Native American Choctaw Nation Has Bible Translated Into Their Language, “We’re Closer Than Ever Before to God”
by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – The Choctaw Native American tribe in Oklahoma is exploring its Christian heritage and experiencing revival through a translation of the Bible into its own language, CBN News reports. One of 39 Native American nations in Oklahoma, the Choctaw Nation lives on 11,000 square miles in the southeastern part of the state and has been led by Chief Gary Batton since 2014.
The Choctaw Nation was introduced to Christianity by the Presbyterian Church over 200 years ago, CBN reports. “[Christianity] became a foundation of strength in 1829 when then-President Andrew Jackson forced the Choctaws from their homeland as part of the Trail of Tears,” CBN noted in its report.
Having served as a curator working with the Global Bible Society to produce a King James/Choctaw translation of the Bible, Pastor Raymond Johnson of the Grace Indian Baptist Church in Talihina, Oklahoma, told CBN: “The Choctaw Bible is about 25 years of work, and the Choctaw hymn book took us 8 years to get this – and the reason why it took so long, nobody got paid to do it.”
The translation of the Bible into Choctaw has all the more significance as the Nation had been prevented from speaking its own language. “We were not allowed to speak our language. We were forbidden. We were put in boarding schools, all those types of things,” Chief Batton told CBN. “Most people don’t know that Native Americans weren’t allowed to vote until the 60s,” Batton added.
“I see movement happening because I feel like we’re embracing Christianity. We’re closer than ever before to God because everywhere you go throughout the Choctaw Nation… you’re within a Christian nation, it’s okay to pray, it’s okay to share your faith,” Batton said.
CBN reports that the YouVersion Bible app organization has worked with the British and Foreign Bible Society to produce a digitalized version of the Choctaw translation to facilitate access.
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