Baháʼí Faith and Native Americans

[5] Shoghi Effendi, head of the religion from 1921 to 1957, stated: "The fundamental principle enunciated by Baháʼu'lláh, the followers of his Faith firmly believe, is that religious truth is not absolute but relative, that Divine Revelation is a continuous and progressive process, that all the great religions of the world are divine in origin, that their basic principles are in complete harmony, that their aims and purposes are one and the same, that their teachings are but facets of one truth, that their functions are complementary, that they differ only in the nonessential aspects of their doctrines, and that their missions represent successive stages in the spiritual evolution of human society.

In the absence of a clear Text the Universal House of Justice has no basis for issuing the kind of statement you propose which would confirm, "in principle, that God sent Manifestations to the indigenous peoples of the Americas.

The sixth of the tablets was the first to mention Latin American regions and was written on April 8, 1916, but was delayed in being presented in the United States until 1919—after the end of the First World War and the Spanish flu.

[21] After mentioning the need for the message of the religion to visit the Latin American countries ʻAbdu'l-Bahá continued: Attach great importance to the indigenous population of America.

Likewise, these Indians, should they be educated and guided, there can be no doubt that they will become so illumined as to enlighten the whole world ...[22]Following the Tablets and about the time of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's passing in 1921, a few other Baháʼís began moving to, or at least visiting, Latin or South America.

[35] Sara E. Whitt was held the leader of a series of banquets in cooperation with the Local Assembly of Los Angeles "widening the circle of racial amity activities so as to include not only the white and coloured, but the red Natives, aborigines of America, also the Chinese and Japanese ..."[36] A number of banquets were held - one on Feb 27, 1932 was noted with particular prominence with Nellie S. French representing the national assembly and Luther Standing Bear offered a prayer and spoke on peace.

Other speakers included Robert Theiss, Joseph R. Scherer, Emmett R. Smith, J. Kam Machida, W. J. Clarendon, Nipo Strongheart, and Willard P. Hatch and a farewell by Shahnaz Waite.

Their itinerary included Reserves of Nanaimo and Capilano of British Columbia, Ohsweken, Kettle Point, Tyendinaga, and Curve Lake of Ontario, and Kahnawake, Quebec.

Thirty six tribal groups were visited over a period of six months; the trip was called The Green Light Expedition,[73][74][75] which followed Khanum's The Great African Safari.

Because of the successive waves of people becoming Knights of Baháʼu'lláh, Enoch Olinga was entitled "Abd'l-Futuh", a Persian name meaning "the father of victories" by Shoghi Effendi[94] though he too implemented changes in character by giving up alcoholism[95] and eventually polygamy.

"[12] However another researcher observed in 2007: "Most white Canadians and Americans have no clue with respect to how constantly they reinforce their own cultural assumptions, right or wrong, and pile them upon Indians, never willing or even interested in hearing our own Native view.

"[12] Patterns of encounters between non-Aboriginal Baha'is and Aboriginal people in British Columbia were studied and the result demonstrated a middle ground between romanticization and violent confrontation was possible, though not fully realized.

[109] From May to August 2000 Spirit Runners extended the engagement of native Baháʼís, and one of the members of the Trail of Light expeditions,[110] traveling across North America from Seattle, Washington to Shinnecock, New York.

[113] In late February 1963 Native Baháʼís and others gathered for a "Great Council Fire" which was attended by Hand of the Cause Dhikru'llah Khadem at a time when members of some 34 American tribes were represented within the religion and twenty six were present.

[59][60] During the international convention for the election of the Universal House of Justice in Haifa in April 1978 a meeting was held with representatives of the other circumpolar national Baháʼí communities: Finland, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Denmark (on behalf of Greenland), and Canada.

The Indian members of the team were Scott Tyler of the United States and Melba Loft of Canada; the Eskimos were Ida Bergamaschi and Maynard Eakan of Alaska.

[117] After the council meeting, a three-day training and deepening program developed plans and teams of Baháʼís to travel to different regions to promulgate the religion among the Native Americans.

[115] Team members were Tina Salomon, an Osage/Cherokee from Sparks, Nevada; Mary Jane Tevuk, an Iñupiaq from Nome, Alaska; Regina Steffes, a Navajo/Oneida from Fontana, California; and team captain Chester Kahn, a Diné from Houck, Arizona (later a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States); Bill Ekomiak, an Inuk from Daysland, Alberta, Canada; Johan Lyberth, an Inuk from Nuuk, Greenland.

Representatives of 24 of the 29 national assemblies in Latin America and the Caribbean, and members of 21 Indian tribes from Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, the United States and Venezuela were present.

[124] In 1984 a reprise of the Trail of Light was undertaken when an international team of five Baháʼís spent 17 days in Guatemala; they were a Mapuche Indian from Chile, a Quechua from Peru, a Bribri from Costa Rica, and two Guaymis from Panama.

[137][142] In late 1967 into 1968 Vicente Montezuma, a Panamanian Guaymí who had previously served in the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baháʼís of Panama, pioneered to the rural areas of Colombia and promulgated the religion especially among the Choco speaking Indians.

[152] According to Gustavo Correa, director of FUNDAEC, it was originally inspired by a quotation from Baháʼu'lláh - "Baha'u'llah talks about man as 'a mine rich in gems of inestimable value.'

[152] One of the authors was Farzam Arbab and president of FUNDAEC from 1974 to 1988,[153] would also serve in several capacities for the religion including being a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baháʼís of Colombia, a Continental Counsellor, appointed to the International Teaching Centre and eventually elected to the Universal House of Justice in 1993.

The SAT was particularly successful with cutting the process of urbanization, increases in democratic behavior and aspects of gender equality, extra curricular activities in communities, stopping migratory movement of populations, and established public-private cooperation in Colombia.

[156] By 2002 the SAT system was in use in Honduras, Guatemala, Ecuador, Venezuela, Panama, Costa Rica, Brazil, Colombia and the first phases of the implementation of the program have started in Zambia.

[159] About 1980 one of the Auxiliary Board members in Colombia entered into a process of consultation with several rural communities around the town of Puerto Tejada in order to help them identify steps they could take to improve their own social conditions.

[165] The election of the Bolivian national assembly in 1961 - representative of a community the majority of whom were of the Aymara people[91] - were (in alphabetical order by last name): Estanislao Alverez, recording secretary, Athas Costas, Sabino Ortega (first Indian teacher), Andres Jachakovo (this first Indian adherent in Bolivia), vice-chairman, Yolanda de Lopez, secretary, Daniel Mauricio (founder of first Baha'i school), Massoud Khamsi, chairman, Alberto Saldias, treasurer, and Alberto Rocabado.

Instead they take turns providing firewood for an outdoor kitchen or build small wood-framed shelters with corrugated zinc panels and a narrow wooden platform for a bed.

[176][177] Among the formal schools established there are: Jacqueline Left Hand Bull was elected as Chair of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baháʼís of the United States, for the first time, in 2007.

[190] Phil Lucas was a prominent Baháʼí Indian documentarian,[191][192] and Nipo T. Strongheart worked as a technical advisor and performance-lecturer[193] before joining the religion before February 1963.