JOURNEY TO ELOHEH: How Indigenous Values Lead Us to Harmony and Well-Being. By Randy and Edith Woodley. Minneapolis, MN: Broadleaf Books, 2024. 264 pages.
What would it take to experience true harmony and well-being? What values might we embrace and develop to reach that state? There are numerous answers to these questions and faith often plays a role. To some degree, harmony requires a sense of balance between rest and activity. It’s one of the values present in the Old Testament concept of the sabbath. As we ponder this question is it possible that indigenous values could provide an answer, especially in contrast to Western values of individualism and achievement?
Robert D. Cornwall
Journey to Eloheh, authored by Randy and Edith Woodley offers a response to these kinds of questions from a Native American perspective. There are strong autobiographical elements to the book, which reflect the Woodleys’ Native American ancestry. Thus, they write about an indigenous form of Christianity as participants in that world. It is out of this context that the Woodleys created and “co-sustain Eloheh Indigenous Center for Earth Justice and Eloheh Farm and Seeds in Yamhill, Oregon, a town outside Portland. Edith Woodley is a member of the Eastern Shoshone tribe and is a leader of the Decolonizing with Badass Indigenous Grandmas cohort. Randy Woodley, who identifies as Cherokee, holds a Ph.D. in missiology from Asbury Seminary and is the author of several books including Indigenous Theology and the Western Worldview: A Decolonized Approach to Christian Doctrine and retired recently from his position as Distinguished Professor of Faith and Culture and Director of Intercultural and Indigenous Studies at Portland Seminary. While that position suggests an evangelical affiliation, it is an evangelicalism enriched by indigenous values. Unfortunately, the word evangelical has been tainted by right-wing politics, but the Woodleys are rooted in a form of evangelicalism that is influenced by indigenous spirituality.
The defining term that is developed in the book is Eloheh, which is a Cherokee word that means “well-being.” The message they deliver in the book not only lifts up well-being but a life lived according to the Harmony Way. As such, the Woodleys write that Eloheh speaks to a way of life lived according to the way life was created to be lived. Thus, it “means that people are at peace, not at war; that the Earth is being cared for and producing in abundance, so no one goes hungry. Eloheh means people are treating each other fairly and that no one is a stranger very long” (pp. 5-6). The Woodleys speak in the book of ten values they believe can be found in most indigenous societies. It is these values they seek to develop in their own lives. The ten values include harmony, respect, accountability, history, humor, authenticity, quality, community, balance, and generosity. These are values that are both needed at this moment and worth developing.
The Woodleys divide their book into four parts. Each part has four chapters. The opening section is titled “Moving Toward the Precipice.” Here the authors set up the problem that exists in the world, a problem they believe the Harmony Way can overcome. In this section both authors tell their own life stories, sharing how they came to understand their own identities as Native Americans. Randy claims to be 3/16th Cherokee and has been enrolled in a Cherokee tribe. Edith has a rich Native American heritage, drawing from several tribes including the Choctaw. In these chapters, the authors outline how things went wrong with Western culture, including the failure to live appropriately with creation.
While Part I introduces us to the problem of the false binary offered by Western Culture, in Part II, the authors begin to develop their vision of how Native American values can aid Western folk discover harmony and well-being. Part II is titled “Finding a New Map,” and the Woodleys begin this section by sharing their discovery of Sweat Lodges, which involved questioning the received religious views of Western Christianity and the discovery of a deeper spirituality. From there, in Chapter 6, titled “Bear Dreams,” the authors discuss their return to indigenous roots, which included recognizing the value of dreams. While serving as a pastor in Nevada, Randy began to move deeper into indigeneity, providing a form of church life that honored Native traditions and practices. This leads in Chapter 7 to a discussion of the first indigenous value, that of Harmony or seeking peace. Harmony involves finding and maintaining balance in all areas of life, including physical, emotional, and spiritual components. Chapter 8 introduces the second value, that of Respect or honoring the sacred. Again, while the Woodleys are Christians, they have embraced a form that involves indigenous ideas and values including what they refer to here as the Great Mystery, which they understand to be a broader vision of God. For them, we are to respect everyone and everything because everything is sacred.
Part III is titled “The Inside Path.” Here the Woodleys introduce us to four more indigenous values, beginning with accountability. Accountability rests on the remembrance that we are all related. This relatedness includes not only people but all creation. Thus, the authors off readers a call to show respect and reverence to nature, such that humans are called to maintain and repair harmony within creation. Chapter 10 speaks of the value of history. Central to the conversation here is the reality of time, which indigenous peoples view differently from Western folks. The idea is that there is fluidity between past and present to the degree that for Indigenous folks, time slows down. They write that “only when we view the importance of the past as critical to the way we live in the present can we project what might be our future” (p. 182). The next value explicated here is “Humor” or the ability to laugh at ourselves (Chapter 11). The Woodleys detail here the role of humor in Native American life, noting that there is even a ceremony among the Navajo celebrating an infant’s first laugh. From Humor, we move to “Authenticity.” While we hear a lot about authenticity today, they show us how Native Americans embrace true authenticity. In part, this involves a mistrust of words and an embrace of oral transmission of traditions. Authenticity involves, as they note, developing a sense of trust, which is not easy.
Part IV, titled “The Outside Path,” explores the final four values. The first value is that of Equality, such that everyone’s voice is heard. In this chapter (Chapter 13), they show how this value is expressed through working cooperatively, seeking consensus, respecting the dignity of others, as well as respecting dissent. This value is expressed in the context of Community, another of the values shared here (Chapter 14). The Woodleys note that in Native American contexts, individualism is downplayed, such that the importance of friendships is central. In this sense of community women and children are valued and affirmed. That doesn’t mean the individual has no place, but the entirety of the community is honored first. The next value is that of Balance (Chapter 15). Here the focus is on finding a balance between working hard and resting well. Part of this effort involves rejecting materialism. The final value is “Generosity” (Chapter 16). They note that there is a strong commitment within Indigenous communities to sharing with others what one has so that no one goes without. It doesn’t matter whether one has a lot or very little, the value is the same, and that involves sharing what one has with others, including strangers.
The Woodleys offer in A Journey to Eloheh a strong commitment to an indigenous spirituality that has connections to their Christian affirmations. However, they have chosen to emphasize indigenous values they believe are present in indigenous cultures rather than focus on Christian views of things. Thus, they encourage European/Euro-American Westerners to get in touch with our own Indigenous traditions and values. Though, I confess that this can prove to be dangerous as witnessed in the Nazi embrace of pre-Christian religious traditions, at least their interpretation of those traditions.
While the Woodleys believe the Harmony Way (Eloheh) can be a blessing to those who embrace it, they also remind us that this is not an easy path to take. As they tell their own story in the book, they reveal the many challenges inherent in developing this way of living. Nevertheless, they strongly embrace this life path and are seeking to develop the values of Eloheh on their farm as they work with Native Americans, who may have lost contact with these values. They remind us that the colonialism that is often part of Western Christianity is one of the challenges that Indigenous people face, but which we all ultimately face. This isn’t a path that is a straight line. Rather it is something of a circle, as such it is a sacred path.
There is much to ponder here in the Woodleys’ book Journey to Eloheh. Most humans would like to experience harmony and well-being, but too often we find the journey more difficult than we would like, so like with New Year’s Resolutions, we abandon the path before we reach the end. Nevertheless, the Woodleys invite us to explore and develop these values they believe are rooted in Indigenous culture. No matter our background we can benefit from embarking on this journey, for we all have indigenous roots of some kind, even if not Native American.
This review originally appeared on BobCornwall.com.
Robert D. Cornwall is an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Now retired from his ministry at Central Woodward Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) of Troy, Michigan, he serves as Minister-at-Large in Troy. He holds a Ph.D. in Historical Theology from Fuller Theological Seminary and is the author of numerous books including his latest “Second Thoughts about the Second Coming: Understanding the End Times, Our Future, and Christian Hope” coauthored with Ronald J. Allen. His blog Ponderings on a Faith Journey can be found at www.bobcornwall.com.
