George Tinker
Encyclopedia
George E. "Tink" Tinker is a prominent American Indian
theologian and scholar who is the author of many articles, the books Spirit and Resistance: Political Theology and American Indian Liberation, Missionary Conquest: The Gospel and Native American Theology, and co-author of Native American Theology with Clara Sue Kidwell and Homer Noley.
Tinker is professor of American Indian cultures and religious traditions at the Iliff School of Theology
in Denver, Colorado, where he has taught since 1985. He earned his doctorate in Biblical studies at the Graduate Theological Union
in 1983. He is also an ordained Lutheran pastor of Living Waters Episcopal/Lutheran Indian Ministry in Denver. Tinker is a member of the Osage Nation
, and is also on the leadership council of the American Indian Movement of Colorado
and director of the Four Winds American Survival Project.
Despite being the son of a Lutheran mother and an Osage father, Tinker identifies more with his father’s culture and spirituality than his mother’s Lutheran background. Tinker’s identification with his American Indian cultural and spiritual heritage parallels his academic career, which can be broadly described as a critique of Western intellectualism and economic, political, religious, and social systems.
Spirit and Resistance: Political Theology and American Indian Liberation is concerned with eliciting the difference between Native American and White cultures and providing a critique of White categories of thought.
"A Native American Theology" explains how Native American cultural symbols can be used to re-interpret Christianity.
Throughout all Tinker's work he is concerned with the health of the environment, the recognition of communal, not individualistic, values, the importance of being tied to the land, and the interrelatedness with all of Creation that comes with living in a spatial, communal attitude.
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
theologian and scholar who is the author of many articles, the books Spirit and Resistance: Political Theology and American Indian Liberation, Missionary Conquest: The Gospel and Native American Theology, and co-author of Native American Theology with Clara Sue Kidwell and Homer Noley.
Tinker is professor of American Indian cultures and religious traditions at the Iliff School of Theology
Iliff School of Theology
Iliff School of Theology is a graduate theological school adjoining the University of Denver in Denver, Colorado.An average of 300-350 students attend the school each year in the following degree programs:* Master of Divinity...
in Denver, Colorado, where he has taught since 1985. He earned his doctorate in Biblical studies at the Graduate Theological Union
Graduate Theological Union
The Graduate Theological Union ' is a consortium of nine independent theological schools, and eleven centers and affiliates. Eight of the theological schools are located in Berkeley, California. The GTU was founded in 1962. It maintains the Graduate Theological Union Library, one of the most...
in 1983. He is also an ordained Lutheran pastor of Living Waters Episcopal/Lutheran Indian Ministry in Denver. Tinker is a member of the Osage Nation
Osage Nation
The Osage Nation is a Native American Siouan-language tribe in the United States that originated in the Ohio River valley in present-day Kentucky. After years of war with invading Iroquois, the Osage migrated west of the Mississippi River to their historic lands in present-day Arkansas, Missouri,...
, and is also on the leadership council of the American Indian Movement of Colorado
American Indian Movement of Colorado
The American Indian Movement of Colorado , also called AIM-International Confederation of Autonomous Chapters, split by 1993-1994 from the Minneapolis-based, national organization of the American Indian Movement, since then known as the AIM Grand Governing Council, which claims the right to the name...
and director of the Four Winds American Survival Project.
Despite being the son of a Lutheran mother and an Osage father, Tinker identifies more with his father’s culture and spirituality than his mother’s Lutheran background. Tinker’s identification with his American Indian cultural and spiritual heritage parallels his academic career, which can be broadly described as a critique of Western intellectualism and economic, political, religious, and social systems.
Themes
Tinker's works can be categorized into many areas. Missionary Conquest: The Gospel and Native American Theology is a critique of how the Christian church and its missionaries, regardless of its best intentions was complicit with the cultural, political, and social genocide of Native Americans.Spirit and Resistance: Political Theology and American Indian Liberation is concerned with eliciting the difference between Native American and White cultures and providing a critique of White categories of thought.
"A Native American Theology" explains how Native American cultural symbols can be used to re-interpret Christianity.
Throughout all Tinker's work he is concerned with the health of the environment, the recognition of communal, not individualistic, values, the importance of being tied to the land, and the interrelatedness with all of Creation that comes with living in a spatial, communal attitude.