Indian Church

Journal 2006 07 24
Indian Church

Lewis reports that the poor weather is obscuring the sun rendering him unable to make the measurements necessary. He determines that he and his party will remain one more day hoping for clear skies before setting out. With the Indians hunting buffalo in the area earlier there is little game that hasn’t been spooked away. So the men are grateful to eat pigeons that are shot in camp.

Less than two hundred miles SW of Lewis Clark and his party loaded the two canoes lashed together making a primitive catamaran. They “set out” down the Yellowstone River by canoe. They make seventy miles. Two to three times the daily distances traveled to reach the Continental Divide last summer.

“…for me to mention or give an estimate of the differant Spcies of wild animals on this river particularly Buffalow, Elk Antelopes & Wolves would be increditable. I shall therefore be silent on the Subject further. So it is we have a great abundance of the best of meat. we made 70 ms. to day” William Clark

“…on this Island I observd a large lodge the Same which Shannon informed me of a fiew days past. this Lodge a council lodge, it is of a Conocil form 60 feet diamuter at its base built of 20 poles each pole 2½ feet in Secumpheranc and 45 feet Long built in the form of a lodge & covered with bushes. in this Lodge I observed a Cedar bush Sticking up on the opposit side of the lodge fronting the dore, on one side was a Buffalow head, and on the other Several Sticks bent and Stuck in the ground. a Stuffed Buffalow skin was Suspended from the Center with the back down. <on> the top of those poles were deckerated with feathers of the Eagle & Calumet Eagle also Several Curious pieces of wood bent in Circleler form with sticks across them in form of a Griddle hung on tops of the lodge poles others in form of a large Sturrip. This Lodge was errected last Summer. It is Situated in the Center of a butifull Island thinly Covered with Cotton wood under which the earth which is rich is Covered with wild rye and a Species of grass resembling the bluegrass, and a mixture of Sweet grass which the Indian plat and ware around their necks for its cent which is of a Strong sent like that of the Vinella…” William Clark

Sounds a lot like a description of a primitive church. The lodge was huge. Sixty feet across is big. Twenty forty five foot poles at the top to form the cone shape of the tipi. And many objects adorning the structure. Each would have purpose and significance.

Now this was certainly not a church as we would, or should, know it. No Cross. No Christ. Most Native American tribes practiced a form of religion that included a Creator, Earth mother and Great Spirit. In fact it is still practiced in our land today. People were believed to have spirits that would be released into a spirit world upon their death. While not meant to be a religious anthropology lesson many people try to find a fusion of Christianity and the shamanistic forms of Indian theology. We see in the generosity and fine character of the tribes and the Corps of Discovery the dramatically differing views of our spiritual and natural world which will never be resolved in a fashion that brings honor to either. We see the seeds of that chasm in the letter Clark recorded yesterday. William Clark would later become Governor of the Louisiana Territory and spend much of his natural life trying to represent his tribal friends to a world not very willing to hear him.

For our purposes today, Clark’s detailed description of the large tipi, or lodge as they called them, begs a question of inspection in our lives. If a stranger were to examine our church buildings in detail recording all structures and adornments what conclusions could be reached about our activities in the buildings? Would they plainly see Jesus Christ or would they wonder what the crossed sticks represented? Would there be art, statues and other adornments that led from Creation to the Fall to Redemption of man and Creation in Jesus Christ the Son of God? Would they find Bibles in abundance? Most cathedrals, Catholic and Orthodox churches depict the life of Christ in stained glass and murals in the church sanctuary. Holy Family Parish in Auburn, WA where I attended Catechism classes as a child did. Look around this Sunday and see if maybe we couldn’t up the ante in telling the story through methods not requiring words.

Proceed on.