cw: swearing; mention of sexual assaults, violence, threats of violence; discussion of systemic enslavement and abuse of Indigenous people; discussion of discrimination against and harmful stereotypes of Indigenous people
As a Sister Missionary I believed the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, MY Church, was an entirely positive force for good in the world, and that included the Church’s relationship with Indigenous Americans. Today I am working on setting the record straight by sharing a small portion of Church history they never taught me—how the Mormon Church harmed Indigenous people in the past, and how it continues to harm people today. I’ll give examples of how contemporary Prophets spoke about Indigenous people, as well as the practices they initiated and endorsed as head of the Church. I will conclude with an honest account from our own time, sharing the words of an Exmormon Native American woman.
In week forty, my journal entries include celebrating the 4th of July with the added miracle of intuiting God’s ban on missionaries attending the rodeo, receiving the sweetest praise for my Christlike example of “loving others more than I love myself” and “never stopping to care for myself,” and finally, missing a much-yearned for temple Endowment session but, through the grace of God, getting a chance to learn a big spiritual lesson and have things work out for the best anyway.
Protect Missing & Murdered Indigenous People: https://www.niwrc.org/donate
Support me monthly on patreon:D patreon.com/AllyChristiansen
Make a one-time donation on Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/allychristiansen
(Write in the notes to send this towards today’s featured guest and I will get it to her, and if I can’t get in touch with her I will send the money instead to the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center)
This project is very rewarding and very time consuming. Your financial support makes this possible, thank you!
Her original post: Reddit, “Exmo Native American here”
1852 Utah Legislative Session, Brigham Young, p. 108-110
1960 General Conference, Spencer W. Kimball, “The Day of the Lamanites”
Wikipedia: LDS Indian Placement Program
Wikipedia: Native American People and Mormonism
Written, read, edited, & produced by Ally Finlinson Christiansen.
Music credits:
Clown Music by Seth_Makes_Sounds -- https://freesound.org/s/677166/ -- License: Creative Commons 0
mandolin sample from porch.wav by Jackie-makes-noiz -- https://freesound.org/s/545744/ -- License: Creative Commons 0
Church Music by Seth_Makes_Sounds -- https://freesound.org/s/678022/ -- License: Creative Commons 0
#sistermissionary #sdrcm #NdbM #postmormon #exmormon #ohsister #NoMoreMMIW #NoMoreMMIP #MMIW #MMIP