The Benedictine Sisters of Sacred Heart Monastery in Richardton have invited Clay Jenkinson, Theodore Roosevelt scholar-in-residence at Dickinson State University, to speak at the monastery Friday and Saturday on "Whites and Indians in History, Religion and North Dakota Life."

The monastery hopes this will be an exploration of the history between American Indians and whites in North Dakota life and religion, said Harriet Julian Meacham, OSB, director of communications at Sacred Heart.

"There is a vast common ground among all cultures and religions in the world for the simple reason that we are all human beings, with the same impulse toward the divine and the same need to glimpse that which is unknown and unknowable," Meacham said.

The history of white and Indian relations in North Dakota is the big historic concern that North Dakota needs to find a conversation about, Jenkinson said.

Using works such as "Love Medicine,"by Louise Erdrich, "Black Elk Speaks" and "Coyote Warrior," Jenkinson said he hopes to create a careful conversation on the theme of appropriation. "When does one culture get to appropriate the symbolism and philosophy of another culture?" such as the damming of the Missouri River and its effect on the Three Affiliated Tribes and "the energies at work behind (the University of North Dakota) Fighting Sioux controversy."

On Saturday, Jenkinson said the exploration will focus on the future and what people feel needs to be done.

It is the hope of the Sacred Heart Sisters, Meacham said, "that Jenkinson's discussion will help open a dialogue between the indigenous peoples of the Dakota and the whites with whom they have always sought peace."

"While it is the nature of humankind for the more powerful to exercise dominance over the less powerful, we must seek to be mindful of how we care or don't care for the impoverished, lame, sick and imprisoned in our society," she said.

White populations have much to learn from American Indian spirituality, Meacham said.

"I think that Indians on the whole have developed a spiritual system for the plains, for the prairie, that creates the possibilities of integration," Jenkinson said, while non-Indians have brought traditions from elsewhere and planted them on the plains, "as we planted wheat and soybeans," he said.

"Some kind of dialogue between the two could create a 'plains spirituality.' " he said.

"If we had such a dialogue, we would make more enlightened decisions about our future,"Jenkinson said.

The presentation starts from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday and resumes from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.

Registration is required. The Sisters suggest a donation of $45, which includes lunch on Saturday. Scholarships are available to American Indian participants, if requested.

For more information or to register, contact Sacred Heart at 974-2121 or visit www.sacredheartmonastery.com.