The Jesus Road: Kiowas, Christianity, and Indian Hymns

Luke E. Lassiter, Clyde Ellis, Ralph Kotay

U of Nebraska Press, Jan 1, 2002 - Religion - 152 pages

In this highly original and moving volume, an anthropologist, a historian, and a Native singer come together to reveal the personal and cultural power of Christian faith among theøKiowas of southwestern Oklahoma and to show how Christian members of the Kiowa community have creatively embraced hymns and made them their own.

Kiowas practice a unique expression of Christianity, a blending that began with the arrival of missionaries on the Kiowa-Comanche-Apache Reservation in the 1870s. In these pages, historian Clyde Ellis offers a compelling look at the way in which many Kiowas became Christian over the past century and have woven that faith into their identity. The personal and cultural significance of traditional songs and their close connection to the power of hymns is then illuminated by anthropologist Luke Eric Lassiter. Like traditional Kiowa songs, Christian hymns help restore and minister to the community; they also can be highly individualistic since many are composed and shared by church members themselves at different times in their lives. In the final section of the book Kiowa singer Ralph Kotay tells of the personal meaning and value of the hymns and of the Christian faith in general.

This remarkable, sensitive book makes an important contribution to our understanding of the complexity of Native lives today and offers a subtle yet penetrating look at the legacy of Christianity among Native peoples.

Contents

• V: 17
• VI: 69
• VII: 71
• VIII: 85
• IX: 111
• X: 121
• XI: 139
• XII: 149

Popular passages

Page 24 - A system which looks to the extinction of a race is too horrible for a nation to adopt without entailing upon itself the wrath of all Christendom and engendering in the citizen a disregard for human life and the rights of others dangerous to society.

Page 22 - ... civilize the Indians. The military arm of the government is not the most admirably adapted to discharge duties of this character. We have the highest possible appreciation of the officers of the army, and fully recognize their proverbial integrity and honor; but we are satisfied that not one in a thousand would like to teach Indian children to read and write, or Indian men to sow and reap. These are emphatically civil, and not military, occupations.

Page 23 - ... war. A council was held with them, which at one time threatened to result in no good; but finally a full and perfect understanding was arrived at, which though not then, nor even yet, reduced to writing, we have every reason to believe has been faithfully kept by them. It was at this council that the hitherto untried policy in connection with Indians, of endeavoring to conquer by kindness, was inaugurated.

About the author

Luke Eric Lassiter is an associate professor of anthropology at Ball State University. He is the author of The Power of Kiowa Song: A Collaborative Ethnography. Clyde Ellis is an associate professor of history at Elon University. He is the author of To Change Them Forever: Indian Education at the Rainy Mountain Boarding School, 1893?1920. Ralph Kotay is a member of the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma and a noted singer whose work has been featured in a number of publications and recordings, including "Songs of Indian Territory" and "Remaining Ourselves: Music and Tribal Memory."

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Jesus Road: Kiowas, Christianity, and Indian Hymns; Bison books edition
• Authors: Luke E. Lassiter, Clyde Ellis, Ralph Kotay
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: U of Nebraska Press, 2002
• ISBN: 080328005X, 9780803280052
• Length: 152 pages
• Subjects: Music / Religious / Christian; Religion / Christianity / General; Social Science / Ethnic Studies / Native American Studies