Indian children were forcefully taken from their families to what were called Indian Boarding, or Residential Schools. These schools were sometimes hundreds of miles away. There, attempts were made to erase their Indigenous culture and force them to adopt White culture. There was widespread emotional, sexual, and physical abuse. Thousands died.
Friends Committee on National Legislation
The Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) is a national, nonpartisan organization that lobbies Congress for peace, justice, and environmental stewardship. FCNL has an 80-year-old history of bringing the concerns of Quakers and Quaker meetings to the US Congress. The following four principles guide this work. I have been blessed to be involved in the…
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Peace on Earth?
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. Luke 2:14 I am deeply distressed by the dichotomy between ‘peace on earth, good will toward men’ and the blatant opposition to that by the forces of global dominance. I cannot fathom the massacre in Gaza and the silence of the…
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Those that conspire to live the truth
whitewash: deliberately attempt to conceal unpleasant or incriminating facts about (someone or something): Sadly, but importantly, white settler colonists such as me are learning a great deal about the genocide of native peoples, in large part facilitated by the institutions of forced assimilation. Sometimes referred to as Indian boarding or residential schools, though school is a…
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Asking the right questions
Today there is a lot of attention on what were called the Indian Boarding Schools in the U.S. and Canada. This is in large part because of the uncovering of remains of children on the grounds of many of those institutions using ground-penetrating radar. These searches began in order to document the known history of…
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taboo
A taboo against a subject or activity is a social custom to avoid doing that activity or talking about that subject, because people find them embarrassing or offensive. Yesterday I wrote about umair haque’s new publication, the Issue. And began discussing the latest issue (of the Issue): Our Civilization’s Melting Down—But We’re Not Allowed to Talk About…
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Dangers of lack of diversity in Quaker meetings today
Diversity can refer to many things, such as race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class, age, ability, and faith background. Both the state of Iowa and our Quaker meetings in the Midwest have very little racial and other types of diversity. This does not reflect the diversity of the wider society nor the diversity in Quaker history…
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Quakers and Mutual Aid 