Sheldon Jackson: a controversial, proselytizing dynamo.
There was an intersting event last year that provides a good example: 2017 was the worst king salmon harvest in their collective history. In July, a whale swam 30 miles up the Kuskokwim river (remarkable because it's not normally a fresh water mammal) and was killed with great ceremony and joy by the villagers just downstream from Bethel (which is about 40 miles up stream from the Bering).
Relieved Napaskiak villagers harvest a sacrificial gray whale.
There's a limit - perhaps measured by the level of the larder - to how far the natives will carry the yoke of Christ and turn the other cheek. In that, I think they're not so different from most.
So there's plenty of churches here to celebrate Easter with; nearly everyone will attend and enjoy the social & emotional refreshment it provides. But in the harsh reality of their every-day survival they will always thank the caribou, moose, bear, salmon, fox, rabbit, or whale for giving themselves up, and offer some of their catch back to the earth in gratitude. They grudgingly render unto Caesar what Caesar forces them to, and willingly render unto God what is God's. But which God depends on their perception of who met their most fundamental needs: Father God, or Mother Goddess.
Native communion of sorts - but with which deity?
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