In Native and Christian: Indigenous Voices on Religious Identity in the United States and Canada, 51. New York and London: Routledge, 1996.

Stan McKay (Cree) is an ordained minister in the United Church of Canada and is from the Fisher River Reserve in Ontario.  He was elected to a two-year term as moderator of the United Church in 1992, the first native person to lead a mainline denomination in Canada, and he is the subject of a recent biography by Joyce Carlson, Journey from Fisher River (United Church, 1994).  In 1994 he returned to his position as director of the Dr. Jessie Saulteaux Resource Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, an ecumenical training program that prepares native church leaders for full-time ministry and also offers cross-cultural educational opportunities for non-native Christians.  McKay wrote this essay on the basis of his personal involvement with native elders for more than fifteen years; he wanted to articulate some insights that he has learned and that have contributed to his spiritual journey, insights that were not included in his formal theological education.  In discussing the tensions involved in expressing these spiritual insights in writing, he suggests a way for Christians to understand native religious history by foregrounding parallels with ancient Israel, where religious identity was rooted in a special relationship to creation and the Creator.  McKay shows how this theological starting point can lead to a healthy emphasis on stewardship, harmony, and respect.

© 2008 by James Treat