Christianity and Colonization, Shalom and Indigenous Jesus

“Jesus never became a Christian. On the other hand, I understand following Jesus to be one of the most decolonizing patterns we can integrate in our lives.”

A conversation with Randy and Edith Woodley (interviewed by Seth Martin)

Summer 2020

EDITOR’S NOTE:
I happily count Randy and Edith as family and mentors. It would be difficult and would take up far too much space here to recount the ways they have shown me kindness, taken me in, and gone out of their way to support and encourage me in my work and life, particularly when it involves struggles for Indigenous justice, ecological defense, and solidarity with peace and sovereignty movements in Korea. I am hardly alone. “Together, the Woodleys have been involved in mentoring Indigenous leaders and others for almost three decades. Their service for over 30 years to the most disenfranchised people in America led them to become serious about important issues such as peace, racism, and eco-justice. Edith is an Eastern Shoshone tribal member who was raised on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming, and Randy is a legal descendent of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma” (from bio). This interview is the product of over a decade of friendship and working together on various projects and causes, and a few weeks of online back-and-forth as this Journal was in its early stages this past summer. 
-SM


Seth Martin (SM): What does decolonization demand of North American Christians, especially Evangelicals? 

Randy Woodley (RW): If you want me to go straight to the bottom line, I’d have to say that after almost 50 years of considering this very question, all historically established white churches in the country need to turn over their buildings and property, wealth and power to the peoples whom they have disempowered over the years. I say that not just to right an historic wrong but also because I love the people who comprise these churches and I want to see them healed as well. I think Jesus is saying to them, just like he said to many others, “This is how you can be saved,” or, as I prefer, “This is how you and the peoples who have been oppressed can be healed together.” After this conversion to an accurate alignment with Jesus’ teachings, there needs to be apologies made by these churches, especially to Indigenous peoples, for misrepresenting him to us.

SM: Does decolonization demand something different (if anything) from Indigenous folks than it does from whites and other settlers? 

RW: Nothing except for the long process of decolonizing our own minds and hearts. That’s a life-long process.

SM: In North America, is Christianity even defensible? Is it incompatible and/or running against any true decolonization? Is it good that various radical folks are, shall we say, trying to rehabilitate Christianity, decolonize it, save it, etc? Or is this an example of another kind of colonization of (our) minds? To ask the same thing another way: What is the relationship between land-based, original religion and culture and the struggle for decolonization today? Can one identify with Christianity or believe in Christ and truly take all of this seriously?

RW: That’s a good question. I don’t see any defense of Christianity by Jesus or even anywhere else in the scriptures. Jesus never became a Christian. I don’t even think he intended to start a religion but if he did, I’m sure it would not look like Christianity. On the other hand, I understand following Jesus to be one of the most decolonizing patterns we can integrate in our lives. There’s a great difference between following Jesus and Christianity—although I think sometimes, though it is often counterintuitive, a Christian can follow Jesus.

Edith Woodley (EW): This is true. To a lot of our Native people Christianity seems like a betrayal. What Randy just said is important. Christianity has caused our people to assimilate into whiteness and move them further from the connections with the land and teachings of our people. Jesus, when taken seriously, can actually take us back to our traditions and ceremonies and lifeways.
RW: Another thing to consider is our tolerance of other people’s beliefs and spiritualities. Each person/family/people should decide what is best for them.

SM: What do you make of the rise in "land acknowledgments" by groups (especially Christian groups from progressive circles) and the movements to remove or tear down statues of colonizers across the US, as well as the recent instances of renaming regions or landmarks with Indigenous names? Are these signs of true, morally just and good change? I mean, do you feel any worry that they are largely performative rather than radical? That they mostly serve to alleviate guilt for settlers rather than to truly decolonize? Is that critique too pessimistic and simple? 

EW: Acknowledging the Original Peoples of a place is something we have always done when going to other people’s territory. It is important to respect the sustainers of the land and to help us remember we are just guests on their land. 

RW: This respect honors the relationship of those people with that land from the ages to now, even when millions of other people say they have a title to the land. Creator knows who was given the land and the people of that land learned how to sustain it. I think it can become meaningless if the people are not honored properly and given the time to share the story of the land. As for the statues and renaming—keep it coming. Those are the things that prop up the American myth of white supremacy, etc.

SM: An aside… This part of our conversation reminds me of an experience I was lucky to share with you both when you hosted SMB Mountain School during our tour from Korea in 2015 [see “Drums of Solidarity” in this journal] It was a gathering in Portland in which Mr. Gwon gave a speech and the SMB mountain school students played drums after hearing Tink Tinker and many others share about resistance to (and trauma from) religious and educational colonization. Do you remember when the nervous and smiling white guy host said so kindly that we should "consider this space yours" about the building? Ha ha ha. You glanced over at me from a pew and we both laughed. Then you mouthed, "Really? It's ours?" And then you pretended to take an axe to the pew in front of you! 

[Laughter]

What is your spiritual story—your individual stories and your story together? What is your relationship between decolonization and Jesus? Do you both identify as Christians these days? What is the Eloheh Story? How has Eloheh been responded to by other Christians, Indigenous and settler? How has it evolved and changed, or stayed the same?

EW: So, no, we have not called ourselves Christians for over a decade but we have a definite relationship with Jesus.

RW: When asked our religion, we respond that we are traditional Native religion (at least we are trying to follow in the ways of our ancestors that way). So far, we have not seen a contradiction in doing this as followers of Jesus. In fact, I think it has enhanced our Indigenous spirituality.

EW: I don’t think we have the time to tell our whole stories but maybe we can just shorten them to say that at certain times in my and Randy’s lives we both called out to Jesus and we got help from Creator. That has continued throughout our marriage of over 30 years now. 

RW: Edith and I come from two different situations and encountered different things in life but we have that in common—that cry for help—and the response from Creator was very real. The one who responded feels very much like the one I understand as Jesus, but I guess it will remain somewhat of a mystery until I walk on to the other side, eh? But for now, this is how I make sense of it.

EW: The Eloheh story came as a result of a dream Randy had: really a vision he had in a dream. It changed our lives permanently as we followed this vision. 

RW: It was a vision of a place of farming and community and teaching and organizing and ceremony—a restoration of our old ways of life and also a healing place for our Native people and for all people. Kind of an Indian version of a cross between Francis and Edith Schaeffer’s L’Abri and Myles Horton’s Highlander School. After four years of tough struggle we found 50 acres and built the vision in Cherokee country in Kentucky. It was wildly successful with food and families and schools and heritage breed animals and springs and wells and then—BAM! After several successful years we lost it because of violent pressure from a neighboring White Supremacist, para-military group who fired a .50 cal machine gun to threaten us day and night. The real racism though came from the lack of response from the state’s  Attorney General, the Justice Dept., and Fair Housing. No one was interested in helping us. It broke us financially and we had to sell during the economic downturn, losing everything.

A lot of people, especially Christian folks, helped us build that place. And, when we were finally able to get a small 3+ acre farm in Oregon, a lot of good Christian folks came to help us establish some semblance of what we once had. That’s one reason I can say that I love these people. They are trying to follow Jesus in spite of Christianity. We have just recently, in the past few months, been able to purchase 10 acres in Yamhill, Oregon, that is truly a gift from Creator. The land is very close to being what it was pre-contact, an oak savannah. Our name is now Eloheh Indigenous Center for Earth Justice and Eloheh Farm & Seeds.

SM: What is the Harmony Way and why do you talk so much about Shalom?

RW: That’s a really big question. I did my doctoral dissertation on this so there is much to say. I found that among our Native North American people we have a wide-spread Harmony Way ethic, if you will. There are certain common values we all share regardless of geographic region and they all revolve around harmonious co-existence and balance. Why so much spiritually in common? This is what the land has taught us for millenia.  It all comes back to the land.

The Native American Harmony Way construct is very similar to the ancient shalom construct. Shalom is an ancient Jewish construct concretizing practical love to be expressed through structures and systems. The structured order, or government of Creator’s love, is Shalom and is related to the constructs in scripture concerning Sabbath and Jubilee. The “kingdom” of which Jesus taught (he never used that word) was a “shalom kingdom.” Shalom is seen in the beauty and balance of the Genesis creation stories. Shalom, as seen against the background of Creator’s good intentions, is broken at almost every level in the stories of Genesis 3–11. These examples of broken shalom include the breaks between Creator and humanity, between marriage partners, between the earth/creation and humanity, between siblings, in civil society, and between neighbors. If we do not understand the big-picture shalom construct there is no way we are going to understand the words and life of Jesus. Again, Jesus spoke of a place-based vision for the world, constructed on the values and principles of shalom—what I call the “community of creation.” 

In the book I wrote just before the newest one, Shalom and the Community of Creation: An Indigenous Vision, I try to lay out some of these similarities and what they have to do with the earth or the whole community of creation. The “Community of Creation'' is an expression of Jesus’ idea used to convey the understanding that all things created are rooted in a symbiotic relationship with each other and with Creator. Like Creator, we are never alone. The whole life system, and each part, whether it be the eco-system, the solar system, or the multiverse, serves a purpose in the community of creation. Understanding the relatedness of all things to each other is helpful in understanding our human purpose within the whole. The danger of the system occurs when we study the specific parts of creation and we forget the context of the whole and our interdependent relationship to the whole community of creation. 

The whole community of creation includes both unity and diversity, from the smallest subatomic particle to the human body to the multiverse. Homogeneity is not a permanent state of being but diversity with unity is both a fluctuating state and is the essence of ontological permanence. Creator builds open, adaptable systems. Humans tend to build pretty shitty stuff: closed systems that either fall apart or are taken over by another, more adaptive system. The foundation of all life is found in unity, diversity, and this openness. The foundation for living according to the ways of the Community of Creation must include the recognition and appreciation of both unity and diversity, which is part of Creator’s shalom empire of love. 

Shalom also creates room for the poor, disenfranchised, and marginalized to receive empowerment in such cases as widows, orphans, and foreigners but in a structured way. Ancient Israel’s structured shalom left food out for others during the harvest; set aside portions of land to be harvested by those who didn’t own land and for the wild animals; and held feasts that included everyone at the same table. Shalom is Creator’s community of creation or counter-kingdom of inclusion to a power-based empire of exclusion. And notice that this is not just about humanity. Creator cares for all the creatures of the earth and the earth itself. The shalom kingdom is the Empire of Love. 

Creator’s love is abundant, including peace, mercy, justice, hospitality, righteousness, restitution, and a whole plethora of characteristics and expressions for the common good. Shalom is the ethic Jesus preached and the action he lived as he confronted systems of broken shalom in a fragmented world. The “kingdom” Jesus referred to again and again is the shalom kingdom, which is not ethereal or utopian in nature but very real. Shalom can be clearly identified and it is communal in nature; it is not satisfied to seek the good of the individual alone. Shalom seeks the common good and it benefits the whole community in identifiable and tangible ways. 

On the practical side, one visible path to shalom is when we engage in hospitality, which shalom provides even to one’s enemies. This is something Edith and I both grew up with and we have been practicing all of our married life together. We have hosted so many people in our homes and now we have friends all around the world. Shalom hospitality leads to understanding others who may be different from ourselves. Understanding others leads to acceptance of both our commonalities and differences. Acceptance of the differences leads to caring. Caring leads to community actions that create systems for the well-being of the whole community based in equity, justice, and equality. These systems and structures provide shalom living, and individuals do benefit from the systems in place because individual well-being becomes the by-product of shalom. 

Indigenous peoples in America, and all over much of the world, also have a similar shalom-type construct as the Harmony Way. These systems and structures provide for harmonious living. In fact, I have come to believe that the Harmony Way and the values that are derived from it are the original instructions given to all humankind—instructions the world needs desperately right now. 

SM: What do you make of this historical moment in North America in relation to colonization and decolonization struggles? Who and what should we be listening to?

EW: We live in a crazy world right now. A lot of people are just plain ignorant, following Trump and risking everyone’s lives for a crazy man. But something is definitely happening socially.

RW: It seems like a spirit of consciousness just suddenly broke out at George Floyd’s murder. Sometimes this happens in history and there’s little explaining it. People suddenly wake up. I’m happy to see a lot of white allies joining the struggle. Like any other movement, there’s a huge learning curve but perhaps we will eventually see structural change as a result. As long as White folks are willing to listen to the lived experience of people of color, I’m happy. The next step is to make permanent change.

SM: What gives you hope for the future? What do you think is happening, could happen, or must happen?

EW: Well, more and more white people are starting to get it and actually take a stand for what is right. That has to mean something, right? I hope it continues.
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RW: OK, hope for the future, huh? Tell me, what other choice is there? I’m not good at giving up on stuff. Never have been. If I’m not moving towards a better future with all I have, seems like I’m just taking up space. Hope is my children and grandchildren and yours and all people. We need to do better, for each other and for the earth. We need to live in a good way.

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Dr. Randy Woodley

is an activist/scholar, distinguished speaker, teacher, and wisdom keeper who addresses a variety of issues concerning American culture, faith, justice, our relationship with the earth, and Indigenous realities. His expertise has been sought in national venues as diverse as Time Magazine, Christianity Today, Moody Radio, and The Huffington Post. Dr. Woodley currently serves as Distinguished Professor of Faith and Culture at George Fox University/Portland Seminary. His books include: Decolonizing Evangelicalism: An 11:59pm Conversation; The Harmony Tree: A Story of Healing and Community; Shalom and the Community of Creation: An Indigenous Vision; and Living in Color: Embracing God’s Passion for Ethnic Diversity. Dr. Woodley’s chapter writings are in dozens of books and in many magazines and journals. His podcast, called “Peacing It All Together” can be found at www.PeacingItAllTogether.com. Randy was raised near Detroit, Michigan. He is a legal descendent of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma. Randy has served as a member of the Oregon Dept. of Education American Indian/Alaska Native Advisory Board.

Edith Woodley

is a speaker/mentor on issues concerning Native American Spirituality and Creation. As a full-time mother, grandmother, and farmer, she has developed a unique relationship with the land and insights concerning how to raise a family on a small farm. Edith is an Eastern Shoshone tribal member who was raised on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming. She graduated from Bacone Indian College in Muskogee, Oklahoma, and is co-founder of several organizations with Randy Woodley including Eloheh Indigenous Center for Earth Justice (www.eloheh.org) and Eloheh Farm & Seeds (www.elohehseeds.com)  They served together on the Greater Portland Native Climate Council.

Together, the Woodleys have been involved in mentoring Indigenous leaders and others for almost three decades. Their service for over 30 years to the most disenfranchised people in America led them to become serious about important issues such as peace, racism, and eco-justice. ​

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