A Bright Path for Biblical Interpretation
A Feature Review of
Reading the Bible on Turtle Island: An Invitation to North American Indigenous Interpretation
T. Christopher Hoklotubbe and H. Daniel Zacharias
Paperback: IVP Academic, 2025
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Reviewed by Justin Cober-Lake
The intersection of European Christianity and Indigenous North American culture has not typically had a happy history. In Reading the Bible on Turtle Island, T. Christopher Hoklotubbe and H. Daniel Zacharias show that the intersection can be healthy and beneficial. The effort isn’t easy. On Turtle Island (an Indigenous name for North America), there are systems of thought and cultural traditions that have been suppressed in the name of Christianizing people groups and preventing troubling ideas from infecting the faith. As they explain, “For Indigenous people, the reality has been that we were often forced to adopt Euroamerican culture at conversion because of an assumption that European culture was civilized and Christian” (166). Hoklotubbe and Zacharias show the error of this thinking. They demonstrate the positive value of Indigenous ways of interpreting scripture, presenting a fuller theology that grapples with history, seeks shalom, and moves us toward a better future, all while honoring the biblical text.
The authors sum up their work, writing, “Turtle Island hermeneutics is a proud expression of Indigenous people, allegiant to Christ, who are seeking to revitalize their Indigenous practices and identities. In doing this, we are following Jesus in the way Creator has made us” (29). In many times and places, including now, that statement can be controversial. The United States and Canada have a long history of silencing native voices, and the drive to convert “savages” has been a force in the Western church. With its careful logic and specific lineage, the work of Hoklotubbe and Zacharias feels like both a natural line of reasoning and a direct form of resistance.
The two scholars start with the premise that “Creator…had not ignored the Indigenous peoples of North America until the European colonizers arrived. Rather, Creator has always been present on Turtle Island and made a mark on the stories, ceremonies, lands, worldviews, and lifeways of its Indigenous peoples” (3). This position allows for innate respect for Indigenous traditions within Christianity, a take that’s neither explicitly syncretistic (though understanding the general syncretism of church history makes for its own project) nor assimilationist. The book takes on the decolonizing task of sorting out Euroamerican influences and revitalizing “Indigenous values and culture” (7). It sounds heavy, and it is, but Hoklotubbe and Zacharias fill their work with warmth and humor, making it as personable as it is academic.
That historical and political angle plays into the book; the authors don’t shy away from discussing broken treaties, forced migration, or boarding schools. These stories are difficult to hear but necessary to the task. Understanding the history provides context for cultural traditions. These ways of thinking allow for new (to Euroamericans) insights into scripture. To be clear, Hoklotubbe and Zacharias avoid eisegesis. They don’t make a case for reading this history into the Bible, but they understand how cultural experiences can provide particular ways to examine a text. Indigenous readings of exile and code-switching open up meanings of the text that provide a fuller picture of God for all readers.
This full picture and invitational approach also allow for a Biblical vision for life. Much of the book depicts the importance of reconciliation (or “conciliation,” as the authors distinguish), and the writers give space to kinship and interrelatedness. Turtle Island hermeneutics provides Indigenous ways to read the Bible as well as offering insight into scripture that moves us toward the multi-ethnic celebration of the book of Revelation. One fascinating section looks at the creation story, Psalms, and the early stages of the gospel to help us reconsider what our role in and connection to the environment might be. These chapters can improve our creation care and strengthen our personal connections through focused, textually sound readings of ecumenical value.
Applying the same principles to exegesis allows “us to appreciate nuances of Scripture and the ministry of Jesus that have been underappreciated or unnoticed by Western readings” (57). The authors speak of “reading along the Bright Path.” The Bright Path “is a common metaphor shared among North American Indigenous peoples for conceptualizing what it means to live in a good way” (56). Furthermore, “it centers shalom in Creator’s vision for all creation” (58). The Bright Path uses Indigenous ways of thinking to provide richer insight into God’s work. Hoklotubbe and Zacharias use it to draw out key ideas about sin, Jubilee, and more. Their own work is something they look forward to: “As the gospel continues to be shared into new cultures and peoples across time, the photomosaic of salvation will become all the more textured and extravagant” (69). There are unending facets of God and his creation to explore, and the Bright Path helps us see more of them.
The book closes with a lengthy appendix that functions like an annotated bibliography. Hoklotubbe and Zacharias wish to honor their predecessors by listing those who have influenced them and summarizing the work of key scholars in a section that they agree can be skimmed. It makes for dry reading (few people read bibliographies for pleasure), but it is a good resource, especially for readers new to Indigenous Christianity. The text is well-footnoted, but this closing section provides guidance for further study. That study can lead to more profound understanding and more harmonious living.
Justin Cober-Lake
Justin Cober-Lake a pastor in central Virginia. He holds an M.A. in American Studies from the University of Virginia and has worked in academic publishing for the past 15 years. His editing and freelance writing have focused mostly on cultural criticism, particularly pop music.
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