Native Americans and Christianity

Anyone can be a Christian, it doesn't matter what your race, nationality, or background is.

Natives today follow many spiritual traditions: Many Native families today have been devout Christians for generations. Others, particularly in the Southwest have retained their aboriginal traditions more or less intact. Most follow a personal faith that combines traditional and Christian elements. Pan Indianism is a recent and growing movement which encourages a return to traditional beliefs, and seeks to create a common Native religion. The Native American Church is a continuation of the ancient Peyote Religion which had used a cactus with psychedelic properties called peyote for about 10,000 years. Incorporated in 1918, its original aim was to promote Christian beliefs and values, and to use the peyote sacrament. Although use of peyote is restricted to religious ritual which is protected by the US Constitution, and it is not harmful or habit forming, and has a multi-millennia tradition, there has been considerable opposition from Christian groups, from governments, and from within some tribes.