Critical Histories, Native Christianities, and Self-Determination Beyond the First Amendment
Trends in Native American Religious Studies
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/irt.29453Keywords:
self-determination, Native American Religious Traditions, religious freedom, empire, Native ChristianitiesAbstract
This article highlights five books published in the last five years that address questions of Native American self-determination, religion, law, and Empire. These texts provide a window into three clusters of questions and issues driving much contemporary scholarship on Native American religious traditions. First, Wenger and Johnson’s (2022) edited volume provides a diverse exploration of Empire’s role in shaping American Indian identities post-contact. Second, Schermerhorn (2019) and Woodley (2022) provide two accounts of how some Native Americans make Christianity their own through indigenous applications, practices, and (re)interpretations. Last, I examine McNally (2020) and Lloyd (2024), two books on Native American religious freedom and law that provide differing perspectives on the possible future of Native resistance in US courts. I argue that the single thread that runs through these works is a desire to identify the most helpful and effective resistance strategies for Native self-determination in the context of white settlerism. Each author believes religion plays some role in said self-determination process, although there is disagreement about what that role is or ought to be.
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