“Extreme hospitality” is the way one participant described her experience during the fourth annual Native immersion hosted by the Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference March 11-14, 2020, in Oklahoma City. Thirty-two participants from Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey, Oklahoma and Texas took part in the three-day event which included visits to key Native historic sites within a two-hour radius of Oklahoma City.
“The immersion experience helps participants to learn about our history and contemporary issues we face today,” said the Rev. David Wilson, OIMC conference superintendent. “The coronavirus epidemic was heavy on our minds this visit, and we took extra precautions providing hand sanitizers and adjusting our programs as needed.” For example, the round dance was demonstrated without holding hands.
“I feel like I’ve had kind of a surface knowledge and a surface understanding of Native Americans,” said Cynthia Dopke, Wespath church relations manager. “Coming to this experience has been a way for me to deepen and really understand the complexities of the history and importance of the church, the Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference and their witness in the world.”
On the first day, participants visited the Oklahoma History Center, which includes information regarding the 39 tribes in the state. After lunch at Mary Lee Clark United Methodist Church, the group traveled north to Ponca City to the Standing Bear Park, which includes a 22-foot bronze statue of the Ponca tribal leader. Standing Bear played an important role in determining the “humanity” of his people and all Native peoples by arguing successfully in U.S. District Court in 1879 that he had civil rights under American law.
“Rev. David Wilson was talking about things that are essential for the Native church, which included hospitality,” said Charlene Zuill, spiritual life coordinator at Boston University School of Theology. “Hospitality is something that I feel is very important, and it felt like a point of connection; it is something we all share, but we offer it so differently.”
On the second day, participants braved cooler weather and rain to visit the Washita “Massacre” Battlefield site in Cheyenne, Oklahoma. This is where General George Armstrong Custer massacred 30 to 60 Cheyenne, mostly women and children, in 1868. The events took place four years after the massacre at Sand Creek where Col. John Chivington, a Methodist clergyman, ordered the cavalry to charge on 160 Cheyenne and Arapaho women and children. Participants toured the cultural center and took a 1.5-mile guided walk through the area where the massacre took place. The day ended with a visit to Clinton Indian Church and Community Center, where Cheyenne Prayer Woman, Henrietta Mann, shared her family’s story of survival from both the Sand Creek and Washita massacres. Mann also led a smudging ceremony for participants during which she burned sweet grass and offered a prayer.
The Rev. Jack Terrell-Wilkes, pastor at both Lawton Heights and Wesley Chapel United Methodist churches in Lawton, Oklahoma, is from the state but had never connected to OIMC churches before the experience. He brought his son to get a firsthand deep dive into cultural history in Oklahoma.
“I’ve kind of known a lot of this stuff, but things in front of your face become invisible,” said Terrell-Wilkes. “It’s an important experience to … see where the church has failed and where we have also done good.”
On the third day, the group traveled to Thlopthlocco United Methodist Church in Okemah, Oklahoma, to experience a traditional and authentic “wild onion dinner.” They also experienced Native dancing in Oklahoma City.
“If you are United Methodist and have a chance to visit OIMC, I highly recommend it,” said the Rev. Diane Kenaston, senior pastor at University United Methodist Church in St. Louis. “This conference has so much to teach the rest of the denomination about tradition, innovation, community, hospitality, story, culture, kinship, music, generosity and resilience. Also, if you’ve never had fry bread, you are missing out,” she said.
“Through our immersion experience, we want to reshape the narrative around Native Americans in a way that reveals our strengths and gifts we bring to the church and the world,” said Wilson.
Registration for the 2021 immersion experience will open Nov. 1. The registration cost for the event is $225 per person which covers all meals and entry fees. For more information, contact the OIMC office at 405-632-2006 or via email at Dwilson@oimc.org.
