Roundtable Discussion: Native/First Nation Theology: Response

Abstract

Response Dianne M. Stewart (bio) Focusing my mind's eye on the scholarly prose of Native activist and theologian Andrea Smith is both a challenging and consoling exercise. To use metaphors from an indigenous African context, Smith ponders the black and red sides of Esu's face.1 And if Vine Deloria Jr., Jace Weaver, Robert Warrior, and William Baldridge come down on the right side, Smith ends up on the left, cautioning us that no disciplinary home we may claim as the foundation for our "liberationist" research is immune to the colonizing grip of modern Western epistemology. Furthermore, Smith argues for the ethical merit of liberation theology in Native studies because she is able to do something most theologically trained scholars scarcely consider or are unwilling to do. Smith divests the term "theology" of its assumed Christian identity and the disciplinary baggage associated with theological studies in the Western academy. "The anthropological focus of comparative religious studies," writes Smith, "lacks an explicit concern about ethics that is integral to the discipline of theology, particularly liberation theology. It is not enough to understand or describe Native religious experience; it is also necessary to advocate for the survival of Native spiritual practices and an end to colonialism. Liberation theology brings to Native studies an explicit concern for the victims of colonialism." That Smith locates the "advoca[cy] for the survival of Native spiritual practices" within the conceptual purview of liberation theology is indication enough of her strategic position within the master's house. Having taken up occupancy [End Page 103] in the master's house—a house that was erected only after Native houses were demolished and displaced—Smith looks around, familiarizes herself with the floor plan, finds it unsuitable, and proceeds to construct a new home from the debris of conquest. I think what we are really debating here is the interior design of houses, houses whose architectural styles convey the shades of meaning human experience and exchange foist on any structure of human life. On the question of "theology" I agree with Smith. Her discussion of the different tasks intrinsic to anthropology/comparative religious studies and theology reminds me of a critical time during my doctoral studies when I wrestled with the idea of exchanging my focus in theological studies with a focus in cultural anthropology. This crossroads emerged for me after coming to the realization that I had no interest in adding my name to an already extensive list of Christian apologists. I decided to remain within the field of theology primarily because I wanted to "advocate for the survival of [African] spiritual practices and an end to [Christian theological] colonialism" in the academy and society. Liberation theology demands such advocacy, and there is much to ponder concerning this topic in the context of the African diaspora. My resolve to do theology against the norm was only strengthened after I visited the late Leonard Barrett, pioneer scholar of African Jamaican religions, at his home in Germantown, Pennsylvania, prior to my dissertation research trip to Jamaica in 1996. As we discussed the contribution I hoped to make in this research area, Dr. Barrett turned to me and said: "Now, don't let them push you out of theology into sociology. That's what they did to me. They said that I was not doing theology because I did not want to study Christianity; they forced me into sociology." "They" were the academic gatekeepers with parochial understandings of theology and ready-made classifications for religions devoid of "special revelation." For now, I am still willing to claim a meaning for theology that is not beholden to apologetic Christian discourse. Speaking theologically allows me to engage Christian traditions of belief and practice as well as indigenous African spiritualities, and Islamic and Hebraic religious thoughts. It is meaningful for me to interrogate the fluid and dialogical spaces among African diasporic religious traditions as well as the distinct features of those traditions—the Spiritual/Shouter Baptists, African American Christian denominations, Yoruba/Orisha traditions, Hebrew Israelites, Rastafari, Kumina, Nation of Islam, and a host of other vibrant religious expressions. Christian theological training remains indispensable in this kind of work because the cultural and ideological...