Review-- God Is Red: A Native View of Religion by Vine Deloria Jr.

God Is Red: A Native View of Religion is a book written by Vine Deloria Jr. It explores various worldviews of several Native American traditions and how the legacy of empire and colonialism impacted the spiritual beliefs and traditions of the people. He pulls from a variety of sources including his own personal experience. Using his own understanding as a Standing Rock Sioux, he draws parallels from Judeo-Christian and various worldviews of Indigenous communities across North America.

Several of Deloria Jr.'s insights were eye-opening to me. As someone who grew up learning the falsehoods that are often told about Native Americans...I am always finding myself learning something new. Vine Deloria Jr's critique of Western civilization is rooted in his understanding and interpretation of Indigenous traditions. He makes note that unlike Christianity and Judaism, there was never conflict over doctrine in Indigenous traditions. Since Native traditions were first and foremost communal, they taught its members that they were a part of the world. Deloria Jr. is not afraid of challenging the traditional understanding of religion-- that the sacred is something that is found outside of the natural world as opposed to within it-- and argues that if there is to be any hope for peace and reconciliation between the people of this world then we need to reframe how we approach Indigenous knowledge and spirituality.

The edition of this book I read was the 30th Anniversary. The first time this book was first published was in in 1973, during a time of social unrest and political upheaval. The efforts of the American Indian Movement, Indigenous activists, and their allies were still a relatively new phenomenon that many people were still understanding. Each chapter is dedicated to a particular concern relating to the impacts of colonization on Native Americans. Deloria Jr. provides sharp insights that dispel many of the myths surrounding Indigenous communities of North America. He also addresses attempts by White people to justify their conquest of the Americas using Christianity and secularism, and how these ideologies were used politically and socially to inspire Europe's masses to justify the genocide and slavery of millions of people for over 500 years. He also explores why the the struggles of Native Americans are uniquely different from other racial, ethnic, political, and religious groups. (However, Deloria Jr., admits that he does see a lot of commonalities between the struggles of Native Americans and Jewish people.)

What were other unique insights I found essential throughout the author's discourse? Deloria Jr. challenges us to be critical of those who are acting on the authority of the "Great Spirit" -- or anyone who claims to go around using Indigenous practices-- to gain money. In the pursuit of spiritual enlightenment that many White people do not find in the Christian traditions...many of them turn to outside sources. His analysis of how some New Age practitioners (majority White) and Natives of questionable character take advantage of this sincere longing of White people and others seeking genuine spiritual connection to gain money, power, and status.

Ultimately, God Is Red is one Indigenous scholar's answer and challenge to the theological rhetoric of Protestant, Catholic, and secular worldviews; which used institutional power to uphold the notion that a particular class of individuals (White European Christians and their descendants) have the inherent right and entitlement to own the world and to deplete its natural resources. For generations, he argues that White Europeans have completely removed the sacred from the natural world and even Christian environmentalists fail to reconcile the sacred with what they believe to be mundane. Deloria argued that it was these ideas of nature as inherently sinful and only a resource that first drove Europeans out of the continent. This theology was later used to justify the invasion and pillaging of the various communities of South and North America, the Caribbean, Asia, Africa, and Australia. He argues that the basic tenets of American democracy...the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness...is rooted in the disenfranchisement and the dehumanization of Native Americans. It came with the forceful removal of Indigenous communities from their homelands, the vilification of Indigenous beliefs and practices, and the forced assimilation and the terrorization of Native people. This legacy will continue until White people begin to take serious steps to improve their relations with the Earth and the people they plundered.

The basic tenets of this book I find particularly useful for those who are seeking to further understand the contentions between "settler states" and Indigenous communities. While Deloria Jr. wrote about this from the standpoint of Native North Americans...he recognizes these struggles are happening to Indigenous people around the globe.

One of the most memorable quotes I took from the book is as follows:

The future of humankind lies waiting for those who will come to understand their lives and take up their responsibility to all living things.

Deloria Jr. has other books out there. God Is Red definitely has inspired me to check those out. Clearly, I have more reading to do.