New translation of New Testament aims at Native Americans

By EMILY McFARLAN MILLER
Religion News Service

Terry Wildman hopes a new translation of the New Testament published Tuesday will help Christians and Indigenous peoples read Scripture again in a fresh way. Wildman, a licensed local pastor in the United Methodist Church, has been working for two decades to translate the Bible into words and concepts familiar to many Native Americans. Though in English, the new translation gives Scripture more of a “Native traditional sound.” Boat becomes canoe, God is the “Great Spirit” or “Creator.” Names of biblical figures echo their original meanings in Greek and Hebrew: Jesus becomes “Creator Sets Free” and Abraham, “Father of Many Nations.” “We believe it’s a gift not only to our Native people, (but) from our Native people to the dominant culture,” Wildman said.