Apocalypse? with Vance Blackfox, pt. 1
Raised on the Cherokee reservation in Northeastern Oklahoma, Vance Blackfox has dedicated his life to living "en dios," with God. He's also a leading educator on Native American culture. In this episode Vance gives us an orientation to respectful practices for building relationships with Native Americans and shares some views on how Native Americans see "Apocalypse" today.
Vance Blackfox, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, is director of Other+Wise, coordinator for the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America’s Theological Round Table, creator and producer of the Vine Deloria Jr. Theological Symposium at the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago, Indigenous theologian for the Faith-based initiative at the City of San Antonio, and a freelance educator on Cherokee and Native American culture. In this episode, Vance explains:
- Indigenous land acknowledgement
- What name to call Native Americans today
- How Native Americans talk about Apocalypse
To learn more about, or connect to, Vance visit VanceBlackfox.com or contact Vance via LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook.
A few key quotes:
It is important to do a land acknowledgement before meetings and other special occasions.
If you know someone's tribal affiliation, citizen or member, name the tribe...
I cannot think of a better description of who we are as a people than "En Dios."
I just need people to talk about us. Learn something about us. Ask the question, learn how to be in relationship with people who are different.
Christianity wants us to believe there's only one apocalypse.
"Kill and take" was not prevalent (for our peoples). Instead it was, "How do we engage with them? How do we care for them?"
They took us away from our places. It was an apocalypse for Cherokee people and for our non-human relatives who's purpose it was to help us survive.
Terms
References
- Land acknowledgement resource: native-land.ca
- Vance's booklist: bookshop.org/shop/nativereads
- Vine Deloria, Jr. Vine Deloria, Jr.
- 574 recognized tribes in the US today
- Apocalyptic prophecy of the Ojibwe people
- The true history of
This episode is hosted by Chris Searles, co-founder and exec. editor of AllCreation.org.
Listen to episode 2: https://share.transistor.fm/s/4ca9b6fd