A seat at the table : Huston Smith in conversation with Native Americans on religious freedom / edited and with preface by Phil Cousineau ; with assistance from Gary Rhine.

Cover image for A seat at the table : Huston Smith in conversation with Native Americans on religious freedom / edited and with preface by Phil Cousineau ; with assistance from Gary Rhine.

ISBN:

9780520940918

9781423731368

9781598757989

9780520244399

9781282360327

Title:

A seat at the table : Huston Smith in conversation with Native Americans on religious freedom / edited and with preface by Phil Cousineau ; with assistance from Gary Rhine.

Author:

Smith, Huston.

Personal Author:

Smith, Huston.

Publication Information:

Physical Description:

1 online resource (1 volume)

Contents:

The spiritual malaise in America : the confluence between religion, law, and community / with Vine Deloria, Jr. and Huston Smith -- Five hundred nations within one : the search for religious justice / with Walter Echo Hawk and Huston Smith -- Ecology and spirituality : following the path of natural law / with Winona LaDuke, and Huston Smith -- Sacred geography : the spiritual significance of holy lands with Charlotte Black Elk, and Huston Smith -- Native language, native spirituality : from crisis to challenge / with Douglas George, and Huston Smith -- The triumph of the Native American Church : protecting endangered ways / with Frank Dayish, Jr. and Huston Smith -- The call for prisoner's religious rights : the red road to rehabilitation / with Lenny Foster and Huston Smith -- Stealing our spirit : the threat of the human genome diversity project / with Huston Smith and Tanya Frichner -- Mount Graham : looking for the fingerprints of God with Anthony Guy Lopez (Lakota) and Huston Smith -- Redeeming the future : the two instructions of spiritual law with Oren Lyons and Huston Smith -- Living for seven generations : an interfaith future / with Vine Deloria, Jr. and Huston Smith.

Local Note:

eBooks on EBSCOhost

Subject Term:

Indians of North America -- Religion.

Freedom of religion -- United States.

Added Author:

Cousineau, Phil.

Rhine, Gary.

Format:

Electronic Resources

Electronic Access:

Click here to view

Publication Date:

2006

Publication Information:

Available:*

Shelf Number	Material Type	Copy	Shelf Location	Status
323.44208997073 22	1:E-BOOK	1	1:ONLINE	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

In this collection of illuminating conversations, renowned historian of world religions Huston Smith invites ten influential American Indian spiritual and political leaders to talk about their five-hundred-year struggle for religious freedom. Their intimate, impassioned dialogues yield profound insights into one of the most striking cases of tragic irony in history: the country that prides itself on religious freedom has resolutely denied those same rights to its own indigenous people. With remarkable erudition and curiosity--and respectfully framing his questions in light of the revelation that his discovery of Native American religion helped him round out his views of the world's religions--Smith skillfully helps reveal the depth of the speakers' knowledge and experience. American Indian leaders Vine Deloria, Jr. (Standing Rock Sioux), Winona LaDuke (Anishshinaabeg), Walter Echo-Hawk (Pawnee), Frank Dayish, Jr. (Navajo), Charlotte Black Elk (Oglala Lakota), Douglas George-Kanentiio (Mohawk-Iroquois), Lenny Foster (Dine/Navajo), Tonya Gonnella Frichner (Onondaga), Anthony Guy Lopez (Lakota-Sioux), and Oren Lyons (Onondaga) provide an impressive overview of the critical issues facing the Native American community today. Their ideas about spirituality, politics, relations with the U.S. government, their place in American society, and the continuing vitality of their communities give voice to a population that is all too often ignored in contemporary discourse. The culture they describe is not a relic of the past, nor a historical curiosity, but a living tradition that continues to shape Native American lives.

Author Notes

Huston Cummings Smith was born in Suzhou, China on May 31, 1919 to Methodist missionaries. He attended Central Methodist University and was ordained a Methodist minister. He soon realized that he would rather teach than preach. He received a Ph.D. in 1945 from the University of Chicago. He taught at several universities including the University of Denver, the Washington University in St. Louis, the University of Chicago Divinity School, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the University of California, Berkeley.

He wrote numerous books during his lifetime including The Religions of Man (the textbook title was later changed to The World's Religions), Cleansing the Doors of Perception: The Religious Significance of Entheogenic Plants and Chemicals, and Tales of Wonder: Adventures Chasing the Divine. In 1955, he turned his popular college lectures into a series of programs on world religions for the National Educational Television network. In 1996, he was the focus of a five-part PBS series entitled The Wisdom of Faith with Huston Smith. He died on December 30, 2016 at the age of 97.

(Bowker Author Biography)

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

In 1999, Smith, renowned authority on world religions, accompanied a delegation of Native American religious leaders to the World Parliament of Religions in Cape Town, South Africa. These delegates contended that understanding the world's religions was impossible without considering the indigenous religions of the New World, which had so often been overlooked. This book grew out of a documentary film of the sessions at the parliament called A Seat at the Table: Struggling for American Indian Religious Freedom. Smith interviewed Native American leaders ranging from the well-known (Vine Deloria Jr., Walter Echo-Hawk and Charlotte Black Elk) to the less widely recognized, such as Lenny Foster and Tonya Gonella Frichner. The remarkable conversations trace the common thread that Native Americans follow a spiritual path imbuing all their life, encompassing art, morality and literature. Topics include the fight for prisoners' rights, ceremonial rituals, the role of elders and the genius of oral traditions. Smith's interlocutors plead for a restoration of religious freedom so long repressed by an American government they believe is seeking to displace tribes from their lands and rob them of their tribal and spiritual identities. The interviews provide a fine introduction to Native American religions. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Choice Review

This excellent volume presents interviews conducted by religious historian Smith (emer., Syracuse) with noted Native scholars, activists, and leaders. What makes it important and unique are the words and voices of highly respected Native Americans who help readers understand the 500-year-long struggle for indigenous religious rights in North America, and other issues and challenges relating to practice and preservation of Native spirituality. These include language; loss of land, rivers, and forests to development despite the centrality of land, place, and indigenous plants and animals to spiritual tradition; protection of endangered sacred sites; legal impediments; cultural appropriation; prisoners' rights; and the Human Genome Project. In 1999, Smith interviewed the late Vine Deloria Jr. (Lakota), Winona LaDuke (Anishinabe), Walter Echo-Hawk (Pawnee), Frank Dayish Jr. (Navajo), Charlotte Black Elk (Lakota), Douglas George-Kanentiio (Mohawk), Lenny Foster (Dine), Tonya Gonnella Frichner (Onondaga), Anthony Guy Lopez (Lakota), and Oren Lyons (Onondaga) during and after their participation in the World Parliament of Religions in Cape Town, South Africa. The book's title was aptly chosen; this was the first time that First Nations religious delegates participated in this parliament. This work shares its title with the 2005 award-winning documentary written by Cousineau and produced by Rhine, the author's late colleague and collaborator. ^BSumming Up: Highly recommended. All levels. M. Cedar Face Southern Oregon University