The man on the far left in this picture, Chief Steve Silverheels, is a minister who lives in Wilmington N.C. not far from my mother. He is a Christian minister and evangelist. He is also a native American with Mohawk/Iroquois/Seneca ancestry. If the name Silverheels rings a bell to some of you– it should. The very first Native American to star on national television was his father, Jay Silverheels, better known as Tonto, the trusty companion of the Lone Ranger.
For a Methodist like myself ministry to and by Native Americans has always been a part of our heritage as well. John and Charles Wesley, it will be remembered specifically came to America to witness to Native Americans in Georgia, though only John really got the chance to do so, and it could hardly have been called much of a success. Nevertheless, Methodists have always had Native American members from the earliest beginnings during colonial days, and one of my earliest memories of an Annual Conference meeting was hearing the Cherokee choir sing Amazing Grace in Cherokee at Lake Junaluska N.C. They had only had to travel a few miles from the Cherokee reservation in the mountains of N.C. to do so, where they had their own UM Church.
Steve Silverheels is interesting not least because the way he ministers involves indigenization, the sharing of the Gospel in a cultural way and language that speaks to Native Americans. His story of conversion and ministry is a compelling one. His father we have already mentioned, but his mother was Jewish, and he attended a synagogue in NY as a very young boy, and then later a Catholic school. Neither influence ‘took’ as they would say, and he spent much of his youth trying to divest himself of the Judaeo-Christian tradition. But God, the Great Spirit got hold of this man in 1974 when he was a drug addict and an alcoholic, right after he got out of the Army. Silverheels vividly recalls “a visitation from the Lord. And I knew it was my last warning. I saw him descending on a cloud…I asked him to save me, and all I know was I woke up kneeling at my window and crying. I came to the knowledge that there truly was a God.” (quoted in the Wilmington Star-News in an article by Amanda Greene, from whose article I have culled much of this information).
One of the interesting features of Silverheels ministry is that by day he is a mailman, but in the evening he delivers a quite different sort of news— Good News. Steve did not live with his father Jay growing up, though he saw him several times a year, but he did live for a while on the Seneca reservation near Buffalo and clearly enough he did come to embrace his Native American heritage, and continues to do so since his conversion. He and his wife spent the years between 1975-95 ministering to Native Americans on the reservations in Arizona. among other things bringing clothing and food items to distribute. One of the more interest aspects of Silverheels ministry is faith healing. He is very clear to tell those who ask that he is not a healer himself, but he believes in healing and he believes he has been anointed by God to pray for healing of people. In fact he is called a healer by his fellow Native Americans.
Jay Silverheels, as it turns out, was a descendent of Handsome Lake, a famous Seneca Indian prophet.The Iroquois were some of the first Native Americans to embrace Christianity and the way they made sense of it to their own kin was by calling God the Father the Great Creator, Jesus the Great Mystery, and the Holy Spirit, the Great Spirit. When Amanda Greene caught up with Rev. Silverheels, he had recently been speaking to the Wesley Memorial UMC United Methodist women’s meeting.
If you have interest in seeing a sample of his ministry you can go to www.youtube.com/user/ChiefSilverheels or Steve’s own website www.chiefsilverheels.org.
“And the Gospel shall be proclaimed to every tribe, and tongue, and people and nation, unto the ends of the earth”.
posted October 30, 2009 at 4:58 pm
Mr. Silverheels is not a chief. Being of ancestry from multiple tribes, it is difficult to imagine any tribe granting him such a position, not to mention that those tribes do not have a position called “chief”. calling an American Indian “chief” is like using words such as “squaw” or “buck”. Such terminology does not exist in tribal culture. In addition, the major tribes have their own religions, so much more ancient that the methodist faith. Traditional cultures practice their own religions. Members who convert to modern, outside religions rarely have any leadership or social authority in their tribe. Handsome Lake was a Seneca religious leader, loyal to his traditional tribal religious faith and never embraced Christianity in any form. This article is exploitive in nature, not accurate, and quite misleading. What do you hope to accomplish by using this poor man in your commentary? While Christianity has had some conversions amongs tribal members, the real strength of American Indian faith is in how many American Indians continue to practice and honor their traditional sacred practices….not Christianity. Best regards. I am an Ojibway artist and keeper of sacred Ceremonies.
posted October 30, 2009 at 5:14 pm
Thank you so much for posting this.
posted October 31, 2009 at 8:16 am
Hi Turtleheart:
Your beef is not with me, but with Mr. Silverheels, who certainly does call himself a chief, and your interpretation of Handsome Lake is open to question. I fully understand your concern about poaching of the Indian traditions, but their needs to be some honesty involved as well. Many Indians have become Christians and still value various aspects of their Indian customs and traditions. At my own seminary we have had Native Americans write doctoral theses about this very matter, and so it is not appropriate to be in denial about the scope of the influence of Christianity on Native Americans which is not and has not been minimal. My own personal contact with both Lumbee and Cherokee Indians who have become Christians has found them not defensive either about their continued Indian customs or their profound commitment to Christ. I certainly have no desire to exploit anyone, but as in all matters the truth will set you free, and one must be honest about these things, even if honesty is sometimes painful.
Blessings,
Ben W,
posted November 1, 2009 at 4:19 am
why are these special american spiritual persons not given more access to help people worldwide ? most religions have now lost their way , but still wasting vital time .
if christianity as colonialism & hunters have killed most of the spirit of the place – the tradtional spiritual mystical guides should lead the global climate disaster healing process & restore wild animals & rainfall & trees etc.
a lot ofindividuals indifferent countries are trying to find help, interseccion, honest advice & protection in their own lives & spiritual paths – but after years & years & , still have not found a proper honest leader .
this means every person will be raped at death , when fasting , when in meditation retreats , at enlightenment if so lucky to even try this ;
especially in south africa & africa, where i live , – now is this mind-rape war terror , in the buddhism as well – .
but is could be stopped & prevented with proper authority .
posted November 1, 2009 at 7:02 am
Christianity is not colonialism, and vice versa, though the two are often confused. Nor does real Christianity have anything to do with the imposition of European culture on others. Christianity is a Middle Eastern religion started by Jews long before there was anything like modern Western culture. It is a tragedy that Christianity was co-opted much later by imperialists and brutal people who sought to impose their own cultural values on others by stealing their land etc. But honestly this has nothing to do with the essence of Biblical Christianity.
BW3
posted November 2, 2009 at 9:46 am
Many North American Indians have no issue with the term chief. In fact, the Assembly of First Nations in Canada bestows the title of Chief upon their leader (democratically elected). As a person of mixed descent, I see no problem with being a Christian and celebrating North American Indian culture. Thanks for the post, Dr. Witherington.