Dcn Leah Sandwell-Weiss

Dear Friends,

Today’s scripture readings (Psalm 106, Part 1; 2 Kings 21:1-18; 1 Corinthians 10:14-11:1; and Matthew 8:28-34) all deal with the history of the relationship of God’s chosen people to and with others in different lands who worship gods and idols. Do we stay separate, do we assimilate, or, if we have the power, do we destroy them and their culture?

This question is relevant today, a holiday officially established to honor one person:  Christopher Columbus, who “discovered” America. But Columbus wasn’t the first European to visit the Americas, nor did he visit the land that would become the United States.

The land Columbus and other explorers found was filled with people with their own languages, culture, and religious practices. What were the explorers allowed to do? Were the people living in these new areas human? Did they have to treat them respectfully?

A series of official papal edicts from the 15thcentury, known collectively as the Doctrine of Discovery, set out the basic rules: since European civilization and western Christianity were superior to all other cultures, races, and religions, the explorers of new territories were free to conquer and claim these new lands and peoples for their own countries with impunity because, if nothing else, they were improving the eternal fate of Indigenous peoples by making them Christian. While some objected to the policies authorized by the Doctrine of Discovery, for those in power the Doctrine authorized seizing land and people, and doing whatever was best for their interests. 

We see the results today: millions of indigenous people killed through war, disease, and starvation. Cultures and economies destroyed. Native boarding schools set up to systematically destroy native cultures. “Kill the Indian, save the Man” was the phrase used. And in many instances, these schools succeeded in accomplishing this policy. 

Recently, the federal government released an investigative report on the Federal Indian Boarding school system. Forty-seven boarding schools were located in Arizona. The Diocesan Council for Native American Ministry has established a Listening and Healing Pilgrimage where members of the diocese can come to listen to the stories and experiences of survivors and their families, beginning in January 2024. Read more about the schools and the pilgrimage here.

By the way, I no longer refer to the holiday today as Columbus Day. I now call it Indigenous People’s Day. Will you consider joining me?

—Dcn Leah