Seeking Canaan: Native Americans, colonialism, and the support for Christian Zionism

Abstract

ABSTRACT How is it that indigenous persons can voice support for Christian Zionism and opposition to Christian nationalism simultaneously? Why is there an incongruence between their rejection of Christian nationalism and their support for Christian Zionism? This paper explores this incongruence by shedding light on the entanglement of Christian Zionism and Christian nationalism, analysing notions of land, body, and self in relation to Christian Zionism and Christian nationalism, and by examining how such notions shape Native communities’ support for Christian Zionism. This paper argues that in the American context, Christian nationalism and Christian Zionism are inherently interconnected as colonial projects, and have influenced American self-understanding and occupied the imagination of Americans, thus resulting in the colonial self. In this context, settler colonialism is normalised and shapes Native communities’ understanding of their identity in relation to Israel and their response to Christian Zionism.