In Native and Christian: Indigenous Voices on Religious Identity in the United States and Canada, 209. New York and London: Routledge, 1996.

Juanita Little, OSF (Mescalero Apache) is a Franciscan Sister currently working in Mescalero, New Mexico, as a counselor with the Center of Protective Environment, a state-funded agency that intervenes in situations involving domestic violence.  She previously served on the parish staff at St. Joseph's Mission in Mescalero and has also worked as a teacher.  She first presented this essay at "A Consultation in Native Catechesis" sponsored by the Tekakwitha Conference; it grew out of her work at St. Joseph's at a time when they were beginning to develop a parish mission statement and a liturgy that would cultivate leadership and empower the local community.  Little describes her cultural and religious background and recounts some examples of mutually beneficial interaction between contemporary Christians and traditionalists at Mescalero.  Her "story of Jesus" as gift, guide, friend, provider, and protector is also the story of her reluctant journey back home to work with her people, and of her growing conception of an inclusive, global human community.

© 2008 by James Treat