Amazing Grace on the Native American Six Hole Flute

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjkXU-4wZKM

http://www.flutopedia.com/fingeringChart_SixDiatonic.htm

Amazing Grace Sung in the Navajo Language

Amazing Grace in Navajo, sung by Elizabeth Bryant and Virginia Greymountain

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1s9jd7OOcM

http://navajopeople.org/

http://www.navajo-nsn.gov/history.htm

Christians

At some time during their lives, the following people have publicly identified themselves as Christian.   Inclusion in this list does not indicate approval or disapproval of the person, of their orthodoxy or lack of it, or of their actions.  Some of those listed may surprise you.  Readers are encouraged to suggest persons who should be included on this list.  This is a recurring segment in this blog.

Gall: (b. ca 1840 – d. 1894, South Dakota, USA; aka: Phizi) A battle chief of the Hunkpapa Lakota tribe against the United States Army at the Battle of Little Bighorn.  He was known as Gall because, as a youth, he ate the gall bladder of an animal.  He was a large, tall man weighing almost three hundred pounds (137 kilograms).  Late in his life he became a Christian convert and settled down as a farmer.

Alma Maria Kartano: (b. 1885, Finland – d. 1953) Lutheran sectarian leader who taught a very apocalyptic doctrine of Jesus’ imminent return.  She taught that all sexual activity, even within marriage, was evil.  Her followers, called Kartanoans, numbered about 1000.

Saint Gall: (b. ca 550, Ireland –d ca 646; Gallen, Gallus)  Irish disciple and traveling companion of Saint Columbanus.  Missionary in France, Austria, Switzerland, and Germany.  Roman Catholic.

Saint Deicolus: (b. ca. 530, Itrland –d. 625; aka: Deicole, dichuil, Deel, Deicola, Deicull, Delle, Desle, Dichul, Dicull) A missionary in France and a younger brother of Saint Gall.  Roman Catholic.

Jose Luis Alberto Munoz Marin: (b. 1898, Puerto Rico – d. 1980) Poet, journalist, politician.  He was the first democratically elected Governor of Puerto Rico (1949-1965).  He was called the “Father of modern Puerto Rico” and the “Architect of the Commonwealth.”  Roman Catholic.

Christians

At some time during their lives, the following people have publicly identified themselves as Christian.   Inclusion in this list does not indicate approval or disapproval of the person, of their orthodoxy or lack of it, or of their actions.  Readers are encouraged to suggest persons who should be included on this list.  This is a recurring segment in this blog.

Alexander Britton Hume: (b. 1943, Washington, D.C. (USA); aka: Brit Hume) Television journalist, political commentator. Episcopalian.

Nagesh: (b. 1933, India – d. 2009;aka: Nageswaran  C. Krishna Gundu Rao), a Tamil film actor and comedian who appeared in over 1000 films.  He was called “the Jerry Lewis of India.”  He was shunned by his family for his conversion.

Regina Rao: Wife of “Nagesh” (Nageswaran  C. Krishna Gundu Rao), a Tamil film actor and comedian who appeared in over 1000 films

Samuel Fosu-Mensah: Muslim convert to Christianity. University professor, Christian missionary. He prepared a verse by verse Christian commentary on the Quran.

Pocahontas: (b. ca 1595, Virginia (USA) – d. 1617, England; aka: Matoaka, Matoika, Matoax, Amonute, Rebecca Rolfe)  “Pocahontas” (“little wanton” in the Powhatan language) was the childhood nickname of Matoaka, the daughter of Wahunsunacawh (ca 1545- ca 1618), a Powhatan chief.  The Pocahontas legend is that at the age of ten she saved the life of John Smith who was about to be executed by her father.  As an adult, Pocahontas took the name of Rebecca and married John Rolfe.  Her descendents include Edith Wilson (wife of US President Woodrow Wilson), Admiral Richard Byrd, State of Virginia Governor Harry Byrd, First Lady Nancy Reagan, actor Glenn Strane, and the Randolph family of Virginia.  

What Does It Mean?: Apostle

ἀπόστολος  The Greek word apostolos (apostle) comes from the words “apo (away from)” and “stellein (to send),” meaning, “sent off.”  The idea is that of an “emissary” or “messenger,” sent with a message.  The designation of “apostle” was a function, not an office or position. Sometimes apostles were elected and at other times they were appointed. (Galatians 2:8; Romans 11:13; 1 Corinthians 4:17; 2 Corinthians 5:20, 8:18-23, 9:13; 1 Thessalonians 3:2.)

Remember that the early Christians operated from a Jewish understanding.  The Greek "apostle" is equivalent to the Hebrew “shaliah.” A shaliaḥ (שָלִיחַ‎; pl. שְלִיחִים, sheliḥim) was a Jewish legal emissary or agent who performed an act of legal significance for the sender(s).

The Twelve Apostles were called “emissaries” when they were “sent” (Matthew 10:1-8) They were usually called “the Twelve (τοῖς δώδεκα)” or “followers” (mathetai, μαθηταὶ). They were not leaders of individual churches, and others (Junia, Andronicus, Barnabas, Silas, Timothy, Apollos, and Paul himself) were called apostles.

In the biblical sense, it is entirely appropriate to refer to Padraig/Patrick (ca 387 - 493) as the Apostle to the Irish; John Eliot (ca 1604 -1690) as the Apostle to the Indians; and John G. Lake (1870-1935) as the Apostle to Africa. 

A Mikmaq Christmas Song

P.J. Doucette singing a Mikmaq Christmas song, Tetuji Kesalnu’k 

A Miqmaq honor song

A wikipedia article on the MiqMaq people
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mi%27kmaq_people

Amazing Grace in the Cree Language

Amazing Grace in the Cree Language with Cree lyrics.  Set to the tune of “House of the Rising Sun” rock music song.

A Cree Hymn

A Choctaw Hymn

The Choctaw (alternatively spelt as Chahta, Chactas, Chato, Tchakta, Chocktaw, and Chactaw) are a Native American people originally from the Southeastern United States (Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, and Louisiana). The Choctaw language belongs to the Muskogean linguistic group.  There are about 160,000 Choctaws today. The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians are the two primary Choctaw associations today, although smaller Choctaw groups are located in Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas. In World War I, they served in the U.S. military as the first Native American codetalkers, using the Choctaw language as a natural code.

The most notable Choctaw from history is Pushmataha (ca, 1764, Mississippi – d. 1824) Actual Choctaw name: Apushamatahahubi.

There Already, Waiting to Explode

Sequoyah (b. Ca 1760 d. 1843) was a Cherokee silversmith who, although he didn’t speak a word of English, noticed that the white men communicated using “talking leaves.”  He thought that this was a wonderful idea and decided in about 1809 to create a way to make “talking leaves” for the Cherokee language.

His first attempt was a logographic writing system (as in Chinese or Japanese).  He quickly realized that there were far too many Cherokee words for this to be practical.

What Sequoyah finally decided to do, rather than copying the English language alphabetic system, was to use symbols for each sound used in the Cherokee language (a syllabic system).  This resulted in 85 characters which represented all the sounds.

The Cherokee nation had no tradition of a written language, and there was some initial resistance, but Sequiyah’s alphabet began to spread rapidly among an excited populace, and, by 1825, it was declared the official written language of the Cherokee nation.  In the span of sixteen years, the Cherokees went from being totally illiterate to almost 100% literate.  I believe that Sequoyah’s alphabet awakened something which was already there among the Cherokee people.  It just needed a spark to make it explode.

The same principle applies to the unevangelized.  Many are aware that something is missing, that there has to be more to life than just living a few years trying to be happy and staying out of trouble … and then dying.  They are like the Cherokee tribe, ready to explode.  They just need to hear, they need a spark.

“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.  Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.  Psalm 19:1-3 

“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.” Romans 1:18-20 

The American Indian Christian Circle

While some American Indians insist that Christianity is incompatible with their culture, the American Indian Christian Circle of Thonotassa, Florida, a suburb of Tampa, blends Christian and Native American traditions.

Led by Dock Green Silverhawk, a Creek-Cherokee hospital chaplain, the group of 50 or 60 people meets weekly at Thontassa United Methodist Church for worship and sacred dancing, "dancing to Jesus."

"We worship Jesus Christ, but we worship him in a Native American fashion, with a big drum."