Who We Are

by John Comer

In the early 1970s on the reservation south of Phoenix, the famous Papago Indian potter Ida Redbird was sleeping on a cot underneath a cottonwood tree. A sudden desert storm sent the tree crashing down on her, ending her life. At the risk of sounding insensitive to the tragedy, I confess that the following day I bought a piece of her pottery before the price went sky-high.

On a more sensitive note, much of the above paragraph now actually needs to be rewritten. Currently, many American Indians highly resent the term “reservation” with its unpleasant associations. And nowadays many prefer to be called Native Americans rather than Indians, feeling this is a better description of who they are.

Also, many do not approve of the traditional names of their tribes, some of which originated with outsiders. “Papago,” for instance, was a name given them by other tribes and probably means something like “bean eaters.” In 1986 this tribe changed its name to Tohono O’odam, “Desert People,” which was their ancient description for themselves.

So . . . with reference to the flaws in the first paragraph, I will note that I have a beautiful piece of pottery on a shelf in my office, not made by an Indian on the Papago reservation, but rather made by a Native American from the Tohono O’odam Nation.

Is this all much ado about nothing? Not at all. Names do matter. They tell who and what we are, and this tribe prefers not to be identified by an item in its diet, but proudly thinks of its members as People.

Followers of the Christ were first known as believers, disciples, and brothers and sisters. Then at Antioch somebody called them Christians, probably either as a nickname or in derision. The name was accepted, and through the years it has marked our identity with God’s Anointed One. (Even so, the term appears only three times in all the New Testament.)

We know who we are, what we’re doing and where we’re going, and the names we use emphasize this. Luke referred to the Christian community as “the Way.” This helps us remember that being a believer, a disciple,   a Christian, is a way of life.  It also reminds us that Jesus described himself as “the way.” We’re following him. All the way home to God. He has the name that is above all others.