A century ago,
many Native American children were removed from their reservations to be
educated at government and church-run boarding schools. Often, they were
punished for speaking their indigenous languages. By the time they returned
home, many had forgotten their Native languages.
“The core of our culture, who
we are, is centered around our languages. If we lose the language we lose who
we are,” says Native American elder to Kae Wilbert, chair, Upper New York
Committee on Native American Ministries. “As a result, the language skipped one
or two generations,” said Kae Wilbert. “Now there is a desperate awareness that
something must be done or the spoken languages will die out.”
In response to
that concern, the Committee on Native American Ministries recently awarded a
grant to the Seneca Hymn Singers CD Project. The grant supports the learning,
rehearsing and recording of selections from the “Hymns in Seneca” songbook.
Part of the Iroquoian language family, Seneca is a seriously endangered
language spoken in upper New York state and southern Ontario.
The hymn book
contains 150 hymns, songs and prayers in the Seneca language. The project will
help preserve the Seneca language and enable people to worship in their native
language.
The CD project isn’t the only such effort, Wilbert said. Along with
classes on reservation schools, “there are preschools where elders regularly
visit and teach Seneca.”
One of six churchwide Special Sundays with offerings of
The United Methodist Church, Native American Ministries Sunday serves to
remind United Methodists of the gifts and contributions made by Native
Americans to our society. The special offering supports Native American outreach
within annual conferences and across the United States and provides seminary
scholarships for Native Americans.
When you give generously on Native American
Ministries Sunday, you equip seminary students who will honor and celebrate
Native American culture in their ministries. You empower congregations to find
fresh, new ways to minister to their communities with Christ’s love. Give now.