SeaPres Holy Conversations
Murder at the Mission: A Frontier Killing, Its Legacy of Lies, and the Taking of the American West, by Blaine Harden
A HOLY CONVERSATION
with
Blaine Harden
-Seattle author
and
Rev. Irvin Porter
-Nez Perce, Pastor of Church of the Indian Fellowship, Tacoma, and
Associate for Native American Intercultural Congregational Support PC(USA)
OCTOBER 24, 7-9PM MERCER ISLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
What are the myths we tell ourselves, the lies we perpetuate as Presbyterians in the Pacific Northwest?
In 1836 Presbyterian missionary doctor Marcus Whitman and his wife Narcissa were sent west; eleven years later they were murdered at the mission. In the years following, a story manufactured by Rev. Henry Spalding, an embittered Presbyterian missionary and colleague of the Whitmans, launched the role of Whitman as a Christian role model and martyred frontier hero who saved the Oregon Territory for the United States.
By 1899 scholars exposed Spalding’s story as a deliberate fraud.
And yet to this day the “Whitman lie” is perpetuated by the larger public, including Presbyterians.
Blaine Harden explains: “The Whitman lie is a timeless reminder that in America a good story has an insidious way of trumping a true one, especially if that story confirms our virtue, congratulates our pluck, and enshrines our status as God’s chosen people.”
Join Seattle Presbytery as we engage a crucial conversation about demythologizing, grapple with the real story of Native American history, and search for a healing and equitable path forward.
“The truth will set you free.”
Seattle Presbytery will purchase and ship a limited number of copies of the book (Murder at the Mission by Blaine Harden) to our churches upon request. Contact us for details. We will also have some copies of the book available at the Oct. 24 event. We also encourage churches to purchase additional copies and e-copies as needed on their own.
More about Blaine Harden:
Blaine Harden is a journalist and author of six books, three about the Korean Peninsula, one about Africa, and two about the history of the Pacific Northwest, where he was born and raised. His most recent book is Murder at the Mission. He attended Gonzaga and Syracuse universities before spending most of his career as a foreign correspondent for the Washington Post, serving as bureau chief in northeast Asia, Eastern Europe, and Africa.
He was also a national correspondent for the New York Times and a writer for the New York Times Magazine, as well as a reporter for PBS Frontline and a contributor to The Economist. Harden wrote Escape from Camp 14 (2012), an international bestseller published in 28 languages. Among his journalism honors is the Ernie Pyle award for coverage of the siege of Sarajevo.
More about Rev. Irvin Porter:
Irvin is descended from three Native American tribes: Pima, T’hono O’odham, and Nez Perce. He is the seventh of eight children raised by a single father after the divorce of his parents. Irvin is descended from Twisted Hair, the Nez Perce chief who met Lewis and Clark in 1805. Twisted Hair’s son, Chief Lawyer, was the first Elder elected by the Nez Perce in 1871 when First Indian Presbyterian Church of Kamiah, Idaho was dedicated. Lawyer’s son, Archie, was the 2nd Presbyterian minister ordained among the Nez Perce people. Irvin’s ancestors among both the Nez Perce and Pima tribes were some of the first Christian converts among their people and many served the Presbyterian Church as elders or ministers including his father, Lawrence Porter, Pima and T’hono O’odham, who was also ordained as a Presbyterian minister.
Irvin was ordained by Olympia Presbytery in 2003 but began as a Commissioned Lay Leader at Church of the Indian Fellowship in Tacoma, Washington in 2001. The church was founded in 1876, and Irvin is the first Native American pastor.
He became the Associate for Native American Intercultural Congregational Support for the Racial Equity and Women’s Intercultural Ministries of the Presbyterian Church, USA, in June of 2013. His responsibilities include working as liaison between the ninety-five Native American congregations within the PC(USA).
He enjoys music, playing the piano, Native American arts, crafts, books, as well as being a history and genealogy enthusiast. He and his wife Anne-Cecile live in Puyallup, Washington’s South Hill community.