A Solar Eclipse

 SATURDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2023

Photo credit: Martin Perry

Just before starting our lesson this morning, everything stopped. We went outside to observe the Solar Eclipse.

Inside afterward, as we sat on Tohono O'odham Nation land (now known as Scottsdale, Arizona), we heard about the Native people's story to explain the story behind a solar eclipse. According to Paul Begay, of the Navajo Nation (in Northern Arizona), the sun was considered a father figure in early times.  An eclipse was seen as a disturbance, or death of the sun, and out of respect, all activity in the community would stop.  Even today on the Navajo reservation, all municipal offices and some businesses closed in order to pay respect. 

Nature gave us quite an intro for our lesson on honoring our Native American predecessors! The presenters then engaged us in an exercise that visually explained the systemic drive by the European colonizers (with the Pope's blessing) to remove indigenous peoples from their their lands.

Our group is 99% White. In our discussion following, the group was viscerally appalled to realize that no one had been taught this in school.  The presenters said that even among Native American groups, much was new information to them.

Having lived in Arizona for 34 years, and working with the church and its 25 Native Presbyterian Churches, I have long been conflicted- no, horrified, by the stories of inspired Presbyterian missionaries who did their "job". They built churches in the small communities of Arizona and set about teaching them to "erase" their spiritual practices and follow the White Man's way.  And for generations, ordained Presbyterian Native ministers have told their flocks to reject their ancestral belief system. While it was the American Government that robbed them of their land, the Church was also complicit in robbing them of their spirit.

The afternoon was spent at the Heard Museum, one of the top 10 museums in America. It is completely dedicated to the Indigenous people's stories and their art.  Barbara, our docent, was one of those whose passion about telling these stories was infectious. We lingered so long, we literally had to be chased out of the museum!  

As I reflect on the day- a solar eclipse was a great metaphor.  Why do we as humans take something that is bright and productive and good and attempt to cover it up?  

My goal for this trip- to shine a light on the story of the struggles at the US/Mexico border. To be able to speak knowledgeably about the reasons people are so desperate to come north to a country that for years welcomed the immigrants but now vilifies them and shuts the gate on them. 

When I come home with stories to tell, who will be willing to listen?