“Merciless Indian Savages”

Join us here at LSTC for the 2026 Vine Deloria Jr. Theological Symposium, honoring the life and legacy of LSTC alumnus Vine Deloria Jr., an influential Indigenous philosopher, theologian, scholar, and advocate.

This year’s theme, “Merciless Indian Savages,” brings together scholars, theologians, and Tribal leaders to examine the past 250 years of colonial presence on Turtle Island and the survivance of Indigenous peoples throughout.

Hosted by the Pete & Cheryl Pero Center for Intersectional Studies at LSTC, the symposium takes place November 9–11, 2026. The Monday lecture and Wednesday chapel worship will be offered in the LSTC Chapel and via Zoom. The Tuesday panel presentation will take place via Zoom only.

Rooted in Indigenous perspectives and experiences, this annual gathering invites theologians, church leaders, students, scholars, and community members into conversation about Indigenous theology, spirituality, culture, and justice. Whether you are familiar with Indigenous theology or beginning to explore these conversations, we welcome you to join us.

For questions related to the event, contact Vance Blackfox at vblackfox@bexleyseabury.edu.

Registration to follow.

Event Schedule

Symposium Speakers

Dr. Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Symposium Lecturer

Matthew L.M. Fletcher is the Harry Burns Hutchins Collegiate Professor of Law and Professor of American Culture at the University of Michigan. A member of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, he serves as Chief Justice of the Grand Traverse Band, the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, and the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, and as a judge for nearly ten other Tribal nations. He is married to Wenona Singel, a member of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, and they have two sons, Owen and Emmett.

Dr. Lisa A. Dellinger

Panelist

Lisa A. Dellinger is a visiting professor at Iliff School of Theology and a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation. She holds a PhD in theology, ethics, and history from Garrett Theological Seminary and is a United Methodist Women of Color Fellowship Scholar and a recipient of the Forum for Theological Exploration James T. Waits Fellowship. She has published book chapters and articles on Native Christianity and ethics, Native feminism, settler colonialism, and U.S. militarism. She previously served as local pastor of New Town United Methodist Church in the Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference.

Shannon Swimmer

Panelist

Shannon Swimmer (she/her) is an enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee and serves as a Tribal Council representative for the Aniwodihi (Painttown) community. She returned to her ancestral homelands in Cherokee, North Carolina, after earning her Juris Doctor from the University of Kansas School of Law. A licensed attorney in North Carolina, she served as Associate Judge at the Cherokee Tribal Court before becoming Director of the Western Carolina University Cherokee Center. She also holds a BA in English from the University of Kansas and an MS in human resource management from Western Carolina University.

Dr. Anne Carter Walker

Panelist

Anne Carter Walker (Cherokee Nation; she/her) is Dean of Students and Affiliate Assistant Professor of Practical Theology at Phillips Theological Seminary in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Her career includes more than 25 years in teaching, theological education administration, ministry, and nonprofit management. She holds a PhD in practical theology, an MA in religious education, and an MA in ethics from Claremont School of Theology. A past president of the Religious Education Association and an FTE North American Doctoral Fellow, she is the co-author of Nurturing Different Dreams: Youth Ministry Across Lines of Difference (Pickwick, 2014) and the forthcoming Candidly Speaking: Dialogues for the End of Empire (Cascade Press).

Pastor Herb Wounded Head III

Chapel Preacher

Pastor Herb Wounded Head III was born on the Oglala Lakota Reservation and grew up in Gayville, South Dakota. He earned a BA in biology with an emphasis in marine science from Augustana College in 1993. He worked as a counselor and Wagon Master at Atlantic Mountain Ranch of Lutherans Outdoors in South Dakota and as a child care counselor at Black Hills Children’s Home before entering seminary.

After graduating from Luther Seminary in 2004, he began his pastoral ministry at Toronto Lutheran Parish in South Dakota. He later served at Ascension Lutheran Church in Brookings and as Campus Pastor at the University Lutheran Center, serving South Dakota State University. Following an interim pastorate at Grace Lutheran in Sisseton, he was called to Colton Lutheran Parish in 2022.