Seeing Similarities

Coming from a background of Christianity in which each denomination will quickly expound on what the differences are, I was deeply struck by how similar many First Nations spiritual practices and Christian spiritual practices are. In Bilodeau's article "They honor our Lord among themselves in their own way," some of the similarities between the traditions are outlines. The most obvious similarity is between God and the Creator. TO me, they are the same. It seems as though the missionaries were splitting hairs in their insistence of making God different than the Creator.

Spirits are also a powerful spiritual belief in First Nations culture and these were equated with the Christian belief of the Holy Spirit. While these concepts are not the same in theological terms, the spirit and the intent of them are the same.

The last similarity that I found between the practice of Roman Catholicism (the major denomination of the missionaries in Canada) and First Nations spiritual practices were very similar between the veneration of saints and manitous. Saints are a very important aspect of Catholicism and are venerated and given gifts in order to provide protection, good health, return of good relationships, etc. Manitous were treated in much the same way, although manitous are found in the natural world. The tradition in First Nations culture is to leave offerings for manitous and offerings are deeply ingrained in Christian culture.

With all of these theological similarities between Christianity and First Nations spirituality, I wonder why common ground was never acknowledged or celebrated. I love finding similarities amongst drastically different spiritual traditions. While I am aware that I am applying my own ideals to another era, I wish the missionaries had not been so certain that their way was the only way. I hope that in the present we can continue seeing similarities and celebrating our differences.

References
Bilodeau, C. (2001 Summer). "They honor our Lord among themselves in their own way": Colonial Christianity and the Illinois Indian. American Indian Quarterly, 25(3), 352-377.