Prior to contact Native people had their own cultural and religious systems that sustained their physical and spiritual well-being for centuries. However, with the arrival of European colonizers came the suppression and prohibition of traditional Native religious practices. In an attempt to "civilize" the Indians the colonizers sought to undermine traditional ways of worship. Europeans challenged the authority of religious leaders and banned Native worship, penalizing and/or jailing those who continued their traditional ways (Axtell 227-29). Religious organizations agreed "that instruction in Christianity was fundamental in the education of Indian youth. To fit Indians for citizenship in a Christian Nation, it was imperative that religious training precede or parallel the industrial and literary learning that was intended to prepare pupils of the tribes for full participation in white American Society" (Churches 161). Intolerant colonial religious attitudes eventually became incorporated into the United States Government's Indian policies.

Euro-Americans strongly believed that "to educate the Indian in the ways of civilized life ... was to preserve him from extinction, not as an Indian, but as a human being" (Nugent 19). Facing such proscriptive policies aimed at destroying traditional ways of worship, many Natives converted to Christianity with full force, denying all that was Native. Others struggled to come to integrative terms with the new religion. All the voices of these colonized Natives provide a "hybrid" perspective which includes tribal and Christian orientation (Ashcroft et al. 184). The extent of the incorporation of certain aspects of the dominant and retention of the cultures of the oppressed, however, vary from individual to individual and this is clearly demonstrated in the various postcolonial texts under study here.

One of the first Christian Native writers was William Apess (b. 1798), a mixed blood with Pequot ancestry. His book, A Son of the Forest (1829), was the first Native autobiography. Apess, unlike some of his contemporaries, was able to adapt to forces of colonization and through his experience not only uplift himself but also further the cause of his people. The story of Apess is a moving and direct account of his childhood and Christian conversion as well as a history of the Pequots.

The effects of colonization on the Pequots were dire. For example, in 1636 the Massachusetts Bay Puritans brutally attacked a major Pequot town, roasting and shooting over six hundred Pequots (Josephy 302). Another effect of colonization was the introduction of alcohol, which contributed to the destruction of Pequot social, economic, and political stability. It was in this changed and changing Pequot society that Apess lived. His early life was filled with turmoil. Abandoned by his parents as a child, he was then raised by alcoholic Pequot grandparents who did not teach him tribal ways and who beat him regularly. Eventually, he was removed from his brutal grandparents and was raised by a succession of white Christian families, some more Christian than others. They exposed him to various degrees of Christian instruction. His conversion, however, did not take place until he became drawn to the emotionalism of a Methodist preacher (Son 10, 12, 44-45).

Participating in the religion of the dominant, Apess was taught the concept of sin, a Christian concept foreign to Native peoples. And, being informed by the religious visions of the dominant, Apess wrote that he was filled with pain because he saw himself a "sinner." He had dreadful visions because he was distressed and filled with fear of dropping into hell. Apess "sighed to be freed from the pain and misery" his sins brought him (Experience 14-15). It was in his Methodist conversion that Apess found "perfect freedom" whereby all his fears and burdens left him (Son 44-45). Through God he was allowed "great peace of mind," a peace that was "like a river full, deep, and wide, and flowing continually" (Son 46). Apess's writing clearly demonstrates the colonizing process as he discusses the newly acquired concepts of sin and redemption in his life.

But his narratives show a man who has not fully incorporated the dominant's ideas. This is demonstrated by his continued attachment to Native people. In contrast to the dominant society, Apess writes of the good qualities of Native people. And, in a very creative move, he begins to use Christianity to seek and question issues of justice and freedom for Native people. Apess speaks sadly of "deep and lasting regret that the character of the Indians ... should be so grossly misrepresented and misunderstood," and that Indians should be "accused of cruelty and perfidy of the basest nature" (O'Connell 114). He further notes in a sermon that "the kingdoms of this world, with but few exceptions, are confederacies of wrong; the powerful trespass on the weak; the rich live in luxury and rioting, while the poor are enslaved and doomed to much servile drudgery; without any hope of bettering their conditions" (102). The sermon, however, depicts hope and freedom for his people as he concludes that, "in the kingdom of Christ" is a place where "the noble of the earth are on an equality with the poor and humble" (102). In Apess's writing we see a Christian man who continues to bring forward Native histories, issues, and concerns.

In contrast to the experiences of Apess, who detested the colonizers' treatment of Native people, be they Christian or not, Rev. Peter Jones (1802-1856), a Chippewa, changed the postcolonial text to demonstrate how some Natives not only incorporated the dominant's religion into their writings, but also their cultural superiority. In many of his writings Jones, unlike Apess, completely detaches himself from his tribal past in most of his references to tribal culture. Through his strong desire to survive and have a good life, Jones became so engrossed in Christianity that he was completely transformed. This led to rejection by many of his tribal Christian colleagues who felt "he talked, acted, and lived too much like a white man" (Smith 158).

Jones was born in Burlington Heights, Canada, to a Chippewa mother, Tuhbenahneequay; and Welsh father, Augustus Jones. Born as Sacred Feathers, he spent his first ten years living with his tribe and learning their ways. He hunted, fished, was familiar with the natural vegetation, went on vision quests, and fasted. His experience with Native traditional ways, however, was unfulfilling. When the War of 1812 reached Burlington Heights, Jones was exposed to much carnage and destruction. After the Stony Creek battle, Jones and his brother went to the battlefield where dead bodies were "strewn over the ground like freshly caught salmon" (Smith 35). After confronting such devastation, Jones sought solace through a vision quest. His comfort was never granted. It is possible that he felt like many tribal people who believed that "after the arrival of the white settlers many of the spirits had left," making Native spiritual practices ineffectual (Smith 35-37).

Jones's attitude and relationship with his people eventually changed, as did his Native identity. A change began when his father removed him from his tribe at the age of fourteen. At that point, he began formal schooling and became immersed in white values. At sixteen, Jones's father had him baptized by an English Episcopal minister. His early conversion was self-serving in that he hoped it would lead to "all the privileges of the white inhabitants" (Smith 48). His true conversion came three years later when his curiosity drew him to a Methodist camp meeting where he wept and felt elevated by Christianity. He prayed that, through Christianity, his people would be lifted "out of a horrible pit, and out of the miry clay and place their feet upon a rock" (Jones 5-9) and that they would become "a new race of people" (Smith 78).

Jones's historical narratives clearly reflect the "civilizing" mission of the dominant. The thoroughly colonized Jones believes that his people will be hopeless if they retain their traditional ways. And, with a colonial taint, he vacillates on the character of his people, primarily writing that they are pagans. He keenly acknowledges, however, that much of the demise of his people came after contact with white men, that their destruction came first through disease and firearms, and then through "firewater." Jones believed that alcohol destroyed morals and dignity, spreading confusion and death (Jones 28).

Through the acceptance of Christianity, Jones saw personal and communal benefits. He remarks that many Chippewas, through their conversion, found freedom from the bottle: they moved out of a degraded state into one of sobriety and industry. In addition they were able to live unmolested in settlements, go to school, and own land (Jones 174-76, 236). Clearly, conversion provided Jones and many of his tribal members the freedom to live a life of comfort instead of destruction, but as seen through Jones's narrative the cost was high. He was rejected by many people from his tribe and he denied the history and culture of his ancestors.

At the time of his conversion, Jones accepted not only the religion of his colonizers, he also incorporated the dominant society's views of Native people. Jones wrote that Native religious ways were without merit and did not render peace or benefits. By the 1820s, the tribe was in a devastated state due primarily to disease, mistreatment by the Indian Services, and the encroachment of white settlers (Smith 238). His people longed for a world of peace and justice without disease and death. When Jones was growing up, he saw the aftermath of contact which resulted in the reduction of the Chippewa population by two-thirds by 1829 (Josephy 70). Placing Jones's life in historical context, it is easy to understand how he looked to the powerful Lord of the colonizers for help.

Apess and Jones were two of the first Native authors to write about their experiences as Christians and Natives. These early works are extremely important because they demonstrate how Native people responded to and used Christianity to better their conditions. An interesting aspect of these works is their contrasting accounts of the value of tribal culture. Apess, in many ways, can be seen as both accommodating the religion of the dominant and also using it as a tool to confront those in power. Interestingly, Apess demonstrates new models of exchange by speaking of redeeming values in Native cultures. Conversely, Jones was completely transformed by the dominant which led to rejection of all that was Native. A study of missionary attitudes toward Native Americans offers an explanation for Jones's view of tribal cultures. All too often, missionaries demanded that Native people reject their tribal past prior to conversion. Furthermore, they believed that this cultural destruction was a prerequisite to a regeneration which would be brought about by the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Coleman 5). Swayed by Christian teachings, Jones and many other Natives denied all that is Native to be a Christian.

As time passed, Native people continued to write about Christianity and reflect on the colonizing process. Like Apess, another voice which spoke of the values of Native life was that of Edward Goodbird (b. 1869). His story was recorded by anthropologist Gilbert Wilson in the early twentieth century, and his narrative keenly notes the effects of colonization upon his people while expanding on the benefits of Christianity (Goodbird 79). Goodbird's narrative laments the loss of the past and struggles with the difficulty of maintaining the old ways in the face of a changing society.

Goodbird enjoyed a relatively comfortable life, which is important in demonstrating that his conversion was not forced through poverty or devastation. He was born in 1869 to Buffalo Bird Woman and Sonof-a-Star, near the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers. He recalls tribal stories which tell how the Hidatsa were a strong people weakened by a smallpox epidemic. His childhood memories were filled with scenes of love and affection from his family and tribe. He describes hard times where poor children suffered for clothing, but seldom for food. He expresses the longing that his mother had for the old days when tribal children and old men were everywhere. She believed that as the result of Euro-American contact "the children and old men died--the tribe died" (26).

Growing up in a traditional fashion with love and respect for his tribal ways of worship, Goodbird was perplexed at the actions of missionaries who hated Native spirits, particularly since his people did not denounce their Christian God who was very strange to them (33, 35). By age eight, Goodbird began attending the local missionary school. He considered himself a Christian, but only because he attended school. Outside of school, he identified himself as Indian and not Christian (49, 50).

By the age of thirty-six, Goodbird sadly noted changes on his reservation brought about by colonization. There were few earth lodges and the buffalo, antelope, and blacktail deer had disappeared. Changes also occurred in the tribal social structures. No longer were the elders and extended families teaching their children. All the children were forced to attend school and learn the white man's culture and ways (71).

Following the transformation of Goodbird's reservation he decided to be baptized. In the following years he, too, transformed and became an active member of the church. He began to preach in his own language. Goodbird's life was filled with change. An old way of life had disappeared and a new world had taken its place. Within this new "white" world he saw a means to a better life. Through the acceptance of Christianity, which allowed for an education, social gatherings, and ownership of land, Goodbird perceived the new ways better for Hidatsa children. He saw God as teaching people compassion and as providing a safe, happy, and fearless place to live (49-50, 78-80). For Goodbird, to be free continued to be important in an individual and tribal sense. Community happiness still mattered to Goodbird but then so did the new European concept of freedom: having the opportunity to own land and achieve economic security.

Accepting the religion of the dominant helped pave the way for a better life and future for Apess, Jones, and Goodbird. Their worlds had changed and for them the best way to confront that change was to incorporate, in various degrees, the way and religion of the dominant. However, as the postcolonial narratives continued to move into the twentieth-century, they began to demonstrate an increasing discomfort with the Christian notion that negation of their culture was a requirement of conversion. This tension between Christianity and Native culture was particularly illuminating in the writing of Thomas Wildcat Alford who told his story in the 1930s and Charles Eastman, a well-known Native writer of the 1930s. These Christian writers had a variety of experiences illustrated by stories of confusion, determination, and enlightenment.

Thomas Wildcat Alford, born in 1860 on the bank of the Canadian River in Oklahoma, was of mixed blood heritage, English (grandmother) and Shawnee. He had a close relationship with his parents who were tied to traditional religious ways. His mother, Way-la-skese, was a relative of the famous Shawnee political leader Tecumseh. Alford grew up believing in a Supreme Being (Mo-ne-to) who ruled the universe and dispersed blessings and favors to those who earned his good will (Alford 51).

Childhood for Alford was one of turmoil. The family moved constantly, and they were sometimes without a roof over their heads and little food to eat. His life changed, however, when he began to attend the Hampton Institute, a training and agricultural school. The impetus for attending school came from his desire to help his people and his admiration for one of the chiefs who stated that "if our young men could read it would enable us to use the club of the White man's wisdom against him in defense of our customs" (Alford 73).

Schooling was fun for Alford, and he enjoyed the study of the Bible. He found the Bible's teachings very similar to the Shawnee's religious ways. Alford notes that the push for conversion was strong. His teachers detained him after school to discuss the advantages of Christianity. His conversion came while at Hampton when he felt that the teachings of the Bible "seemed to explain things that he had never been able to see clearly" in his changing world (104-05). His conversion to Christianity was for both communal and personal reasons. Through conversion Alford received personal goods and knowledge that he wanted to share with his people so they, too, could have a good life.

The cost of conversion was high for Alford. His hopes to become chief had dwindled because he knew that as a Christian the Shawnee "would never accord him the honor and respect" they would give a traditionalist (107). Concurrently, as he lost the respect of his people, he gained the respect and confidence of his teachers. As a Christian, he was admired and given the position of representative of Hampton School. With this job, food, clothing, and gifts surrounded Alford. With much sorrow for his people Alford wished that they too would convert so that they would not be "missing so many things that they might enjoy, so many privileges they might claim" (109).

An important benefit Alford received was an education that enabled him to read critically. With a keen eye, Alford read the scriptures closely and found faults with many Christians who did not act in a Christian manner. Although his faith in God never faltered, he complained about "ministers who sought to dominate members of their church," and about their "denominational bickering" (118). He found the action of those Christians "queer" and brought into question whether they were "civilized" (120). Large inquiries loomed over, but he still wondered whether assimilation, with its companion Christianization, would lead his people "to a higher civilization" (197).

In Alford's autobiography he continually expresses concern about the welfare of his people. He was mainly worried about the younger Shawnee generation, whom he viewed as having "discarded the faith of their parents" thereby creating a spiritual void (198). Alford was fearful of this spiritual demise and felt that to stabilize and anchor these young people they needed a "steadfast faith and a positive satisfying belief in some future existence" (198). For Alford, Christianity provided this stability, and he believed that at some point his people with "keen intelligence and sparkling wit" would choose their own religious path (198). Alford continued, in the steps of Apess and Goodbird, to write positively about Native attributes. For example, Alford included his ideas of Native intelligence and abilities.

Although Alford did not support the notion that the "steadfast faith" his people needed was Christianity, other writers still struggled with the acceptance of their Native culture and Christianity. For example, Charles Eastman (1858-1939) believed in the intelligence of Native people, but was also a strong assimilationist. Eastman, a Santee Sioux, was born near Red Wood Falls, Minnesota. He was a mixed blood from his mother's side. His grandmother, a Santee Sioux, had married a white man, Lieutenant Seth Eastman, who abandoned her shortly after their marriage. Eastman was raised in the traditional Sioux manner and had little contact with Euro-Americans until he was fifteen years old. At the insistence of his father, who had converted to Christianity while serving a prison term for participating in the Sioux uprising of 1868, Eastman sought a Euro-American education. He spent seventeen years attending school. Starting at Santee Normal School he then went to Beloit College Preparatory, then Kimball Union Academy, followed by Dartmouth College and finally, the prestigious Boston University Medical School. At the age of thirty-two he received his medical degree.

Although Eastman saw Native people as possessing a strong body and mind, he believed that they were uncivilized and pagan and incapable of "existing as natural and free men" because that lifestyle was imbedded in their former simple life (Indian Boyhood Preface). He insisted that there were only two choices for Native people: assimilation or extinction ("First Impressions" 147-48). Unlike other Natives who turned to Christianity when their "spirit was broken and their moral and physical constitutions were undermined by trade, conquest, and strong drink," Eastman did so willingly and not under duress (The Soul 20). He felt that the destiny of the Indian race was one of acculturation and he became an ardent advocate for Euro-American civilization (From the Deep Woods 195). For him, Christianity provided his people with the things they needed, such as spiritual and material comfort and, most important, survival.

Although he chose and promoted Christianity, Eastman, like other twentieth century writers, continued to discuss its contradictions. He wondered why there was "so much evil and wickedness practiced by the nations composed of professedly Christian individuals" (From the Deep Woods 194). Along with many other Native Christians, he found it difficult to maintain his faith in God as he was exposed to the discrepancies between the articulation of Christian ideals and their actual practices. Coming to terms with these contradictions was extremely difficult for Eastman, especially when he attended to the injured immediately after the Wounded Knee Massacre. His faith in God, however, remained firm. He believed that he "learned much from civilization" for which he was grateful, while retaining his "Indian sense of right and justice" (From the Deep Woods 195). He genuinely believed that "God had given men all the light necessary to live in peace and good-will" (From the Deep Woods 195).

The voices of Apess, Jones, Goodbird, Alford, and Eastman are extremely valuable in demonstrating the early development of Native Christian narratives. The writings of Apess and Jones were clearly imitative of European discourse of religious and cultural superiority since they were religious clergymen. However, Apess, unlike Jones, was not completely transformed and showed confusion over the role of his tribal life. As writing became a larger aspect of Native lives, postcolonial writers such as Goodbird, Alford, and Eastman began to show signs of incorporating more discussions of Native lives, cultures, and characteristics. The most dramatic changes in Native postcolonial writings, however, appear in the mid to late twentieth century.

Since there has not been an end to the colonizing process and many Native people have refused to completely assimilate into the dominant society, Native Christians continue to exhibit hybridization in their writing. No longer imitative of the religious and superiority discourses of the dominant, Native Christian writings continue to' investigate and challenge Euro-American concepts of Christianity and speak of their own unique relationship with Christianity.

Found within these new writings is a move toward a more analytical assessment of Christianity, a quest for mutual understanding, and the strength to determine what Christianity means in a Native context. The impetus for further questioning has come from the historical and continual assault by Christians who saw Natives as Godless people that had to be saved from themselves. For centuries Christian Natives have struggled with the acceptance of their culture, heritage, and Indianness, in conjunction with God in their lives. Armed with the English language and established in American society, Native writers in the closing of the twentieth century are well equipped to confront and discuss the conflicts that arise from being Native and Christian and the need for a more inclusive Christian theology.

One of the most sophisticated Native Christian writers in the twentieth century, Vine Deloria, Jr., has addressed these issues in many of his writings. Deloria is the son of an Episcopal priest and a graduate of both the Lutheran School of Theology and University of Colorado Law School. His outstanding works are cornerstones in the debates concerning Christian doctrines and Native beliefs. Beginning with Deloria's books Custer Died for Your Sins (1969) and God is Red (1973), Native people began to seek a more meaningful Christian theology. Deloria insisted at that time that the teachings of Christian churches were obsolete in the twentieth century because they did "not provide the understanding with which society makes sense. Nor did Christian teachings provide any means by which the life of the individual has value" (Custer 122).

In his early writings, Deloria urged national denominations to "assist in the creation of a national Indian Christian Church" that included "all ordained Indian clergymen" (125). As a strong believer in the values of Native spirituality, Deloria felt that "an Indian version of Christianity" and creation of new forms of ministry would benefit Indian societies: ministries that are not "determined by obsolete theological distinctions preserved from the middles ages" but which reflect the culture and needs of the people they serve (255).

Deloria's attitude toward Christianity has hardened over the years, and today he prefers tribal religions and believes they are superior to Christianity. But his early assertion, that if Christianity is to continue it should be more connected to the land and the people of that land, continues to speak to many Native Christians. Furthermore, his claim that between North American land and its indigenous people God will be found and it will be a "Red God" continues to support the move toward a new Native theology (God is Red 296-97). Following Deloria's earlier writings, many contemporary Native Christians are claiming their conversions and making them their own. With this action comes a Native view of Christ and his teachings, and a break from the bondage of the gospel as interpreted by Eurocentric values and ideas.

To educate the general public and make their voices heard, several Native Christian groups have created resource materials. For example, the Rivers of Life: Native Spirituality for Native Churches, developed by a group of Native American Lutherans and their consultants, provides Native American people with an articulation of Christian theology from a Native perspective. It also affirms Native cultures, generates creative dialogue with traditional tribal leaders and Christian leaders and it helps bridge the gap between Native and non-Native cultures (Schultz and Tinker 6). Rivers of Life is one of many new writings which redefine Christianity for Native Americans. In their struggle for survival, freedom, and acceptance Native people have discovered a unique way to relate to God as Creator.

Osage, Lutheran, and Professor of Theology, George Tinker, a participant in the development of Rivers of Life, argues that "the missionaries of European churches in all denominations confused the gospel with European culture." Therefore "the gospel was not liberating for Indian people but was a form of bondage" ("With Drum" 16). He contends that even those Christians who had good intentions and were following the gospel "destroyed Native economies and reduced their communities to subservient dependence" ("Spirituality" 315). In response to these historical circumstances, Tinker promotes a Native theology that is inclusive, not exclusive.

Tinker insists that "if Christianity is going to survive among Native people ... it must not only be rooted in Native culture but also in the hands of Natives" (Weaver 41) and Native people must be allowed to "be free to determine what the gospel is themselves instead of being told what the gospel is" ("With Drum" 17). Tinker hopes that "the theological imagination of Native Americans, rooted in the dynamic and generating power of creation, can help show new direction for the Trinitarian theology of our churches" with issues of "justice and fairness, and ultimately with peace" ("All my Relations" 21). As they move into the twenty-first century Natives today are reinterpreting Christian theology and biblical interpretation to include human differences and "allow and encourage a healthy and dynamic encounter with the Holy Spirit" that sets Native people free (Schultz and Tinker 48).

Today, Christian Natives insist that the cultural experiences which they bring to their spiritual encounter" are "another one of the important gifts that have been bestowed upon them by the Holy Spirit" (16). These Native encounters result in new approaches to spirituality such as believing that "the appropriate Old Testament for Native American people is not the Hebrew Old Testament ... but the stories that each of the tribes tell and their histories. Thus their starting point for coming to faith in Jesus Christ is not a history imposed on them, but their own history first and their own understanding of the world and their celebration of God's gracious act in creation" (22). Through a new outlook, Christian Natives have transformed their patterns of worship to be culturally appropriate. In a very positive and imaginative strategy, Christian Natives have brought different world views into creative contact.

Christian Natives have observed churches breaking with old and familiar approaches, joyously commenting on how the churches have "the courage, the conviction, and the honesty to admit openly they do not know all that is to know about God" (47). Many churches now appreciate the spiritual gifts Natives have to offer, gifts which Native people believe restore "a sense of dignity which they know God always intended" (47).

Unfortunately, residues of Eurocentric attitudes and values still remain in many churches which subjugate Native Christians (Walsh 328-31). But, because they believe that they are free in Jesus Christ, many Christian Natives persist in their fight to be free from those old notions. Today, they assert their independence "to abandon their Native traditions or freedom to incorporate them into their Christian liturgies" (41). In an act of self-determination, Native Christians are empowering themselves by determining what it means to be Native and Christian.

Works Cited

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Ashcroft, Bill, Gareth Griffiths, and Helen Tiffin. The Post-Colonial Studies Reader. New York: Routledge, 1995.

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Deloria, Vine Jr. Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto. New York: Avon, 1969.

--. God is Red. New York: Grosset and Dunlap, 1973.

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Jones, Peter, Rev. History of the Ojebway Indians: With Especial Reference to Their Christianity. London: A.W. Bennett, 1861.

Josephy, Alvin M, Jr. The Indian Heritage of America. New York: Bantam, 1968.

Magnuson, Jon. "Affirming Native Spirituality: A Call to Justice." Christian Century 104 (1987): 1114-117.

--. "Church Leaders Support Native Claim." Christian Century 106 (1989): 276-78.

Maynard, Steve. "Apology Narrows Indian, Christian Differences." Morning News Tribune. 6 January 1990.

Nugent, Ann. Schooling of the Lummi Indians between 1855-1956. Bellingham, WA: Fairhaven Communications, 1981.

O'Connell, Barry. On Our Own Ground: The Complete Writings of William Apess, A Pequot. Amherst: U of Massachusetts P, 1992.

Ostrom, Carol M. "Native Americans, Churches to Celebrate Unity." The Seattle Times. 16 October 1988: B.

Prucha, Francis Paul. The Churches and the Indian Schools, 1888-1912. Lincoln: U of Nebraska P, 1985.

--. The Great Father: The United States Government and the American Indians. Lincoln: U of Nebraska P, 1984.

Schultz, Paul and George Tinker. Rivers of Life: Native Spirituality for Native Churches. Minneapolis: Publishing House of Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, 1988.

Smith, Donald. Sacred Feathers: The Reverend Peter Jones (Kahkewaquonaby) and the Misissauga Indians. Lincoln: U of Nebraska P, 1987.

Tinker, George, E. "For All My Relations." Sojourners 20 (1991): 21.

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Walsh, Catherine. "Native American Catholics at a Crossroads." America 167 (1992): 328-31.

Weaver, Jace. "Native Reformation in Indian Country? Forging a Relevant Spiritual Identity among Indian Christians." Christianity and Crisis 52 (1993): 41.

Irene Vernon is Assistant Professor of English and the Center for Applied Studies in American Ethnicity at Colorado State University. She has published in the Wicazo Sa Review, Studies in American Indian Literature, and The Encyclopedia of the American Indian. Her most recent work, Killing Us Quietly: Native Americans and HIV/AIDS, will be forthcoming in the year 2000. Her research interests include Native identity, resistance and survival strategies, and health issues.

COPYRIGHT 1999 The Society for the Study of the Multi-Ethnics Literature of the United States in association with The Gale Group and LookSmart. COPYRIGHT 2000 Gale Group