“There are more than 350 million indigenous peoples in at least 70 countries around the world. There are 565 federally recognized tribes in the U.S. and dozens seeking recognition.”
- General Board of Church and Society of The United Methodist Church

Native Americans are the largest minority in the Dakotas, their culture is often misunderstood, and they are often made to feel excluded from our religious practices. Yet they have a rich religious culture we have too often overlooked.

United Women in Faith of the Dakotas Conference recently hosted a Native American Awareness Workshop at Spearfish UMC, in Spearfish, South Dakota. Although the featured speaker was ill and unable to present, almost 40 persons gathered from Spearfish and the region and spent a morning learning about a range of topics centered around Native Americans. Colleen McKirdy led the event, together with other UWF members from Spearfish UMC.

“The morning was powerful and wonderful,” said participant Rodney Garrett. “A wide variety of activities invited people from various churches throughout our area to participate in learning and discussion together.”

This workshop began after a light breakfast of muffins, fruit, and coffee. They watched a UWF webinar on MMIR (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives) which McKirdy hosted last year with Lily Mendoza, founder of the Red Ribbon Skirt Society.

Table talks followed the video, with representatives from several tables sharing with the larger group. One man said that women should rule the world, because women know everything that needs to be known. “We all kind of giggled at that,” McKirdy said, “but he was totally serious.” The table discussions raised questions of where the perpetrators are coming from, and where is this happening.

The participants also saw a clip from the video, “Lakota daughters,” portraying the struggles of women on the Pine Ridge Reservation.

“I appreciated the video of the Native women from Pine Ridge getting together and wanting to make things better for themselves,” said participant Michelle Jennings. “I was glad to see this example showing that help needs to come from within as well as from those on the outside looking in.”

After a break, McKirdy led a mixer to familiarize participants with the UWF Charter for Racial Justice.

Background

Racial Justice is a priority for The United Methodist Church, and United Women in Faith is bringing valuable learning to members and visitors to foster change in our open hearts. Over 70 years ago, in 1952, the United Methodist Women (now UWF) adopted the “Charter of Racial Policies”, which they updated and lobbied the General Church to adopt. Finally, in 1980, it was first included in the Book of Resolutions. Over the years, that charter has been updated and refined, the latest version being part of the Book of Resolutions adopted at General Conference in May, 2024. It is a core part of the identity of United Women in Faith.

Action #4 of the current “Charter for Racial Justice in an Interdependent Global Community” calls for UWF chapters to “Establish workshops and seminars in local churches to study, understand, and appreciate the historical and cultural contributions of each race to the church and community.”

Colleen, who is currently president of the Dakotas United Women in Faith, facilitated the learning by distributing individual sections of the eight-plank charter to each participant, who then read their parts aloud and found others with the same section. In closing, each group read their section so the whole charter was eventually read out loud.

Giving them wings

Another activity was to paint feathers to create a large set of wings. Feathers (especially wings) are seen in Christianity with angels as symbols of faith, protection, and divine connection. In Native American spirituality, they are associated with the divine and the natural world. A handout was given to define the meanings of feathers in Native American cultures.

Spearfish UMC pastor Rev. Paul Lint gave a brief message centered on Matthew 23, and Colleen McKirdy led a meditation on three translations of Micah 6:8, followed by some intentional breathing.

Everyone was given a paper feather made of card stock, and watercolors. They were invited to each paint their feather as they felt moved, and then the feathers were applied to a large poster.

“Everybody's feather went up and so at the end, we had all of these feathers forming angel wings on this piece of newsprint on the wall,” said McKirdy, “And then people were invited to stand in front of the wings and have a picture taken so that they looked like an angel. People really enjoyed it.”

Tribal lands and colleges

To educate people about tribal educational opportunities, the organizers handed out a list of tribal colleges in the Dakotas. Information was shared to raise awareness of these colleges within our Conference.

There was even a matching quiz about where tribal lands are in the Dakotas, and in which communities the tribal councils are seated. The quiz is downloadable here.

McKirdy said she “was surprised at how many people really didn’t know much about these locations, but it was a good exercise because everyone learned something."

Next Steps

Participant Rodney Garrett added in closing, “The workshop is already bearing fruit in conversations about MMIW [Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women] and the Red Ribbon Skirt Society and ideas for greater awareness and fundraising.”

The Spearfish UWF is planning some mission trips to Tree of Life Ministries on the Rosebud Reservation in southwest South Dakota, and to Spirit Lake Ministry Center in east-central North Dakota. Both of these are ministries of the Dakotas Conference UMC, and the directors welcome volunteers and work groups from anywhere, but especially from Dakotas Conference churches.

In preparation for these mission trips, the Spearfish UWF members are reading and discussing “On This Spirit Walk,” by Henrietta Mann and Anita Phillips. This small group study resource is published by Cokesbury and features Native American United Methodist writers. It is a joint publication of the native American Comprehensive Plan and the General Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns.

The Spearfish UWF group is also considering a field trip the Rapid City, SD, to the Remembering the Children memorial, which is nearing completion next to Rapid City Canyon Lake UMC. The memorial honors the thousands of Native American children who were forced into Indian Boarding Schools, with approximately 50 dying at or near this site of the Rapid City Indian Boarding School.

Additional resources:

• MMIR Webinar report from Monday @Dakotas
• Red Ribbon Skirt Society
• On This Spirit Walk, a UMC small group study guide
• Resource UMC: “Honoring Native American Heritage Month: A call to listen, learn, and build relationships”