Jennifer Matus

Native American Indians Search for Their Creator

            From an early age, I have been taught that the English settlers came over in search of freedom from religious persecution. The white man reached out to the Indians and shared the Word of God with them. Being raised in a Christian school and home, the topic was redundant and I never thought much of it until this semester. Over the semester we have learned of the spread of Christianity. However, we have not heard about the religious traditions of the native North American Indians or why a number of the Indians turned against these beliefs and became followers of Christianity. Were the Indians pressured to take on the beliefs of the settlers? The settlers took over the Indians’ land, so why not their beliefs as well?

            I began my study questioning the spiritual beliefs of the Native Americans, which I realized was a large task due to the amount of tribes. I wanted to scope in on a something more specific. While on my favorite search tool, “Google” I came across an article by Tim Giago, founder of the Native American Journalists Association. The title of the online article was “Why Did the Native American People Convert to a Foreign Religion?” Giago never answered the question, but felt many Indians converted in order to stay on better terms with the white settlers. This article was starting point to my investigation of why the Indians converted to Christianity from their spiritual beliefs.

            I took my search to the UHCL Library’s online database. There I discovered an article by Carol Gallagher, the first American Indian female bishop that was published in “Studies in World Christianity”. She talks of many of the Indians already praising the Creator for life and nature; when they learned fully of God’s Word, it was easily embraced. The problem was the settlers who spread the Gospel felt God wanted them to live a certain way by how they dress and speak. The Indians did not understand why the Puritans wanted them to change their lifestyles to fit this. According to Irene Vernon of Colorado State University in her article “The Claiming of Christ: Native American Post-Colonial Discourses”, the Europeans were simply trying to civilize the Indians. In doing so, they banned the Indians’ form of worship and imposed their Christian traditions and education upon them. He continues to tell of the introduction of sin to the Indians by the Europeans, a concept that was unknown to the Indians. I noticed there was a difficult struggle to balance Christianity and culture which I found to be disheartening. Vernon also wrote of Indians using Christianity to better their lives by converting to the “religion of the dominant”. They were given rights to land which led to feelings of freedom and ownership. One Indian described felt that the Bible clarified what he had been taught as a child; however, once he converted he felt abandoned by his tribe.

            The Indians struggled with the clash of culture and religion which David Bogen and Leslie Goldstein help to define in their article, “Culture, Religion, and Indigenous People”. Their definition of culture includes religion and government. I was left questioning whether you can keep your culture, but change religion or if you must then change your entire culture. Kevin Sweeny explained in his “Early American Religious Traditions: Native Visions and Christian Providence” that some groups of Indians completely rejected Christianity, some adapted parts, and others found a way to incorporate both. I got the feeling that the attempt to “civilize” the Indians only lasted so long. Eventually the Indians were just viewed as occupants of land the Europeans wanted to take over.

            To answer my question of why the Indians converted to a foreign religion, I first must state that for most, the answer remains unknown. This is due to the personal decision to go forth with a religious conversion. After studying the topic, I am convinced some Indians were somewhat pressured in hopes of a better life. The similarities I found in the traditional Indian spiritual beliefs and Christianity also led some to become followers of God. I did not find how many converted to Christianity, but I cannot imagine the number is very high. The majority of Indians was set in their ways and did not like an alien attempting to civilize them, as if they were not good enough. In my study, the search for acceptable sources lacked and the articles found lacked any kind of formal response to the posed question.