David Capes
Let’s take as an example, Matthew 1:2. The whole chapter is full of lots of names, so we can’t go through all of them right now. But in your own voice, I’d love to hear you name these folks, as you have named them by their Hebrew meaning in the translation.
Terry Wildman
I’d be glad to do that.
Here’s the record of the ancestry of Creator Sets Free, (Jesus), the Chosen One, a descendant of Much Loved One, (David), and a Father of Many Nations, (Abraham). From Father of Many Nations, (Abraham) to Much Loved One, (David), his ancestors were Father of Many Nations, (Abraham), He Made Us Laugh (Isaac), Heal Grabber (Jacob), and Give Him Praise, (Judah) and his brothers.
That’s Matthew 1:2.
David Capes
That’s great! What you chose to do is to give the meaning of the name, and then in parentheses afterwards, in a smaller font, you put the word Jesus, which is what we are used to. Or Abraham is Father of Many Nations, which is the meaning of their names and such. And that becomes meaningful, it sounds like because it grabs hold of the same cultural instinct that led native people in North America to use names in this particular way.
Terry Wildman
Yeah, that’s right. And, interestingly enough, in the feedback that we’ve gotten from our native people who have actually given us a lot of feedback, that’s one of the things that’s been most important is the meaning of the names because it does connect culturally to us. And the fact that the Bible honors the ancestors. And it’s very important in our culture, to honor our ancestors. To know who they were. We look back seven generations; we look forward seven generations. And I remember a native woman who read this, and she opened up Matthew 1. And she said, I wept through it. Because for the first time in my life, the Bible started relating to me as a native person. And, you know, when we get feedback like that, it really amazed us. But in other ways it shouldn’t. Because I truly believe the scriptures are universal and can speak to every people in every culture out there. We just have to find those places where it connects, and let the Holy Spirit begin to speak to people when we bring out those connections.
David Capes
Do you think of this as a translation or as a paraphrase? That would be one of the first questions? Is this a translation? Or is this a paraphrase?
Terry Wildman
Well, that’s a good question. Because when I first started the project, I was thinking, Oh, this is probably a paraphrase. But when One Book of Canada got involved and some of the experts started looking at what we were doing, they said, no, this is more like a dynamic equivalence translation, where you’re allowed to make equivalent statements, ideas, instead of word for word. Sometimes word for word doesn’t communicate, but idea to idea does.
So I don’t know. I’ll just let the experts tell me what kind of translation it is. And just let it be what it is. Someone said, Oh, it’s kind of like, paraphrase in some places, and word for word in other places. It’s kind of an eclectic translation that way, but I don’t know. I think people look at it different ways. But it’s been well received. And people actually have used words like it’s powerful, it’s engaging, it’s life changing. And part of me says, oh, I think this is a gift from our native people. We have a way of thinking and talking traditionally that’s simple, yet profound. And we really work to capture that in this translation.
David Capes
We’re looking at Matthew 6, when Jesus is instructing his disciples on how they should pray. The Lord’s Prayer. It’s chapter 6:9 A or B, however you decide. But it begins here. So read that for us. I want to talk a little bit about some of those decisions.
Terry Wildman
Oh, Great Spirit, our Father from above. We honor your name as sacred, and holy. Bring your good road to us where the beauty of your ways in the spirit world above is reflected in the earth below. Provide for us day by day, the elk, the buffalo, and the salmon, the corn, the squash, and the wild rice. All the things we need for each day. Release us from the things we have done wrong. In the same way we release others for things done wrong to us. Guide us away from the things that tempt us to stray from your good road and set us free from the evil one and his worthless ways. A hope. May it be so.
David Capes
Wonderful, wonderful reference to God as the Great Spirit. You say pan-native word, isn’t it?
Terry Wildman
Yes, in my tribal heritage, the Anishinaabe Ojibwe” people, one of the primary ways we address God is Terry Wildman speaks his native language, then translates which means, Great Spirit or Great Mystery. Spirit in the idea of mystery. That there’s more to this one, whoever this one is. There’s more to this one than we can fully comprehend. And we live in the mystery of that. And it’s a mystery of how this universe came. We know that the great mystery created the universe, but we don’t know how this mystery created the universe. We just have our own ideas about it.
In powwows and native gatherings, Great Spirit is used, and Creator is used. And there are other terms: Maker of Life, Giver of Breath, many different terms that our different tribes and tribal nations use to address the Supreme Being. And we use that in here, because we felt that was important.
Because the word “God” comes from the Greek Theos, and [in Hebrew] El or Elohim. That word God probably has a German root, as it came to English Gott or the good one maybe. Or it might have actually at one time referred to another deity other than the Christian God
David Capes
Sure. Well, you know, that’s the thing. I have a Catholic priest friend who says the word God for us as people, culturally is an empty box. And we’ve got to put something in that box because the word God can be used by Muslims and by Jews, and by Christians and Buddhists and by other people. And they mean something different by that. So getting that teased out, what does that word God refer to? And I liked this idea, a Great Spirit. I mean, it speaks wonders, to all of us.
This is a great translation and I want to encourage people to go out and get a copy of it. InterVarsity press is the one who’s published it. It’s entitled, The First Nations Version. It’s an indigenous translation of the New Testament and is terrific. I would encourage people to get it and we know that more is on the way. Psalms and Proverbs to be seen we hope in the near future. I want to say thanks to Terry Wildman for being with us today. It’s an honor to speak with you. Anyone who translates the Bible the way you’ve done and works word by word through a text like this is to be honored and appreciated, I think. So thank you once again.
Terry Wildman
Thank you for the interview and Terry Wildman speaks his native language, then translates- Thank you for listening.
A Blessing from Terry Wildman
May the gift of great kindness that comes through Creator Sets Free, (Jesus) remain with you. May the deep love I have for all of you in the Chosen One, Creator Sets Free, find its way into your hearts. Our hope! May it be so.
