Toward Right Relationship

National Native American Heritage Month

Visit the Department of the Interior’s website for information about national events in honor of National Native American Heritage Month. “This year’s theme at Interior is Celebrating Tribal Sovereignty and Identity. Tribal sovereignty ensures that any decisions about Tribes with regard to their property and citizens are made with their participation and consent.”

Upcoming ONLINE Toward Right Relationship with Native Peoples Programs

Three options to participate in “Roots of Injustice, Seeds of Change: Toward Right Relationship with Native Peoples.”

In this 2-hour participatory program, we experience the history of the colonization of Turtle Island, the land that is now known as the United States. The story is told through the words of Indigenous leaders, European/American leaders, and Western historians. We engage with this history through experiential exercises and small group discussions. And we are invited to consider how we can build relationships with Indigenous peoples based on truth, respect, justice, and our shared humanity. Facilitated by TRR’s Native and non-Native teams. Appropriate for high school students and adults.

November 11, 4-6 pm EASTERN, 1-3 pm PACIFIC. REGISTER HERE.

January 21, 4-6 pm EASTERN, 1-3 pm PACIFIC. REGISTER HERE.

February 18, 4-6 pm EASTERN, 1-3 pm PACIFIC. REGISTER HERE.

November 24, 4-5:30 pm EASTERN, 1-2:30 pm PACIFIC: “On LandBack and Reparations: A Proposal,” by tom kunesh (Standing Rock Lakota descendant).

After acknowledging that Turtle Island was stolen from Indigenous people, and that kidnapped Africans were not compensated their labor or stolen rights, what are non-Native people supposed to do?  How do we make justice with the people whom our ancestors have hurt? This presentation advocates a method of restitution for religious congregations across Turtle Island. Co-sponsored by Decolonizing Quakers.

REGISTER HERE.

Image is a brownish turtle with a large mound of earth on its back, out of which many small green plants are growing. The background is green earth and far-away forest.

December 4, 7pm EASTERN, 4pm PACIFIC: “Assimilate or Be Exterminated” by David Raymond (Mi’kmaw descendant).

Digital image by David Raymond, based on the painting, American Progress, by John Gast. Image is a digitally altered black-and-white painting of a larger-than life white woman in flowing white robes floating leftwards over the plains. Native Americans are painted on the left, being chased out of their lands. Settlers with horses and covered wagons appear beneath and to the right of the woman. Everyone is looking and moving left.

For much of their existence, the Quaker Yearly Meetings of Turtle Island and Britain pursued the eradication of Indigenous Peoples’ cultures and matriarchies as a means to save Indigenous Peoples from the supposed necessity of extermination (mass killing). David Raymond will examine Quaker writings and deeds from the late 18th century to the present and will offer reflections on the impact of the truth on his faith journey. Co-sponsored by Decolonizing Quakers.

REGISTER HERE.

January-February 2024: “Returning to the Land” by Dr. Nia To Go There (Cree)

Nia To Go There, PhD (Cree) will offer a series of four webinars that are co-sponsored by Decolonizing Quakers. We recommend registering for all four, although this is not required. Nia will recommend short readings for each program.

January 13, 3:30-5 pm EASTERN, 12:30-2 pm PACIFIC: “Returning to the Land: Cultural Perspectives.” REGISTER HERE.

January 27, 3:30-5 pm EASTERN, 12:30-2 pm PACIFIC: “Returning to the Land: Seeing with a Native Eye.” REGISTER HERE.

February 10, 3:30-5 pm EASTERN, 12:30-2 pm PACIFIC: “Returning to the Land: Colonization.” REGISTER HERE.

February 24, 3:30-5 pm EASTERN, 12:30-2 pm PACIFIC: “Returning to the Land: Decolonization.” REGISTER HERE.

Photograph of dark green trees growing in a field of dry prairie grass, sharply contrasting with the blue sky. Both the trees and the sky are reflected in a still pond.

Native American Perspectives on Thanksgiving: Resources for Teachers and Parents

As the holiday approaches, let’s prepare to bring Native American perspectives to our families, schools, and faith communities. See these resources for grades 4-8 offered by the National Museum of the American Indian.

Taking LandBack Action: Two Excellent Recorded Webinars

Proposal for an American Indian Recovery Fund (view recording here)

This webinar was offered by the Repair Network of the Coalition to Dismantle the Doctrine of Discovery. Speakers Michael Miller and Jody Beaulieu (Red Lake Nation) describe their efforts to introduce a bill in the Minnesota State Legislature to create an American Indian Recovery Fund. They propose that whenever a piece of land or real estate is sold in Minnesota, a surcharge be attached to the sale, proceeds of which would go to the support of Native programs, as determined by Native people. This proposal is a means for the land to give back to the Native people of today.

Uncovering True(r) Land Stories: Land History as a Step Toward Repair, with Jessica Intermill (view recording here)

This webinar was offered by the Land Justice Project of the Nuns and Nones organization. Jessica Intermill researches the history of specific pieces of land, going back to the Indigenous presence prior to Euro-American settlement. In this webinar, she describes her research process, using as an example the property of the Franciscan Sisters of Little Falls, MN. The Land Justice Program encourages religious communities to learn the history of their properties and consider returning land to the original peoples.

Register for upcoming Land Justice Project webinars here.

 

About “Killers of the Flower Moon”

Amid all the buzz about the Scorsese film, you might like to read a novel by an Osage tribal member, Charles H. Red Corn, who tells the story of the murders of Osage people during the oil boom of the 1920s from an Osage perspective. The book is “A Pipe for February.”

Donate

If you’d like to donate to support the work of Toward Right Relationship with Native Peoples, you can send money online here — be sure to choose TRR — or you can mail a check to Friends Peace Teams and write “TRR” on the memo line: Friends Peace Teams, 1001 Park Ave., St. Louis, MO 63104.

Thank you!