Participation Type
Performance
Session Title
Session 9.17 Ethnicity and Race
Presentation #1 Title
The Cherokee and Christian Convergence
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
This performance presentation would include film with audio and interviews and focus on and how the Cherokee belief system allows for the people to easily embrace Christianity even as it often condemns their traditional ceremonies and beliefs; and how the advantage of having a written language helps the scripture and hymns to proliferate through the people and make transition to Christianity easier. While the indigenous people of the Appalachian region were originally forced into religion, they have embraced it and cling as hard or more so to the cross as they do to their traditional culture. Many of the modern Cherokee have found a way to exist as both traditional Cherokee and Christian. The traditional beliefs align with many of the Christian beliefs about leading a good life; sadly though the Christian teachings often condemned indigenous belief systems and their practices as paganism and against God’s will. I’m hoping to find how Cherokees who practice both find a middle ground. Another focus of this study is how the Cherokee having a written language may have made it easier for the people to accept and embrace Christianity. My grandfather and great-grandfather preached simultaneously, one in Cherokee the other in English in a small Southern Baptist church. The Cherokee created a word in their language for God, where none existed before, and to give the Cherokee people songs in their native tongue about God and his glory would only increase their ability to connect to this new religion.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
History and Religion major at Mars Hill University.
The Cherokee and Christian Convergence
This performance presentation would include film with audio and interviews and focus on and how the Cherokee belief system allows for the people to easily embrace Christianity even as it often condemns their traditional ceremonies and beliefs; and how the advantage of having a written language helps the scripture and hymns to proliferate through the people and make transition to Christianity easier. While the indigenous people of the Appalachian region were originally forced into religion, they have embraced it and cling as hard or more so to the cross as they do to their traditional culture. Many of the modern Cherokee have found a way to exist as both traditional Cherokee and Christian. The traditional beliefs align with many of the Christian beliefs about leading a good life; sadly though the Christian teachings often condemned indigenous belief systems and their practices as paganism and against God’s will. I’m hoping to find how Cherokees who practice both find a middle ground. Another focus of this study is how the Cherokee having a written language may have made it easier for the people to accept and embrace Christianity. My grandfather and great-grandfather preached simultaneously, one in Cherokee the other in English in a small Southern Baptist church. The Cherokee created a word in their language for God, where none existed before, and to give the Cherokee people songs in their native tongue about God and his glory would only increase their ability to connect to this new religion.
