The event drew about 150 people to the Old Dutch Church
KINGSTON – The Native American Unity service held Sunday marked the third year of interfaith ceremonies held at the Old Dutch Church in Kingston’s Stockade District. The annual event brings Christians and Native Americans together in prayer, peace and brotherhood.
Over 150 people attended, down from previous years, said Rev. Nick Miles, who officiated with an intertribal variety of Native American spiritual traditions.
The service consisted of a Call to Worship on drums accompanied by a Creator Song.
“Then we do a smudging as a kind of confession, and a prayer in four directions, honoring the four directions, and different aspects of the four directions,” Miles explained.
The burnt offering was followed by a variation of the Shawnee Green Corn ceremony, to recognize our relationship with all the elements of creation. Miles used Winnebago sign language to convey the Lord’s Prayer, while others sang it. Communion was offered as part of the Christian tradition. Later a light supper was shared by all.
Miles said the unity service began a few years ago.
“It began here at Old Dutch Church a couple of years back, when I was approached by some members who just wanted to talk about reconciliation with Native American people in the area,” Miles recalled. “So we began two years ago, by presenting what is called a condolence pipe, to begin that reconciliation process. And then we’ve been meeting a couple of times, just for dialogue, back and forth, and listening to each other’s stories. They invited us back for a second year, and now this is the third year that we presented this particular service, incorporating both Native spirituality, as well as the Christian spiritual traditions,” Miles noted.
The Stockade was constructed as a colonial fortification back in 1658, to protect Dutch settlers from marauding Indians, considered subhuman savages at the time. Today the frontier picket fence barrier is long gone, while modern equivalents mark conflict hot-spots throughout the globe, with mass migration a worldwide concern.
“A lot of our customs and traditions have been lost, as they were defeated by the English,” Miles said. “I tend to be more inter-tribal, and have adopted some of the other traditions in my own life.”
