Pentecostalism is one of the fastest-growing religious movements in the world. In Canada, it is the most rapidly growing Christian group among Indigenous people, with approximately one in ten Pentecostals in the country being Indigenous. Pentecostalism has become a religious force in many Indigenous communities, where congregations are most often led by Indigenous ministers – an achievement that took many decades. The Holy Spirit and the Eagle Feather traces the development of Indigenous Pentecostalism in Canada. Exploring the history of twentieth-century missionization, with particular attention to the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada’s Northland Mission, founded in 1943, Aaron Ross shows how the denomination’s Euro-Canadian leaders, who believed themselves to be supporters of Indigenous-led churches, struggled to relinquish control of mission management and finances. Drawing on interviews with contemporary figures in the movement, he describes how Indigenous Pentecostals would come to challenge the mission’s eurocentrism over decades, eventually entering positions of leadership in the church. This process required them to confront the painful vestiges of colonialism and to grapple with the different philosophies and theologies of Pentecostalism and Indigenous traditional spiritualities. In doing so they indigenized the movement and forged a new identity, as Indigenous and Pentecostal.Indigenous Pentecostals now occupy key roles in the church and serve as political, cultural, and economic leaders in their communities. The Holy Spirit and the Eagle Feather tells the story of how they overcame the church’s colonial impulses to become religious leaders, as well as agents for decolonization and reconciliation. “With thorough, detailed, systematic historical documentation throughout, the book is important and perhaps even seminal in its contribution to research [and] may be the first work to explore the topic of indigenous Pentecostal ministry.” Pneuma “The Holy Spirit and the Eagle Feather is an impressively thorough history that importantly fills out the historical record on the spread of Pentecostalism through local Indigenous communities in northern Ontario while simultaneously connecting the local histories to a larger religious shift across North America. The book is well written, engaging, and filled with information only recorded in hard-to-access archives, until now.” Kimberly Marshall, University of Oklahoma and author of Upward, Not Sunwise: Resonant Rupture in Navajo Neo-Pentecostalism “[The Holy Spirit and the Eagle Feather] digs deep into an abundant archive kept by missionaries from outside … . An underlying conviction filters through the author’s carefully balanced style, namely that – with the usual proviso about good intentions – this Canadian Pentecostal church did not, perhaps could not, succeed in untying or sundering the convoluted knots which bind the aboriginals and Euro-Canadians of Northern Ontario to one another.” Religion “Ross very skillfully dissects and explains the complex and changing relationship between Canadian Pentecostal settlers and Indigenous peoples. I cannot recommend this book too highly. … The Holy Spirit and the Eagle Feather successfully answers Michael Wilkinson’s tireless call for Canadian Pentecostal scholars to shift their insular emphasis from the well-travelled areas of settler theology, education and history to the less-visited corners, closets and maybe even cellars of the Canadian Pentecostal experience.” Faith Today "The Holy Spirit and the Eagle Feather makes crucial contributions to our knowledge of the Canadian experience, provides an engaging narrative account, and offers deft refinements for our understanding of how to methodologically interpret the Euro-Christian–Indigenous encounter. It should be of pressing interest for any scholars of Canadian religious history, scholars of Pentecostalism, and anyone interested in Indigenous Christianity." Studies in Religion / Sciences Religieuses A history of Indigenous Pentecostalism in Canada, through the experience of the Northland Mission. Series editor: Sarah Wilkins-Laflamme Advancing Studies in Religion catalyzes and provokes original research in the study of religion with a critical edge. The series advances the study of religion in method and theory, textual interpretation, theological studies, and the understanding of lived religious experience. Rooted in the long and diverse traditions of the study of religion in Canada, the series demonstrates awareness of the complex genealogy of religion as a category and as a discipline. ASR welcomes submissions from authors researching religion in varied contexts and with diverse methodologies. The series is sponsored by the Canadian Corporation for Studies in Religion whose constituent societies include the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies, Canadian Society for the Study of Religion, Canadian Society of Patristic Studies, Canadian Theological Society