Teaching with Native American Religions

Publication Date

6-1-2026

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Method and Theory in the Study of Religion

Volume

38

Issue

3

DOI

10.1163/15700682-bja10176

First Page

318

Last Page

345

Abstract

How can we nurture greater respect, more nuanced understanding, more care-full critical thought, and deeper community engagement in teaching on Native American and Indigenous religious traditions? In this article, we explore ways to incorporate theories and methods from Native American and Indigenous studies into religious studies classrooms. Teaching with Native American religious traditions, rather than just about them, can lead to better understandings of the history and formation of settler colonial societies. It can also create opportunities for students to imagine and enact more responsible and respectful relationships with Indigenous peoples, places, and knowledges. We offer a few key terms – place-relation, settler colonialism, sovereignty, tradition, story, and cultivation – that are significant in Indigenous studies, discussing their import for the academic study of religion, as a way to bring the two disciplines into productive conversation.

Keywords

Indigenous religions, Native American religions, pedagogy, power, relationality, responsibility

Department

Sociology and Interdisciplinary Social Sciences

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