Description
Book SynopsisThe Holy Spirit and the Eagle Feather traces the history of Indigenous Pentecostalism in Canada. It tells the story of how Indigenous Pentecostals overcame the entrenched colonialism of the mission-led church to become religious leaders in their own communities, as well as agents for decolonization and reconciliation.
Trade Review“The Holy Spirit and the Eagle Feather is an impressively thorough history that importantly fills out the historical record on the spread of Pentecostalism through local Indigenous communities in northern Ontario while simultaneously connecting the local histories to a larger religious shift across North America. The book is well written, engaging, and filled with information only recorded in hard-to-access archives, until now.” Kimberly Marshall, University of Oklahoma and author of Upward, Not Sunwise: Resonant Rupture in Navajo Neo-Pentecostalism
“The Holy Spirit and the Eagle Feather is a well-researched historical treatise of Pentecostalism among First Peoples, Nations, and bands in Canada. Once you have begun reading this book, you will be unable to put it down! The author’s ‘quiet voice’ has relevance and immediacy to the challenges of Canada. Truth never changes, but it must be packaged culturally and generationally to make it relevant with knowledge that is consistent with reality. Combining insight and foresight, Aaron Ross not only perceives tendencies common to cross-cultural workers, he is able to pinpoint those meanings for the reader. His work will retain a lasting validity that can be studied, and restudied.” Rev. John E. Thohate Maracle (Mohawk Wolf Clan), Former Chief of the Native American Fellowship of the Assemblies of God USA
“Ross very skillfully dissects and explains the complex and changing relationship between Canadian Pentecostal settlers and Indigenous peoples. I cannot recommend this book too highly. … The Holy Spirit and the Eagle Feather successfully answers Michael Wilkinson’s tireless call for Canadian Pentecostal scholars to shift their insular emphasis from the well-travelled areas of settler theology, education and history to the less-visited corners, closets and maybe even cellars of the Canadian Pentecostal experience.” Faith Today
"A book like this was long overdue! It is a challenge to do justice to a review of The Holy Spirit and the Eagle Feather because of the important contribution of its historical value and its critical interrogation of the legacy of colonization in the missionary work of the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada (PAOC) with Indigenous peoples. At heart, this book celebrates the uniqueness of Indigenous Pentecostalism, a Pentecostalism that remains deeply Indigenous in its character, even as it wrestles with the colonial legacy of Pentecostal missions to Indigenous peoples." Journal of Religious History
