Neo-Pentecostalism embraced by Cree community
TROUT LAKE, AB—A University of Alberta student fascinated by a small pocket of evangelical Cree in Northern Alberta is breaking new ground and challenging traditional ways of anthropological research.
Clint Westman, a PhD candidate in linguistic and cultural anthropology, found a small population of Pentecostal First Nations in the semi-isolated communities of Trout Lake and Peerless Lake 500 kilometres north of Edmonton while studying the 2001 federal census.
Half Christians
Amazed that over half the 800 souls in the two communities self-identified as Christians, Westman decided to study the phenomenon and base his dissertation on the hypothesis that Evangelicalism has been indigenized and incorporated into Cree symbolic repertoires.
"Over 90 per cent of the population in the two communities are First Nations people and half of them say Cree is their main language spoken in the home," says Westman, who has degrees in humanities and environmental studies from the University of Calgary and York University. "I thought it would be an interesting place to do research."
The next largest group in the census indicated they have "no religion" which Westman says most likely includes Cree spiritual traditionalists. The smallest religious group reported is Catholic—a fact he found surprising since the rest of the province shows Catholicism as the primary religious group among aboriginal people.
Evolving faith
"The Catholics and the Anglicans were first in the area, and a priest remained in the area until after World War II. Then the Missionary Alliance came in and ultimately it evolved into Pentecostalism," says Westman. "It's actually neo-Pentecostalism. They've taken it and changed it—it's not anti-Christian, it's just that they've added a few things."
Previous anthropological studies in Canada have dealt mainly with Catholicism among Crees, and have either ignored Evangelicalism or have suggested that Evangelical conversion demonstrates Cree autonomy. Westman hopes to contextualize Cree Evangelicalism as an adaptation by the Cree to modern life.
He says the Cree people in his study believe in the Holy Trinity, and that the God of the Bible is the same God their ancestors worshiped. "They believe that their Medicine Men were doing the right thing at the time—that they were inspired by God, but now realize that some of their practices may have been influenced also by Satan."
Historically, aboriginal people thought they had to turn their back on native spirituality, because the church wouldn't allow certain practices such as drumming and burning sweet grass. They started turning away from the church, particularly the Catholic Church, and installed their own church leaders in the evangelical tradition.
Westman himself went to church as a child but says at the moment he's "not seeking any religious experience" himself. Many people in his study feel it's their goal to convert him and have told him that they're very glad that he's there to "show the world what God is doing in their community."
Westman is two-thirds of the way through his study and plans to release his findings in 2008. He says historically anthropologists have tended to take a secular approach to research and he believes First Nations people have been mischaracterized.
"Evangelicals get a rough ride from academics," he says.
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