A great group gathered in Orlando to work with OneBook and RainSong on a new Indigenous Bible. Left to Right: Antonia Hudson, Brian Jon, John GrosVenor, Corey Greaves, Susanne Sell, Barry Belindo, Dave Ohlson, Gordon Campbell, Garland Brunoe, Shandiin Church, Alvin Deer, Megan Fennig, Terry Wildman, and Dan Kramer.
ORLANDO, FL-Imagine this with me. A New Testament in English, translated by the Indigenous people of Turtle Island, that reflects the beauty and profound simplicity of our traditional way of thinking and speaking. This dream is becoming a reality with the support, expertise, and experience of the Bible translation organizations of OneBook of Canada and Wycliffe Associates of the U.S.
In September 2015, a group of ten Native American/First Nations people from Turtle Island, took a week away from their families and work schedules to volunteer for this new project. It is called the First Nations Version Project-a translation of the New Testament in English rephrased for the Native people of Turtle Island.
Yes! "Ten Little Indians" came together representing over ten tribes. They included: John Grosvenor, Cherokee; Alvin Deer, Choctaw; Barry Belindo, Kiowa; Brian Jon, Ojibwe; Shandiin Church, Pottawatomi/Navajo; Corey Greaves, Blackfeet/Klickitat; Antonia Hudson, Kiowa/Pawnee; Gordon Campbell, Kalispell; Garland Brunoe, Wasco; Terry Wildman, Ojibwe/Yaqui.
Here is the story of how it all came about.
While living on the Hopi Indian Reservation in Northern Arizona, I learned that over 90 percent of our Native people do not fluently speak their mother tongue, and even less can read it. The result has been that the many Bibles translated in the past are not being used today. In the five years I lived among the Hopi, I found not one Hopi who could read the Hopi New Testament. Since that time as my wife and I have visited reservations across the U.S., we have found the same to be true for most of the tribes we visited.
This was unbelievable to me, and it sent me on a journey that led me to begin an English translation project for our peoples. Even though I felt unqualified, I also felt a call from our Creator that He confirmed to me many times. I called it the First Nations Version Project, and worked on it whenever my wife and I had time away from our ministry travels.
For three years I worked on that project and produced two books. One, a Christmas book for children called "Birth of the Chosen One," the other a harmony of the gospels called "When the Great Spirit Walked Among Us." These books have been well received by 99 percent of the Native people that have read them. Some testimonies came in from missionaries that used them, of Native people giving their hearts to Jesus because of it. This spurred me on to continue this work. I have often felt very alone, but that would soon change.
One day, earlier this year, I received an email from Wayne Johnson, the CEO of OneBook of Canada. OneBook is a member of the Wycliffe Global Alliance and has been involved in Bible translation, among Indigenous peoples across Africa and Asia for over ten years. Wayne found my website about the translation work I was doing, was inspired by it, and wanted to talk. After meeting and praying together we launched a partnership between OneBook of Canada and Rain Ministries of the U.S. to translate a New Testament in this style using a group translation method that speeds up the process without compromising any of the quality.
Think about it. A New Testament by Native American/First Nations people for Native American/First Nations people. To our knowledge this has never been done before, and we feel it is long overdue.
The First Nations Version New Testament
Although it will be in English, it is unique-designed to touch the hearts of the seven million Native American-First Nations People living on Turtle Island. Many have lost the fluency of their mother tongue due to regrettable government assimilation policies, and now use English as their first language. Despite this loss, they have retained their traditional way of thought and speech through an oral story-telling fashion, with its simple beauty and profound imagery. Our hope is to capture some of this simplicity and beauty in this translation.
Raymond Torres, who is the former Tribal Chairman of the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indian Tribe, will be joining us for the November session. When he heard an early sample from this project, he said this, "You are speaking the Scriptures in English, the way we think in our tribal languages."
We plan to have Native North Americans come together using a group method of translation that increases accuracy and church ownership while enhancing translation speed. Each participant in the translation process believes the Bible to be inspired by God and authoritative in the Church. To insure a high quality translation, the text produced will be checked and refined by one or more reviewing councils, that will include some who are proficient in Hebrew and Greek.
Distribution will be done through churches, Bible colleges, bookstores and online. Furthermore, a digital version of the FNV, for devices such as smart phones, will be produced, and an oral version is already being planned.
Our next translation two-week session is scheduled for this November in Calgary, Alberta.
This time it will be Twelve Little Indians.
For more information visit http://www.firstnationsversion.com and
