In Native and Christian: Indigenous Voices on Religious Identity in the United States and Canada, 38. New York and London: Routledge, 1996.

Rosemary McCombs Maxey (Muscogee) is pastor of the Mt. Tabor United Church of Christ in Rocky Ridge, Maryland, and lecturer in philosophy and religious studies at Western Maryland College.  She is active as a public speaker in both denominational and ecumenical circles, addressing a variety of native religious and political issues, and is currently preparing a collection of her sermons and lectures for publication by Pilgrim Press.  This essay originally appeared in Theology and Identity (Pilgrim, 1990), an anthology exploring theological and cultural diversity in the United Church of Christ.  Maxey addresses many of the same basic issues facing James West and other native Christians.  Exploring the aftermath of the missionization process, she questions the practice of unity in the midst of diversity by considering cross-cultural perceptions of deity, humankind and harmony.  Her emphasis on relationships rather than doctrines or institutions suggests a distinctively native Christian understanding of "church" and of the connection between theory and practice.

Rosemary McCombs Maxey, January 18, 2006:

"Who Can Sit at the Lord's Table?" is older than ten years, a time when little was written about native Christians by native Christians.  Since then, others have come of age and explored and written our histories and religious involvement in and outside the church in more interesting and coherent ways than I.  These better represent the religious diversity among native peoples.  I would like to think we native Christians and the churches have moved on.  However, the church continues to stand still in its relationship to Indian people.  The church has not overcome its colonialism and triumphalism and much remains to be questioned and called into accountability.  Many native people who are so accustomed to it have become complacent and comfortable too.  So, if I had to write this article again, I would say much the same thing, only this time it would be a poem with pictures.

In my personal life, I resigned my teaching position and pastorate in 1999 and returned to Dustin, OK, to the allotment of my maternal grandmother.  My husband and I live on this farm with cattle, chickens and wildlife.  It is a less hectic lifestyle, but with plenty to keep us busy.  I work as the Director of the Eagle Butte Learning Center, a ministry of the Council for American Indian Ministry of the United Church of Christ.  I also co-teach the Mvskoke (Creek) language for the Oklahoma State University system.  Both jobs require skills in distance learning and cyberspace technology, important and essential components for native life in rural settings.

Postcolonial theology is a new and vibrant interest.  Although colonialism will never go away, a postcolonial approach to theology makes for interesting discussion and thought.  I have learned much from the scholarship of Dr. Laura E. Donaldson, Cherokee professor of English at Cornell University.  The Eagle Butte Learning Center sponsored a weekend retreat for native UCC people on postcolonial theology and it has had significant impact on the people who attended it.

© 2008 by James Treat