Wilkins said she was inspired to attend after hearing former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright describe getting in touch with her Jewish roots in light of the Holocaust, while acknowledging that she does not believe in collective guilt. Wilkins was concerned about a sense of denial she sees among Anglos about past atrocities against indigenous people, specifically Native Americans.
“I don’t know if they want to avoid it or deny it, but there’s a sense that they don’t want to acknowledge it,” she said.
Despite the cultural rifts she experiences and observes, she said it was important to attend.
“I’m here because I’m native and because I’m a pastor, an ordained elder in the church,” she said. “I love my church, and I love my native people.”
Read more tomorrow at gc2012.umc.org
