I see that - after my very first post - there is someone trying to ban me :)  I think it is because he or she has a misunderstanding of my use of the word trickster, and he or she - if they are thinking about tricksters in western culture - is probably justified in his or her concern.

The reason I chose "trickster" is because I am indigenous and in our culture the trickster is someone who can change shapes or transform.  To me conversion - and our life of loosing ourselves and becoming one with our Lord  involves life long conversion...love is a very hard concept to learn.. it takes a life time.  So trickster to me is a loving term that is about conversion...that is why I took the handle.

Now that i am on this...I can give a quick background of myself... I am a status Indian in Canada, (Algonquin) and I have been a theological student looking at the relationship of the Church to indigenous communities in light of inculturation  theology.

However, it was the church prior to Vatican II that had done a lot of unsung good work with our peoples, and I would be interested in conversations with this community about relationship with the church and indigenous communities...so I leave it open to open responses and have no leading question.

I would also be happy to share my e-mail and contact info to those interested in joining my exploration of this area.

Trickster
(real name is Bruce Ferguson)

Pray tell what might "inculturation theology" be? Who first described it? Another thought: what is a status Indian?

How do you know that the Amerlcan Indian is indigenous and not an invader from Asia?

Lastly, the world has varying types of trickster stories. many symbolized by the fox, none of which matches very well to Catholic tradition, except for that sly guy, the devil.

Pray tell what might "inculturation theology" be? Who first described it? Another thought: what is a status Indian?

How do you know that the Amerlcan Indian is indigenous and not an invader from Asia?

Lastly, the world has varying types of trickster stories. many symbolized by the fox, none of which matches very well to Catholic tradition, except for that sly guy, the devil.

Hello Lighthouse.  Thank you for the questions.  Inculturation theology is a theology developed after Vatican II that looked at how the Catholic faith can be incorporated into the cultural contexts of indigenous peoples around the world.  It is this theological framework that initially sparked my interest in looking at the relationship  between indigenous community and the Catholic Church and/or Christianity more broadly.  

Status Indian is a Canadian federal term that acknowledges that an indigenous person lived in what is now Canada prior to the establishment of the French or English Crown in the 1600's.  

Interesting question about the Bering Strait Bridge theory...they have in fact found bones of indigenous people that are older than the previously oldest archeological evidence. These bones (I would have to look up the details) are indeed older than the ones in Asia...

Yes, your views that trickster has been used in western culture as symbolic of the devil...I never thought of that because that is not our people's (indigenous) understanding of trickster spirits.  I don't think western culture has the monopoly on the concept of a trickster and "trickster" perform different cultural roles in different cultures; your correct, in western culture the trickster symbolized the devil,but that is not the exclusive definition of trickster.  

Anyways, thank you for those questions I look forward to your thinking on these issues.  I am interested particular in the pre-vatican II church relations to  the indigneous community... In New Mexico as an example, the catholic church in the 1600's developed kiva (an American Southwest indigenous sacred place where the people were in touch with God... the franciscans back in the day built a kiva where the friars invited pueblo leadership where they talked about spiritual concepts....you can google the Salinas Missions monument to explroe that concept..so the pre-Vatican II church was also innovative in how the evangelized our peoples.  

Ok, talk to you later.

Trickster
or Bruce Ferguson