Indigenous Religious Traditions in Five Minutes - Molly Bassett
26. Can I convert to or practice an Indigenous religious tradition if I am not an Indigenous person?
Indigenous Religious Traditions in Five Minutes - Molly Bassett
Donnie Begay [+]
University of Divinity, Australia, PhD candidate
Yá’át’ééh, Donnie Begay lives in Albuquerque, NM and is married to Renee who is from Zuni pueblo. We have three daughters, Natalia, Kaya, and Peri. I am Navajo and grew up on the Navajo reservation. I am born into my mother’s clan, Honágháahnii (One-Who-Walks-Around), and born for my father’s clan, Kinyaa’áanii (Towering House People). I graduated from New Mexico State University with a BA in Business Administration, George Fox University (now Portland Seminary) with a MA in Intercultural Studies, and am working on my Ph.D. from the University of Divinity in Australia.
Description
The idea of ‘conversion’ wouldn’t fit into an Indigenous paradigm mostly due to the fact that Indigenous people believe they were all born into their tribe/people group and gain their being and identity from their families, relatives and place on earth. Non-Indigenous people who seek to practice indigenous religious practices would be viewed with suspicion.