"Decolonizing our table means recognizing that sacredness moves and breathes all over the place, in all people, in all creatures, in all things, so communion becomes the space in which we say everyone and everything is loved.”

I received an advance copy of this book and it has been such a beautiful gift to read during this time in history! Curtice, an indigenous Christian woman, speaks with an incredible combination of boldness and gentleness as she invites us into
new, more expansive ways of understanding ourselves, God. and all of creation. She tells of her own journey of decolonizing her faith and makes space for all of us to consider our own journeys. She shares her personal experiences with vulnerability, emphasizing the importance of all people entering into the work for the good of us all, whether you are part of a marginalized group, a dominant group, or some combination. This was an important read for me as I work to separate out my culture from my understanding of Christianity/God/the Bible. I can't recommend this enough!

Resonant memoir probing the realities of modern living and history. I appreciated Curtice's attention to the particulars of her journey of grounding into identity, learning from ancestral ties, and speaking into the reality of dominant and indigenous cultures in this present era. We have so much to learn, so much to remember,

Kaitlin Curtice has given us a great gift in writing and publishing this book. She takes us on a journey as she talks about identity and soul-searching as we navigate our faith and seek relationship with God.

Kaitlin is part of the Potawatomi Nation and she writes about her process of reconnecting with her Native American roots and how that impacted her Christian faith.

She is a gifted writer, using beautiful imagery and poetry as she tells her stories.

Favorite quotes:

"As I learn more about my own story, I am realizing that the bloodline of God is connected to everything, no matter how it was first created in the beginning."

“If all the world is a commodity, how poor we grow. When all the world is a gift in motion, how wealthy we become.”

"As humans, we are simply asked to walk in the mystery of our identities one day at a time, one step at a time, one question at a time. We are simply asked to know and be known with the whole of creation and our relatives in humanity. But to do that, we have to accept, challenge, and process who we are along the way."

“We’ll never solve the way to a new life in our heads; we have to live our way into a new kind of thinking.”

"The point is that while we are here, Mystery asks us to set aside what disrupts our humanity and belonging for the chance to see what is good and to fix the things that have been broken by hate."

"What does it look like to deconstruct and reconstruct as a people, as kin, to take on the work of creating a postcolonial church for the sake of all of us, for the sake of the oppressed, for the sake of the earth? Is it possible?"

I highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone.

This book really challenged me, made me think and helped me to understand a small part of the Indigenous experience within the church. It challenged me to think more about decolonization and other concepts. Kaitlin has a beautiful way with words, poetic and powerful. Anyone looking to understand more about an Indigenous perspective on faith would benefit from reading this book!

(RNS) — Potawatomi Christian author and speaker Kaitlin Curtice did not write her latest book with the intention that it would be read during a pandemic, but she has been surprised by the ways “Native: Identity, Belonging and Rediscovering God” speaks to this moment in history.

The book, released Tuesday (May 5), is structured around another disaster — the Potawatomi flood story — and the theme of starting over again afterward.

“Today, with this global pandemic, we are sort of asking what life will look like on the other side, how we can begin again,” Curtice said.

“So, in ways I never could have planned, this book is just what we need right now. We aren’t in a literal flood, but we are definitely in a world that is reeling and tired and we need to ask what beginning again might look like.”

RELATED: Looking to an Indigenous flood story for lessons on grieving during the pandemic

In “Native,” Curtice describes her journey of finding herself and finding God, of connecting with her Potawatomi identity, reckoning with the church’s historic treatment of indigenous people and other marginalized groups and the impact that has had on her Christian faith as a former worship leader.

She hopes sharing her own story will help readers examine their life stories, she said.

“Even though this is a book that covers a lot of difficult topics, I want it to be a book that is considered an invitation to those conversations. I want people to read it and be fueled to continue learning from Indigenous peoples, from those that are on the margins, from those that haven’t been listened to,” she said.

Curtice answered questions via email from Religion News Service about her new book, why it’s important for readers to understand who and where they come from and what gives her hope.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Please find the link to the rest of our coverage at Religion News Service below.

Had Kaitlin on our Instagram Live to discuss the book because I knew our audience would connect with this book!

I love @kaitlincurtice and all that she brings to the world— her voice is a beautiful one and her perspective is a needed one. I’m so grateful I’ve gotten to hear her speak at @evolvfaith — the way she invites us into a deeper and richer engagement in the world around us and respect for the world too is incredible. We need to listen to Native voices, like Kaitlin’s Potawatomi one, and humbly learn from a people we have far too long neglected, ignored, silenced, and worse. Definitely recommend reading this one (or Glory Happening, her first book) and continuing to read from other Indigenous voices.

⭐️⭐️⭐️— liked it.

This book is a must-read. Curtice explores the history of colonization and Native Americans in the United States, along with her own story of connecting with her culture and heritage. This book and Curtice's voice are a much needed perspective.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Curtice explains that her book comes from the perspective of a white-coded Indigenous woman. As a fellow white-coded Indigenous woman, I really appreciated that. This book really spoke to me as someone who was raised white and has begun the process of enrollment and connecting with my tribe. Curtice does a wonderful job of discussing Christianity and Native culture. I highly recommend this book for anyone raised outside of their Indigenous culture or for anyone who struggles with their Indigenous identity and how that aligns with Christianity.

Native is a profoundly beautiful, thought-provoking book. Framed by the Potawatomi flood story, Curtice invites her reader into a journey of discovery - what it means for her to be a white-coded, Christian citizen of the Potawatami Nation, what it means to confront the rampant racism in our history and culture, what it looks like to decolonize our faith, and how hard and beautiful the journey is. I'm deeply grateful to Curtice for the way her work teaches the reader to discern between the racist, colonial superstructures, doctrines, and practices that have been erected over the Bible and what Scripture actually teaches us. I'll be recommending this book to several friends and family members.

What an important book for this time! I appreciate the author's honesty and passion, and her invitation to consider the depths of racism in American culture. Given that this book is also a reflection on her Christian faith, I would have loved to hear more from her about how the Gospel speaks into her story, and how she sees the Gospel through the lens of her heritage.

The author shares her experience of connecting with her indigenous heritage and exploring how her identity shapes her adult beliefs. While this book touches on many important topics related to the author's lived experience of being Native American, too many of her insights are borrowed from the works of more established indigenous writers. At times it feels that everything of substance has a footnote. Canadian readers will find that the reader is writing exclusively to a US audience.

An interesting book that was well written, but I struggled to finish it. I love the concept and the way the book was structured, but something about it didn't 'click'.

A well written and fairly interesting book about the author's Native heritage and understanding of the P0tawatomi religious traditions of her ancestors. Curtice focuses on the flood story of the Potawatomi people in her book.

I liked that this book made me consider concepts and truths I hadn't before. It gave me a new perspective on some issues. It is what one of my friends calls a "cranial book". There were parts I couldn't relate to because my history is different than the author's. But overall, I did enjoy the book. It is well-written, educational, entertaining and thought-provoking.

When Kaitlin speaks or writes, I listen. Her voice is so important to help people better understand and appreciate indigenous people. I especially enjoyed this book because it gave us more of her story while helping us appreciate nature, creation and the mystery that is our Creator.

In some ways, Kaitlin writes as one traveling with you on a journey. And in others, she writes as a teacher and guide. Going back and forth between the two was a little disorienting, and overall there were half a dozen missing pieces or obvious questions with no hint at resolution or even exploration. I'm really not sure where "rediscovering God" from the title comes into play within the book, unless by God she means nature..

That being said - Kaitlin's voice and story is important, much-needed, and one that every single one of us should pay attention to. Although I very much wish the book were written differently, I'll continue reading what she writes and following along via social media. I hope this is not her last book.

I enjoyed the quality of Curtice's writing. Her natural sentence rhythm kept the words flowing and also had a very calming effect as I was reading, even when she was grappling with many of the harsh and hostile subjects of American history.

As an admittedly nonreligious reader, I still felt an affinity to the concepts and connections that the author makes between her own native heritage and modern christianity.

Glad to see this perspective represented.

Kaitlin's beautiful book is a masterful blend of poetry and ferocity. As someone who is just beginning the work of decolonizing her life (and faith), I found Kaitlin's story essential to my understanding of how whiteness and evangelical culture in this nation is so deeply rooted in empire. These were not things I knew growing up in a conservative, Southern household. We just didn't have the framework for such knowledge, nor did we have relationships with people who did. I am grateful for Kaitlin and for the emotional labor she put into this book. It was challenging and sometimes uncomfortable, but necessary if we, as believers, actually want to make the Church a place that looks--and lives--like Jesus.

Another important aspect of Native for me was the push it gave me to dig deeper into my own Scottish identity, to push further into understanding the culture of my ancestors, just a few generations removed from me, instead of settling into the blandness of being a "white" person in America.

Kaitlin's writing style might not be for everybody, but the point of her narrative most certainly is.

Kaitlin Curtice shares her journey of discovering what it means to be both a Potawatomi woman and a white Christian. She is honest and speaks from the heart of her convictions in a world that does not always value such things. She challenges the reader to lean in and reconnect to where we too came from. Curtice also gives a lot of hope that we can make this world better if we listen and work together in love. This is a fantastic book for any who want to see beyond their own whiteness and begin to understand what those in the margins have to say