Would Jesus Eat Frybread?
In November 2013 three Calvin College students traveled to the Yakima, WA, to attend the “Would Jesus Eat Frybread” conference for Native American, Native Alaskan, and Native Hawaiian students and faculty.
This past November three Calvin College students traveled to the Yakama Nation (located on the east side of the Cascade Mountains in Washington) to attend the “Would Jesus Eat Frybread?” conference. This second annual conference was aimed at Native American, Native Alaskan, and Native Hawaiian students and faculty. Together participants explored such topics as:
- How to follow Jesus and honor the traditions of one’s Native community
- What it means to grow up away from one’s Native community and to wrestle with being “Native enough”
- Learning more about the Native aspect of one’s ethnic identity
Participants also laughed with other Natives, were blessed by elders, ate traditional Yakama foods, listened to traditional stories, were led in worship by Native peoples, heard how Jesus brought healing to a family that had experienced abuse and, in the end, found places of hope, healing, and harmony.
The conference was sponsored by Intervarsity Multiethnic Ministries, and the planning team included Calvin Worship Institute staff member Mark Charles.
We asked Calvin student Melorie Begay to reflect on her experience at the conference.
What new insight from the conference surprised you?
I learned so much from so many wonderful people from the conference. I took several ideas and insights from the conference. One of the main ideas I learned about was that you can see God through Native American traditions, and that God loves us for the diverse people we are. One of the speakers there, her name is Renee, told a story about a vision she had. Renee grew up in Zuni, NM, which is about 30 minutes outside of Gallup where I’m from. In her vision she saw Revelation 7:9-17 being acted out with all the various types of Natives. The difference was that the people there weren’t wearing white robes; instead they were wearing their own traditional clothing. They were also standing on top of a plateau sacred to the Zuni tribe in Zuni. This was probably the most powerful learning experience I ever had. I never thought of Native Americans being a part of Christianity without letting go of their culture. It was an amazing perspective on Christianity that I am glad I was able to hear.
In what ways will this impact how you participate in worship on Sunday?
This experience will definitely change the way I worship on Sundays. Instead of only seeing the Bible and the teachings in the Bible I feel I am more able to see things in a more diverse manner. I can see myself in all that the Bible has to offer. I may not be a traditional Native American, but I can see that God has a place for everyone and that he is a diverse God.
What was the most significant aspect of the conference for you?
I would have to say Renee Begay’s story and how she was able to reconcile being Zuni and being a Christian at the same time. But, because I already explained some of her talk I will choose another person whose story stuck with me. There was a woman there who grew up in a similar situation like I did. Her name was Casaja Fritzler, and she was Crow Indian. She grew up near the Crow Indian Reservation, but was shut off from her culture because her mother believed that native traditions were not Christian. As she got older she kept the same principles as her mother taught her until she went to college and met a traditional Native American. It was then that she started to question contextualized worship. All through this she kept an open mind and a quote from her story that blew me away was “God, if I am wrong show me” and this was in reference to her praying to God on how to go about contextualized worship. This blew me away because I think that as Christians we often believe that we are right, but we aren’t always right because we’re human. We need to look to God for answers. Another part of this quote that blew me away was that she said show me and not tell me. Again as Christians I think we like to have our prayers immediately answered but it takes time.