Category: Great Plains Action Society

“Fourth of He Lies”

NOTE: This is an edited re-posting from the year 2021. The events below occurred then, not today. There were similar events in other years. See: Monuments to White Supremacy July 4, 2020.

Also from the Great Plains Action Society: Decapitating Colonialism: White Supremacist Statues, Monuments, & Symbolism by Alexandrea Flanders.

I’ve come a long way from what I, a white person, was taught in school. About the heroes and battles that brought independence from the British. And just a sentence or so about taking over Indigenous lands, and the slave trade. All whitewashed and presented as acceptable. Even referred to as “Manifest Destiny”.

“He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.”

— Declaration of Independence

The Terrible Origins of July 4th

The crown and the colonists were both determined to seize lands from native peoples and to continue enslavement. But their interests were also hostile to one another and war was the inevitable result. White settlers wanted full independence for themselves and no control over their actions at all.

The indigenous populations were nearly eradicated in the decades long quest for conquest. Expanding slavery was an integral part of those efforts against native peoples. Genocide could not be carried out completely nor could any accommodation be made with European nations in the quest to control land from sea to shining sea. That is why the settlers declared their independence.

The process of decolonizing ourselves is a difficult one. We have been cut off from our history and we don’t know where or how our people played a part. As we try to educate ourselves we may find it difficult to give up traditions that we have claimed as our own. Regardless of personal choices made on July 4th, the causes of the Declaration of Independence must be known and acknowledged. That is the beginning of true independence for Black people.

THE TERRIBLE ORIGINS OF JULY 4TH By Margaret Kimberley, Black Agenda Report.
July 3, 2021

NOTE: This event was in the year 2021, not today.

The Great Plains Action Society has organized gatherings at the Iowa State Capitol for several years on July 4th, referred to as the Fourth of He Lies. I attended these events and took the photos below. My Des Moines Mutual Aid community has been involved.

In 2021 the event was called Stop Whitewashing Genocide and Slavery. Bring Back Critical Race Theory & Remove Monuments to White Supremacy!

Indigenous Led | Great Plains Action Society I United States

On July 4th, stand with Great Plains Action Society, Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, Ní Btháska Stand Collective, Des Moines Black Liberation Movement, Humanize My Hoodie, Revolutionary Action Party, Quad Cities Interfaith, Iowa Coalition for Collective Change, and Des Moines Mutual Aid!

Join us on “Fourth of He Lies” to demand that the Iowa legislators remove whitewashed monuments to white supremacy in Iowa. Organizers will present a petition demanding that all racist, misogynistic, homo/transphobic, whitewashed historical depictions be removed from all state grounds and facilities. These monuments fall into the realm of hate propaganda and make folks feel unwelcome in public spaces. So, we need legislation that removes all monuments, murals, and depictions of white supremacist persons, acts, and ideologies from all Iowa state grounds and state-funded institutions.

Great Plains Action Society

(C)2021 Jeff Kisling

Partnering with Native Nations in a Good Way Guide 2

This is a continuation of yesterday’s post about partnering with nations. Parts of that article don’t pertain to my experiences, which have been with the Great Plains Action Society rather than with a Tribal nation. So, I’ll continue with the parts of the article relevant to both of those types of organizations.

Partnering with Native Nations in a Good Way

My friend Paula Palmer shared this resource, Partnering with Native Nations in a Good Way Guide. It is often difficult to ascertain authentic, trusted sources, so I appreciate what she shares. https://nativegov.org/resources/partnering-with-native-nations-guide/

Two decolonizing efforts

Emerging decolonial efforts are a welcome acknowledgement of the growing realization on the part of more settler-colonists of the incredible harms and injustices Indigenous peoples have experienced that have passed from generation to generation. That every Indigenous person suffers today.

Gesturing Towards Decolonial Futures

Gesturing Towards Decolonial Futures (GTDF) is an arts/research collective that uses this website as a workplace for collaborations around different kinds of artistic, pedagogical, cartographic, and relational experiments that aim to identify and de-activate colonial habits of being, and to gesture towards the possibility of decolonial futures.

https://decolonialfutures.net/

Decolonial Repair Network launch

Yesterday, I wrote an introduction to the Decolonial Repair Network. And how this relates to the Honor Native Land Fund to support the Great Plains Action Society’s work to raise money to buy land. Last night, I attended the first meeting (Zoom) of the Decolonial Repair Network.

Decolonial Repair Network

Decolonial Repair Network

Working Towards Healing the Harms of Colonialism
Monthly Calls: First Wednesday of the month, 7-8 CT

Our first online informational call is Wednesday, April 3rd, 7-8 pm. Sign up here.

We are a network of non-Native individuals, communities and organizations in Iowa and across the Midwest who strive to be good allies to Indigenous people through actively working to repair the harms of colonization in the Midwest.

Honor Native Land Fund

We are calling on non-native white settlers across the Midwest from Chicago to Omaha, Minneapolis to St. Louis to consider the ways they have benefitted from colonization and to voluntarily offer a kind of rent or tax to Indigenous peoples.
We feel like, in the face of the climate crisis, one of the most important things we can do is support Indigenous people reclaiming Indigenous lifeways-that is a key part of what is going to heal the land and the climate.
Eric Anglada, Honor Native Land Fund

We’re grateful for your interest in and support of the work of Honor Native Land Fund. Hopefully you were able to join us for our opening launch webinar. We urge you to become a regular contributor to this fund, 100% of which goes to support amazing Indigenous women in the crucial work of land rematriation. 

Are you interested in getting your organization on board with this work of financial support but are unsure of how to do that? Email us and we can explore a presentation for your group. 

If you missed Beth Hoffman’s recent essay, “A New Way to Honor Native Land,” you can check it out here. 

And lastly, one of our HNLF members is helping launch a broader Decolonial Repair Network that includes ongoing support for HNLF while also looking to continue the journey of learning and supporting decolonization, community, healing, and repair. Sign up here for that introductory zoom call this Wednesday, April 3rd, 7pm CT!

In Solidarity,

the Honor Native Land Fund team 

www.HonorNativeLandFund.org 

From <https://outlook.office.com/mail/inbox/id/AQMkADAwATExAGJkNy00YzUwLTA5OQBhLTAwAi0wMAoARgAAA9SeQdykk49HpjHzLhjPa8IHAD0zcIZJz1BEn39mW0zReT0AAAIBDAAAAD0zcIZJz1BEn39mW0zReT0ABw5%2FC%2FEAAAA%3D?nativeVersion=1.2024.327.300>

https://designrr.s3.amazonaws.com/jakislin_at_outlook.com_52440/great-plains-action-society-and-midwest-quakers_660c2caf.pdf

An Epistle to Friends Regarding Community, Mutual Aid and LANDBACK

To protect all living-beings and sacred sites is a feminine act and in complete defiance to Christopher Columbus’ worldview, which is the narrative that we counter every time we celebrate Indigenous People’s Day instead of Columbus Day. –Sikowis Nobiss

It has become clear to some of us who are called Friends that the colonial capitalist economic system and white supremacy are contrary to the Spirit and we must find a better way. We conscientiously object to and resist capitalism and white supremacy.

Jeff Kisling

I am sometimes discouraged that so much work by Indigenous Peoples, so much that I have tried to do, rarely results in any progress toward justice. For White people, we must begin by de-colonizing ourselves.

Dear Friends

The measure of a community is how the needs of its people are met. No one should go hungry, or without shelter or healthcare. Yet in this country known as the United States millions struggle to survive. The capitalist economic system creates hunger, houselessness, illness that is preventable, and despair. A system that requires money for goods and services denies basic needs to anyone who does not have money. Black, Indigenous, and other people of color (BIPOC) are disproportionately affected. Systemic racism. The capitalist system that supports the white materialistic lifestyle is built on stolen land and genocide of Indigenous peoples, and the labor of those who were enslaved in the past or are forced to live on poverty wages today.

Capitalism is revealed as an unjust, untenable system, when there is plenty of food in the grocery stores, but men, women and children are going hungry, living on the streets outside. White supremacy violently enforces the will of wealthy white people on the rest of us.

It has become clear to some of us who are called Friends that the colonial capitalist economic system and white supremacy are contrary to the Spirit and we must find a better way. We conscientiously object to and resist capitalism and white supremacy.

capitalism has violated the communities of marginalized folks. capitalism is about the value of people, property and the people who own property. those who have wealth and property control the decisions that are made. the government comes second to capitalism when it comes to power.

in the name of liberation, capitalism must be reversed and dismantled. meaning that capitalistic practices must be reprogrammed with mutual aid practices. 
Des Moines Black Liberation Movement

Mutual Aid

How do we resist? We rebuild our communities in ways not based on money. Such communities thrive all over the world. Indigenous peoples have always lived this way. Generations of white people once did so in this country. Mutual Aid is a framework that can help us do this today.

The concept of Mutual Aid is simple to explain but can result in transformative change. Mutual Aid involves everyone coming together to find a solution for problems we all face. This is a radical departure from “us” helping “them”. Instead, we all work together to find and implement solutions.  To work together means we must be physically present with each other. Mutual Aid cannot be done by committee or donations. We build Beloved communities as we get to know each other. Build solidarity. An important part of Mutual Aid is creating these networks of people who know and trust each other. When new challenges arise, these networks are in place, ready to meet them.

Another important part of Mutual Aid is the transformation of those involved. This means both those who are providing help and those receiving it.

With Mutual Aid, people learn to live in a community where there is no vertical hierarchy. A community where everyone has a voice. A model that results in enthusiastic participation. A model that makes the vertical hierarchy required for white supremacy impossible.

Commonly there are several Mutual Aid projects in a community. The initial projects usually relate to survival needs. One might be a food giveaway. Another helping those who need shelter. Many Mutual Aid groups often have a bail fund, to support those arrested for agitating for change. And accompany those arrested when they go to court.

LANDBACK

The other component necessary to move away from colonial capitalism and white supremacy is LANDBACK or ReMatriate.

But the idea of “landback” — returning land to the stewardship of Indigenous peoples — has existed in different forms since colonial governments seized it in the first place. “Any time an Indigenous person or nation has pushed back against the oppressive state, they are exercising some form of landback,” says Nickita Longman, a community organizer from George Gordon First Nation in Saskatchewan, Canada.

The movement goes beyond the transfer of deeds to include respecting Indigenous rights, preserving languages and traditions, and ensuring food sovereignty, housing, and clean air and water. Above all, it is a rallying cry for dismantling white supremacy and the harms of capitalism.

Returning the Land. Four Indigenous leaders share insights about the growing landback movement and what it means for the planet, by Claire Elise Thompson, Grist, February 25, 2020

ReMatriate

“For Indigenous Peoples Day, I would like for folks to better understand and appreciate this movement which has been working its way into the dominant public narrative over the past few years. As a hashtag or sign at a protest, the term Land Back is straightforward. It is a demand that stolen land, sacred sites and sovereign stewardship be returned to whom it was stolen from: Indigenous peoples. It has become popular movement slang used in our ongoing efforts to fend off relentless theft and racial injustice, and a call for reparations.

Land Back is a helpful term but I prefer to use ReMatriate, as it is more inclusive of the many issues that have arisen from land theft, and better describes the Indigenous fight to defend Mother Earth. It is a call to reestablish Indigenous landscapes, bring back Indigenous traditional ecological knowledge and to give stolen power back to the feminine. In a world where unfettered patriarchal violence and greed has brought us to the precipice of a climate extinction, ReMatriation is the return of the matriarchy. This counterbalances the forces of toxic masculinity that, through Christian colonial-capitalist violence, are intent on holding all power and controlling all the life, land and resources on our Mother Earth.”

PERSPECTIVES: Why “ReMatriate” is a more inclusive term for returning land to Indigenous peoples by Sikowis Nobiss, reckon, Oct 3, 2023

What will Friends do?

It matters little what people say they believe when their actions are inconsistent with their words.  Thus, we Friends may say there should not be hunger and poverty, but as long as Friends continue to collaborate in a system that leaves many without basic necessities and violently enforces white supremacy, our example will fail to speak to mankind.

Let our lives speak for our convictions.  Let our lives show that we oppose the capitalist system and white supremacy, and the damages that result.  We can engage in efforts, such as Mutual Aid, LANDBACK, and ReMatriate to build Beloved community. To reach out to our neighbors to join us.

We must begin by changing our own lives if we hope to make a real testimony for peace and justice.

ReMatriate and Land Back

I remember the moment when I woke up in my tent for the first time in the Oceti Sakowin camp north of the Standing Rock Reservation during the fight to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline in 2016. Everywhere I looked Indigenous people were reclaiming space and power. We all felt a deep need to steward the land, because we were tired of the harm that colonizers had inflicted upon us. It was the first time in my life that I truly felt the power of the Land Back movement.

PERSPECTIVES: Why “ReMatriate” is a more inclusive term for returning land to Indigenous peoples by Sikowis Nobiss, reckon, Oct 3, 2023

Thus begins another excellent article by my friend, Sikowis Nobiss.

The subheading of that article continues: “In a world where unfettered patriarchal violence and greed has brought us to the precipice of a climate extinction, ReMatriation is a call to reestablish Indigenous landscapes and give stolen power back to the feminine.”

“For Indigenous Peoples Day, I would like for folks to better understand and appreciate this movement which has been working its way into the dominant public narrative over the past few years. As a hashtag or sign at a protest, the term Land Back is straightforward. It is a demand that stolen land, sacred sites and sovereign stewardship be returned to whom it was stolen from: Indigenous peoples. It has become popular movement slang used in our ongoing efforts to fend off relentless theft and racial injustice, and a call for reparations.

Land Back is a helpful term but I prefer to use ReMatriate, as it is more inclusive of the many issues that have arisen from land theft, and better describes the Indigenous fight to defend Mother Earth. It is a call to reestablish Indigenous landscapes, bring back Indigenous traditional ecological knowledge and to give stolen power back to the feminine. In a world where unfettered patriarchal violence and greed has brought us to the precipice of a climate extinction, ReMatriation is the return of the matriarchy. This counterbalances the forces of toxic masculinity that, through Christian colonial-capitalist violence, are intent on holding all power and controlling all the life, land and resources on our Mother Earth.”

First, a definition: “Rematriation is a powerful word that Indigenous women of Turtle Island use to describe how they are restoring balance to the world…it means ‘Returning the Sacred to the Mother.”

The Indigenous concept of rematriation champions a return to our origins, to life and co-creation, and a focus on Mother Earth with the reclaiming of all kinds of things, such as ancestral remains, yes, but also spirituality, cultural practices, knowledge, resources, and seeds.

Rematriate by  Dr. Jessica R. Metcalfe, Beyond Buckskin, Nov 12, 2021

Returning the land to Indigenous peoples is exceedingly hard

Truthfully, there is just a blatant disregard for the health of the land, the water and the air we breathe. Where there used to be tallgrass prairie, oak savannah, and woodland there are now massive monocropped fields of corn and soy with ethanol plants, meatpacking plants, and Concentrated Animal Feed Operations dotting the landscape.

Yet I have found that returning the land to Indigenous peoples is exceedingly hard. I can raise funds to fight a pipeline or end the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives crisis, but it is almost impossible to raise funds as a non-profit to buy just one acre of land in Sioux City to start a Native urban garden, or for even a few acres near Des Moines so we can reclaim first foods and ReMatriate the prairie.

My friend Foxy Onefeather carried this sign about Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives (sometimes referred to at MMIW-Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women) during our eight-day walk, the First Nation-Farmer Climate Unity March, from Des Moines to Fort Dodge in 2018. Sikowis helped organize the march.

I first heard Sikowis and Donnielle Wanatee speak at our Quaker Yearly Meeting in 2017, in a panel discussion about building bridges with Native peoples.

I have spoken to hundreds of folks about Land Back and ReMatriation. I have also spoken to congregations such as the Mennonites, the Quakers, Nuns and Nones, The Beloved Community, The United Church and Catholic Workers. In every one of these conversations I hear a cocktail of white guilt combined with a desire to be in proximity to Indigenous folks and our movements that ultimately just leads to more inaction.

These conversations always leave me feeling tokenized and angry. Despite the fact that giving the land back to Native stewards is the single most powerful act that white folks with generations of inherited wealth—which can be traced back to stolen land—can do to counter colonialism, none of these conversations have ever led to any change.

ReMatriation is a movement

ReMatriation describes an entire movement that is not just intent on returning land, but making sure that Indigenous lifeways return so we can build a regenerative and compassionate world economy. While we will not ReMatriate the world in my lifetime, the term allows a new understanding. I consider this planet to be my mother and therefore she is a matriarch. I believe that by doing this work, I am following the path my ancestors put me on to keep my mother safe.

Indigenous People’s Day

To protect all living-beings and sacred sites is a feminine act and in complete defiance to Christopher Columbus’ worldview, which is the narrative that we counter every time we celebrate Indigenous People’s Day instead of Columbus Day.

Sikowis Nobiss, MA is Nêhiyaw/Saulteaux of the George Gordon First Nation and the founder and Executive Director of Great Plains Action Society. When she imagines a strong political infrastructure, societies built on compassion, and a regenerative economy, she sees a focus on relationships and community. She believes we can get there through Indigenous ideologies and practices, which are the antitheses to Christian fundamentalism and colonial capitalism. Sikowis is mom, a writer, a speaker, an organizer and an earth defender fighting to decolonize the world. Learn more about Great Plains Action Society at greatplainsaction.org.

Sikowis references this article, which is an excellent discussion of what Land Back means: LAND BACK! What do we mean? by Ronald Gamblin, 4Rs NLC Coordinator, 4Rs Youth Movement. This quote is from that article:

“When you hear the words decolonization, white supremacy, patriarchy or even racism, do you feel something? Do you get a chill down your back, randomly start crossing your arms, get tense all over your body, or even just feel an urge to resist? Well good! When your body is cold it shivers, when it’s hungry it growls, when it’s in fear it shakes and when it’s sad it cries. Your body is meant to respond, whether that be physical or emotional, and it’s the same when deconstructing what you’ve been taught. It tells you that something is there and that you must go through it and find ways to process it.” – Kris Archie, Executive Director of the Circle on Philanthropy and Aboriginal Peoples

A few comments:

I don’t usually quote so much from other sources, as I did here. But this is Sikowis’ story, meant to better inform people about Land Back and ReMatriation.

Regarding my use of the word friend, that is not to call attention to myself. Rather that is to let the reader know that I know these people and firmly believe in what they stand for. I am blessed to know them as friends of mine.

We have some parallel paths. In Indianapolis I worked against the Keystone and Dakota Access Pipelines. That included organizing and training people to engage in nonviolent civil disobedience.

Yesterday, I wrote an update related to my website, LANDBACK Friends, that includes a detailed document about the relationships between the Great Plains Action Society and Midwest Quakers. As the name implies, LANDBACK Friends is my writing, hoping to inform Quakers (Friends) about LANDBACK and now, ReMatriate.

These are some of the photos I’ve taken over the past few years related to Indigenous People’s Day and related events in Iowa and Indianapolis.

Landback Friends update

It’s been a while since I’ve written on this blog site, Landback Friends. That’s because I have been writing about Quakers and Mutual Aid, and Polycrisis.

This is a review of the development of relationships among the Great Plains Action Society and Midwest Quakers in preparation for my next post which will be about the new article by my friend Sikowis Nobiss related to Indigenous Peoples Day.

PERSPECTIVES: Why “ReMatriate” is a more inclusive term for returning land to Indigenous peoples. In a world where unfettered patriarchal violence and greed has brought us to the precipice of a climate extinction, ReMatriation is a call to reestablish Indigenous landscapes and give stolen power back to the feminine.

https://www.reckon.news/justice/2023/10/perspectives-why-rematriate-is-a-more-inclusive-term-for-returning-land-to-indigenous-peoples.html

I encourage you to read Sikowis’ story here: https://www.greatplainsaction.org/about-5

This PDF is an extensive history of the relationships between Great Plains Action Society (GPAS) and Midwest Quakers.

great-plains-action-society-and-midwest-quakers-quakers-and-religious-socialism_65201e23Download