Conflict Resolution 1

How can I work through conflict with my Quaker community? What is the conflict? How resolved?

Fundamentally, what is the relationship between spirituality and how we live our lives?

I agree with my friends Alton and Foxy Onefeather, “Earth is my church”.

That is why I’ve had lifelong tensions with Quakers about burning fossil fuels. I was able to live without a car in Indianapolis because of a city bus system, bicycling and running. With no mass transit in rural Iowa, Friends do what they can. It is humbling to now live in a small city with no public transit, to need to use a car sometimes.

Unresolved conflicts have an immediacy by definition. Something is being done now that causes conflict. Our spirituality guides us through our own conflicts. But what do we do when we see others acting in ways we disagree with? How do we deal with what our ancestors might have done?

How we live our lives should be an example. We hope this might encourage others to change. But need to consider we might be wrong. We can discuss our differences but should not try to force change. I’ve done that.

Several weeks ago I felt a strong leading to stop attending my Quaker meeting. It has been difficult. I didn’t want to.

I’ve been praying about why, and when I can return. Historically Friends who had strong leadings, for example about enslavement, worked within Quaker communities.

My current conflict is an overwhelming grief at news of the discovery of the remains of hundreds, soon to be thousands, of Native children on the grounds of residential institutions of forced assimilation. I feel this in ways I would not have several years ago, before I was blessed to begin to know and work with my Native friends. I have spoken to each of them about Quaker involvement in forced assimilation early in our relationships. We could not have moved into deeper relationship if this truth was not spoken.

One of my good friends told me he is trying to not let rage get in the way of his mourning. I have met his son and cannot imagine their discussions about this.

As I was praying about conflict, I remembered Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings: Poems by Joy Harjo. I’m surprised how the following gets to the root of the conflicts I feel now.

1 . SET CONFLICT RESOLUTION GROUND RULES:

Recognize whose lands these are on which we stand.
Ask the deer, turtle, and the crane.
Make sure the spirits of these lands are respected and treated with goodwill.
The land is a being who remembers everything.
You will have to answer to your children, and their children, and theirs—
The red shimmer of remembering will compel you up the night to walk the perimeter of truth for understanding.
As I brushed my hair over the hotel sink to get ready I heard:
By listening we will understand who we are in this holy realm of words.
Do not parade, pleased with yourself.
You must speak in the language of justice.

Harjo, Joy. Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings: Poems. W. W. Norton & Company. Kindle Edition.

To this day we have not come to grips with fundamental injustices our country was built on, the cultural genocide and theft of land from Native Americans, the enslavement of African Americans and the legal justifications of bestowing rights and privileges on white land-owning men. The consequences of these injustices continue to plague our society today. And will continue to impact us until we do what is necessary to bring these injustices to light and find ways to heal these wounds.
Several Friends recently assisted Boulder Meeting Friend, Paula Palmer, to lead workshops and discussions as part of her ministry “toward right relationships with Native people.” Part of the tragedy of the theft of Native land is that some Native people don’t have the concept of land as property, belonging to a landowner. Rather they have a spiritual connection to Mother Earth, that the land is sacred and not something that can be claimed as property by anyone. Being forced to leave their land broke their spiritual bonds with the land.
Native people have asked us to begin work toward reconciliation and healing. The first step needed is truth telling, recognizing that injury or harm has taken place. One of the important parts of holding “right relationship” workshops is to determine which Native nations were on the land before white settlers arrived.
Iowa Yearly Meeting (Conservative) 2019

Iowa Prairie Conference

My friend Sikowis (Christine Nobiss) will be speaking at this virtual 2021Iowa Prairie Conference July 31st. She will be speaking at 12:10 pm
End-Stage Iowa: Big-Ag’s Sacrifice Zone and Indigenous Resistance.

Here is the link to the registration page: Tickets for Iowa Prairie Conference in Des Moines from MIDWESTIX

The Iowa Prairie Conference is a bi-annual conference held on odd years throughout the state of Iowa. The conference has been ongoing for over twenty years and past hosts include the University of Northern Iowa, Luther College, Central College, Iowa Lakes Community College and more. Due to continued cautions with the Coronavirus the Iowa Prairie Conference will be very different this year. Although we are not requiring a fee to register, we are allowing free will donations. Our suggested amount is $10.00, but feel free to donate whatever amount is best for you. The donations collected will go towards ensuring the Iowa Prairie Conference continues in 2023 and beyond! Thank you!

On July 31st we will have an afternoon of presentations via Zoom. The agenda for the day is below.

12:00 – 12:05 Welcome, Sarah Nizzi

12:10 – 1:05 End-Stage Iowa: Big-Ag’s Sacrifice Zone and Indigenous Resistance, Sikowis (Christine Nobiss)

1:05 – 2:00 Conservation Ain’t Gonna Work If No One Cares But Us, Chris Helzer

2:00 – 2:10 Break

2:10 – 2:35 The Status of Remnant Prairie Dependent Butterflies in Iowa’s Most Intact Prairie Landscape, the Loess Hills Ecoregion, Stephanie Shepherd

2:35 – 3:00 Connecting to Our Natural Heritage Through the Lens of Public Art, Reinaldo D. Correa 

3:00 – 3:05 Break

3:05 – 4:00 Virtual Social Time on Zoom

4:00 – 5:00 Keynote Address: Recollections and Reflections of a Half Century of Prairie Activities in Iowa, Dr. Daryl Smith

5:00 Closing Remarks, Michelle Biodrowski

For detailed information on presentations and our guest speakers click the link here https://www.iowaprairienetwork.org/prairie-conference-speaker-summaries

If you have any questions or concerns, please check out the Frequently Asked Questions page at https://www.iowaprairienetwork.org/prairie-conference-faqs

Here is the link to the registration page: Tickets for Iowa Prairie Conference in Des Moines from MIDWESTIX

Tensions between Native peoples and Christian religions

There is growing sorrow and anger in Indigenous communities now. Related to the awful and expanding discoveries of the remains of children, thousands of them, found on the grounds of former Native residential schools.

A good friend told me he is trying to not let rage get in the way of his mourning. I know his son, and can’t imagine the conversations they might have had about this news.

It is so traumatic to imagine the terror of the children, who had to know about at least some of these deaths at their school. To have been abused in so many ways. Punished if they spoke their language. Not even be allowed their practices that might give comfort. Alone, isolated from their families. Knowing they could die themselves.

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland announced Tuesday that she is launching the Federal Indian Boarding School Truth Initiative, a first-of-its-kind comprehensive review of the “devastating history” of the U.S. government’s policy of forcing Native American children into boarding schools for assimilation into white culture.
Deb Haaland Launches Review of ‘Devastating’ Native American Boarding Schools. The Interior Department probe will identify Indigenous children who died at schools the U.S. government forced them into for assimilation into white culture By Jennifer Bendery, HuffPost, June 22, 2021

Quakers were involved in some of these schools. Not to say they mistreated the children. But the concept of trying to assimilate Native children into white culture is by definition cultural genocide.

What is our accountability today?

From our twenty-first-century vantage point, we know (or can learn) how Native people suffered and continue to suffer the consequences of actions that Friends committed 150 ago with the best of intentions. Can we hold those good intentions tenderly in one hand, and in the other hold the anguish, fear, loss, alienation, and despair borne by generations of Native Americans?
Native organizations are not asking us to judge our Quaker ancestors. They are asking, “Who are Friends today? Knowing what we know now, will Quakers join us in honest dialogue? Will they acknowledge the harm that was done? Will they seek ways to contribute toward healing processes that are desperately needed in Native communities?” These are my questions, too.
Quaker Indian Boarding Schools. Facing Our History and Ourselves By Paula Palmer, Friends Journal, October 1, 2016

I belong to the spiritual communities of Quakers and of my Native friends. There is great tension between these communities. The article below, “why we’re burning Bibles” describes a Native view of Christian religions. This was written by the Great Plains Action Society, where I have many friends. I am sure some Friends will object to these ideas. But we don’t have the right to pass judgement.

This is a confusing time for me. I’ve been learning and telling others about the Native boarding schools for years. I have spoken about this and apologized to each of my Native friends for the Quaker involvement in the residential schools.

Below is an Epistle to Friends Regarding Community, Mutual Aid and LANDBACK in which I write more about these things. My Native friends tell me the best way I can help them is by teaching others about the concepts of LANDBACK. So I’ve recently created the website LANDBACK Friends. There is a lot of information about the Native boarding schools there.

When I began to learn of the verification of the remains of Native children at those schools, I wondered how that might affect how Native peoples view Quakers, view me now. I am touched by them telling me I am still welcome to work with them.

Native organizations are not asking us to judge our Quaker ancestors. They are asking, “Who are Friends today? Knowing what we know now, will Quakers join us in honest dialogue? Will they acknowledge the harm that was done? Will they seek ways to contribute toward healing processes that are desperately needed in Native communities?”
Paula Palmer

Why We’re Burning Bibles

Stand with First Nations Peoples on Cancel KKKanada Day and burn your bibles for the rape, torture, and murder of Indigenous children. Use #bibleburner and post your video or pic online or on the event page.

In the wake of over 1300 unmarked/mass graves that have recently been uncovered on reservations such as the Cowessess and Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nations in Canada, we demand truth, justice, and healing from genocidal policy set forth by the US and Canada that allowed Christian clergy to neglect, rape, torture, and murder Indigenous children. We also demand redress and reparations to the fullest extent as we know that there are thousands of Indigenous children also buried here in the US—and the search hasn’t even begun.

For now, we will start by expelling the codified christian text that is the blueprint behind our genocide. The Christian bible has proven to be the deadliest of all human-made weapons. It has been the permission slip for all of the atrocities following colonization. The cost of building the global Christian Empire is an ongoing and immeasurable loss that we can never truly have a full accounting for, as the newest discovered mass graves of our relatives painfully remind us today.

As we mourn the loss of our loved ones and relatives, murdered and discarded after being violently stolen from us, we don’t forget the who or the why. For over 100 years the churches have used these schools to destroy us, to “kill the indian to save the man”.

This has never been a secret.

This is why we reject the entire premise of the Christian faith and its supportive texts. The Bible remains a supportive tool to persecute Indigenous people. Rejecting this tool is vital to the continuation of supporting Indigenous people and our livelihood. We ask our supporters to join us in burning the Bible as an act of solidarity and to send a message to Christian faiths that we will no longer allow this tool to exist in our spaces.

Why We’re Burning Bibles

#everychildmatters
#bibleburner

An Epistle to Friends Regarding Community, Mutual Aid and LANDBACK

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 upon 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.

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

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 and LANDBACK, 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.

We remain, in love of the Spirit, your Friends and sisters and brothers.

The quiet became unbearable

The more I learn about the assimilation institutions in this country and the land called Canada, the deeper I fall into despair. It is so difficult to think of how these things affect my Native friends and their families. To have witnessed some of their anger and sorrow.

I was going to say but this is not about me in order to put the focus where I thought it should be, on the unimaginable suffering of my friends. But then the Spirit told me this is definitely about me and other white people. We must recon with the past before we can be part of any healing. If healing is even possible.

So much is being written now about the horrors of the Native residential schools it’s overwhelming. I have trouble figuring out what I should write about all of this. One thing I am compelled to do is call as much attention to these things as I can.

I believe in the power of stories. When I saw the following story in the article, With the help of the Mounties, the priests piled the children into boats and floated away, I felt it’s power.

Warning: The information and material here may trigger unpleasant feelings or thoughts of past abuse. Please contact the 24-hour Residential School Crisis Line at 1-866-925-4419 if you require emotional support.

An elder told me a story. It goes like this.

It was long ago and late summer in a remote northern village. A Cree village. Everyone still lived in tents. One day priests visited. They announced that the next time they came, they would take the children. It would be for the best, they explained. The children would go to school. The priests left, and some short time later — maybe a week, maybe two — they returned. This time, the Mounties came with them. The Mounties wore red coats, black boots and each Mountie wore a belt with a gun. The priests did as they’d promised. With the help of the Mounties, they piled the children into boats and floated away.
That evening, the villagers made their fires, cooked supper and ate in silence.
Their world was silent.
No children played or laughed.
No children quarrelled or cried.
The quiet became unbearable.
The sun had not yet set, but they crept into their tents anyway.
Soon a sob broke the silence. It was a woman crying.
Then another sob.
Then another woman.
The sun sank orange, the yellow moon rose, and all night long the only sound heard in the village was mothers crying.
With the help of the Mounties, the priests piled the children into boats and floated away By Karyn Pugliese aka Pabàmàdiz, Canada’s National Observer, June 30th 2021

“The schools were never meant to do us any good,” the elder told me. “They knew. They knew that when you break the hearts of our women, you break the strength of our nations.”

Perhaps we should stop calling these institutions schools. It’s misleading. Schools are built to teach. There may have been individual teachers with good intentions. There may have been individuals attending these institutions who benefitted. But any benefit was a side-effect. The system was designed to erase us.

Understanding the legacy of residential institutions is important, not just for the harm that policy caused. But because every policy, every program, every law aimed at Indigenous people over the same hundred-year period was shaped by the same attitudes of racial superiority. Poor water, shoddy housing, underfunded schools, child welfare. Unresolved land claims that led to standoffs with police. Residential schools were not an exception in government policy. They were the rule.

Reconciliation is not about guilt. Few people living today had the knowledge or power to stop what was happening. You didn’t do anything wrong. All of us are trapped and living with the same history. The question is, what will we do about it?

If you didn’t like what you saw when you stepped through the looking glass, you can change it.

This opportunity is precious, fragile, and it almost didn’t happen.

I worry about what will happen if it fails.

With the help of the Mounties, the priests piled the children into boats and floated away By Karyn Pugliese aka Pabàmàdiz, Canada’s National Observer, June 30th 2021

Four Indigenous Climbers Arrested “LANDBACK”

From NDN’s Landback campaign. NDN Collective is an Indigenous-led organization dedicated to building Indigenous power. Through organizing, activism, philanthropy, grantmaking, capacity-building, and narrative change, we are creating sustainable solutions on Indigenous terms.

Four Indigenous Climbers Arrested After Mounting “LANDBACK” Flag From 100 Ft Dakota Mills Grain Silo

Action Calls Out Hypocrisy of July 4th, Uplifts Demand for Reparations and Justice

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: JULY 4, 2021

Rapid City, SD — Today, Indigenous climbers representing 10 different Nations from Turtle Island and Palestine were arrested for confronting the legacy of white supremacy that is commemorated every 4th of July. Climbers ascended the 100-ft Dakota Mills Grain silo situated on Lakota lands in downtown Rapid City and mounted an upside down American flag with “LANDBACK” written prominently across it.

This flag represents the murders of those children they secretly buried them without markers and thought they could get away with it. The number on the banner that is orange (1505), it represents the number of relatives that we have found so far.

NDN Collective’s LANDBACK Campaign team released the following statement:

“An upside-down flag represents being in distress and is a prominent symbol across Indian Country; we have just celebrated the Battle of Little Bighorn, and at that battle the three sister nations of the Lakota, Cheyenne and Arapaho defeated General Custer and the 7th Calvary. In that battle, they claimed the American flag from the defeated US army. That flag belongs to us. Today, we refute the dominant narrative that the American flag represents a legacy of freedom, democracy, and equality.

“This day is nothing to celebrate for the Indigenous Peoples here, or anywhere else the United States has consumed through imperialism. LANDBACK is not a metaphor; it is our present reality and our future struggle. There is no repair or justice until Indigenous Peoples reclaim our land. This place, the Black Hills, represents the entire cycle of life and deserves nothing less than Return.

“Today, we stand with our people, who are in distress, to speak the truth of what the 4th of July means in Mniluzahan, or so-called ‘Rapid City.’ The self-declared “City of Presidents” honors the legacy of past United States leadership on one hand, while brutalizing the original peoples and caretakers of the land on the other.

“Last year, on July 3rd, we saw Indigenous peoples brutalized and arrested by police atop our own sacred site and treaty lands, the Black Hills. 21 people were arrested, including NDN Collective’s President and CEO, Nick Tilsen, who is Oglala Lakota. Tilsen is still fighting the extreme charges filed against him over a year ago, having recently filed a motion to dismiss the charges based on prosecutorial misconduct and constitutional rights violations.

NDBACK Campaign mounted an upside down flag in downtown Rapid City with LANDBACK painted across– a sign of distress and a symbol of resistance to the so-called Fourth of July and the American settler colonial project. One of those climbers is Martin Aranaydo (Tohono O’odham)

“Return Indigenous Lands to Indigenous hands. That’s it. Until we get it we ain’t gonna stop. Being up here today, looking down at this inverted flag, I’m reminded of what this flag means to me. This flag represents the military. They murdered our ancestors and tried to commit genocide against us. They did not succeed.

“This flag represents the people that took children away from their parents– babies away from their parents. Forced them into boarding schools. This flag represents a country that abused those children, beat them, assaulted them sexually, mentally, physically. This flag represents the many horrors that our grandparents, and great grandparents had to endure. This flag represents the murders of those children they secretly buried them without markers and thought they could get away with it. The number on the banner that is orange (1505), it represents the number of relatives that we have found so far. We hope we will find more relatives who can finally lay to rest peacefully.” – Martin Aranaydo, Climber.

#LANDBACK #4thofYouLie

Today, a team of climbers with NDN’s LANDBACK Campaign did a banner drop in downtown Rapid City of an upside-side American flag with LANDBACK painted across– a sign of distress and a symbol of resistance to the so-called Fourth of July and the American settler colonial project. One of those climbers is Krystal Two Bulls, LANDBACK Campaign Director. “We are calling out all of the false narratives that exist on this day, July 4th. Calling attention to the white supremacy that exists in the Rapid City Police Department, through the systems that exist here in this city, but also worldwide. We want to make sure that we are calling out that all of this land is Indigenous Land and that we are up here today to stand and to continue to demand LANDBACK. We have tried many other ways to negotiate, have conversation, and to do all of these things to reclaim our land. It’s a fight for justice, a fight for liberation, a fight for all things good. We’ve only ever been met with violence, attacks, brutality, and criminalization. So we’re here to demand and say that we’re not stopping until we get our land back. And we will not stop. And we’re going to continue to fight to protect our lands, to protect everything that we hold sacred.” – Krystal Two Bulls, Director of LANDBACK Campaign

Follow NDN’s livestream for continued coverage: https://www.facebook.com/ndncol/videos/397600628339257/#LANDBACK #4thofYouLie

May be an image of 2 people, people standing and outdoors

July 4 Nexus

nexus a connection or series of connections linking two or more things

There are so many concepts and much history related to July 4th.

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 crown and the colonists were both determined to seize lands from native peoples and to continue enslavement.
THE TERRIBLE ORIGINS OF JULY 4TH By Margaret Kimberley, Black Agenda Report.
July 3, 2021

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

The news reminds us of the political rally of the previous guy at Mount Rushmore, July 4, 2020. A perfect example of LANDBACK. Native people blocked the highway to Mount Rushmore because the monument is on Native land. Several of my friends were there. In 1980 the Supreme Court confirmed the land belongs to the Sioux. Compensation of $2 million dollars was offered. But never taken.

“What Mount Rushmore has always represented is a system of power and oppression and white supremacy, because they take a sacred place and carved the faces of white men who are responsible for our colonization and our demise,” (Lakota activist) Nick Tilsen said.
Lakota activist: Mount Rushmore key in move to regain land. When then-President Donald Trump visited Mount Rushmore last year for a fireworks display, Lakota activist Nick Tilsen saw an opportunity to advance the Land Back Movement By STEPHEN GROVES Associated Press, March 24, 2021

The above are connected to a gathering at the Iowa State Capitol this afternoon from 1 – 3 pm, 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.

Sioux City Native Youth Camp

Event by Great Plains Action Society

Riverside Park Shelter #4 Sioux City, IA 51109

Price: Free · Duration: 1 day

Public · Anyone on or off FacebookProtect

The Sacred Native Youth Camp

July 10, 2021 8am – 4pm
July 11, 2021 8am – 5pmRiverside Park, Shelter #4
1301 Riverside Blvd
Sioux City, Iowa

For youth ages 5-19
Pre-Registration at bit.ly/ptsyouthcamp

ABSOLUTELY FREE EVENT! WE WILL PROVIDE TWO SNACKS AND A LUNCH. YOUTH/FAMILIES WILL RECEIVE A FREE T-SHIRT IF THEY ATTEND BOTH DAYS.OPEN FOR ALL FAMILIES TO COME AND PARTICIPATE!

Indigenous youth often face added challenges throughout their childhood and adolescence. Some may have a strong support system while others may not. It is highly important that each and every Native youth feels empowered and inspired to reach their full potential. This is exactly what Protect The Sacred Native Youth Camp is all about. We are encouraging Native youth to participate in cultural and physical activities such as lacrosse, drumming, and dancing (to name a few). Our mission is to engage the Native youth in physical activities to promote healthier habits while learning about local tribes within the region. Knowledge is power and our hope is to help Native youth build a stronger Indigenous identity in order to stand up against abuse and injustice that they may face in their lifetime. Empowered and educated youth will help put an end to the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives crisis, which is our long term goal.

A REGISTRATION BOOTH WILL BE SET UP ALL DAY FOR THE TWO DAYS.

Great Plains Action Society will be extending other activities after the daily sponsored event. We anticipate to have sweat each night and families are encouraged to stay overnight in our tipi’s that will be set up at Riverside Park near Shelter #4 if they wish to.

This event is a collaboration between Great Plains Action Society, Indian Youth of America, Mount Marty, UNO, and SD BRIN.

Wellness

Link to Riverside Park, Sioux City Google Maps

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An Epistle to Friends Regarding Community, Mutual Aid and LANDBACK

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