Navajo Chaplain to General Convention

Tzo’diziin. Prayer.

My mornings in Indianapolis always began with prayerful words of gratitude whispered to God. My prayers were simple. I prayed that God be present in work of the Church and that God’s way be done in my first language, Navajo.

As chaplain in the House of Deputies at the 77th General Convention was God’s call. I embraced God’s call as my primary role to share the Gospel within the concept of Navajo Spirituality—my identity, as I know Jesus, incarnated too, among the Navajo culture, tradition and faith.
General Convention for me was fast paced. I found myself, at times, overwhelmed! I’d receive text messages that read, “Where are you? Be here. Be there. Hurry, the meeting is about to begin!” etc., you get the picture. However, among the busyness, I also found time to talk and get to meet wonderful people along the way. New friendships were formed, tears shared and laughter to balance—blessed opportunities, I call them. I listened to folks who came from all walks of life tell me their stories, their lives. I was called to listen and pray.

Each day in the House of Deputies, before I offered my Navajo prayers, I began with the words of my medicine elders, “It is by prayer, we walk in the balance. Let us pray”… When and where did I find my balance amid the life of the General Convention?
Navajo medicine elders have told me that whenever I leave my homeland, the Four Sacred Mountains of Navajoland, I must remember to take along my holy sacraments—corn pollen, four sacred mountain stones, tobacco—offerings to the Creator. They told me that the sacraments will keep me connected to the sacred where my umbilical cord is buried—my roots.

Every morning I offered the holy sacraments with gratitude in my hotel room. My environment was not like home. Whereas at home, when I walk out of my front door the open space greets me—Sky, mountains, mesas, trees, all surround me—privileged to breathe in the great wide open.

I have learned and experienced differently in Indianapolis:
Communication and relationship with God happens anywhere. Anywhere. They happen even in unfamiliar places. Places that become our home for a certain amount of time. The Creator meets us there, in the midst of the busyness, among the people of God—the Church, even in the midst of politics. My balance met me at the podium in the House of Deputies as I offered the Navajo prayers to the Church. In that sacred space and time, prayers with the Church, with Jesus among us; welcomed the Four Sacred Mountains, Corn Pollen, Sacred Stones, Tobacco all uttered in forms of meditations and prayers of the Holy People. God balances us anywhere as long as we call on his Holy Presence. With my experience, even in a hand shake, in a smile, in words of gratitude, in tears, in the unknowing, in happiness, in sadness, in hope, God met us in those holy places and the spaces in between. Gratitude.

Hozho’— In Beauty, Deputy Cornelia Eaton, Navajoland Area Mission

http://episcopal-navajoland.org/

The Great Hope for St. James Cannonball

A Story of a Church that Caught on Fire

On the 25th of July, Feast of St. James, our church building in Cannon Ball burned to the ground - everything - to ashes. Canon John was called by Robert Fool Bear at about 10:00 pm saying that he believed the building was on fire. Leaving home within minutes with his oldest son, Isaiah, they raced to the scene. By the time he arrived the parish hall was all but gone with just a few partial wall standing up. The church itself was fully involved with the roof line still visible in the dark billowing smoke and flames.

Members of the congregation and community were there watching as their remembered all of the people that they had known who had worshiped there. Some said their memories burned up in the fire that night. We have since come to know that it was not our memories, but things about that building reminded us of those special people and times. These memories have been used by the Spirit to renew our faith and commitment.

While the fire itself became a criminal investigation by ATF, FBI and the Bureau of Indian Affairs Law Enforcement, the attention of the congregation turned to its next steps. On the Sunday following the fire Bishop Michael Smith came to lead worship with the Standing Rock Clergy and People. Renewal of our Baptismal Covenant and the promise of pastoral care through this time of crisis were pledged by St. James' members and clergy.

Following the service that was held under a makeshift tent in the parking lot of St. James' the grill was lit and food was set out for a picnic lunch the included some important business. The congregation that day included about sixty members. Sitting in the shade provided a large group gathered to begin the work of rebuilding. Because St. James' had been around for so long we knew her strengths and weaknesses as a building. We needed to develop some perimeters for a building committee to use in creating a plan for the new building.

Canon John asked how a new building could be used. Many things from Christmases, youth ministry, weddings and baptisms were remembered as things that we were able to do in the one that was in ashes just behind where we were seated. It seemed to be unanimous that we attempt to rebuild with the ability to hold our community's funerals in this building. St. James' was able to seat up to 90 people (tightly) in the old church. To hold a community member's funeral we would need to stretch that space out to seat 250 people.

Other discussion involved where to rebuild. Getting a lot in the community is being thought about - but the likelihood is that we'll rebuild where we have been for more than a hundred years. But to build to accommodate large community gatherings would require imagination in creating a multipurpose space as well as affordable heating and cooling system. A Building Committee has been named and has met four times. The insurance claim has been completed and the congregation is developing plans to do some significant fundraising to put this building into the shape that it needs to have to meet the needs of generations yet to come.

The following has been adopted by the Vestry/Building Committee:

Principles of the New Design
1. The new St. James’ is being designed to be a multipurpose building. That simply means that as much of the space as possible can be used for various purposes (i.e., worship, fellowship, youth, etc.) and that most all of the space can be used for a single purpose (wakes, funeral, feeds, etc.)
The proposed plan is just over 3500 sq. ft. The old St. James’ was about 3000 sq. ft. The difference is that the old church was not multipurpose. The areas of the church building were separate from one another.
2. The Episcopal Church has been in Cannon Ball since about 1890. We have an opportunity to construct a building that looks and feels like it belongs within this community. We are working to develop a building that expresses our faith through Dakota Culture as well as symbolically telling the story of the people living here.
3. The building needs to be useful and not overwhelming or burdensome. This basically means two things: If we build something that is so large smaller congregations will feel lost in it during worship, and it needs to be economical to heat and cool.
4. The building needs to have widespread approval by members of St. James’ congregation. This building will be used by Cannon Ball families for several generations. Our imaginations need to help us see their needs as well as ours.
5. The fire shouldn’t define us in a negative way, but refine us as God’s people in a good and positive way.
The insurance will cover a substantial part of the budget to rebuild, but a significant gap is likely to remain between that and the actual cost of replacing and furnishing the building. A building fund has been established in the Diocese of North Dakota to receive donations. They may be sent to:
The Episcopal Diocese of North Dakota
attn: St. James'
3600 25th St S
Fargo, ND 58104

At the time this article is being written the Vestry/Building Committee is meeting with a Post and Beam/Log Home Contractor. He did the Post and Beam work on the new building at St. Sylvan’s and the design that he has brought forward from the congregation’s and committees meetings has captured our imagination.

In October 2008 a group of two native young adults from Cannon Ball, one from Selfridge and two from South Dakota attended a conference at the National Cathedral on Church Design and Culture. Dn. Terry Star and Cn. John Floberg put on the conference.

Jordan Shelltrack, whose family are long time members at St. James' came up with one floor plan.
Another floor plan by Brittany Flying Horse, Cannon Ball, in the shape of the Jerusalem Cross has several similar features.

In August 2012 we are considering a plan that has Jordan’s as its basis:

These are ideas that will give way to a project that is likely to begin soon. It will be a building that tells the Christian story as if that Story had begun here - not ended here.

Fall Update from DIW in Minnesota

From The Department of Indian Work in The Episcopal Church in Minnesota

by The Rev. Canon Robert Two Bulls (Lakota)

Bishop Whipple Mission on the Lower Sioux Reservation is hosted our annual Convention at their Casino and Convention Center, Jackpot Junction in September. We decided that it was right for our convention to be held there for two reasons. The first one being is that this year is notable in both First Nations and Minnesota history in that it marks the 150th Anniversary of when the Dakota rose up to fight the Euro-American settlers and soldiers of Minnesota. It began not far from Bishop Whipple Mission. The second reason is that the first Bishop of the Episcopal Church in Minnesota, Henry Whipple played a part in lobbying President Lincoln to grant clemency to those warriors who fought only in battles and execute only those who raped and killed women and children. Lincoln pared down the list of those to be executed from 303 to 38.

The fighting came about after years of the United States not meeting the obligations and annuities as stated in the 1851 Treaties of Traverse Des Sioux and Mendota. It has many names that have been attached to it by historian throughout the years. It has been called the Dakota Conflict, The Dakota War of 1862, the Sioux Uprising, the Dakota Uprising, the Sioux Outbreak of 1862, the Dakota Conflict, the U.S.–Dakota War of 1862 and Little Crow's War. The fighting lasted about a month after which the Dakota were rounded up. Many of the warriors faced quick trials. By December 26th, 1862 the fighting with many names came to end with the largest mass execution in American History, the hanging of 38 Dakota Warriors.

It is hoped that by remembering this painful and tragic chapter in American History with holding our Annual Convention near where it all began can be the time to begin the process of reconciliation not only within our faith communities in Minnesota but throughout the land.


http://episcopalmn.org/ministries/department-of-indian-work/

St. James Cannonball

A July 25 nighttime fire has destroyed St. James’ Episcopal Church in Cannon Ball, North Dakota.

“At 10 p.m. Central Time a parishioner who lives across the road from St. James’ saw that there was smoke and fire coming from the church,” said the Rev. Canon John Floberg, who has served as St. James’ rector for 21 years and is canon missioner for native ministry in the Diocese of North Dakota. “Flames spread quickly through the parish hall to the church itself, and by quarter of eleven the whole structure was engulfed in flames. It’s all ash today.”

July 25 is a major feast day on the Episcopal Church calendar; it is the day it commemorates St. James the Apostle.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, said Floberg, adding that the church was a wooden structure and at least the second church built on that site.
“I feel like I lost a family member. Very sad,” the Rev. Terry Star, a deacon who serves the Standing Rock Episcopal Community and is a member of the Episcopal Church’s Executive Council, said on his Facebook wall early July 26.
Starr grew up at St. James’ and has served the congregation in the past.

St. James’ congregation was established in 1890 in Cannon Ball, which is part of the Standing Rock Sioux Indian Reservation, and has been home to generations of Episcopalians, Floberg said.
Cannon Ball, in the south central part of the state, was the first place the Episcopal Church was established on the North Dakota reservation. Three other congregations trace their roots to St. James, according to the diocesan website. Services there include hymns in the Dakota language.
“It’s a family church,” Floberg said, adding that there are about 250 members in a community of 800 people where half the population is under the age of 20. “So last night and today we’ve been dealing with the grief that people have over losing the building that has always been the building that they have called their church.”
North Dakota Bishop Michael Smith gathered with the St. James community at noon on Sunday, July 29, for Holy Eucharist at the site of the destroyed church.
Meanwhile, St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Fargo, in eastern North Dakota, echoed the diocese’s call for prayers for St. James and announced that it would take up a collection for the congregation on July 29.

Sioux County, where Cannon Ball is located, is one of the poorest counties in North Dakota and among the top ten poorest in the nation, Floberg said. The county has a population of about 4,200 people spread over about 1,100 square miles, all of it reservation land. Just more than 47 percent of those people lived below the poverty line during the period from 2006 to 2010, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Floberg said that when the church was built, the bishop at the time wanted the congregation to build a stone structure that could withstand the harsh winds, but the people of St. James’ didn’t have the money.
“Our congregation serves in one of North Dakota’s toughest towns,” St. James says in its listing on the diocesan website. “Addiction to alcohol and unemployment are both very high. But we aren’t going to give up. The church has been with us for almost 115 years and is important to us and our community.”

— Lynette Wilson and the Rev. Mary Frances Schjonberg are editors/reporters for the Episcopal News Service.