• Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us
  • Shop
  • Newsletter
Faithfully Magazine
Sunday, May 28, 2023
  • About
    • Staff and Advisors
    • Advertise With Us
    • Submissions
  • Q&As
    John Blake photo by John Nowak for CNN

    CNN Reporter Talks Race, Faith and Reconciliation in Powerful Memoir ‘More Than I Imagined’

    Brown Baby Jesus author Dorena Williamson

    Author Celebrates Jesus’ Messy, Multiethnic Family Tree in ‘Brown Baby Jesus’

    KevOnStage and MrsKevOnStage in an interview with Faithfully Magazine.

    Interview: KevOnStage and MrsKevOnStage Talk Sex, Therapy, and Why ‘Marriage Be Hard’ (Video)

    Christina Edmondson and Ekemini Uwan on Truth's Table book

    ‘Truth’s Table’ Authors Talk Early Beginnings, Centering Black Women, and Inspiring One Another

  • Exclusives
    Karen Abercrombie

    After Award-Winning Role in Top-Grossing Christian Movie, Karen Abercrombie Is Leading Change From Within

    black women group

    ‘Righteous and Ratchet’ Black Women of Faith Embraced on Jemele Hill’s ‘Sanctified’ Podcast

    Josh McDowell

    Apologist Josh McDowell Backtracks After Claiming Black Families Don’t Value Education

    Christian author and preacher Dr. Voddie Baucham

    ‘Fault Lines’ Author Voddie Baucham Confused or Making Things Up, Richard Delgado Says in Response to Misquote on ‘Righteous Actions’ of Whites

  • Profiled
    Chris Broussard

    Sports Analyst Chris Broussard Uses Hoops and Christianity to Address Needs of Young Men

    Bishop Noel Jones

    Bishop Noel Jones: Engagement, Life, Family and Ministry (Profiled)

    nadine raphael

    From Prison to the Pulpit: Nadine Raphael on God’s ‘Greater Plan’ for Her Life (Profiled)

    lisa sharon harper

    Lisa Sharon Harper Is Her ‘Ancestors’ Wildest Dreams’ (Profiled)

  • Remember
    Rev. Dr. William Hiram Bentley

    Black Evangelicalism and the Reforming Influence of William H. Bentley

    Marie Bassili Assaad and Mother Irene

    Knitting Together the Community of Love: Lessons From Marie Bassili Assaad and Mother Irene

    Rev. Sutton E. Griggs

    The Complex Legacy of Sutton E. Griggs: From Respected Leader to Race Traitor?

    fannie lou hamer

    Fannie Lou Hamer: Forerunner of Faith-Driven, Pro-Life Democrats (Remember)

  • Opinion & Analysis
    migrants

    When Faith Says to Help Migrants — and the Law Says Don’t

    couple with child

    Missionary System That Brought US Man Accused of Abusing African ‘Orphans’ Was Always Deeply Flawed

    Civil Rights March 1963

    The Women Who Stood With Martin Luther King Jr. and Sustained a Movement for Social Change

    pile of books

    In New Jersey, School Segregation Didn’t End; It Evolved

  • Specials
    • All
    • Growing a Green Church
    laudato trees earthbeat

    Laudato Trees Planting Program Enlists Catholic Properties to Help Increase DC’s Canopy

SUBSCRIBE
  • Login
  • Register
No Result
View All Result
Faithfully Magazine
No Result
View All Result

How Richard Twiss Followed Jesus Without Losing His Native Identity (Remember)

Timothy I. Cho by Timothy I. Cho
April 2, 2019
Reading Time: 4 mins read
Richard Twiss Native American Christian

Richard Twiss (Photo: Facebook/RichardTwissLegacy)

412
SHARES
ShareTweetPin It

An honest retelling of the interactions between European Christians and Native Americans in the land we know today as North America is fraught with the horrific realities of genocide, colonialism, and racism, often done in the name of Christ.

What was often framed in terms of “evangelism” and “mission” towards the Native American people were truly acts of patronization and cultural imperialism with pious flair. Native Americans who did convert to the Christian faith often did so on the condition of cultural assimilation—they had to shed their Native culture and traditions in order to be fully included among the people of God. Necessary work needed to be developed on what it meant to be a Native American follower of Jesus without throwing out Native culture and prioritizing European culture.

It’s in this context that Richard Leo Twiss, Tayoate Ob Najin (“He stands with his people”) entered the scene and brought about profound developments in what it meant to be a proud Native American confessing Jesus Christ. Twiss was born on June 11, 1954 to parents in South Dakota. His father was an enrolled member of the Pine Ridge Oglala Lakota tribe from the Pine Ridge Reservation and his mother was from the Sicangu Lakota from the Rosebud Sioux Reservation. Twiss’s family history was familiar with various forms of “Indian Mission Schools” and “Native American Boarding Schools” that tried to remove Native American culture, language, and traditions for the sake of “evangelism” and “mission.”

“I am a follower of Jesus, though I would not call myself a Christian,” Twiss once profoundly remarked. After living in the Rosebud Sioux Reservation for the foundational years of his adolescence, Twiss and his family relocated to Silverton, Oregon in 1962. It was there that Twiss came face-to-face with what it meant to live as a Native American in a White world.

In 1972, Twiss famously participated in the American Indian Movement’s forced occupation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs Office Building in Washington, D.C. The movement had been protesting the U.S. government’s long history of breaking treaties with Native peoples. At this point in his life, Twiss saw Christianity and the history of European oppression of Native peoples as virtually one and the same, and with good reason.

Following this pivotal moment in his life, Twiss went on a long spiritual search, inquiring into various religions. In 1974, while hitchhiking in Maui, Hawaii, Twiss was picked up by two Evangelical Christians who shared the gospel with him. Initially outraged with what he saw as an imposition of “the White man’s religion,” Twiss later recalled the words of these same Evangelical Christians during a drug overdose, and it was at this point that he considered himself a follower of Jesus.

RELATED POSTS

Knitting Together the Community of Love: Lessons From Marie Bassili Assaad and Mother Irene

The Complex Legacy of Sutton E. Griggs: From Respected Leader to Race Traitor?

Fannie Lou Hamer: Forerunner of Faith-Driven, Pro-Life Democrats (Remember)

Twiss went on from this point to pastor a community church in Vancouver, Washington for over a decade and then founded Wiconi International in 1997 with his wife, Katherine. The goal of Wiconi International was to provide a message of reconciliation, community, and spirituality. Twiss was an educator at heart, writing several books on what it meant to be a Native American follower of Jesus, teaching numerous workshops, trainings, and lectures on diversity, and serving on various leadership roles. He is most famous for Rescuing the Gospel from the Cowboys: A Native American Expression of the Jesus Way and One Church Many Tribes: Following Jesus the Way God Made You.

Near the end of his life, which was cut short by a sudden heart attack on February 6, 2013, Twiss began to focus on local ministry to the Native community in the Portland, Oregon area. Twiss is most well-known for his sincere desire to live out his Christian faith without stripping himself of his Native culture and calling Christians of all cultures and backgrounds to the same. Twiss was known for regularly leading worship with powwow drumming, singing, and dancing in traditional Native clothing and regalia. The boldness by which Twiss would worship Jesus Christ in the fullness of his identity as a Native American inspired many, both from Native and non-Native backgrounds.

For more information about Richard Twiss’s life and impact, please read a biography featured on Christianity Today, Twiss’s own retelling of his faith journey, and an interview with Dr. Soong-Chan Rah who wrote a chapter on Twiss’s impact on him as a mentor in Can I Get a Witness? Thirteen Peacemakers, Community Builders, and Agitators for Faith and Justice.


Share This Post

Share via

Share This Post

  • Digg
  • Tumblr
  • Flipboard
  • SMS
More
  • Report
412
SHARES
ShareTweetPin It
Tags: ChristianityNative AmericanRememberRichard Twiss
Timothy I. Cho

Timothy I. Cho

Timothy Isaiah Cho is Associate Editor at Faithfully Magazine. Timothy’s bylines have appeared in Religion News Service and Reformed Margins, and he has been interviewed for several podcasts including Truth’s Table and Gravity Leadership Podcast. He also runs a personal blog on Medium. He received a Master of Divinity from Westminster Seminary California and a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from U.C. Berkeley. Email: timothy.cho (at) faithfullymagazine.com

Related Posts

Marie Bassili Assaad and Mother Irene
Opinion & Analysis

Knitting Together the Community of Love: Lessons From Marie Bassili Assaad and Mother Irene

January 10, 2022
Rev. Sutton E. Griggs
Opinion & Analysis

The Complex Legacy of Sutton E. Griggs: From Respected Leader to Race Traitor?

January 5, 2022

Recommended Stories

two women talk

100 Proverbs That Teach Us How to Speak, Listen, and Respectfully Disagree

January 29, 2021
dads on duty cbs news

Dads on Duty: How a Group of Fathers Stopped the Spike in Violence at a Louisiana School

October 24, 2021
President Donald Trump stands outside St. John's Episcopal Church in Washington, DC

8 Christian Conservatives Who Promoted False Claims of a ‘Stolen Election’

June 29, 2022

Popular Stories

  • stream movies laptop

    Free Christian Movies: How and Where to Watch Free Christian Movies Online

    458 shares
    Share 183 Tweet 114
  • Are Jesus and John the Baptist Cousins or Related in Anyway?

    417 shares
    Share 166 Tweet 104
  • Paige Hilken, Wife of North Coast Church Pastor Christopher Hilken, Dies by Suicide

    406 shares
    Share 162 Tweet 102
  • After 20 Years, Bishop Noel Jones Says He’s Finally Ready to Marry Partner Loretta Jones

    362 shares
    Share 145 Tweet 91
  • NYC Megachurch Pastor A.R. Bernard’s Son Dies After Losing Battle With Alcoholism

    284 shares
    Share 113 Tweet 71

Copyright © 2023 Faithfully Media, LLC. This website participates in affiliate programs.

No Result
View All Result
  • About
    • Staff and Advisors
    • Advertise With Us
    • Submissions
  • Q&As
  • Exclusives
  • Profiled
  • Remember
  • Opinion & Analysis
  • Specials

Copyright © 2023 Faithfully Media, LLC. This website participates in affiliate programs.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms bellow to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
Share via

Share This Post

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Reddit
  • Email
  • WhatsApp
  • Copy Link
  • Tumblr
  • Digg
  • Flipboard
  • SMS

Add New Playlist

Add to Collection

  • Public collection title

  • Private collection title

No Collections

Here you'll find all collections you've created before.

Are you sure want to unlock this post?
Unlock left : 0
Are you sure want to cancel subscription?
Send this to a friend