Damian Costello is the author of Black Elk: Colonialism and Lakota Catholicism (Orbis Books). He is director of post-graduate studies at NAIITS: An Indigenous Learning Community and the American co-chair of the Indigenous Catholic Research Fellowship.
"The nations of living things the world over — and we the two-leggeds, along with the children and smaller ones with them — come to you today [on Thanksgiving]," Black Elk prayed, "to express thanks."
Perspective: Seen through the lens of the Ghost Dance, Christian faith is the most relevant spirituality for our haunting ecological context — one that integrates both the principles of harmony and salvation.
Commentary: By recognizing relationship and building patterns of atoning for our failings, we can grow out of our non-Indigenous cultural limitations, such as our disconnection from relationship with the life around us.
On June 23, the eve of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, connect to an ancient tradition, "The Night of John's Fire," and rediscover fire not only as a survival tool or scorching threat, but also as a sacred presence.
Seeds of authentic kinship with the other-than-human world exist in Christian tradition as well as in Indigenous wisdom. Both views create a vision of the whole of creation, with humanity a small yet important part.
