Children sing Choctaw, Creek hymns

SIFA Children’s Choir visits the Oaks Indian Mission for Cultural ExchangeChoir members hail from many of the 89 churches and more than 35 tribes represented in the conference. Their songs and dress also represented a broad spectrum of the Native American nations in Oklahoma.

Led by choir directors Pearl Thomas and Kimberly McKinney, the children sang “Press Along” and “The Heleluyn Song,” popular Native American hymns.

“They sing one another’s songs in Choctaw and Creek,” said McKinney, a Choctaw from Kullichito United Methodist Church in Broken Bow, Okla., and president of the South District United Methodist Women. “And `The Heleluyn Song’ is universal--all tribes sing it,” added Thomas, a Muscogee Creek and longtime member of United Methodist Women at Honey Creek United Methodist Church in Okmulgee, Okla.