# From the Editor's Desk

*Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-22 — 1 clipping.*

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> From the Editor's                          residential schools, which in some
> places remained active well into the
> Desk                                       1990s. These schools were devised
> expressly to break up Indigenous families and communities, separate chil-
> LINDA S. COVEY AND                         dren from their culture and identity,
> ROSHAN DANESH                              and destroy languages and cultures.
> As has become fully apparent to the
> In 1916 'Abdu'l-Bahá instructed the        broader Canadian public only in recent
> nascent Bahá'í communities of the          years, although justified as advancing
> United States and Canada to "attach        civilization, the residential schools
> great importance to the indigenous         were, in fact, utterly pernicious vehipopulation of America" because of          cles for systematically imposing physithe unique potential of those peoples      cal, psychological, cultural, social, and
> to "enlighten the whole world" (qtd.       spiritual harm. This same realization
> in Shoghi Effendi, Citadel 16). 'Abdu'l-   caused the United Stated to pass the
> Bahá penned these words as part of         Indian Child Welfare Act in 1978 and
> His blueprint for the unfoldment of        to gradually cease allotting federal
> the Divine Plan, which would assist        funds to these residential schools.
> in the dissemination of Bahá'u'lláh's          For the small Bahá'í communities
> revelation and the advancement of the      of Canada and the United States, fugoal of creating patterns of justice,      eled by the core Bahá'í teaching of
> equality, and peace among all the          unity in diversity, 'Abdu'l-Bahá's empeoples of the world.                      phasis on the importance of Indig-
> At the time of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's mes-      enous peoples presented a challenge
> sage, there were no Indigenous Bahá'ís     to establish a pattern of thought and
> in North America, and Indigenous           course of action distinct from that of
> peoples in Canada and the United           the broader society, a plan that had to
> States were enduring exceptionally         include recognition of the value of
> egregious treatment. In both coun-         diversity and the importance of cultries, colonial oppression, racist laws,   ture, love, and inclusion in community
> and policies fueled by Social Darwin-      building. This challenge led to an inism, missionary zeal, and disease had      creasing intersection between Bahá'ís
> decimated Indigenous populations and       and Indigenous peoples in the 1920s
> communities and disconnected them          and 1930s, including more systematic
> from their traditional lands, family       efforts by Bahá'ís to reach out, share
> and community systems, and govern-         Bahá'u'lláh's message of fellowship
> mental structures. Far from recogniz-      and unity, and create a diverse Bahá'í
> ing the "great importance" of Indig-       community.
> enous peoples to the "whole world,"            In the 1960s these efforts expanded
> both Canada and the United States          massively, sustained by the leadership
> continued to establish a network of        and dedication of both Indigenous
> 4                    The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 26.3 2016
> 
> and non-Indigenous Bahá'ís, including        It would be impossible to find
> Bahá'í leaders such as Amat'ul-Bahá          a nation or people not in a state
> Rúhíyyih Khánum, who traveled to             of crisis today. The materialism,
> meet Indigenous peoples across the           the lack of true religion and the
> Americas on their lands and in their         consequent baser forces in human
> homes. Through these efforts, the            nature which are being released,
> unifying message of Bahá'u'lláh's rev-       have brought the whole world to
> elation was shared, and the Bahá'ís'         the brink of probably the greatest
> commitment to a new pattern of just          crisis it has ever faced or will have
> relations between diverse peoples was        to face. The Bahá'ís are a part of
> visibly demonstrated.                        the world. They too feel the great
> Over the past number of decades,         pressures which are brought
> in addition to ongoing and strenuous         to bear upon all people today,
> efforts of individual Indigenous and         whoever and wherever they may
> non-Indigenous Bahá'ís, there have           be. (Letter dated 19 July 1956,
> been a wide range of institutional           qtd. in Lights of Guidance no. 440)
> initiatives to create new structures,
> campaigns, and gatherings aimed at         Reflecting on the complexity of transencouraging and deepening the pres-        forming entrenched patterns, Shoghi
> ence of, respect for, and recognition of   Effendi further emphasized that eradi-
> Indigenous peoples within the Bahá'í       cating racial injustice requires not only
> community. To be clear, in the Writ-       "complete freedom from prejudice,"
> ings of the Bahá'í Faith, there is no      but also demands that society address
> naïve or simplistic utopian perspective    the reality that racism is sufficiently
> about the challenge faced by society       pernicious that it can infect "the whole
> to extricate itself from patterns of       social structure" (Advent 22, 33).
> oppression and injustice and replace          Accomplishing        this     essential
> them with relationships based on unity     change requires the hard work of
> and peace. Such work is slow, arduous,     transforming mindsets and behaviors.
> and multi-generational. It requires        It also necessitates that humankind
> recognition that while this important      discover and implement methods for
> work progresses, individual Bahá'ís        reordering detrimental social and
> and Bahá'í communities will inevitably     structural patterns and establishing
> be influenced by the broader dynamics      collaborative relationships upheld by a
> and forces in society, even while striv-   collective vision of justice and fellowing to be guided by and to become          ship at the levels of the neighborhood
> compliant with the ideals, standards,      and community life. But this journey
> and goals set forth in the revelation of   toward justice and unity is one of
> Bahá'u'lláh. As Shoghi Effendi empha-      learning, trial and error, sacrifice, love,
> sized in 1956:                             and pain.
> For these reasons, in their efforts
> the condition that the world is in,    to contribute to the advancement of
> is bringing many issues to a head.     society, Bahá'ís have been broadly
> From the Editor's Desk                                 5
> 
> encouraged by the Universal House of        after 'Abdu'l-Bahá articulated the im-
> Justice to recognize that the believers     portance of Indigenous peoples in the
> must pursue a "wide latitude for ac-        unfoldment of the Divine Plan. It is
> tion," must be granted "a large margin      also an opportune moment because of
> for mistakes," should recognize that        broader societal dynamics. For exam-
> "human beings are not perfect," and in      ple, in recent years Canada has been
> light of these realizations, seek to fos-   awakening to the fact that one of its
> ter encouragement and not succumb           central social, political, cultural, ecoto criticism at the "slightest provoca-     nomic, and spiritual challenges is that
> tion" (Letter dated 19 May 1994 to a        of reconciliation between Indigenous
> National Spiritual Assembly ¶7).            and non-Indigenous peoples. Likewise,
> For these same reasons, having           in an ongoing effort to recognize the
> Indigenous and non-Indigenous peo-          American Indians and their cultural
> ples coming together in new ways            presence and distinctive history, the
> to build a community that actualizes        United States declared 1992 as the
> Bahá'u'lláh's teachings about unity in      "Year of the American Indian" and
> diversity engendered, in the process,       designated the month of November
> the expected trials and sacrifice, as       as National American Indian Heritage
> well as progress and achievements.          Month.
> The experience of Indigenous peo-                There is growing global awareness
> ples within the Bahá'í community, and       of how essential it is that the world's
> the Bahá'í community's experience of        approximately four hundred million
> engaging with Indigenous peoples,           Indigenous peoples be recognized
> has been at times contiguous with           and that their rights as individuals,
> predominant patterns seen in society        communities, and nations be fully acat large and, at others, drastically dif-   knowledged and respected. The Unitferent. While there has been conscious      ed Nations Declaration on the Rights
> striving to infuse a commitment to          of Indigenous Peoples (2007)—now
> the spiritual and social imperative of      fully endorsed by many countries
> unity—including valuing the distinc-        around the world, including the Unittiveness and diversity of Indigenous        ed States and Canada—establishes one
> peoples—in efforts at forming new           of the necessary foundations for the
> patterns of community life, there have      full participation of Indigenous peoalso been complex challenges, such as       ples in human affairs.
> the need to confront old world order            It is in this context that the contribpatterns and attitudes.                     utors in this issue of the Journal offer
> This special issue of the Journal        a wide range of voices and perspecof Bahá'í Studies is a beginning effort     tives on the intersection between the
> to explore some of the complexities         Bahá'í Faith and Indigenous peoples.
> of the history of the intersection          Linda Covey's article, based on a spebetween Indigenous peoples and the          cific case study that identifies critical
> Bahá'í Faith. It comes at a particularly    outcomes regarding Bahá'í teaching
> propitious moment—exactly a century         work among Indigenous populations,
> 6                   The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 26.3 2016
> 
> provides valuable insights about those      about how the history of the North
> skill-sets and sensitivities required for   American Bahá'í communities might
> this important endeavor. Joyce Bald-        inform current social discourses such
> win and Alfred Kahn Jr. share their         as that of reconciliation.
> personal stories, providing us with a          Our attention to the experiences of
> window into their lived experience as       Indigenous Bahá'ís does not end with
> Indigenous Bahá'ís and conveying the        this issue of the Journal: consideration
> wisdom and insights derived from de-        is being given as to how to support furcades of dedication to the Covenant of      ther contributions that are specifically
> Bahá'u'lláh. Patricia Verge also shares     aimed at informing and influencing
> her life experience working to advance      local and global public discourses rereconciliation, drawing on her vast         garding Indigenous peoples. Articles
> expertise as an author who has chron-       are already in the works that will share
> icled pivotal aspects of the history of     more on the experience of Indigenous
> Indigenous Bahá'ís. Chelsea Horton          Bahá'ís in Canada. As always, we value
> draws on her doctoral work on the           your comments and suggestions, and
> history of interaction between Indig-       we welcome submissions for possible
> enous peoples in North America and          publication.
> the Bahá'í Community as derived from
> personal interviews with Indigenous                     WORKS CITED
> Bahá'ís. Horton's article provides a
> historical perspective on the challeng-     Shoghi Effendi. The Advent of Divine
> es faced by Bahá'ís in actualizing the             Justice. Wilmette, IL: Bahá'í
> principle of unity in diversity—les-               Publishing Trust, 1971.
> sons that can be helpful as the Bahá'í             Print.
> process of fashioning unity at the lo-      ———. Citadel of Faith: Messages to
> cal level proceeds under the guidance              America 1947-1957. Wilmette,
> of the Five Year Plan of the Universal             IL: Bahá'í Publishing Trust,
> House of Justice.                                  1980. Print.
> While each article stands alone as a    ———. Letter dated 19 July 1956. In
> distinct contribution by its author, tak-          Lights of Guidance: A Bahá'í
> en together they raise interconnected              Reference File. Ed. Helen
> themes and questions. As such, the                 Hornby. New Delhi: Bahá'í
> reader is strongly encouraged to read              Publishing Trust, 1994.
> all the articles, preferably in the order          Print.
> in which they are published. By ap-         The Universal House of Justice.
> proaching the subject matter this way,             Letter dated 19 May 1994
> it is hoped that this special issue will           to a National Spiritual
> offer perspectives that can assist ongo-           Assembly.
> ing efforts at the community level to
> advance critical work such as learning
> through the institute process, inform
> teaching work, and help generate ideas
> Members of the Omaha Nation form the first all-Native American
> Local Spiritual Assembly in Macy, Nebraska, in 1948.
> (Photo courtesy of National Bahá'í Archives, United States)
>
> — *From the Editor's Desk (Used by permission of the curator)*