I am grateful for many things this morning. For the waters falling from the sky. For my Mutual Aid friends who demonstrate what a Beloved community is. For the Buffalo Rebellion, growing a movement for climate action that centers racial and economic justice. Thankful for my Quaker communities. I give thanks to the Spirit.
I am grateful for my Indigenous friends. Humbled by the grace they have shown me and other white people as we seek ways to heal from the horrendous history of white supremacy and forced assimilation, abuse, and death of thousands of Native children. As we search for ways to deal with the present, ongoing injustices. The intergenerational trauma. Ripping open deep wounds as the remains of children are located. As the title of this new documentary says, “They Found Us”.
Growing up I heard references to Quakers who worked in the residential schools. I was told they were helping the Native children adjust to living in white society. I didn’t have the awareness to question why that was not a good thing.
I’ve had a life-long concern about environmental devastation. I grew up on farms. When I moved to Indianapolis in 1970, I was horrified by the dense, noxious fumes from every tailpipe, making it difficult to even see. This was before catalytic converters hid the damage being done. I was led to refuse to own a car.
It was obvious Indigenous peoples lived in sustainable ways.
To pull this all together, here is the link to a recent blog post, Midwest Quakers and Native Peoples, which describes how I was blessed to become friends with Indigenous folks in the Midwest and the history of some of the work we’ve done together. It also talks about the Indian Residential Schools and includes a letter from Curt Young, member of George Gordon First Nation, describing the documentary he created, “They Found Us”. Sikowis is also a member of George Gordan First Nation.
“I thought it would be important to document these searches and capture some of the stories told by members that were forced to go to these institutions. It’s a first hand look into some of the experiences survived in residential school.”
Curt Sipihko Paskwawimostos, creator of “They Found Us”.
Sikowis (Christine) Nobiss is one of my close Indigenous friends. We’ve discussed the residential schools, briefly, a few times. I was glad she felt she could ask me if Quakers would help pay for expenses to travel with the film for viewing in a number of communities. She later told me it was difficult for her to ask for funds.
I am clerk of the Peace and Social Concerns Committee of Iowa Yearly Meeting (Conservative). Our committee has a budget of $1,100 to support justice work. In the past we sent $50 or $100 to a number of such organizations. Someone suggested instead sending a larger amount for one or two projects. We decided to do that but didn’t have a project in mind when we were meeting last summer.
I believed the Spirit would show us the way. The request for “They Found Us” seemed to be what we were waiting for. Our committee met to discuss and unanimously approve this. I’m grateful and humbled for that, as well.
Additional funds would be helpful. Please contact me if you are interested. jakislin@outlook.com
I’m reflecting and praying about what happened this past weekend during the Climate Summit of the newly formed Buffalo Rebellion, a new coalition of Iowa organizations that are growing a movement for climate action that centers racial and economic justice.
Buffalo Rebellion is a new coalition of Iowa organizations that are growing a movement for climate action that centers racial and economic justice. The Earth Day Rally will be an afternoon of honoring Mother Earth through sharing stories and visions for climate justice and taking action together for a world that puts people and the planet before profits for a few.
Following the Earth Day Rally, Buffalo Rebellion will be holding two days of immersive training to develop 100 grassroots leaders who will build local teams to take on climate justice issues in their community and come together to create a thriving state-wide movement.
Formed in 2021, Buffalo Rebellion is comprised of seven Iowa organizations: Great Plains Action Society, DSM Black Liberation Movement, Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice, Sierra Club Beyond Coal, Cedar Rapids Sunrise Movement, SEIU Local 199, and Iowa CCI.
Extremely thankful for this community we built this weekend. Looking forward to fighting for the future alongside all of you. Thank you to the organizers, and big love to the participants. Keep an eye out for Buffalo Rebellions next move.
How do you build a coalition? You bring together organizations and people who have demonstrated they are effective at building community and organizing for change. And who are aligned in their purpose.
My experience is there are a small number of people and organizations who shoulder justice work in a city or geographical area. Which means they are acquainted with each other. A given individual often belongs to multiple organizations.
But these groups often don’t work together. Building a coalition is how to remedy that. The organizations listed above are growing a movement for climate action that centers racial and economic justice. That is our common purpose. Rapidly evolving environmental chaos is an existential threat that requires radical action now.
Centering on racial and economic justice is crucial for many reasons. Blatant environmental racism is seen over and over again by the location of hazardous infrastructure in Black, Indigenous and other people of color (BIPOC) communities. Conversely, solar panels are not often seen there.
There are many aspects of economic injustice as well. Those economically disadvantaged also tend to live in areas of environmental hazards. And supply the labor for jobs such as coal, oil, and tar sands mining, while white capitalists receive (steal) the profits.
Building a coalition requires us to know and trust each other. And to learn about each other’s work. Tools that we can bring to our organizations. Or know who has expertise we can turn to for help.
This past weekend of Buffalo Rebellion meetings and action went a long way in beginning to accomplish these goals. It was important to have the action of marching to the offices of MidAmerican Energy. Demonstrating how direct actions work.
The many excellent presentations shared the tools and knowledge of experts in our coalition. The following table of presentations gives an idea of what was done.
Community Building & Storytelling
Cedar Rapids Sunrise
End-Stage Iowa, Indigenous Land Stewardship & the Green (Red) New Deal
Great Plains Action Society (GPAS), Iowa Citizens Community Improvement (ICCI)
NoDAPL Reunion Panel
Fundamentals of Organizing (Starting an Issue Based Campaign and Fundraising 101)
DSM Black Liberation, ICCI, Sierra Club Beyond Coal
Police, Prison, & Military Abolition for Climate Justice
DSM Black Liberation Movement
Lobbying: Get Your Local Green New Deal Passed into Law
Cedar Rapids Sunrise
Migration in Iowa and Big-Ag
Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice
Art and Activism
Say Poetry, DSM Black Liberation Movement
Frontline Tactical Methods to Protect the Land: From Direct Actions and Resistance Camps
Landscapes: The Kinship of Climate, Wildness, and Community
Mutual Aid: Bail Funds, Court Solidarity, and Incarceration Support in Resistance Movements
GPAS, DSM Mutual Aid
Linking the Origins of Iowa’s Contemporary Environmental Problems to the Extractive Nature of White Settlement
Ending White Supremacy in Climate Organizing
CPAS, DSM Black Liberation Movement, Sierra Club Beyond Coal
Launching the Movement: Strategic Applications of Drones for Grassroots Actions
GPAS
Building Power with Public Narrative
Cedar Rapids Sunrise, ICCI, DSM People’s Town Hall
Damn Lies and C02 pipelines
Science and Environmental Health Network
Deep Canvassing
ICCI, DSM People’s Town Hall
Urban Farming and Community Fridges
Sweet Tooth Farms
Bird-Dogging 101
Cedar Rapids Sunrise, ICCI, DSM Black Liberation Movement
For example, this is the presentation by my friend Ronnie James of Des Moines Mutual Aid and Great Plains Action Society.
Mutual Aid: Bail Funds, Court Solidarity, and Incarceration Support in Resistance Movements
– Ronnie James, DSM Mutual Aid & Great Plains Action Society
An introduction to the how and why of supporting frontliners that suffer arrest during Movement activities. Instruction will cover the reason for, creation of, and implementation of a Bail Fund. We will also touch on the main phases of the arrest and court process: Arrest, Pre-Trial, Trial, Post-Trial, Sentencing, and Incarceration, and some of the avenues of support the defendant will require during these phases. We will discuss the role of the Defense Committee, and how they compare and contrast with the Legal Defense Team. Finally, there will be a brief summary of how this works in Des Moines, Iowa in the present moment.
The goal of this weekend of immersive training was to develop grassroots leaders who will build local teams to take on climate justice issues in their community and come together to create a thriving state-wide movement. I think that was accomplished.
I was searching for a way to describe what WE experienced during OUR Buffalo Rebellion Climate Summit this weekend. A moment reminiscent of the times of the civil rights and anti-war movements which brought together thousands of people and created change. This weekend a coalition of people and organizations came together to rise to the challenges of rapidly evolving environmental devastation and collapse of the systems of capitalism and white supremacy.
As I wondered whether to write “what WE experienced” versus “what I experienced” I realized this was emblematic of what the Buffalo Rebellion is about. Dare WE hope? In its simplest expression, we need to change from “I” to “We” in all we do.
Those of us who have been working to protect Mother Earth are more aware than the general public of the breadth and depth of damage being done. More alarmed, more discouraged after years of work with little apparent progress.
The COVID pandemic made us more isolated and made it difficult to safely do our organizing work. Although our Des Moines Mutual Aid community never stopped distributing free food every week. We strictly enforced wearing masks and gloves and attempted to maintain social distancing by limiting the number of volunteers.
As an example of how long some of us have been working to protect our environment, fifty years ago I was led to refuse to own a car. I’m not aware of that changing other people’s lives.
In 2013 the Keystone XL pipeline struggles began to bring some people and organizations together. One group was known as the Cowboy-Indian Alliance.
What little I learned about native cultures showed peoples who lived with far more integrity than I was able to. When I first became engaged with fossil fuel and pipeline resistance in 2013, I began to hear stories of Indigenous peoples working to protect the water. The Cowboy-Indian Alliance came together to oppose the Keystone XL pipeline. I was honored to be given this poster from the 2014 Harvest the Hope concert. [See: The Cowboy and Indian Alliance.]
It was clear to me and others that nonnative folks needed not only to join with Indigenous peoples but be led by them. How to make that happen?
Indigenous Iowa and Bold Iowa organized the First Nation-Farmer Climate Unity March in 2018, with the intent of providing a small group of native and nonnative people the time to get to know each other, so we could begin to work on issues of common interest and concern. We walked and camped for eight days along the path of the Dakota Access pipeline from Des Moines to Fort Dodge, Iowa, ninety-four miles. [see stories and photos from that sacred journey here: First Nation Famer Climate Unity March]
A number of us worked on various projects together since, strengthening our friendships. A number of those on that March are involved in the new coalition, the Buffalo Rebellion. That includes Sikowis Nobiss, Mahmud Fitil, Trisha Entringer, Donnielle Wanatee, Miriam Kashia, Peter Clay and me.
I plan to write a lot about the Buffalo Rebellion but wanted to begin with this introduction.
I believe the answer to the question posed by this post, Dare WE hope? is yes.
As I’ve written about recently, we held an Earth Day Rally in Des Moines yesterday. The rally was part of the three-day Climate Summit of the Buffalo Rebellion I’m attending.
After a number of people spoke, we walked to the offices of MidAmerican Energy, which has been the focus of climate activists for some time because of their refusal to close their coal burning plants. https://quakersandreligioussocialism.com/?s=midamerican
As we chanted outside the building the security guard called the police. Several Des Moines police cars arrived, but then left when they saw we were peaceful and exercising our right of free speech. At least I assume that’s why they left. Then we returned to Cowles Commons.
I’m excited about attending this Earth Day Rally organized by the Buffalo Rebellion. And attending the immersive training Saturday and Sunday. The organizations that make up this coalition can be found below.
We believe that we must address the root of climate change, insatiable corporate greed and white supremacy, to make change happen. This will require a multi-racial movement of working people struggling together to upend politics as usual.
This Earth Day, millions of people are demanding that world leaders take the crises we’re facing seriously.
If you listen to Iowa Public Radio today, you’ll hear about Buffalo Rebellion, an exciting new coalition of Iowa organizations working to grow a movement for climate action that centers racial and economic justice.
This weekend, Buffalo Rebellion is holding two-days of immersive training to develop 100 grassroots leaders who will build local teams to take on climate justice issues in their community.
But first, we want to come together for an afternoon of honoring Mother Earth through collective action.
WHAT: Honor Mother Earth Rally & Action! WHEN: Friday, April 22 from 12 pm – 4 pm 12 pm – we’ll gather for lunch with local food trucks at Cowles Commons, 1 pm – rally around stories and visions for climate justice, 1:45 pm – we’ll take action together for a world that puts people and the planet before corporate profit. WHERE: Cowles Commons, 221 Walnut St, Des Moines, IA 50309 DETAILS TO KNOW: The event will happen rain or shine (forecast looking ok though)! Bring money for lunch (or bring your own) and parking (parking maps and info here). The action will consist of a <1 mile march. Family friendly, the action is youth-led. WHY: The latest IPCC report continues to make the path forward very clear: it’s either people and the planet or fossil fuels. It’s up to us to build power and push our leaders to action. For a brighter future,
We believe that we must address the root of climate change, insatiable corporate greed and white supremacy, to make change happen. This will require a multi-racial movement of working people struggling together to upend politics as usual.
“Iowa has been made into a sacrifice zone by government sanctioned Big-Ag corporations, which have a stranglehold on the climate and environmental legislation. Colonial-capitalist farming practices are poisoning our water, depleting the soil, and are a leading contributor to Iowa’s greenhouse emissions causing climate chaos.” – Sikowis Nobiss, Plains Cree/Saulteaux, Executive Director, Great Plains Action Society
Buffalo Rebellion was formed in November 2021 and consists of: Great Plains Action Society DSM Black Liberation Movement Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice Sierra Club Beyond Coal Sunrise Movement Cedar Rapids SEIU Local 199 and Iowa CCI.
The coalition is part of the national Green New Deal Network.
If you’re interested in attending the training potion of the summit or have any other questions, please email us at IowaBuffaloRebellion@gmail.com.
The purpose of this brief history is background for a request from Sikowis (Christine) Nobiss for funds to support the documentary “They Found Us” that’s being done about her reservation’s residential school. George Gordon First Nation had the longest running residential school, which didn’t close until 1996.
During the 2017 annual sessions of Iowa Yearly Meeting (Conservative) there was panel discussion about building bridges with native peoples. The panel consisted of Peter Clay, an Iowa Friend, Donnielle Wanatee from the Meskwaki Settlement, and Sikowis (Christine) Nobiss, one of the most active Indigenous leaders in the Midwest. All three have played a large role in my connections with Native Americans since.
In February 2018, I was part of a group who went to Minneapolis to protest US Bank’s funding of oil pipelines. Sikowis spoke at that gathering.
I began to get to know Sikowis when she and I were among a small group of native and non-native people who walked and camped for eight days along the route of the Dakota Access pipeline, from Des Moines to Fort Dodge, Iowa. Iowa Friend Peter Clay was also on this First Nation-Farmer Climate Unity March. Jon Krieg (AFSC) joined us for the first day. And my Scattergood School roommate Lee Tesdell participated in one of the evening discussions during the March. Another Iowa Yearly Meeting Friend, Liz Oppenheimer, organized a time of worship sharing and prayer among Friends each morning, supporting our sacred journey.
In this photo during the March Sikowis is holding the bowl Peter Clay is smudging from.
The purpose of the March was to create a community of native and non-native people who began to know and trust each other so we could work on things of common concern. That was highly successful, and we have done a number of things together since.
One of the first was when several of us from the March, including Sikowis (in the center of this photo), Iowa Friends Shazi and Fox Knight, and I lobbied Senator Grassley’s staff to support several bills related to native concerns.
Lobbying Iowa Senator Grassley about native legislation
The summer of 2019 Sikowis suggested I attend the National Network Assembly at the Des Moines YMCA Camp near Boone, Iowa, that she helped organize. I was aware that if I wanted to build on relationships with native peoples, I should wait to be invited. Seeing this as one of those opportunities, I did attend.
In early 2020, I began to hear about the struggles of the Wet’suwet’en peoples in British Columbia, as they worked to prevent the construction of a liquid natural gas pipeline (Costal GasLink) through their pristine lands and waters. There was little being written about this in the mainstream media, so supporters were asked to write about what was happening on our social media platforms.
This photo is from a post about a rally I organized to support the Wet’suwet’en in Des Moines on February 7, 2020. Iowa Friend Peter Clay attended.
I’m convinced the Spirit led Ronnie James to come to this rally. Ronnie is an Indigenous organizer with twenty years of experience. He was surprised anyone in Iowa knew about the Wet’suwet’en, so he came to see who we were. Since that day Ronnie has been patiently mentoring me about Des Moines Mutual Aid. Including helping me become involved in the food giveaway project. We’ve become good friends.
This relates to my relationship with Sikowis because Ronnie is a member of the Great Plains Action Society (GPAS) that she organized for Indigenous activism in the Midwest. Several other friends I made during the First Nation-Farmer Climate Unity March also work at Great Plains Action Society.
As often happens, once people know I love photography, I get invited to events for that purpose (even though I’d want to go, anyway). This photo of Sikowis was taken at last year’s Indigenous People’s Day. She’s holding a Great Plains Action Society bag.
Sikowis Nobiss
Another event where I took photos was a gathering on the State Capitol grounds related to racist statues. In this photo Sikowis is speaking at the Pioneer statue.
Sikowis Nobiss
Last December, Sikowis asked me to come to Ames for a rally at the office of Summit Carbon, one of the companies that want to build a CO2 pipeline.
Residential institutions of forced assimilation
The legacy of what are sometimes called Indian Boarding Schools has been a concern of mine for years. The involvement of Quakers in establishing and teaching in these institutions has become a source of tension and conflict among Quakers today. I think my past ignorance about these institutions was common for Quakers, thinking Friends involved in those schools were doing the best they could to help native children assimilate into mainstream American society. Not critically thinking why that would be a good thing. But we began to learn more about the great harm this did to native children and their families. And that was before learning about the widespread emotional, physical and sexual abuse of the children.
I was led to make this something I needed to learn more about. And share what I was learning with Quakers and others. Friend Paula Palmer, who has become a friend of mine, was called to a ministry related to these institutions and Quaker’s involvement in them. Peter Clay and I helped organize events among Iowa Friends, Conservative and FUM, when Paula came to the Midwest.
Prior to the First Nation-Farmer Climate Unity March I was unsure whether I should bring up the subject of forced assimilation, especially as I had learned more about trauma from those institutions being passed from generation to generation. I had hoped to learn about Indigenous spirituality on the March but didn’t see how that could happen without acknowledging Quakers’ involvement in forced assimilation.
Matthew and I began to get to know each other early in the March because he was shooting video of the same things I was taking photos of. We shared quite a bit about this common interest. I believe it was the second day of the March as we were walking and talking together that the Spirit led me to tell him I knew about the Quaker involvement in the residential schools, and I was sorry for what had happened. Of course, I had no idea how he would react. But all he did was nod his head, and we continued to walk and talk together. I didn’t say anything else about that.
But just a few hours later he said he wanted to tell me a story. It involved a traumatic incident related to his mother and the residential schools. I was so grateful he felt he could share that with me. We didn’t talk about that any further.
Since then, when it seemed appropriate, I brought up Quaker involvement in the boarding schools with each of my native friends. Each one had personal experiences related to the schools. I believe that it was an important part of our developing friendships that we shared these stories.
Sikowis told me briefly of family members who had experienced traumas from those institutions. We had that brief discussion several years ago.
I believe this is in part why she invited me to ask Quakers if we would help support making a documentary about her reservation’s (George Gordon First Nation) residential school.
Iowa Yearly Meeting (Conservative)’s Peace and Social Concerns Committee has an annual budget to support peace and justice work. This year it was decided that rather than give token amounts to various peace and justice organizations, we might discern to invest a larger sum, for a more significant impact, to an organization or project. But we didn’t know what that would be.
This request from Sikowis is an opportunity to build on Iowa Yearly Meeting (Conservative)’s relationship with Indigenous peoples in the Midwest. An opportunity to begin truth and healing.
I’m pleased the Peace and Social Concerns Committee unanimously supports using our budget to support the documentary that’s being done about the George Gordon First Nation’s residential school.
March 27, 2022
This letter in regards to a request for financial support for a documentary title “They Found Us”, to support community presentations of this film that I produced.
My name is Curt Young and I a member of the George Gordon’s First Nation. I am a descendant of Mike Longman, along with my mother Longman-Young; both members of this nation. The development of this documentary was an intent for myself to learn more about my maternal familial lineage, as I had not grown up on GGFN and wanted more connections to my cultural heritage. I applied for the “Peoples Investment Grant”, while residing in Calgary and was a successful candidate. These funds were intended to financially support a compilation of Elder’s narratives, however, during the initial interviews, the findings of the 215 bodies outside of the Kamloops residential schools, inspired myself to change the direction of the documentary. I decided to focus more on the process that GGFN reserve’s undertaking of a ground search outside of the local residential school; to see if there were any unmarked graves or bodies buried there.
Over the past year, I have made three trips to GGFN to obtain footage of the community’s initial activities related to the ground search of the area. Aside from the footage of the community, I also have compiled interviews from GGFN members, and other Indigenous people, including leaders and Elders, that have shared their own narratives and experience with residential schools. The budget that I was provided by the grant I received was allocated to travel costs associated with these trips to GGFN, along with the rental of video technological equipment, necessary to create the documentary. I have spent time and effort into producing this documentary and have been promoting it through various online platforms, along with connections I have within Indigenous communities, both urban and rural. I have much interest in public showings of this documentary, particularly since June is coming up, with it being National Indigenous Peoples month. One showing that I have confirmed is the first week of June; at Fort Calgary. Although I am quite excited for the interest and opportunities, I would like to honour my home community and acknowledge the stories that are compiled in my documentary, by having the first public showing of “They Found Us” on GGFN.
In order for myself to bring the documentary to GGFN I am requesting funds to support my travel, accommodation and honorarium for traditional drummers and possibly a dancer to create a healing and culturally safe space for a community show. My first showing that I have booked for this documentary is June 4, 2022, thus, I am asking to have funds to showcase the documentary on GGFN prior to this date.
My friend Sikowis (Christine) Nobiss is raising money for a documentary that’s being done about her reservation’s residential school. George Gordon First Nation had the longest running residential school, not closing until 1996.
My relative is working to raise funds for his documentary on elders and the history of the residential school at George Gordon First Nation, which is my nation. He needs to make multiple trips throughout the plains and to GGFN and set up viewing events for the documentary, which will cost around $7,000 CAD. If there are any folks in your community interested in helping him attain this goal, please let me know. Thank you.
As described in the following letter, the project was originally for a compilation of Elder’s narratives. But during the initial interviews, the findings of the 215 bodies outside the Kamloops residential school changed the direction of the documentary. To focus on the process that George Gordon’s First Nation was undertaking related to the unmarked graves or bodies at the GGFN reserve’s residential school.
March 27, 2022
This letter in regards to a request for financial support for a documentary title “They Found Us”, to support community presentations of this film that I produced.
My name is Curt Young and I a member of the George Gordon’s First Nation. I am a descendant of Mike Longman, along with my mother Longman-Young; both members of this nation. The development of this documentary was an intent for myself to learn more about my maternal familial lineage, as I had not grown up on GGFN and wanted more connections to my cultural heritage. I applied for the “Peoples Investment Grant”, while residing in Calgary and was a successful candidate. These funds were intended to financially support a compilation of Elder’s narratives, however, during the initial interviews, the findings of the 215 bodies outside of the Kamloops residential schools, inspired myself to change the direction of the documentary. I decided to focus more on the process that GGFN reserve’s undertaking of a ground search outside of the local residential school; to see if there were any unmarked graves or bodies buried there.
Over the past year, I have made three trips to GGFN to obtain footage of the community’s initial activities related to the ground search of the area. Aside from the footage of the community, I also have compiled interviews from GGFN members, and other Indigenous people, including leaders and Elders, that have shared their own narratives and experience with residential schools. The budget that I was provided by the grant I received was allocated to travel costs associated with these trips to GGFN, along with the rental of video technological equipment, necessary to create the documentary. I have spent time and effort into producing this documentary and have been promoting it through various online platforms, along with connections I have within Indigenous communities, both urban and rural. I have much interest in public showings of this documentary, particularly since June is coming up, with it being National Indigenous Peoples month. One showing that I have confirmed is the first week of June; at Fort Calgary. Although I am quite excited for the interest and opportunities, I would like to honour my home community and acknowledge the stories that are compiled in my documentary, by having the first public showing of “They Found Us” on GGFN.
In order for myself to bring the documentary to GGFN I am requesting funds to support my travel, accommodation and honorarium for traditional drummers and possibly a dancer to create a healing and culturally safe space for a community show. My first showing that I have booked for this documentary is June 4, 2022, thus, I am asking to have funds to showcase the documentary on GGFN prior to this date.
The increasingly dire environmental chaos is seen in many ways. Most recently in multiple days of tornado outbreaks in this country. In the increasingly dire warnings in the recently released Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report.
And yet the Biden administration is releasing a million barrels of oil a day from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. And pressuring oil companies to activate their oil leases. To ramp up natural gas exports.
These are just a few of the many actions that always place economics above our environment.
Banks that fund fossil fuel operations are just as guilty as the fossil fuel companies themselves: that was the message delivered to TD Bank and Bank of America at their branch locations in downtown Northampton, MA, on Saturday morning. Protesters demanded that the two banks “stop the money pipeline” by ending all loans and investments in the fossil fuel business and diverting those resources to the renewable energy sector.
Stop the Money Pipeline is an international campaign of over 175 organizations fighting to stop financial institutions from funding dirty energy. The campaign is committed to the rapid decarbonization of our economy and to principles of equity and justice. Its central demand is straightforward:
We demand that banks, asset managers, insurance companies, and institutional investors stop funding, insuring and investing in climate destruction. They need to stop funding fossil fuels and deforestation and start respecting human rights and Indigenous sovereignty.
It’s depressing to think about all the times we’ve tried to get financial institutions to change. Without success as shown by the graph above.
Perhaps if only to show future generations that we tried, following is a history of some of our efforts to stop funding fossil fuel projects.
I first became involved in fossil fuel resistance when I was trained by the Rainforest Action Network as an Action Lead in the Keystone Pledge of Resistance in 2013. We didn’t focus on banks, instead planning acts of civil disobedience at Federal government buildings. We did get Senator Donnelly to stop promoting the Keystone XL pipeline as creating jobs after the Indianapolis Star published my letter to the editor.
11/19/2015 In cities across the country, coordinated actions occurred as activists went to Morgan Stanley offices to deliver petitions asking the company to stop funding fossil fuel projects. Several of us spoke to the local Morgan Stanley manager that day. At the shareholders meeting several days later, a decision was made to stop funding coal. But as seen in the graph above, they continue billions of dollars in fossil fuel investments.
In 2016 the focus became the Dakota Access pipeline (DAPL), with the leadership from Standing Rock.
DIVESTMENT One of our efforts in Indianapolis was to encourage people and organizations to divest their accounts in banks that funded DAPL. North Meadow Circle of Friends, where I attended, closed their Chase bank account.
One day (2017) in Indianapolis a group of us marched from the Eiteljorg museum to two of the banks funding DAPL, Chase and PNC. We stood outside each bank in silence, with our signs, as people with accounts went into the bank to close their accounts. $110,000 was withdrawn that day.
US Bancorp is the parent company of US Bank. Since US Bancorp’s headquarters are in Minneapolis, and the Super Bowl (2018) was going to be held in the US Bank stadium there, environmental and social justice groups realized the opportunities to reach large numbers of people during the Super Bowl weekend.
I traveled to Minneapolis the day before the game with a group organized by Ed Fallon of Bold Iowa. We left Des Moines at 7:00 am and arrived at the MN350 (Minnesota branch of 350.org) at 11:30.
In 2020 I began to learn about the struggles of the Wet’suwet’en peoples in British Columbia, as they tried to prevent a liquid natural gas pipeline from being built through their pristine lands and waters. Feb 7, 2020, we held a vigil of support in Des Moines, Iowa.
First Nations peoples have been very active with demonstrations against the banks funding that Costal GasLink pipeline.
Last December a number of us rallied at a Chase bank in Des Moines, calling for Chase to stop funding fossil fuel projects. Des Moines Black Liberation attended in support of the Wet’suwet’en peoples. Our justice work forms networks.
The latest attempt to decrease carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is the proposed CO2 pipelines. Which are attracting funding but should not be built for many reasons. This is unproven technology, incredibly expensive and ineffective. And with all the problems associated with pipelines.
Sikowis Nobiss organized this gathering at Summit Carbon in Ames, Iowa, in February.
And most recently, my friend Jake Grobe at Iowa CCI organized an event in February at an Iowa Energy Center Board Meeting, where we said MidAmerican Energy’s coal burning power plants must be shut down.
It was predictable that ridiculous schemes would appear now that the public can no longer ignore environmental chaos beginning to occur in so many, increasingly devastating ways. Learning the cause of these climate catastrophes is greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels, the public is desperately calling for ways to reduce those emissions now.
The common theme is the demand to reduce emissions without affecting their lifestyles that are dependent upon energy that is produced by burning fossil fuels.
That is impossible. Not nearly enough renewable energy capacity could be built to meet the demand.
The idea of sucking carbon dioxide from the atmosphere sounds good, but it is not. The amount of carbon dioxide that could be removed this way is miniscule. And to deal with even that small amount would involve unproven and dangerous technology. Pipelines would be required to transport the carbon hundreds of miles in most cases, to places where it would be pumped into underground rock formations. And no one knows how long it would be before the carbon begins to leak out of those formations.
As with the Keystone XL, Dakota Access and other pipelines, significant environmental damages would occur if the carbon pipelines were built. Eminent Domain would be used to force farmers to allow construction of pipelines through their fertile lands.
These pipelines have the added danger of harming or killing people and animals if they leak. This occurred in Satartia, Mississippi, in 2020. See Carbon Pipeline Opposition.
Kathy Stockdale says she has the unlucky distinction of having two of three planned carbon capture pipelines across Iowa proposing to run through the 550-acre Hardin County farm her family has owned for a century.
Summit Carbon Solutions’ $4.5 billion project would run between her and her son, Kurtis’, homes, while Navigator CO2 Ventures’ $3 billion pipeline would cut across a nearby field.
“This land is part of us. We’ve worked hard to make improvements,” said Stockdale, 71, adding that she feels “like my property rights are being taken away.”
Stockdale was among about 100 Iowans Tuesday who joined what was billed as a “people’s public hearing” at the Iowa Capitol. They called on lawmakers to impose stronger restrictions on the pipeline developers’ use of eminent domain to force unwilling landowners to sell access to their property for their projects.
Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is not the answer to the climate emergency. CCS is unproven, dangerous and delays real solutions to the climate crisis such as energy conservation, regenerative agriculture and renewable energy.
Join us in standing against private corporations for private gain and corrupt governments in Iowa as these pipelines are headed to tribal lands in Nebraska, South Dakota, and North Dakota, following the DAPL easement.
Organizations and landowners were at the Iowa State Capitol rotunda yesterday (3:30-6:00) to let our legislators know that Iowans won’t stand for the abuse of eminent domain!
With only a few short weeks left in the legislative session, we need to show our legislators how crucial it is that they take meaningful action right now.
We will hear from experts, landowners, impacted Iowans, Indigenous folks, and legislators as they address concerns about Iowa’s three proposed carbon pipelines—Summit, Navigator, and Wolf.
This event is hosted by Iowa Sierra Club, Science and Environmental Health Network, Iowa Food and Water Watch, and Great Plains Action Society—who are all a part of the Iowa Carbon Pipeline Resistance Coalition.
Organizations and landowners are at the Iowa State Capitol rotunda today to let our legislators know that Iowans won't stand for the abuse of eminent domain! pic.twitter.com/pVK3VawzJL
Tribal nations are celebrating the reauthorized Violence Against Women Act.
Congress passed the omnibus spending package for the 2022 fiscal year late Thursday, which included major tribal provisions. It passed in the Senate with a 68-31 vote. The bill will now head to the president’s desk to be signed.
This means that tribal nations “will continue to increase safety and justice for victims who had previously seen little of either,” said Fawn Sharp, president of the National Congress of American Indians in a statement.
The US Congress just passed the omnibus spending package that included major tribal provisions. Many people and organizations have been lobbying for these provisions for years. Below you will find some history of our lobbying efforts in Iowa since 2018. Despite frustrations about the process and time required, sometimes our goals are achieved. I am especially thankful for all I have learned about lobbying and the support from the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL).
Today a coalition of Native and non-Native people, representing several organizations, met with Carol Olson, Senator Chuck Grassley’s State Director at the Federal Building in Des Moines, Iowa. Two of Senator Grassley’s staff from Washington, DC, joined us via a conference call. The meeting was a chance for us to get to know each other and find ways we can work with Senator Grassley and others to pass legislation to support Native American communities. Those who attended are shown in the photo below.
This coalition came together from two circumstances. One relates to the First Nation-Farmer Climate Unity March this September, where a group of about forty Native and non-Native people walked ninety-four miles, from Des Moines to Fort Dodge, along the route of the Dakota Access Pipeline. This March was organized by Bold Iowa, Indigenous Iowa and Seeding Sovereignty. The goal was the development of a community of Native and non-Native people who would get to know each other so we could work together on areas of common interest. All those in the photo were on the March except Shazi and Fox Knight, who are members of Bear Creek Friends Meeting, as am I.
The other circumstance is the desire of the Friends Committee on National Legislative (FCNL) to build teams of people to develop ongoing relationships with the staff of their U.S. Senators and Representatives in their in-district offices. FCNL is a 75-year-old Quaker organization that has worked to support legislation for peace and justice issues. FCNL is non-partisan and has developed an extensive national network of Friends and others who support this work for peace and justice. Since the 1950’s Native American Affairs have been one of the principal areas of focus of the organization.
During this meeting, I talked about the Friends Committee on National Legislation and the SURVIVE Act. Christine Nobiss (Sikowis) spoke about the racism and violence against Native women and Savanna’s Act. Everyone else then contributed to the discussions.
Jeff Kisling, Fox and Shazi Knight, Christine Nobiss, Shari Hrdina and Sid Barfoot
October 15, 2018
Dear Mr. Kisling:
Thank you for taking the time to contact me to express your support for a tribal set-aside within the Crime Victims Fund. As your senator, it is important that I hear from you.
I was an original cosponsor of the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA), which established the Crime Victims Fund. As chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, I’ve also called on congressional appropriations leaders to provide an appropriate funding stream for Tribes under VOCA. As stated in a letter I initiated to the Senate Appropriations Committee earlier this year, “individuals on Tribal lands experience high rates of domestic and sexual violence, and resources from the Crime Victims Fund are critical in addressing” these victims’ needs. This letter was cosigned by several dozen of my Senate colleagues.
I hope you find this information helpful. Your involvement in this issue is important, and I encourage you to keep in touch.
Sincerely,
Chuck Grassley United States Senate
“For too long, tribal communities have been under-resourced and under-supported in their pursuit of justice,” said FCNL General Secretary Bridget Moix. “By reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act as part of the omnibus spending package, lawmakers are helping chart a more just and secure future for Native communities across the country.”
“Expanding tribal criminal jurisdiction strengthens the capacity of tribes to exercise their sovereign authority to protect their citizens,” said Portia K. Skenandore-Wheelock, FCNL’s Native American advocacy program congressional advocate. “The ability of tribal nations to hold all perpetrators accountable is directly linked to protecting tribal communities from further violence and truly getting a handle on this crisis.”
As a Quaker organization, FCNL continues a historic commitment to working in solidarity with Native American communities in support of the full realization of their rights.
Quaker Lobby Commends Congress for Reauthorizing Violence Against Women Act by Alex Frandsen, Friends Committee on National Legislative, March 11, 2022
The historic tribal provisions in VAWA:
Reaffirm Tribal Nations’ jurisdiction to prosecute non-Indian perpetrators of child violence, sexual violence, sex trafficking, stalking, crimes against tribal law enforcement and correctional officers, and obstruction of justice;
Establish an Alaska pilot project, which will allow a limited number of Alaska Native Villages to exercise Special Tribal Criminal Jurisdiction and civil jurisdiction over non-Indian perpetrators for the first time since the 1998 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Alaska v. Native Village of Venetie;
Clarify that all Tribal Nations in Maine can exercise tribal jurisdiction under VAWA;
Ensure that non-Indian defendants must exhaust all Tribal court remedies;
Reauthorize funding for and amending the Tribal Access Program, to ensure that all Tribal Nations can access national crime information systems for criminal justice and non-criminal justice purposes;
Make the 2010 Bureau of Prisons Tribal Prisoner Program permanent and allow Tribal Nations to place offenders in federal facilities that are sentenced to one year or more; and
Significantly increase resources for Tribal Nations to exercise Special Tribal Criminal Jurisdiction and establish a reimbursement program to cover tribal costs.
NCAI Tribal Leader Town Hall on the Violence Against Women Act
Date: March 16, 2022 Time: 2:00 – 3:15 p.m. EDT
NCAI will host a virtual Town Hall on March 16, 2022 on the VAWA reauthorization to discuss this historic moment for Indian Country, review the tribal provisions in the law, and highlight the next steps for Tribal Nations. More information to come.
$6.707 billion for Native health programs at the Department of Health and Human Services
$6.63 billion for Indian Health Service programs, including $2.3 billion for IHS clinical services
$55 million for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Tribal Opioid Response grant program
$22 million for Health Resource and Services Administration grants to the Native Hawaiian Health Care Systems
$3.65 billion for the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Bureau of Indian Education at the Department of the Interior
$7 million for DOI’s Indian Boarding School Initiative to conduct a comprehensive review of the troubled legacy of federal boarding school policies
$1 billion for Native American housing programs at the Department of Housing and Urban Development
$922 million for the Indian Housing Block Grant program
$72.09 million for the Indian Community Development Block Grant program
$22.3 million for the Native Hawaiian Housing Block Grant program
More than $86 million to address the missing and murdered Indigenous women crisis and public safety needs of Native communities
$50 million for the Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs assistance to tribes
$25 million for DOI’s initiative to address MMIW cases
$5.5 million for DOJ’s Office of Violence Against Women Tribal VAWA implementation grant program
$3 million for a DOJ initiative to support cross-designation of tribal prosecutors as Tribal Special Assistant United States Attorneys
$1 million for DOJ – OVW to conduct analysis & research on violence against Indian women
$1 million to support establishment of a Native Hawaiian Resource Center on Domestic Violence
$500,000 for a national Training and Technical Assistance clearinghouse on issues relating to sexual assault of American Indian and Alaska Native women
Five percent set-aside for tribes to receive direct funding from the Crime Victims Fund
More than $47.5 million for programs to support Native American languages and cultures
$16 million for Tribal Historic Preservation Officers
$14 million for HHS’s Administration for Native Americans Native language grant programs
$9.37 million for the Department of Education’s K-12 Native American language immersion grants
$2.3 million for Native American and Hawaiian museum services
$1.5 million for Native Hawaiian and Alaska Native culture and arts development
$1.5 million for DOI Native American language instruction and immersion programs for federally recognized tribes and tribal organizations
$1.5 million for Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act implementation and enforcement at BIA
$1 million for the National Bison Range
$600,000 for a cultural resource study to protect Chaco Canyon
$500,000+ for ED to fund establishment of a Native American Language Resource Center
More than $65.42 million in tribal climate and environmental resiliency funding to help tribal communities address and prepare for the effects of climate change
$5 million for DOI’s tribal climate adaptation grants
$8 million for DOI’s tribal relocation grants
$10.65 million for reclamation of abandoned mines on tribal lands
$4.8 million for clean energy development through BIA Minerals and Mining
$12 million for mitigation of environmental impacts of Department of Defense activities on Indian lands
$6 million for the tribes wildlife conservation grant program at DOI’s Fish and Wildlife Service
Quakers and Mutual Aid 