INDIGENOUS VALUES AND THE CHURCHES:REFLECTIONS ON THE SALVADOR CONFERENCE

Abstract

Any discussion about the culture of the original nations in Latin America provokes animated discussions within the relevant communities and churches. The understanding that our peoples have of God is revealed within culture, through expressions and customs that either explain, apply or critique the way in which we experience the God of life. It is quite clear that every [Christian] believer is part of a culture. We Amerindian peoples have had our own cultures since before the arrival of Christianity; it is what gives meaning to our lives. Our cultures have contributed to the Christian church's mission in contexts of religious pluralism. They are a challenge to reconciliation between peoples and all of creation, offering a holistic understanding of our relationship to the Creator, and fostering respect for the equal role of men and women in all human communities. Our Indigenous cultures have played a fundamental role in our resistance to 504 years of imposed domination. Culture is the key to our very existence -- to our production and reproduction, to the maintenance, furthering and defense of life. Indigenous peoples have a wealth of counter values and perspectives that we can contribute to the ongoing debate concerning the present crisis of conscience within humanity. Christian churches cannot afford to remain on the sidelines in this situation. They are part of the pain that our Indigenous and African peoples have suffered in Latin America. Our churches are both the subjects and objects in the present struggles. We have taken on active roles for or against the present situation, either by supporting its injustices or by contributing suggestions concerning a new kind of world order, making this a fundamental basis for the mission of the churches. The emergence -- one might say insurgency -- of Indigenous cultures is an indisputable fact; it is part of the process of renewed affirmation of our ethnic identity. There are two sides to this process. Our churches are facing the challenge of how to respond to Indigenous cultures that are emerging from clandestinity or shedding their masks, as it were. At the same time, some are beginning to overcome their uninformed prejudices and romantic preconceptions about us. Today, the Indigenous peoples are demanding that Christian mission set in motion a new definition of fundamental human relationships based upon rights that pre-date by far the present structures. They insist upon reopening the discussion with Christians on the basis of a new perception that Indigenous peoples are now the subjects of their own history. We have a long way to go before we can achieve this goal. This is the last generation of Indigenous and Christians in the twentieth century. And it is the first generation of women and men who are being challenged to take the initial step toward true reconciliation. It is incumbent upon us to prioritize the most critical aspects of this new engagement, as we search for answers that are commensurate with the historical problem so that we can recover what has been lost during the past five centuries. The conference at Salvador was a good beginning. After years of having to submit to intolerance and arbitrary decisions, it gave us the opportunity to reexamine the status of Indigenous and Afro spirituality in Latin America. Our discussions enabled us to question any expression of Christianity that does violence toward our own spiritualities. …