JRE 50.2:239–272. © 2022 Journal of Religious Ethics, Inc. AMERICAN INDIAN TRADITIONS AND RELIGIOUS ETHICS A Revealing Lacuna James W. Waters ABSTRACT The Journal of Religious Ethics has published only two full-length articles focusing on American Indian religious ethics in the last decade. This may signal that the field is uneasy about integrating American Indian religious ethics into its broader discourse. To fill this research lacuna and take a step toward normalizing religious-ethical engagement with American Indian ethics, this article argues that the field needs an intentionally anticolonial, self-aware approach to understanding American Indian religious ethics—one that decenters methods and approaches that may facilitate the analysis of Christian texts, groups, and phenomena, yet limit insights into the religious-moral beliefs and practices of Native Americans. The article first shows examples of how religious-ethical methods, definitions, and epistemological starting points can obfuscate rich and accurate understandings of Native American religious- ethical systems and phenomena. Next, it turns to historical and anthropological studies and Native American philosophy and ethics to outline an interdisciplinary framework for integrating American Indian traditions into the discourses of religious ethics. KEYWORDS: American Indians, comparative religious ethics, Native American religious ethics, Christian ethics, ethnocentrism We occupy the same space, the same time, but we live in parallel universes. — Viola F. Cordova (2007) To be truly wise is to understand that knowing and not knowing are one. Each has the power to transform. —Richard Wagamese (2011) James W. Waters is a Ph.D. Candidate in Religion, Ethics, and Philosophy in the Graduate Department of Religion at Florida State University. His research foci include American Indian Ethics and Religions, Religion and Ecology, and Religious Discourses of Social Activism. When not researching or prepping for lecture, he enjoys spoiling his Chug (half Chihuahua, half Pug) Friedrich, playing music, and discussing alternative ways to perform masculinity with students in fraternities. James W. Waters, jim.waters89@gmail.com.