Report on: The Doctrine of Discovery – What Are Next Steps? – August 18-19, 2018 Conference
Highlights: Attendees: 40
descended from “white settlers”; 40 indigenous, all self-identified.
The Venue was the Old French Fort at
the Mission of Sainte Marie, the 17th- century French Jesuit mission - an early attempt by French Jesuits and colonists to establish
a base in Central New York.
The site has been repurposed into a Haudenosaunee (Iroquois)
Heritage Center named Skä•noñh Center – Great Law of Peace Center. Skä•noñh, is
an Onondaga welcoming greeting meaning Peace and Wellness.
www.skanonhcenter.org. It is directly facing the Onandoga Lake in Liverpool,
New York https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onondaga_Lake poisoned by manufacturing sludge, a Superfund site.
I have attached a report from an
Episcopalian clergy, whose insights align with my insights and feelings about
the conference and contains some very clear details about what the conference
was like- well worth a read,
included in the attachment is also a report from
Petra Thombs, Center of Earth Ethics, from her perspective as an Indigenous and African descendant.
I also have attached the full
report from the conference leaders- great depth of info here.
I wanted to give greater detail
about the break out group on Saturday that I ended up helping to lead- within the theme of Decolonizing for white
settlers: there were about 15 participants, half white settlers and Indigenous,
including some of the Indigenous presenters.
This quote
from the attached document, speaks to our break out group.
"The
conference also reinforced in me the centrality of decolonization if we
settlers are going to achieve a just (Right) relationship with the Original
Peoples and Nations of this land. Many people who attended the conference
offered their perspective on decolonization. I appreciated all of the different
perspectives and what decolonization means to individual people. Angela Mooney
D’Arcy (Acjachemen)from Orange County
declared colonization is the first act of severing of relationship. She then
followed that statement with, “If I think of colonization as severing
relationship, decolonizing is healing relationships.” Eve Reyes-Aguirre said
decolonization means to her, “It looks like a future where my children live and
thrive.” Jake Edwards stated, “colonizers are in deep trouble because they do
not recognize their broken heart.” Onondaga Nation attorney Joe Heath believes
“decolonization is sovereignty, returning stolen Indian land, and destroying
capitalism.” Though I didn’t capture who uttered it, a conference attendee said,
“the process of decolonization is coming back to life.”
My quick personal take aways:
·
I realized
the depth of white supremacy that has created our society and its very personal
affect and perpetration by my ancestors. My ancestors chose to act in order to
be accepted into the pervasive white supremacist system then and which is still alive and well now.
·
Decolonizing
needs to happen first for white settler group and it needs to be an interior
job; indigenous have internal oppressions which can be decolonized, but white
settler group really needs to work on this first.
·
In
U.S.: You have a right / I have a right - Rights based legal system-but
“sovereignty” is not the native way of thinking, there is no “ownership” for
native peoples, and we don’t have language for this new paradigm. Consider
language of “right relationships” instead of competing “rights”.
Actions needed
1.
History truthfully (accurately) told
2.
Find out how
one is connected (family, ancestry)
3.
Transformation
- internal
4.
Actions
include: land reform, getting rid of
monuments, etc., change the “law” (Indian Law).
Laws currently are based on “Christian” endeavor = false premise.
This is the take away from our
break out group:
Final theme: Restore right relationship to place (people,
selves, lands) as a path to decolonization
Next steps
·
Learning
truth of history
·
Connect this
to our ancestry
·
Create
education handbook of examples and inspiring stories
·
Return
Native Land
·
Resisting/dismantlng
capitalism in various ways
·
Out those
responsible
·
Go where the
money$ is
Schedule of “Taking on the Doctrine of Discovery:
What Are Our Next Steps?”
8:30 AM
|
Opening– Thanksgiving Address-
|
9:00 AM
|
Philip P. Arnold and Sandy
Bigtree (Mohawk Nation) greeting and
orientation to the Center and conference
|
10:00 AM
|
“Indigenous Peoples of Turtle
Island, Traditional Laws and Values”
Betty Lyons (Onondaga Nation), Eve Reyes-Aguirre (Izkaloteka Mexica Azteca), Angela Mooney D’Arcy (Acjachemen Nation) |
11:30 AM
|
Papal Bull burning ceremony led
by Rev John Floberg in the center field of the Christian Mission replica
|
1:30PM
|
“Strategic Responses to
the Impacts of DOD on Urban Indigenous Peoples and Communities of Color” Nita
Gonzales (Tarahumara), Roberto Borrero (Taino), Rick Chavolla (Kumeyaay Nation) (Bundy,
moderator)
|
2:45PM
|
How people are dealing with the
Doctrine of Discovery in their own context or communities. Needed next steps,
ideas, etc. Working Groups and breakout sessions led by – Boyet Ongkiko
|
4:15PM
|
“Next Steps.” Sandy Bigtree (Mohawk Nation), Tupac
Enrique-Acosta (Izkaloteka Mexica Azteca), Aucán
Huilcamán (Mapuche), Jake Edwards (Onondaga Nation) (Arnold,
moderator)
|
Sunday 19
August
|
|
9:00AM
|
Re-narrating our local stories
and histories. Changing the message of the “French Fort” (Arnold, David
McCallum, SJ)
|
10:00AM
|
Panel: “United States Indian
Law.” Joe Heath, Peter D’Errico and Steve Newcomb (Shawnee, Lenape)(Lyons,
moderator)
|
1:30PM
|
Assessment of the DoD in our
midst. Round robin sharing session on next steps.
|
4:00PM
|
Water Ceremony at Onondaga Lake
(we can ask people to bring the water from their various parts of the world for this event) |
4:30PM
|
Closing. Tadodaho Sid Hill (Onondaga Nation, Haudenosaunee Confederacy)
|
http://www.tonatierra.org/
https://stonypointcenter.org/multifaith-community
http://ecer-org.eu/
European Congress of Ethnic Religions
https://aila.ngo/
Indian Law Alliance
https://www.transformcolumbusday.org/principles.html
http://www.myancestorsfootsteps.com/
http://www.sacredplacesinstitute.org/about.html
http://ili.nativeweb.org/
Indigenous Law Institute
https://www.sequoiasamanvaya.com/ Ecotheology Company
David McCallum, SJ, from Le Moyne
College https://sacredstory.net/about/fr-david-mccallum-s-j-ed-d/ had just come from Rome where he requested of
the Jesuit Superior General that the Jesuit Order renounce the DOD officially.
No comments:
Post a Comment