wfn.org | Native American Dinner Celebrates Passages of Life

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18-June-1998 
GA98088 
 
    Native American Dinner Celebrates Passages of Life 
 
    by Allison Politinsky 
 
CHARLOTTE, N.C.--From birth, through rites of passage, to remembering our 
ancestors in death, the Native American Consulting Committee (NACC) 
celebrated the many ways of grieving and celebrating in community. Native 
Americans from across the country made connections from their different 
tribes and regions of the country at the NACC dinner on Tuesday, June 16. 
    The dinner was hosted by Mary McQuillen, the moderator of the Synod of 
Alaska/Northwest.  From the time the first European boats came to the 
shores of this country, McQuillen said, the Native Americans offered the 
first housing organization and the first food bank, before the government 
even existed.  It is a strong Native American custom to welcome other 
people of any culture, and to offer food and a place to stay. 
    It is also an important custom to share in grief when a community 
member is lost.  McQuillen opened the evening with prayer and 
acknowledgment of a synod member who had died in recent months.  In 
remembering the friend, Sue Johnson, in death, McQuillen said, the group 
was celebrating her life. 
    "It is the custom of our tribe, the Klinkett, to give a gift of a 
blanket with love and prayers," McQuillen said.  "Unfortunately, we were 
caught unaware and got the next best thing.  We share with you candles of 
hope and carved wooden decorations from the Seneca Tribe in New York. Our 
prayers are with you all this year and as long as you need them." 
 
    Through the telling of stories, other NACC members taught dinner guests 
about the traditional rites of passage for Native American children. One 
rite of passage for young children is intended to help them face reality 
and let go of the fantasies of their childhoods. 
    "The experience was an important part of my faith building experience, 
even later when I became a Christian," said Allison Lewis, a member of the 
Hopi tribe.  "It helped me to become a child of God."  Lewis said she 
actually does not consider herself to be Hopi.  "Hopi is not a noun," Lewis 
said.  "It is a state of being.  I really haven't arrived at that place 
yet. It is an ideal state of being.  I try to be Hopi." 
    She recalled the devotion of her grandfather when he would try to reach 
this state of being every morning.  "Each morning my grandfather went out 
to greet the sunrise," Lewis said.  "Each morning he also checked his 
cross.  I remember how solemn and respectful he felt about the land we 
lived on." 
    Finally, the end arrived back at the beginning.  McQuillen shared a 
story about June Lorenzo, the moderator of the Task Force on Native 
American Ministries, and a member of NACC. Lorenzo had left a bag full of 
$200 cash after dashing out to the airport during her last visit with 
McQuillen.  McQuillen said it was then up to her as an elder to teach 
Lorenzo a lesson not to take God's gifts lightly. 
    Llorenzo did her penance by reciting a beautiful poem "It Has Always 
Been This Way" about birth, new life, and the sacredness of family love and 
tradition. 

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