What if Jesus were Indigenous?

Today is the feast day of Kamehameha IV and Emma, both Anglicans and monarchs of Hawaii before its annexation. I have a reflection on these two which is in progress, and will be posted on Dec 2.

Meanwhile, I ask, what if Jesus were Indigenous?

“Our offerings places are sacred to us,
and the spiritual beings take care of us.
We know the land, the spiritual beings know us here.
If we leave our offering places, we will not be able to survive.”

Jack Hatathlie, Navajo Medicine Man

Indigenous peoples very often derive their identity from their land. I'm not sure to what extent the Hawaiian people did so. However, it is certain that the Hawaiians are now a minority on their ancestral lands, much like the Native Americans, the Canadian First Peoples, the Maoris and the Australian Aborigines. In the past, the church has supported dispossession of Native peoples, and attempted to reeducate them.

Can we come to see Christ in Indigenous Peoples? Humankind spits on its own common heritage if we do not.

This Lentz icon depicts Jesus and Mary as Navajo people. Jesus is strapped to a traditional cradleboard. Around the sides and bottom of the painting is a Rainbow Yei, a guardian god and a common feature of Navajo sandpaintings. Traditionally, sandpaintings were destroyed by dawn the next day. One Navajo artist eventually broke that taboo to preserve his heritage. At one point, the Hawaiian people had a taboo against men and women eating together; this taboo was broken by their own people before Christian missionaries arrived.