James Treat is an associate professor of religious studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and the editor of several books, including Writing the Cross Culture: Native Fiction on the White Man's Religion.

"Treat has rescued an important area of Indian activism that has gone virtually unnoticed--the Indian Ecumenical Conference. Gathering scattered documents and conducting personal interviews, he presents an exciting history of efforts by traditional people to offer their own solution to modern social problems."--Vine Deloria Jr., author of Custer Died for Your Sins "This important book details the continent-wide, including Great Plains, efforts of Native Americans in the 1970s and 1980s to revive and unify Native spirituality and bring it to terms with Christianity."--Great Plains Quarterly "In these times of culminating wars and spiritual devastation, this book provides a useful map of efforts to organize across intertribal and interreligious borders.  The fire cooks our food, warms us, gives us light and movement.  We need to be reminded . . . and the appearance of this book assures us that we will be."--Joy Harjo, Mvskoke poet and musician "Treat tells the story of this conference in a way that is authentic to both the events of this cultural reawakening and the narrative tradition of Native Americans. . . . This is a unique and powerful book."--Human Ecology Review "In unfolding the account of the Indian Ecumenical Conference, Treat forces the reader to abandon the long-held notion of the Red Power movement as a radical, confrontational, protest movement. Treat does a marvelous job in bringing out the issues involved in this period of Native American religious history."--American Studies International "A hugely detailed historical, sociological, theological, and personal account of the Indian Ecumenical Conference. Highly recommended."--Choice "A magnificent job of excavating the history of the ecumenical conference and illuminating key personalities involved."--Journal of American History "The best book on American Indian religion published in the new millennium."--Christopher Vecsey, author of American Indian Catholics