Hi, all!

Columbus Day landed on Wednesday this week, and Bishop Greg asked us to reflect on the "Doctrine of Discovery". The doctrine of discovery was the policy of European nations to claim full ownership of the lands occupied by their settlers in the Americas. It was used to justify the removal and genocide of the people who already lived there, namely Native Americans.

I think most of us feel some regret about the treatment of Native Americans in our country. We recognize the tragic losses they suffered when European settlers came.

I have some family heritage on my mother's side in this matter. My great-grandfather, Thomas Lawrence Riggs, was a missionary to the Lakota (Sioux) people in South Dakota. In 1872 he established a mission near Pierre, and eventually founded a number of mission churches along the Missouri River, as well as an Indian boarding school.

One of the great tragedies of mission work among Native Americans was the requirement that their children move to church boarding schools, where they were forced to speak in English and they lost their culture and traditions. The church brought them the Gospel of Christ, but also forced western culture on them. The loss of native pride and identity brought a terrible social price: alcoholism, suicide, and disintegration.

My great-grandfather spoke the Lakota language with great fluency, and the family lore is that he was accepted by them as one of their own. The children in the Indian school were taught in the Lakota tongue until government policies forced the school to teach them in English. My great-grandfather devoted his whole life to the Lakota people, and he I'm sure he didn't intend to cause any harm. And yet, there were unintended consequences to the missionary work he did.

So I have some ambivalence about my family heritage in South Dakota. On the one hand, I'm proud of the work my great-grandfather did and the sacrifices he made. On the other hand, I wonder about those unintended consequences.

I'm planning to go to South Dakota in November to attend a workshop by the Episcopal Diocese of South Dakota on Lakota culture and history. I want to learn more about the Lakota people and the role of the church in their lives. Maybe I'll get a clearer picture of the role of missionaries in South Dakota and perhaps find a way I can contribute to the church work there. I wonder if there might be some way we as a parish might partner with a Native American congregation in South Dakota. Who knows?

Bill