestly at its own history, at its own statements and actions, to understand how we have been perpetrators.

Church members, along with millions of others, are today the direct beneficiaries of many land deals forced on Native Americans. Who first inhabited the land where the early church settled and expanded? Following the French and Indian War and the American Revolution, the League of Six Nations (Iroquois) fragmented into Canada and New York when New England farmers moved in.²⁸ Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma (all states with "native" names) had effectively displaced Native Americans to small reservations by the time RLDS settlers and farmers built temporary sod homes, tilled the land, and established schools and congregations. A missionary paper, Zion's Ensign, asserted the nationalistic view that "...the land of America is pointed to in prophecy as a land of promise and referred to as a choice land."²⁹

The church did not make meaningful distinctions among the many groups of Native Americans. To the church they were all "Lamanites." Joseph Smith III adhered to the "noble savage" concept of the mid-1800s. Fred M. Smith reflected the benevolent paternalism of the Social Gospel.³⁰  Hubert Case likened "Indians" to children who had not matured to a proper and naturally assumed progressive degree of civilization. Both Fred M. Smith and Case were revered among the Native American members, primarily because they would actually go to the people, to the reservations, and sit and talk with them, Case often sitting cross-legged on the ground for many hours. Native members acknowledged this as remarkable because many other ministers would not associate with the people within their own culture. However both men, as well as others, assumed the dominant culture's assessment of Native Americans and looked to "assimilation" and "acculturation" as the avenue for Native success.

Hubert Case, known in the early twentieth century as the "missionary to the Lamanites" staked his claim on land that the U.S. government had declared "surplus," following the allotment of land in severalty (the division of tribal properties into individual holdings). These "surplus runs" occurred from 1889 to 1905. During this process, white settlers acquired more than 60 percent of the 138 million acres formerly held by Native Americans before severalty.³¹ Case traveled to the western part of Oklahoma Territory, into the former Cheyenne-Arapaho Reservation.³²

In Oklahoma, Case met Richard A. Davis ("Thunderbird"), a son of the famous Cheyenne chief Bull Bear. When Case found that Davis had attended the Carlisle Indian Boarding School in Pennsylvania, he approved. According to this assessment, Davis was a model of assimilation and "was a good example of what the Indian could become with proper treatment and encouragement."³³  Louise Palfrey, an editor of the Religio Quarterly, conducted a survey on work among Native Americans and published the results in Autumn Leaves in 1907. Her summary concluded with an archetypal negative assessment of Native Americans' prospects for the future: "The Indian has not outgrown himself everywhere; in other words, he is still considerable of the Indian. He has not gotten over his refractoriness and become as if he never were an Indian....It has been promised under gospel culture his better possibilities will take ascendancy and he will rise..." [Italics added]³⁴

Do we only need to repent for sins long past? Consider a group of Native American women who decided to attend a "Women's Department" district meeting, only to discover when they arrived that they were not expected or welcome. No one from outside their congregation spoke to them the entire evening. Or consider the Native American family whose request for a funeral was turned down by a neighboring congregation because they did not want "Indian ceremonies" to take place in the building. Lastly, consider how many good, well-meaning members of the church cheer for their local sports teams, oblivious to the slurs that "Indian mascot" teams represent to Native Americans. Such instances only point to the need to further our awareness and continue to work for justice.

2. The...truth about past evil so essential to repentance...can be recovered only in a context of...hope for reconciliation and a measure of forgiveness.³⁵ Can the church repent without the prospect of forgiveness? Those who forgive must want to restore relationship. The church must give priority to "restoring the dignity of the victims, renewing their membership in...[church] society, and making a place for them in...history."³⁶ Martha Minow of Harvard comments, "Tears in public will not be the last tears, but to know one's tears are seen may grant a sense of acknowledgement that makes grief less lonely and terrifying." Shriver notes, "Such tears can nourish a new sense of place...."³⁷ [Italics in the original]

3. Forbearance, repentance, and truth-telling advance a process of forgiveness when they produce a new empathy between former enemies. Shriver states that in the "...propaganda of war, each side denigrates the humanity of the other,...it is easier to kill [ignore, dismiss, etc.] people when you think of them as subhuman." Shriver reminds us that "we are all vulnerable to collaborating in the doing of great evil to our neighbors. The recognition of this truth is one of the things Christianity should bring to [light]....After deep fragmentation, the renewal of...community requires the catalyst of empathy."³⁸

4. Finally, collective forgiveness requires that one move from apology to reparation. "A well-crafted apology can be a 'prelude to reconciliation'...But if the integrity of apologies is to be sustained, reparations should follow them....Symbolic gestures can effect healings, [and] make more likely the consent of the victims to the idea of some new...community with the perpetrators and their descendants."³⁹

As a result of that reflection, we look to a time when the church will make its own statement of reconciliation and apology to Native Americans. Let there be covenant words from the church, not sentimental, emotional words, or passing words. Respect and love are most needed.

Transformation 2000 will remain sentimental emotional words for Native Americans until the church engages in a plan of action. Many Native Americans will come to Christ when acknowledgment comes from the church that they are a people of value.⁴⁰ Until then, Christianity will continue to be viewed as "the White Man's religion." As one Native American member told the task force, "If you don't care about what I know, then how can you care about me, and why should I care about what 'you have?'"

There is a promise of hope that Christ gave to Native Americans, which is reflected in the Book of Mormon ("For he promised them that he would reserve these things for a wise purpose in him, that he might show forth his power to future generations"--Alma 17:49). Native Americans need to be seen as coming into our promise as full, valued members in the church. Only a people of action, with a commitment to time and resources, and a building of trust, will make a difference for Native American Ministries to be truly transformed.

Indigenous Leadership

RLDS Native American ministries throughout the United States and Canada have endured an arduous journey through the years. We express our appreciation to those who have labored before us. Because of their sacrifices, we are at the point today of stepping upon a larger stage, of transforming the work among Native American members and expanding the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our primary focus during this biennium has been the creation of a salaried position for special attention to Native American ministry development. This goal was accomplished with the development of the T2000 position titled "Native American Ministries Specialist" within the Central Field. The presence and participation of a T2000 staff member in the Central Field will greatly enhance intentional dialogue, planning, response to the field, budgetary considerations, and internal decision-making that will be relevant to the diverse Native American populations, including those who are members and those we hope to engage.

Because of the extensive geographic territory that Native American ministries cover, we foresee the need for additional positions. We have targeted three geographic areas in the United States and Canada as key development areas: the Central Field, Northern and Greater Ontario, and Arizona, including both Phoenix and the larger Dinéh (Navajo) Nation. Others include the Omaha Nation in Nebraska, the Confederated Tribes of the Warms Springs Reservation (Wasco, Warms Springs, and Paiute) in Oregon and the Pine Ridge Reservation (Lakota Nation) in South Dakota. The needs are critical and the lack of Native American leadership within the church is apparent. Immediate attention calls for recognition, invitation, recruitment, training, deployment, and support of Native American leaders in the church.

Feeling the need for an Indigenous Leadership Conference, we wish to express our appreciation to the First Presidency for their response in extending their approval for the use of the Temple for this event. Dates for this conference are February 15-18, 2001. President McMurray has indicated he will plan on participating.

We also wish to lift up programs already established in the church that may be developed to include Native American participation and leadership development. These include:

WoRLDService Corps. The mission of WoRLDService is to develop indigenous young adult leadership in a diverse world.⁴¹ The internship is designed to give college students eight to ten weeks of experience in other cultures, and opportunities of ministry possibly related to the student's area of study. There is great potential in the Phoenix, Arizona, area and the Dinéh (Navajo) Reservation for this program, as most of the prerequisite infrastructure is currently in place.

Outreach International Participatory Human Development (PHD) Program. This program assists communities in assessing and meeting their own needs. There are elements in this program that would enhance outreach in Native American communities. Outreach International has expressed interest in implementing the PHD program with and among Native American people.

Congregational Leaders Training. Members of the task force are participating in a process of identifying and assisting Native American members with leadership potential to engage in leadership training events such as the Congregational Leaders Workshop, Temple School's Winter Field School as well as local Temple School courses, and seminars held at the Center for Church Planting (Atlanta, Georgia) and the Urban Ministries Center (Chicago, Illinois). We wish to involve Native American individuals who want to participate and also lift up the prospect for members to be not only students, but also teachers/leaders at these types of events.

Mentoring. We feel a vital need for a mentoring program with those individuals who currently fill congregational leadership responsibilities in respect to reservation environments, thus increasing their effectiveness in outreach ministry within their own communities. Early efforts are underway to establish this program on the Dinéh (Navajo) Reservation and should continue to receive support to ensure its success.

Children, Youth, and Families

The RLDS Church has a rich heritage of valuing children. Following the establishment of a churchwide newspaper, The True Latter Day Saints' Herald, the only other periodical to be established in the 1860s was a children's paper, Zion's Hope.⁴² It was named after a successful St. Louis, Missouri, Sunday school group. The name was also chosen to represent "...the hope of that people, surnamed Zion." The paper told the children, "You are our hope."⁴³

This same feeling toward children is a traditional cultural family value for Native American people. This value is sometimes expressed in terms of "looking toward the seventh generation." Native American families are extended and extensive. Child-rearing is considered to be an important community responsibility, and it is shared among all family members.⁴⁴

Traditional Native values are taught through ceremonies and rituals as well as modeling and the experience of daily life. These include honoring of elders, courage, and honesty, placing the good of "the people" above one's self, humility, spirituality, knowledge (of self and history), etc. Storytelling, ceremonies, drumming and dance, and the arts are all teaching methods. They are all forms of "remembering to remember" and should not be trivialized or imitated by others as games or play-acting.

Native Americans take a holistic view toward life. These values, beliefs, and traditions are a source of strength and Native identity. In the past 500 years of contact with dominant cultures, much of Native values and teaching went "underground"; that is, the teachings were handed down secretly and through longstanding oral traditions. Sadly, many teachings, especially languages, were lost. Forced relocations, epidemics, encroachments, war and genocide, and mandatory boarding schools, along with Native children being taken from their communities and adopted out, have all exacted heavy tolls on Native American peoples and their cultures. Much misunderstanding still exists in the dominant white cultures of North America because they do not comprehend Native worldviews or norms.

As church members build on their "capacity to respectfully and authentically increase our knowledge about the reality of American Indians," we must also "develop ways to examine or evaluate program structures and processes that make them more responsive to the Indian community and respectful of Indian traditions."⁴⁵ Knowledge, awareness, and increased depth of understanding will detract from the romanticized mysticism of the past and reflect a commitment to building mutual respect for our spiritual and cultural identity, grounded in the gifts of the Spirit. When respectfully sharing our testimonies of love and healing we can invite and be invited into communities where God's hand is at work. We recognize that there are many opportunities to add to, rather than be in conflict with, the spiritual livelihood of a community in ways where our movement is welcomed and appreciated.

Transformation 2000 has made a strong commitment to children, youth, and young adults "in ministries which teach Christian values and Restoration principles, sustain high self-esteem, and involve them in the pursuit of peace and justice through acts of community responsibility."

Perhaps the first question that comes to mind is: Are Christian values and Native American values compatible? The answer is affirmative! We share a strong testimony of the Christ and how the Holy Spirit has empowered our lives. What church members need to be careful of is that they do not confuse "Christian values" with that of lifestyle characteristics. Simon Peter wrote that as we exemplify faith, virtue, patience, kindness, and charity, that "if these things be in you, and abound, [we shall not be] unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ" (II Peter 1:5-8).

"Spirituality is the core of everything Indian."⁴⁶ Yet we need to understand a difference in Native American spirituality and mainstream white Christian-based religion. Because of the history of religious persecution, the dominant society made a conscious political effort to separate church and state--that is, to separate religion from other spheres of life. No longer would religious affiliation come with the dominant government or leader. However, for Native Americans, spirituality is embodied in all of creation. There is sacredness in everything simply because God (Great Spirit, Grandfather, Great Mystery, etc.) made it.

Now, in the dawning of this new era, "Indian values are being 'rediscovered,' and implemented in restorative justice, leadership, alternative dispute resolution and community development programs."⁴⁷ (Consider how the concept of Mother Earth and the stewardship and caring for our planet has developed over the last thirty years.)

One activity the church has done well in the past is in providing camping experiences for Native American youth. We "camp" very well, and have offered significant camps in the Central Field, Minnesota, and northern Ontario. In the summer of 1999, the camping experience was shared with the mainstream youth camp at Lake Doniphan, thereby bringing in Native youth and Native elders who participated as leaders in the youth camp. There is much interest and desire to expand this type of positive experience to more Native youth.

Another "success story" that can be repeated in other areas is the "Native American Appreciation Day." One such day was founded in Sedalia, Missouri, by Carole Barnes and Sherry Hunsberger, and was held for several years with assistance by members of Central Missouri Stake. F. Scottie Wilcox in Maine requested help in duplicating the event, and the Missouri group traveled to Maine to help set it up. It is now a major annual event in northern New England, drawing hundreds of visitors and participants over a span of three days. Additionally, RLDS co-sponsored or funded powwows can be a positive way to interact with children, youth, and families, and should be developed with Native American leadership.

There is still a great sense of loss and a subsequent need for reconciliation and healing in many Native communities. For us as a church to engage in reconciliatory ceremonies would be beneficial not only to a people at their point of need, but also for the church, to listen and learn, and admit our part in the history and the healings that need to take place. The following action steps are also recommended for implementation:

1. That arrangement be made to share the "Gospel Wagon" to known areas of Native American members. Contact should begin with the tribal elders and/or community leaders/elders so that no sense of competition or undermining their leadership is perceived. That follow-up with these visits include developing a Young Peacemakers Club (YPC) with Native members offering leadership respectful of that nation's traditions. Persistence is the key; long-term commitments and life-long relationships need to be developed.

2. That Graceland College look into a student exchange program for Winter Term with Haskell Indian Nations University (Lawrence, Kansas), considering such options as nursing, American Indian Studies, literature, music and the arts, etc.

3. That the WoRLDService program not only send service teams onto reservations in the United States or Canada where they have obtained invitations, but also add Native American youth to the teams that are sent elsewhere.

4. That the World Church Leadership Council continue its support and uphold a mandate that resources produced by the World Church continue to seek avenues of inclusive expression and not be targeted or written by or for the dominant white culture within the church. That this mandate be extended as a call to all members to assist whenever possible in the preparation of resources, such as Christian education curriculum, worship helps, hymnody, Temple School, the Congregational Leaders Workshop, Theology Colloquy, etc. The field needs many workers for the church to be truly transformed.

5. That the World Church continue to support and develop camping opportunities to include Native youth, and Native elders in leadership positions, and that the church explore ways to participate in Native American Appreciation Days, powwows, and other events.

6. That the International Youth Forum (IYF) and Spectacular (SPEC) recruit and use Native American youth and Native American adult leaders/staff.

Conclusion

The expression of Native American ministries is alive and faces toward a horizon we had not dreamed of. The efforts of those who have worked before us are noteworthy, and they stand in the tradition of the great "patriot warriors" of the past. Now, we "lift up [our] eyes and fix them on the place beyond the horizon..." to take this vision and expand our outreach. Now, we aspire to greater heights and a greater commitment to the vision that has been handed into our keeping, that our future generations may take hold and build their own vision upon ours.

Ministry to Native American Nations Task Force

David Brock, chair (Indigenous Leadership)
Dan Cash (Indigenous Leadership)
Rilla and Ed Fields (Philosophy/Theology)
Clint Jacks (Indigenous Leadership)
J. Paul Lucero (Advocacy)
Linda McDaniel (Children, Youth, and Families)
Roger McKinney (Philosophy/Theology)
Duane Nicholas (Indigenous Leadership)
Joy Persall Palmer (Philosophy/Theology)
Isleta L. Pement, secretary (Advocacy)
Marie Pepin (Children, Youth, and Families)
Lynn L. Ragan (Philosophy/Theology)
Andrea Randazzo (Advocacy)
Susan Rasmusson (Children, Youth, and Families)
Keith Russell (Children, Youth, and Families)
Dee White Eye (Advocacy)

Special thanks to Andrew Shields, Council of Twelve Office

Notes

    1. Ingrid Washinawatok was one of three humanitarian workers killed in March 1999 by Colombian rebels opposed to peace talks between the rebels and Colombian authorities.

    2. Ministry to Native American Nations Task Force Minutes (October 10-11, 1998), 2.

    3. As stated in the Constitution of the United States of America, Article One, Section 8; Article Three, Section 2; Article Fourteen, Section 2. The U.S. Congress extended American citizenship in 1924 to all native Americans born in the territorial limits of the United States. Native Americans are also members of their respective tribes and thus have dual citizenship. See BIA ANswers to FAQs: http://www.doi.gov/bia/aitoday/q_a.html .

    4. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, "Indian Entities Recognized and Eligible to Receive Service from the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs," http://www.doi/gov/bia/tribes/telist98.html . This information may be broken down alphabetically. Current tribal contacts are also available. See "Native American Consultation Database: A Cooperative Project," http://www.cr.nps.gov/aad/nacd . Each tribal record includes the name, address, and telephone number of the official tribal contact(s).

    5. Paul Frederic William Rutherford, "Canada," The Funk & Wagnall's Multimedia Encyclopedia Online http://www.funkandwagnalls.com (July 1999) and "Chiefs of Ontario," http://www.chiefs-of-ontario.org . "Nunavut is Inuktitut, meaning "our land."

    6. Indian Country Today, "1999 Pow Wow Special Edition" (March 22-29, 1999): 39.

    7. The racial categories set by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) which oversees the collection of statistics by federal agencies are: American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, and White. The census asks a separate question on whether respondents are Hispanic or Latino. People who identify themselves as American Indian will be asked to write in the tribe in which they are enrolled or their principal tribe. For the first time, respondents may also check off more than one race. "The Census and American Indians: Why Accuracy Is Important" (February 1999), National Congress of American Indians, http://www.ncia.org/indianissues/census/indctycensus_1999.htm

    8. Jim Wallis, Who Speaks for God? An Alternative to the Religious Right: A New Politics of Compassion, Community, and Civility (New York: Dell, 1996), 7.

    9. "The Census and American Indians," and Lyric Wallwork Winik, "There's a New Generation with a Different Attitude," Parade (July 18, 1999): 6-8. See also, The National Indian Education Association http://www.niea.org .

    10. NIEA.

    11. Winik, 7.

    12. Transformation 2000: A Three-Year Goal for the RLDS Church, brochure (n.d.).

    13. Kevin Gover before the 55^th Annual National Congress of American Indians, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina (October 20, 1998), http://www.doi/gov/bia/ncakg4.htm .

    14. Winik, and also "Notes of Roger McKinney" (October 10, 1998), handout given to MNAN Task Force, passim. See also the National Congress of American Indians, "Issues in Indian Country," http://nica.org .

    15. We would lift up the transforming ministry provided by the Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, congregation through their prayerful study of Native American spirituality with their nearby neighbors, the Sault tribe of the Ojibwe Nation, which has led to increased understandings and the sponsorship of Alcoholics Anonymous meetings at the church. See "Spiritual Paths to Transformation," Saints Herald 147, no. 1 (January 2000): 16.

    16. The Heartbeat of Turtle Island: A Journal of Native Service-Learning (NIYLP, Spring 1999), 28.

    17. Rutherford, "Population" in "Canada."

    18. As cited in Robert Bartel, "Residential Schools," chapter 6, "Errors of the Church," in The Teachable Moment: A Christian Response to the Native Peoples of the Americas (supplement), produced by the Mennonite Central Committee Canada (MCCC), (1993), 77.

    19. John H. Redkop, "Why Apologize to Native People in 1992?" in The Teachable Moment: A Christian Response to the Native Peoples of the Americas (A Ten Lesson Series), 12.

    20. First Presidency Priority (1997).

    21. Carol Hampton, "A Heritage Denied: American Indians Struggle for Racial Justice," Sojourners (January 1991): 12.

    22. George E. Tinker, Missionary Conquest: The Gospel and Native American Culture Genocide (Minneapolis, Minnesota: Fortress Press, 1993), viii-ix.

    23. Black Elk, "The First Peace," excerpt from Native Wisdom, ed. Joseph Bruchac (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1995), 80.

    24. Wallis, 118.

    25. Donald W. Shriver Jr. "Bridging the Abyss of Revenge," Christian Century 116, no. 33 (December 1, 1999): 1169-1173.

    26. Ibid., 1170.

    27. Winik, 8.

    28. The original Tree of Peace (Great League) of the Iroquois consisted of the Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, and Mohawk. They inhabited most of central New York from the Genesee River to Lake Champlain. The Tuscarora "returned" after 1712 and were accepted into the council of the Great League. See William Brandon, The American Heritage Book of Indians (New York: Dell, 1961).

    29. Lee Pement, "RLDS Missions to Native Americans, 1860-1934," 74; master's thesis.

    30. Ibid., 103.

    31. Ibid., 59.

    32. Case selected 160 acres with a large spring on it. It was only six miles from the site of the infamous Washita River attack, where Custer, at dawn on November 27, 1868, had raided Black Kettle's Cheyenne winter camp. See Pement, chapter 5, 7, passim.

    33. Ibid., 89.

    34. Ibid., 83.

    35. Shriver, 1171.

    36. Ibid.

    37. Ibid.

    38. Ibid., 1172.

    39. Ibid., 1173.

    40. Notes of Roger McKinney.

    41. Kendra Friend, "WoRLDService Pilot Program Launched," Saints Herald 146, no. 9 (September 1999): 25-27.

    42. Not referring to tracts or books.

    43. Zion's Hope 1, no. 1 (July 1869): 3; emphasis in the original.

    44. To Build a Bridge: A Manual on How to Work Effectively with Indian Communities, A Report to the Headwaters Foundation, American Indian Research and Policy Institute. Prepared by John Poupart and Dr. Cecilia Martmez (October 1999), "Family and Kinship: (n.p.) and "Native American Ministries Task Force Subcommittee (Thoughts)," prepared by Keith Russell (October 1999), passim.

    45. Ibid. Poupart and Martmez, "Problem-finding vs. System Change."

    46. Ibid. "Spirituality," passim.

    47. Ibid. "Introduction."