Repentance, Restitution, and a Firm Purpose of Amendment:

A Christian Response to the Genocide of Native Americans

That the Christian Community Caused.

How community allow?Psychopaths ExistImperialism (Galtung)Fear and lack of confidence

RepentRealizeConfess

RestoreRe-balance resources and opportunitiesthrough dialogue, not dictation

(Cultural sharing and adaptation)Restore what stolen

AmendDon’t support psychopathsDon’t continue dis-possessingTake personal steps

What is the Problem?

Native American tribes and other indigenous peoplehave been devastated by European colonization

with religious justification.

While religious values were invoked naively by some

and insincerely by psychopaths,the driving values in most cases were greed, wealth, and empire.

Even good people who tried to resist the oppressionwere hindered by unconscious biases

The first step is to admit the problem.

1435 Eugene IV Sicut Dudum

Portugal had begun, and Castilian Spain had continued converting natives in the Canary Islands.

But pirates and slave traders were raiding the islands,capturing and enslaving Christian converts and proselytes.

“We order and command all . . . that they restore to their earlier liberty

all . . . who were once residents of said Canary Islands, and made captives since the time of their capture,

and who have been made subject to slavery. These people are to be totally and perpetually free.”

Those who refused were excommunicated.

1452 Nicholas V Dum Diversas

Trying to stop Muslim advances into Europe(Constantinople fell the next year)

“We grant you [Kings of Spain and Portugal] by these present documents, with our Apostolic Authority,

full and free permission to invade, search out, capture, and subjugate

the Saracens and pagans and any other unbelievers and enemies of Christ

wherever they may be, as well as their kingdoms, duchies, counties,

principalities, and other property [...] and to reduce their persons into perpetual servitude.”

1493 Alexander VI Inter Cetera

One year after Columbus’ first voyage

“Among other works well pleasing to the Divine Majesty and cherished of our heart, this assuredly ranks highest,

that in our times especially the Catholic faith and the Christian religion

be exalted and be everywhere increased and spread, that the health of souls be cared for

and that barbarous nations be overthrown and brought to the faith itself.”

[Now that you have succeeded in throwing the Moors out of Grenada,

and so have time and energy for other tasks]

[We] do by tenor of these presents, should any of said islands have been found

by your envoys and captains, give, grant, and assign to you and your heirs and successors,

kings of Castile and Leon, forever, together with all their dominions, cities,

camps, places, and villages, and all rights, jurisdictions, and appurtenances,

all islands and mainlands found and to be found, discovered and to be discovered towards the west and south,

by drawing and establishing a line from the Arctic pole [describes the line of longitude]

With this proviso however that none of the islands and mainlands, found and to be found, . .

. be in the actual possession of any Christian king or prince up to the [beginning of 1493]

Requirimiento 1514

On behalf of the king and the queen, subjugators of barbarous peoples, we, their servants,

notify and make known to you . . .That God . . . Chose St. Peter . . .

to be the head of the entire human race. . . .[who gave your lands to the King of Spain.]

Consequently, . . . we beseech and demand . . .that you accept the Church . . . and recognize the . . . Pope,

and . . . acknowledge the King and Queen, as the lords . . . of these islands and Mainlands

by virtue of the said donation.

If you do not do this, however, . . . we will enter your land against you with force

and will make war in every place and by every means we can and are able,

and we will then subject you to the yoke and authority of the Church and Their Highnesses.

We will take you and your wives and children and make them slaves, and as such we will sell them,

and will dispose of you and them as Their Highnesses order. And we will take your property

and will do to you all the harm and evil we can, as is done to vassals who will not obey their lord

or who do not wish to accept him, or who resist and defy him. We avow that the deaths and harm

which you will receive thereby will be your own blame, and not that of Their Highnesses, nor ours . . .

Bartholome de las Casas

Friend of Columbus,responsible for publishing his journal,

reported to the Spanish kingthe realities of Spanish conquests in Latin America.

Bartholome de las CasasThe Cruelties of the Spanish

Which [revolt of the natives] the Spaniards no sooner perceived, but they, mounted on generous Steeds, well weapon'd with Lances and Swords,

begin to exercise their bloody Butcheries and Strategems, and overrunning their Cities and Towns,

spar'd no Age, or Sex, nay not so much as Women with Child, but ripping up their Bellies, tore them alive in pieces.

They laid Wagers among themselves, who should with a Sword at one blow

cut, or divide a Man in two; or which of them should decollate or behead a Man,

with the greatest dexterity; nay farther, which should sheath his Sword in the Bowels of a Man

with the quickest dispatch and expedition.

They snatcht young Babes from the Mothers Breasts, and then dasht out the brains of those innocents

against the Rocks; others they cast into Rivers scoffing and jeering them, and call'd upon their Bodies when falling with derision, the true testimony of their Cruelty, to come to them,

and inhumanely exposing others to their Merciless Swords, together with the Mothers that gave them Life.

They erected certain Gibbets, . . . so order'd as to bear Thirteen Persons in Honour and Reverence

(as they said blasphemously) of our Redeemer and his Twelve Apostles,

under which they made a Fire to burn them to Ashes whilst hanging on them:

But those they intended to preserve alive, they dismiss'd,

their Hands half cut, and still hanging by the Skin,

to carry their Letters missive to those that fly from us and ly sculking on the Mountains . . .

The Lords and Persons of Noble Extract were usually expos'd to this kind of Death;

they order'd Gridirons to be placed and supported with wooden Forks,

and putting a small Fire under them, these miserable Wretches by degrees

and with loud Shreiks and exquisite Torments, at last Expir'd.

I once saw Four or Five of their most Powerful Lords laid on these Gridirons, and thereon roasted,

and not far off, Two or Three more over-spread with the same Commodity, Man's Flesh;

but the shril Clamours which were heard there being offensive to the Captain, by hindring his Repose,

he commanded them to be strangled with a Halter.

The Executioner (whose Name and Parents at Sevil are not unknown to me)

prohibited the doing of it; but stopt Gags into their Mouths

to prevent the hearing of the noise (he himself making the Fire)

till that they dyed, when they had been roasted as long as he thought convenient.

Christmas sermon of the Dominican priest Antonio MontesinoIsland of Hispaniola (today Dominican Republic and Haiti)

“I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness . . .

I who am the voice of Christ crying in the wilderness of this island . . .

This voice… declares that you are in mortal sin, and live and die therein

by reason of the cruelty and tyranny that you practice on this innocent people”

“Tell me, by what right or justice do you hold these Indians in such cruel and horrible slavery?

By what right do you wage such detestable wars on these people

who lived mildly and peacefully in their own lands, where you have consumed infinite numbers of them

with unheard-of murders and desolations?

Why do you so greatly oppress and fatigue them, not giving them enough to eat

or carrying for them when they fall ill from excessive labors,

so that they die or rather are slain by you, so that you may extract and acquire gold every day?”

“And what care do you take that they receive religious instruction and come to know their God and creator,

or that they be baptized, hear mass, or observe holidays and Sundays?

Are they not men? Do they not have rational souls? Are you not bound to love them as your love yourselves? How can you lie in such profound and lethargic slumber?

Be sure that in you present state you can no more be saved than the Moors or Turks

who do not have and do not want the faith of Jesus Christ.”

The Spanish settlers complained to the King,Who complained to the Dominican superiors in Spain.

The preachers were told to quit disturbing their flock, and were recalled to Spain.

Disturbed by these reports,the Spanish king asked Francisco de Vitoria

to study the matter.

He concluded that

Indians are human beings and able to possess things.They live in societies they have created.

The Pope has no power to give their lands to Europeans

But cannibalism and human sacrifice might give reasonfor Europeans to take control.

When he became aware of the King’s displeasureover the results of his study,

he began to say

that Indian culture and religion are inferior, and they should allow Spanish to come civilize them.

It would be unreasonable for themto refuse the Spanish entry.

If they interfere with Spanish entry, the Spanish can attack and subdue them.

1537 Pope Paul III Sublimis Deus

Indians and all other people who may later be discovered by Christians,

are by no means to be deprived of their liberty or the possession of their property,

even though they be outside the faith of Jesus Christ; and that they may and should, freely and legitimately,

enjoy their liberty and the possession of their property; nor should they be in any way enslaved;

should the contrary happen, it shall be null and have no effect.

the said Indians and other peoples should be converted to the faith of Jesus Christ

by preaching the word of God and by the example of good and holy living.

A century later, in New England to the NorthA British colonist reflects on the Pequot War

“And indeed such a dreadful Terror did the Almighty let fall upon their Spirits,

that they would fly from us and run into the very Flames, where many of them perished. . . .

Thus were they now at their Wits End, who not many Hours before

exalted themselves in their great Pride, threatning and resolving the utter Ruin and Destruction

of all the English, Exulting and Rejoycing with Songs and Dances:”

“But God was above them, Who laughed his Enemies

and the Enemies of his People to Scorn, making them as a fiery Oven:

Thus were the Stout Hearted spoiled, having slept their last Sleep,

and none of their Men could find their Hands:

Thus did the Lord judge among the Heathen, filling the place with dead Bodies!”

“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who only doth wondrous Things;

and blessed be his holy Name for ever: Let the whole Earth be filled with his Glory!

Thus the Lord was pleased to smite our Enemies in the hinder Parts,

and to give us their Land for an Inheritance:

Who remembred us in our low Estate, and redeemed us out of our Enemies’ Hands:

Let us therefore praise the Lord for his Goodness and his wonderful Works to the Children of Men!”

The U.S. Supreme Court used the discovery principleto justify its control over Native American land.

1823 Johnson v M’Intosh the government whose subjects explored and occupied

a territory whose inhabitants were not subjects of a European Christian monarch

held legal title to that land.

1831 Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, tribes are not independent states but "domestic dependent nations“

related to the U.S. government“as a ward to its guardian.”

The following year, the Supreme Court changed its mind.

1832 US Supreme Court Worcester v. Georgiathe U.S. Supreme Court ruled

that the Cherokee Nation was sovereign. Thus, Georgia had no rights

to enforce state laws in its territory. It also made the Indian Removal Act

invalid, illegal, unconstitutional and against treaties previously made by the United States.

But President Andrew Jackson claimedthat he had no right to interfere with the State of Georgia

as it removed the Cherokee to Oklahoma.About 4,000 of the 17,000 died on the way.

Christian missionaries mitigated the worse effectsof the conquistadores and settlers.

Bartholome de las Casas, who became Bishop of Chiapas in Mexico,reported the settlers’ crimes to the King

and helped to form native cooperative villagescalled “encomiendas.”

These villages helped to protect the nativesfrom slave kdnappers.

But they were run paternalisticallyBy the missioners

Who treated the Natives like children.And they suppressed Native culture

in favor of European culture.

Junipero Serran the Franciscan missioner in Californiaran similar paternalistic Native mission settlements there.

The Anglican Bishop, Benjamin Whipple,interceded with President Lincoln

to review the death sentences passedafter the Dakota Uprising of 1863 in Minnesota.

Lincoln drastically reduced the number of prisoners killed(although it remained the largest public hanging

in U.S. history).But Bishop Whipple approved of settlers

seizing Dakota landsbecause he thought with less land,

they would be forced to adopt European forms of farming.

Attitudes have begun to change.

1965 Second Vatican Council Dignitatis HumanaeDeclaration on Religious Freedom

Religious communities also have the right not to be hindered in their public teaching and witness to their faith,

whether by the spoken or by the written word. However, in spreading religious faith and in introducing religious practices everyone ought at all times to refrain

from any manner of action which might seem to carry a hint of coercion

or of a kind of persuasion that would be dishonorable or unworthy,

especially when dealing with poor or uneducated people. Such a manner of action would have to be considered

an abuse of one's right and a violation of the right of others.

.

It is one of the major tenets of Catholic doctrine that man's response to God in faith must be free:

no one therefore is to be forced to embrace the Christian faith against his own will.

1965 Second Vatican Council Nostra AetateDeclaration on the Relation of the Church

to Non-Christian Religions

“Religions found everywhere try to counter the restlessness of the human heart,

each in its own manner, by proposing "ways," comprising teachings, rules of life, and sacred rites.

The Catholic Church rejects nothing that is true and holy in these religions.

She regards with sincere reverence those ways of conduct and of life,

those precepts and teachings which, though differing in many aspects from the ones she holds and sets forth,

nonetheless often reflect a ray of that Truth which enlightens all men.”

“The Church, therefore, exhorts her sons, that through dialogue and collaboration

with the followers of other religions, carried out with prudence and love

and in witness to the Christian faith and life, they recognize, preserve and promote the good things, spiritual and moral, as well as the socio-cultural values

found among these men. . . .

The Church reproves, as foreign to the mind of Christ, any discrimination against men or harassment of them

because of their race, color, condition of life, or religion.”

Confession is important

Theological Commission 1999 Memory and Reconciliation

“Another sad chapter of history to which the sons and daughters of the Church

must return with a spirit of repentance is that of the acquiescence given,

especially in certain centuries, to intolerance and even the use of force

in the service of truth.”

This refers to forms of evangelization that employed improper means to announce the revealed truth

or did not include an evangelical discernment suited to the cultural values of peoples

or did not respect the consciences of the persons to whom the faith was presented, as well as all forms of force used

in the repression and correction of errors.”

Although Pope John Paul II apologized publicly1n 2000

for the sins of the Church,many indigenous people think that his apologies

were not specific enough.They want the Catholic Church

to repudiate earlier decrees specifically.

Restore

Restore what stolen(Respect the treaties)

White Earth Land Reclamation Project

Re-balance resources and opportunitiesthrough dialogue, not dictation

(Cultural sharing and adaptation)Ask the Natives what they want

Example: NA Bill ≈ GI Billbut let the Natives design the education!

Encourage organization ≈ unionizing of ‘30s

Dialogue presumes that both sides have something to offer

(Cultural sharing and adaptation)

Professor George Tinker, an Osage IndianPoints out that even with the best of intentions

missionaries like John Eliot, Junipero Serra, Pierre-Jean De Smet, and Henry Benjamin Whipple

cooperated in destroying Native culture,unconsciously distorted their preaching

to fit European biases.He calls it “cultural genocide.”

Do Christians need to forego evangelizationbecause it is culturally destructive?

Would natives prefer to be left aloneto maintain their cultures without interference?

.Perhaps such a limitationwould itself be paternalistic.

Shouldn’t natives be allowed to decide for themselveswhat aspects of other cultures they would like to incorporate?

Horses were brought to the Americas by the Spanish.But plains Indians adapted them so successfully

that most people today imaginethat a horse-centered culture is authentically native.

There is still space for sharing the Gospelso long as we are open to receiving as well,

and we respect the integrity of our dialogue partner.

It is important to realizeways that our sharing is culturally narrow.

“Inculturation” encourages the indigenous themselvesto shape the way they incorporate what we suggest.

Black Elk has shownhow natives can appropriate

a Christian messagethat challenges the distortionsof the culture that brought it

through the resources of the message itself.

Damian Costello claims that

Black Elk’s conversionwas not to the Western Christianity of his timeas it was being practiced to control the world,

but rather to the true, original Catholic Christianitythat was judging the greedy, violent Christians

who were destroying the lives and culturesof other people.

Wakan Tanka was the same God for everyone;he came to rescue the poor

from the greed, violence, and oppression of the rich.

Amend

Don’t support psychopathsDon’t continue dis-possessing

Take personal steps

Don’t continue dis-possessing

Uranium miningSouth Pacific nuclear testing

PimicikamakAlaska Prudhoe Bay

Latin America imperialismOther indigenous groups

Other disadvantaged groups

Uranium Mining

South Pacific Nuclear Testing

Manitoba Hydro destroy Pimicikamak environment

Alaska Prudhoe Bay oil spill

Take personal steps

StudyUnderstand cultural differences

Make native friends“Adopt” a family

San Lucas Toliman, Guatemala

Chapter 6

Native American

Worldviews