Native American Christian schools still engaging in cultural genocide

"East Fork Lutheran school was founded in 1951 by the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (Wels), a religious group which has been active in Arizona since 1893 as part of its Apache Mission – an effort to convert “unreached tribes” to Christianity. ...The school is not unique in its dogma opposing traditional Indigenous practices; the vast majority of the churches on Apache land teach families who participate in traditional ceremonies that they’re damning themselves by worshiping the devil. The Whiteriver Assembly of God, a Pentecostal church, stated in its missionary handbook that Crown Dancers – those who help welcome the girl into womanhood during the Sunrise Dance – could be a “demonic manifestation”.

...Apache families who send their children to the East Fork Lutheran school face a complicated choice. Some families do so because students in Christian schools are seen as more successful than those attending the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) schools down the road. Others simply value a Christian education, and feel that their children might get on the “right path” with that background. Still, many families have their children participate in Native ceremonies, ignoring the school’s racist policies. They just hope they do not get found out by the teachers.

...Maria had sent her children to East Fork because she hoped a Christian education would harmoniously supplement the foundation of their Indigenous heritage and identity; she now realized that East Fork was extreme in its anti-traditionalism. ...Just last year, the youngest of her three children attending the school came home from East Fork and asked: “Mom, did you know that when you go to Sunrise Dances, you are worshiping false idols?” Maria was shocked. “Who told you that?” she asked. “My teacher. She said watching the Crown Dancers is worshiping Satan.”

To hear this – and for her daughters to be told such insulting falsehoods – was mind-blowing. “Our ceremonies are what we were blessed with, our language, our everything,” Maria said. “Those are the things we were blessed with to be Apache people. So I try to explain it to them in a way where they understand: no, we’re not doing anything bad here. We’re not.”"

Link

I was pretty shocked to see this, but maybe I shouldn't been, especially in this day of Christian Nationalism.

j brown's body said:

"East Fork Lutheran school was founded in 1951 by the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (Wels), a religious group which has been active in Arizona since 1893 as part of its Apache Mission – an effort to convert “unreached tribes” to Christianity. ...The school is not unique in its dogma opposing traditional Indigenous practices; the vast majority of the churches on Apache land teach families who participate in traditional ceremonies that they’re damning themselves by worshiping the devil. The Whiteriver Assembly of God, a Pentecostal church, stated in its missionary handbook that Crown Dancers – those who help welcome the girl into womanhood during the Sunrise Dance – could be a “demonic manifestation”.

...Apache families who send their children to the East Fork Lutheran school face a complicated choice. Some families do so because students in Christian schools are seen as more successful than those attending the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) schools down the road. Others simply value a Christian education, and feel that their children might get on the “right path” with that background. Still, many families have their children participate in Native ceremonies, ignoring the school’s racist policies. They just hope they do not get found out by the teachers.

...Maria had sent her children to East Fork because she hoped a Christian education would harmoniously supplement the foundation of their Indigenous heritage and identity; she now realized that East Fork was extreme in its anti-traditionalism. ...Just last year, the youngest of her three children attending the school came home from East Fork and asked: “Mom, did you know that when you go to Sunrise Dances, you are worshiping false idols?” Maria was shocked. “Who told you that?” she asked. “My teacher. She said watching the Crown Dancers is worshiping Satan.”

To hear this – and for her daughters to be told such insulting falsehoods – was mind-blowing. “Our ceremonies are what we were blessed with, our language, our everything,” Maria said. “Those are the things we were blessed with to be Apache people. So I try to explain it to them in a way where they understand: no, we’re not doing anything bad here. We’re not.”"

Link

I was pretty shocked to see this, but maybe I shouldn't been, especially in this day of Christian Nationalism.

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The hubris of those people! The cultural paternalism is disgusting. "Shoulder the white man's burden."
When Captain Cook sailed into Nootka Sound on Vancouver Island the people he encountered there lived fuller, richer lives than any of his sailors did on the streets of London.

Who sends their kid to a Pentecostal school and is then “mind blown” that they are taught Pentecostal views?

Napoleon said:

Who sends their kid to a Pentecostal school and is then “mind blown” that they are taught Pentecostal views?

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Is it a Pentecostal view that Native dancing is 'demonic manifestation'?
I'm willing to bet that the parents who thought the Pentecostal school might be better than the Bureau of Indian Affairs school didn't know that their children would be taught that watching Native dancers is worshipping Satan.

Grand Mal said:

Is it a Pentecostal view that Native dancing is 'demonic manifestation'?
I'm willing to bet that the parents who thought the Pentecostal school might be better than the Bureau of Indian Affairs school didn't know that their children would be taught that watching Native dancers is worshipping Satan.

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The Apache Crown Dance is a religious ceremony in which they claim they are possessed by spirits so of course the Pentecostal view is that it’s demonic.

Napoleon said:

Who sends their kid to a Pentecostal school and is then “mind blown” that they are taught Pentecostal views?

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I thought about that, but I found it to be a rather weak response to Christian schools still engaging in cultural genocide.

j brown's body said:

I thought about that, but I found it to be a rather weak response to Christian schools still engaging in cultural genocide.

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No one is forcing them to go to a Pentecostal school. There is no cultural genocide. Lets not miss the real issue here which is that Native American tribes have nothing to offer their youth in the modern world - including education - and their youth are less and less interested in living like it’s still the Neolithic.

j brown's body said:

"East Fork Lutheran school was founded in 1951 by the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (Wels), a religious group which has been active in Arizona since 1893 as part of its Apache Mission – an effort to convert “unreached tribes” to Christianity. ...The school is not unique in its dogma opposing traditional Indigenous practices; the vast majority of the churches on Apache land teach families who participate in traditional ceremonies that they’re damning themselves by worshiping the devil. The Whiteriver Assembly of God, a Pentecostal church, stated in its missionary handbook that Crown Dancers – those who help welcome the girl into womanhood during the Sunrise Dance – could be a “demonic manifestation”.

...Apache families who send their children to the East Fork Lutheran school face a complicated choice. Some families do so because students in Christian schools are seen as more successful than those attending the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) schools down the road. Others simply value a Christian education, and feel that their children might get on the “right path” with that background. Still, many families have their children participate in Native ceremonies, ignoring the school’s racist policies. They just hope they do not get found out by the teachers.

...Maria had sent her children to East Fork because she hoped a Christian education would harmoniously supplement the foundation of their Indigenous heritage and identity; she now realized that East Fork was extreme in its anti-traditionalism. ...Just last year, the youngest of her three children attending the school came home from East Fork and asked: “Mom, did you know that when you go to Sunrise Dances, you are worshiping false idols?” Maria was shocked. “Who told you that?” she asked. “My teacher. She said watching the Crown Dancers is worshiping Satan.”

To hear this – and for her daughters to be told such insulting falsehoods – was mind-blowing. “Our ceremonies are what we were blessed with, our language, our everything,” Maria said. “Those are the things we were blessed with to be Apache people. So I try to explain it to them in a way where they understand: no, we’re not doing anything bad here. We’re not.”"

Link

I was pretty shocked to see this, but maybe I shouldn't been, especially in this day of Christian Nationalism.

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Some say the purpose of religion is to provide a basis for faith.
Too often it appears designed just to **** people up.

Napoleon said:

No one is forcing them to go to a Pentecostal school. There is no cultural genocide. Lets not miss the real issue here which is that Native American tribes have nothing to offer their youth in the modern world - including education - and their youth are less and less interested in living like it’s still the Neolithic.

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That is one messed up position.

It's almost like you have zero knowledge of American history?

Napoleon said:

The Apache Crown Dance is a religious ceremony in which they claim they are possessed by spirits so of course the Pentecostal view is that it’s demonic.

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So what? They shouldn't be allowed to teach that shit to kids. Just because the voice in your head convinced you of some evil crap doesn't mean you should be allowed to teach children the same evil crap.
Especially if the evil crap you've swallowed is that the children themselves are evil and demon-worshipers.
You good with that? Teaching children that they're evil and demon-possessed?

j brown's body said:

"East Fork Lutheran school was founded in 1951 by the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (Wels), a religious group which has been active in Arizona since 1893 as part of its Apache Mission – an effort to convert “unreached tribes” to Christianity. ...The school is not unique in its dogma opposing traditional Indigenous practices; the vast majority of the churches on Apache land teach families who participate in traditional ceremonies that they’re damning themselves by worshiping the devil. The Whiteriver Assembly of God, a Pentecostal church, stated in its missionary handbook that Crown Dancers – those who help welcome the girl into womanhood during the Sunrise Dance – could be a “demonic manifestation”.

...Apache families who send their children to the East Fork Lutheran school face a complicated choice. Some families do so because students in Christian schools are seen as more successful than those attending the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) schools down the road. Others simply value a Christian education, and feel that their children might get on the “right path” with that background. Still, many families have their children participate in Native ceremonies, ignoring the school’s racist policies. They just hope they do not get found out by the teachers.

...Maria had sent her children to East Fork because she hoped a Christian education would harmoniously supplement the foundation of their Indigenous heritage and identity; she now realized that East Fork was extreme in its anti-traditionalism. ...Just last year, the youngest of her three children attending the school came home from East Fork and asked: “Mom, did you know that when you go to Sunrise Dances, you are worshiping false idols?” Maria was shocked. “Who told you that?” she asked. “My teacher. She said watching the Crown Dancers is worshiping Satan.”

To hear this – and for her daughters to be told such insulting falsehoods – was mind-blowing. “Our ceremonies are what we were blessed with, our language, our everything,” Maria said. “Those are the things we were blessed with to be Apache people. So I try to explain it to them in a way where they understand: no, we’re not doing anything bad here. We’re not.”"

Link

I was pretty shocked to see this, but maybe I shouldn't been, especially in this day of Christian Nationalism.

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"

Native American Christian"​

Now THERE is an oxy-moron

Napoleon said:

No one is forcing them to go to a Pentecostal school. There is no cultural genocide. Lets not miss the real issue here which is that Native American tribes have nothing to offer their youth in the modern world - including education - and their youth are less and less interested in living like it’s still the Neolithic.

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Perhaps you are unfamiliar with the devastation your view has caused Native Americans through the Native American boarding school system, of which this is just an extension.

Fearandloathing said:

"

Native American Christian"​

Now THERE is an oxy-moron

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Inuit hunter- "So, if someone never heard of Christ and his teaching they couldn't go to Hell for not following it?"

Missionary- "That's right, people who don't know the teaching of Christ aren't sent to Hell."

Inuit hunter- "Then why did you tell me?"

Grand Mal said:

Inuit hunter- "So, if someone never heard of Christ and his teaching they couldn't go to Hell for not following it?"

Missionary- "That's right, people who don't know the teaching of Christ aren't sent to Hell."

Inuit hunter- "Then why did you tell me?"

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Chief Dan George told me (a group) that joke.

It's classic West Coast indigenous logic

Public education in the South.

It's really sad that parents sent their children to a school hoping for a better education just to find out the school if filling their heads with Christian dogma and propaganda. This is where the parents need to step in and educate their children as to the fallacies that the Christian schools are teaching.

Grand Mal said:

So what? They shouldn't be allowed to teach that shit to kids. Just because the voice in your head convinced you of some evil crap doesn't mean you should be allowed to teach children the same evil crap.
Especially if the evil crap you've swallowed is that the children themselves are evil and demon-worshipers.
You good with that? Teaching children that they're evil and demon-possessed?

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So don’t send your kid to a private Pentecostal school if you don’t want them learning Pentecostal things.

Terryj said:

It's really sad that parents sent their children to a school hoping for a better education just to find out the school if filling their heads with Christian dogma and propaganda. This is where the parents need to step in and educate their children as to the fallacies that the Christian schools are teaching.

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This kind of teaching should be banned. Good Lord, haven't we learned enough about the damage that they do from the legacy of Native American boarding schools?

Grand Mal said:

Inuit hunter- "So, if someone never heard of Christ and his teaching they couldn't go to Hell for not following it?"

Missionary- "That's right, people who don't know the teaching of Christ aren't sent to Hell."

Inuit hunter- "Then why did you tell me?"

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Should the stress be on the "Tell"... then why did you tell me. Makes more sense.

j brown's body said:

This kind of teaching should be banned. Good Lord, haven't we learned enough about the damage that they do from the legacy of Native American boarding schools?

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I don't know what is stranger... that you say that teaching should be banned or that you say "Good Lord" when criticizing a Christian School.

Bodi said:

I don't know what is stranger... that you say that teaching should be banned or that you say "Good Lord" when criticizing a Christian School.

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Cultural genocide is "teaching?"

Alaska (while it was still a territory) had the first integrated schools in the US.

Before Alaska was purchased by the US in 1867 there were 50 Russian schools in Alaska. The Russian Orthodox Church maintained educational programs in the Aleutian Islands, southwestern Alaska, and Sitka until 1884.

Under Section 13 of the Organic Act of 1884 "the Secretary of the Interior shall make needful and proper provision for the education of children of school age in the Territory of Alaska, without reference to race, until such time as permanent provision shall be made for the same..."

Some schools were operated directly by the federal government while others, referred to as "contract schools," were contracted to missionary groups including Episcopal, Methodist, Moravian, and Presbyterian. Catholics, and others established their own missions.

It was with these "contract schools" and not the schools run by the federal government where issues began to arise. Such as prohibiting natives from speaking their own language, which included torture. However, this was no different from how some schools treated white children. If they were left-handed, for example, teachers would often intentionally break the fingers of children's left hand in order to force them to write right-handed. This was a common form of torture during the 19th century. However, the federal government ended the practice of "contract schools" by 1896.

The Department of Interior Appropriations Act of 1896 stated that it was the policy of the government to make no appropriation for "Indian education in sectarian schools." They are to contract with mission schools only where "nonsectarian schools cannot be provided."

The Nelson Act of 1905 providing for the establishment of schools outside incorporated towns for "white children and children of mixed blood leading a civilized life." operated by the Territory of Alaska.

However, the Nelson Act was largely funded through taxes on alcohol. During the prohibition of the 1920s funding was cut and problems arose. When the court held that Alaskan natives were not "civilized" and therefore not entitled to an education the Alaskan natives sued in Jones v. Ellis, No. 1323-KA, 1929, and won.

Alaska has included all children in education, regardless of their ethnic origin.

Not to deflect, but good news is always welcome.

The Pyramid Lake girls won their third straight state 1A title.


The girls beat Smith Valley 61-9 in February. Ouch.

j brown's body said:

"East Fork Lutheran school was founded in 1951 by the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (Wels), a religious group which has been active in Arizona since 1893 as part of its Apache Mission – an effort to convert “unreached tribes” to Christianity. ...The school is not unique in its dogma opposing traditional Indigenous practices; the vast majority of the churches on Apache land teach families who participate in traditional ceremonies that they’re damning themselves by worshiping the devil. The Whiteriver Assembly of God, a Pentecostal church, stated in its missionary handbook that Crown Dancers – those who help welcome the girl into womanhood during the Sunrise Dance – could be a “demonic manifestation”.

...Apache families who send their children to the East Fork Lutheran school face a complicated choice. Some families do so because students in Christian schools are seen as more successful than those attending the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) schools down the road. Others simply value a Christian education, and feel that their children might get on the “right path” with that background. Still, many families have their children participate in Native ceremonies, ignoring the school’s racist policies. They just hope they do not get found out by the teachers.

...Maria had sent her children to East Fork because she hoped a Christian education would harmoniously supplement the foundation of their Indigenous heritage and identity; she now realized that East Fork was extreme in its anti-traditionalism. ...Just last year, the youngest of her three children attending the school came home from East Fork and asked: “Mom, did you know that when you go to Sunrise Dances, you are worshiping false idols?” Maria was shocked. “Who told you that?” she asked. “My teacher. She said watching the Crown Dancers is worshiping Satan.”

To hear this – and for her daughters to be told such insulting falsehoods – was mind-blowing. “Our ceremonies are what we were blessed with, our language, our everything,” Maria said. “Those are the things we were blessed with to be Apache people. So I try to explain it to them in a way where they understand: no, we’re not doing anything bad here. We’re not.”"

Link

I was pretty shocked to see this, but maybe I shouldn't been, especially in this day of Christian Nationalism.

Click to expand...

I would imagine that they can get the Christians kicked off of Native land if they wanted to... other than that most of it is voluntary.

j brown's body said:

Cultural genocide is "teaching?"

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Where did I say anything like that?

And why do that you say "Good Lord" when criticizing a Christian School?


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