Vine Deloria Jr. Theological Symposium

In collaboration with ELCA Indigenous Ministries and Tribal Relations and in attunement with the Truth and Healing Movement of the ELCA, and moving toward right relationship with our Indigenous siblings and neighbors, ELCA Coaching invites you to join us for this opportunity "to learn the true history and current realities of Indigenous people. It is these truths, truths that have been ignored by most for hundreds of years, that will bring healing for both Indigenous people and non-Indigenous people."

In 2013 the annual American Indian and Alaska Native Symposium at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC) was renamed in honor of Vine Deloria Jr., an alum of Augustana Seminary in Rock Island, Ill. (a predecessor school of LSTC). The symposium has been held in November every year since it began 16 years ago and is co-sponsored by the Pero Center for Intersectionality Studies at LSTC and ELCA’s Indigenous Ministries and Tribal Relations.

All events will be accessible online, and this year’s symposium will focus on Deloria’s book Custer Died for Your Sins.

At the height of the American Indian Movement and beyond, Vine Deloria Jr. played a significant role in strengthening tribal sovereignty for federally recognized tribes in the United States, from serving as executive director of the National Congress of American Indians to serving as a law professor at the University of Arizona during his retirement and so much in between. In Custer Died for Your Sins, Deloria writes about the challenges posed to Indigenous people by non-Native people, the U.S. federal government, churches and others. He offers new ways of thinking about those challenges and a philosophy for how Native Nations and leaders of the American Indian Movement and others might respond. Deloria offers both pragmatic and philosophical wisdom about moving forward toward justice. We challenge readers to consider the questions “How much has changed?” and “Might we still be dealing with similar challenges even today?” Symposium participants will hear from scholars and leaders, who will reflect on the text and how Deloria might be speaking to us today about the challenges we face and how we should respond.

NEW: A discussion guide is now available to help readers think more deeply and critically about Custer Died for Your Sins, the wisdom that Vine Deloria Jr offers therein, and the challenges Indigenous people still face today. Download the guide below and begin a Truth and Healing Movement Reading Circle with members of your community.

Full details can be found here: https://elca.org/Our-Work/Congregations-and-Synods/Ministries-of-Diverse-Cultures-and-Communities/Indigenous-Ministries-and-Tribal-Relations/Truth-and-Healing-Movement