American Indian and Alaska Native

"Bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free."
(Luke 4:18)

The Lutheran witness with American Indians and Alaska Natives has more than 350 years of history.

It is a history filled with hope and broken promises, solidarity and injustice, affirmation and paternalism, strategies and inaction, grand goals and lack of funding.

At present time, the ELCA American Indian and Alaskan Native membership is around 6,685. While general ELCA membership declined 1.7 percent between 1987 and 1994, American Indian and Alaska Native membership increased by 18.1 percent during that same period.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has 21 congregations with 10 percent or more American Indian and Alaska Native members.