Fun Family Traditions: Celebrating Cultural Diversity with Native American Easter Story

The “Fun Family Tradition” parenting class celebrates cultural diversity by adding the Native American Easter Story to the dinner talk resource list. In the Native American version of the Easter story, Jesus himself walked on the American continent after he was resurrected. This Easter account and other heroic stories are added to the parenting class resources for their relevance to character education and self-worth for teens.

Rockford, Illinois (PRWEB) April 6, 2006 -- The “Fun Family Tradition” parenting class celebrates cultural diversity by adding the Native American Easter Story to the dinner talk resource list. In the Native American version of the Easter story, Jesus himself walked on the American continent after he was resurrected. This Easter story starts in the times of Isaiah, raising the possibility of Judaic-Christian roots in Native American heritage.

Mid-20th century history books tell a story of Cortes’ landing in Mexico. The Aztecs, a ferocious and warlike people acted totally out of character when they met Cortes. Instead of subjecting him to their customary barbarism, they fell to the earth and worshiped him, as though he were a god. In those school books this unusual event is recorded, but not explained.

A nineteenth century discovery of ancient Native American records makes a connection with the native inhabitants of this continent to the mysterious “remnant” referred to by Isaiah in the Bible.

In the Bible, the prophet Isaiah said that a remnant of Judah would go out of Jerusalem, and escape the Babylonian captivity. (Isaiah 37:32KJV) One hundred years later, descendants of Judah’s brother Joseph did indeed flee persecution in Jerusalem because of their belief in Christ. They voyaged to Central America, where their leader, a devout Christian prophet, founded a Christian nation. This remnant of Israel kept faithful records, including an eyewitness account of a visit by the resurrected Jesus Christ a short time after his crucifixion and resurrection.

Engraved on metal plates to withstand the ravages of time, the histories span more than a thousand years and reveal scores of historical references that verify and support the Bible. Still intact when it was discovered, translated, and published, this record bears the title of “The Book of Mormon”, named after the Christian prophet who compiled all the annals in 400 A.D.

Behind the Book of Mormon’s claim to be “Another Testament of Jesus Christ” is the appearance of the resurrected Jesus to a remnant of Joseph’s tribe of Israel in Central America, as witnessed by 2,500 persons. So memorable was the two-hundred-year golden age which followed this event, that the natives looked for Jesus’ return, even centuries after they had dwindled in unbelief.

This account seems to be the root of widespread legends in ancient American lore concerning a “pale bearded god”, and explains the astonishing behavior of the Aztecs. When the natives saw a pale bearded man arrive in a ship with white billowy sails, they thought he was Christ returned in a cloud. In fact, when teachers took this message to Central American nations, where scholars consider that the Native American Easter story took place, they made a fascinating discovery. Natives high in the mountains of Guatemala were familiar with the stories in the book, because they had been told oral versions of those stories by their ancestors— probably around campfires at meal time— from generation to generation.

Written in epic literary style, it recounts the migration and settlement in Central America of three Biblical peoples. These descendants of Shem, Judah, and Joseph (of Egypt) became the ancestors of Mayans, Polynesians, and other natives of the American continent, supporting evidence of Judaic-Christian roots in Native American heritage.

Book of Mormon prophets repeatedly teach of Adam as the first man, created in the image of God. The creation story has been shown to help overcome the identity crisis that many youth experience. This book is added to the “Fun Family Traditions dinner talk list” for its epic literary style and because it contains an extensive collection of heroic stories relevant to character education and self-worth for teens.

Author Christine McClung has written a musical depicting the story of this remnant of Israel, entitled “Brothers Brave”, to be performed in communities. She also offers free online parenting classes with resources for teaching character education at dinner time using stories of epic heroes. Information and resources are found at http://www.epicworld.net.

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