“We Have Always Had the Bible”

Abstract

In this article we examine claims made by some Apache religious specialists that Apaches, in their ceremonies and stories, have always had the Bible and that the Judeo-Christian Bible is an authentic part of the Apache way of life. We show that the Apache discourse of Biblical authenticity does not threaten to replace Apache “tradition” as much as destabilize mainstream Western understandings of what the Bible is, and what alienable and inalienable cultural property is. In the process of developing this argument we discuss some of the limits of heritage and cultural preservation efforts and propose new forms of collaboration between anthropologists and the indigenous communities with whom they work.