Jen Hatmaker apologizes for line in inaugural prayer critiqued as erasing Native Americans
‘If God gave this land to anyone, it was to the Native community who always lived here,’ Hatmaker said.
Jen Hatmaker was “proud” to offer the final prayer in the liturgy for the inaugural interfaith prayer service Thursday (Jan. 21) hosted virtually by the Washington National Cathedral.
The popular Christian author, speaker and podcaster has also apologized for it — at least for the first line of the prayer, which began, “Almighty God, you have given us this good land as our heritage.”
“He didn’t. He didn’t give us this land. We took this land by force and trauma,” she wrote later on social media.
“It wasn’t an innocent divine transaction in which God bestowed an empty continent to colonizers. This is a shiny version of our actual history. If God gave this land to anyone, it was to the Native community who always lived here.”