My name is Sarah Eagle Heart. I am a member of the Oglala (Lakota) Sioux Tribe of Pine Ridge, South Dakota and a life-long member of The Episcopal Church. I was baptized and confirmed at St. Katharine’s Episcopal Church in Martin, South Dakota. I now live in Pensacola, Florida where I am a member of St. Anna’s Episcopal Church of Atmore, Alabama. I also attend Holy Cross Episcopal Church in Pensacola, where I work as a Parish Administrator.
My educational background is Business (M.B.A.), Mass Communication (B.A.), and American Indian Studies (B.A.), which I use to promote communication and am dedicated to assisting in ministry programs of the National Church and Indigenous Ministry. Currently, I am part of an Indigenous Young Adult Task Force set to discuss the MDGs and help strengthen Native communities across the country. I am developing a website for the Indigenous Theological Technical Institute. I was honored to be appointed to the Standing Commission on Lifelong Learning and Christian Education representing the Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast.

I am encouraged by the church’s position on promotion cultural understanding. I grew up on a small tribal reservation community in South Dakota with my grandmothers. My great-grandmother, Emma Brave Hawk, was a lay leader in the Episcopal mission churches in the 1930’s. I grew up praying with her from the Wowapi Wakan (or Holy Bible), Book of Common Prayer, and singing from the Hymnal (all translated in the Dakota Language). Grandma made sure that all her grandchildren were baptized and confirmed. As an adult I was guided to the Church again and had the revelation that I did not have to choose either the Traditional Religion or Christianity. Often native people feel spiritually conflicted, which I felt. But I am at peace through God’s grace. I am a traditional Lakota and Christian in The Episcopal Church!

Many times, the encouragement from the Church comes in small but meaningful messages. In 1994, as a junior in high school, my twin sister and I protested the 57 year old “Homecoming Ceremony” at our school. Our high school was located on a county between two Indian reservations in South Dakota. The community was mostly non-Indian farming community that had little interaction with the tribes. The mascot was the Warriors and the ceremony included five warrior princesses, a Big Chief, and a Medicine Man with complete dress. The ceremony consisted of the Medicine Man dancing around the Warrior Princesses and then stopping to manually weighing them, inspecting their faces/mouths/ears/hair and clothing to finally “choose” one as a gift to the Big Chief. My sister and I felt a deep responsibility to stop this event, not only because of the spiritual degradation but also for the blatantly sexist behavior. We often compared the event to church and if this behavior would be accepted if a priest behaved in the manner of their so-called Medicine Man, and were deeply offended by how they portrayed our sacred Medicine Men and our people. During this very difficult time, my sister and I were ostracized and stigmatized by the community we grew up in. We were labeled as “troublemakers” and lost many friends. Both tribes passed resolutions in support of our endeavor and after four years of protesting, the ceremony was stopped. The meaningful message came during our senior graduation in 1995. The crowd would applaud as each student received their scholarships and diplomas, but we were met with silence. One of the scholarships we received that year was from The Episcopal Church.

I believe The Episcopal Church has the ability to bring spiritual balance between all diverse peoples. I am amazed year after year when I learn of many similarities between the gospel and traditional indigenous religions. I hope to pass this knowledge to others and that they open their hearts to the love of Christ. Through communication and education, we all can encourage reconciliation, spiritual formation, and inspire our youth into leadership for the future of The Episcopal Church.