Dances With Watchtowers - Witnessing to Native Americans (page 2)

Clam

Thanks everyone, especially Blondie

I've pasted all 22 pages into word and will read this at leisure later on!

I've only ever visited a reservation once and that was the Tonawanda reservation near Buffalo. I hope I get more chances in the future.

My first marriage was to an American Indian. His family is registered and still receives tribal checks. I always wondered how that worked with him being a JW and all. He was Flathead. I used to know the official name of his tribe, but unfortuanately, I have forgotten. I know he played it off as if they were farmers, but I thought I saw somewhere where they were actually one of the roughest tribes.

A good portion of the people I grew up with are Indian. They were mostly Navaho. There were not as many Jw's that wer Indian. The kids I went to school with and worked with were mostly Indian. They loose the mystery after you have had your hair pulled and picked on one too many times by the kiddos. When I was older most all Indians I worked with would rob you blind if you were not careful. I hate to say that, but that was my experience. I do have to say, as an adult, most of the Indians I knew were really talented. Extremely so.

badboy

I understand that 50% of people on one Connecticut RESVERVATION were jws,only they objected to gambling being on the resvervation.

alamb

When I was a pioneer, we went to work unassigned territory in South Dakota. It was miserable at best. 30+ miles between houses/shacks, heat, bugs, all that.

I did have two "good" experiences that humbled me as a JW and opened my eyes. I went home a different person.

#1. Being a red-head and a woman, people at the doors wouldn't look me in the eye. One told me that the Devil/bad spirit is in redheads (got that right) and that it was disrespectful for me to assume they would want spiritual guidance from one. They would look at the "brother" I was with while I spoke.

#2. A VERY large man opened one door with no shirt on. He stopped me before I started and told me he would listen to me if I agreed to listen to him. I did my Watchtower ditty and then he asked if I was done. He went and got a peace pipe. It had rags tied down from it for at least 5 feet. In the rag were knots with 'leather' in the knots. He told me this was the skin of his ancestors. He showed me the scars on his chest and shoulders (which I had noticed) and told me that was where they hung him by hooks and when they cut him free, his skin went on the family peace pipe. Well, I was humbled....and he had taken time to speak to a red-headed woman too.

After that day, selling Watchtowers was a little less of a spiritual experience and a lot more like peddling s*&t.

Jourles

Back when I was a little younger, my mother and I went to Keams Canyon on the Hopi reservation in NE Arizona. A mutual friend put us in touch with a couple of the sisters there. In fact, the KH was owned by this pair of sisters(fleshly also). According to their law, only indians can own property. The KH was actually one of the coolest rustic KH's I have ever been in. It had aspen logs for the ceiling, wood floors, and electrically converted oil lamps for lights.

When going out in service, the bros did NOT dress up. They would wear jeans and tshirts. The reason for this was that the local indian population would be put off if they came up to their mud homes all dressed up(I'm better than you). All householders would accept the literature out of politeness. The local bros told me that I had to learn to be discerning because of this. Otherwise, I would run out of mags and books before the day was over.

At one regular call we stopped at, a pair Mormons showed up too. It seems they knew the householders as well. They were dressed up in their usual garb - white dress shirts and ties. Anyway, they came by to sing happy birthday to the daughter in the house. I remember the dad sitting in his chair just shaking his head while the two Mormons were rummaging through their cabinets looking for something to eat!?! They obviously must have knew the family quite well to be doing that. It just struck me as a very weird situation at the time. Here we are, JW's, and there they are, a pair of Mormons, in the same house at the same time singing happy birthday. I remember they didn't even bother to look at us or shake our hands. It was as if we were not even there.

Dances With Watchtowers - Witnessing to Native Americans

Clam

Sparkplug

badboy

alamb

Jourles

Clam

Kristofer

perfect1

wifibandit

Fisherman

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