The Bahá’í Faith

Many people are surprised to learn that Kevin Locke, whose life honors and perpetuates the traditions, values and culture of the Lakota Nation, is a member of the Bahá’í Faith world community, among the most widespread and inclusive of today's religions. Here Kevin states his perspective:

I believe that the Covenant or relationship between God and humankind is and has been binding over all peoples; and that all peoples have been informed of its existence and parameters either through major prophets and messengers of God such as Krishna, Abraham, Moses, Zoroaster, Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad, the Báb, Bahá'u'lláh, or through other holy souls who established spiritual pathways within unique cultures worldwide, such as among my people, the Lakota. 

Lakota tradition is a gift from God, and our way is based upon the manifestation of the maiden, White Buffalo Calf Woman, whose teachings, spiritual and social and prophetic, uplifted the people and prepared us to recognize the time of fulfillment, the time of renewal, the time when aspirations and hope would be fulfilled. This is a process by which the people can be connected with God, the Oneness. 

Each of the native peoples of North America, like people everywhere, has a distinct way of expressing and celebrating this Covenant a few examples of which are the Sun Dance of the Plains people, the Mountain Spirit Dance of the Apache, the Beauty Way of the Navajo/Dine, Midewiwin for the Great Lakes Anishinabe, the White Deer Skin Dance of the Hupa in the West, the Green Corn Dance of the Eastern Woodlands, and more. 

Why should anyone assume that the Covenant we indigenous peoples are celebrating is not with the One Source of attraction, the One True, Great Spirit, Creator, Grandfather, Breath Maker, Old Man, Earth Maker, Animator, God? 

By His own testimony, the Prophet-Teacher of the Bahá’í Faith, Bahá'u'lláh, has described His religion as "the changeless Faith of God, eternal in the past, eternal in the future."

In another passage, ‘Abdu'l Bahá states that "all bounties and bestowals flow from One Source, and all people have received their portion from this ocean of bounty."

I came to a realization of the truth of the Bahá’í Faith because of the prophetic elements implicit within Lakota spiritual traditions. I started to read the writings of Bahá'u'lláh, and realized it was a message from God, a renewal of the eternal principles. 

Added to this, I saw people from all over the world, from widely diverse backgrounds, recognizing the need to unite and to come together based upon our spiritual reality as human beings, and recognizing the global dimensions of the human family. Then, in 1983, some Bahá’í friends from the indigenous nations of South America visited our Standing Rock Reservation, and they helped me grow in the work to foster an awareness of our one human family, the need to awaken to this new light and to this new day. 

"Within the Bahá’í Faith, all traditions of the Covenant are acknowledged, honored and respected as the people come together seeking unity and justice."

"At the very core of the aims of the (Bahá’í) Faith are the establishment of justice and unity in the world, the removal of prejudice and enmity from among all people, the awakening of compassionate understanding in the hearts of all men and women, and the raising of all souls to a new level of spirituality and behavior through the vitalizing influence of divine revelation." --July 2, 1996, letter from the Secretariat of the Bahá’í World Center, Haifa, Israel.