July Newsletter - Read about the highlights from the 2023 Annual Gathering
- Find out who our 2023-2024 Repair Partners are
- Meet our new Coalition Organizer
- Consider exciting volunteer opportunities
- Check out our remodeled website
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2023 Annual Gathering
Coalition volunteers and staff gathered July 8 and 9 at First Mennonite Church in Hutchinson, Kansas to reflect on the past year and plan for the future. One highlight of the gathering was a film screening of "The Custodians," which was open to the public and was followed by a panel with Mark Charles, Sara Gurule, Bizzy Feekes, and Jonathan Neufeld. Here are some key updates from the past year: - The Repair Network, with 30+ communities committed or exploring, continues to demonstrate a strength, accountability and capacity-building potential to act locally, collaborate nationally and engage globally.
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The movement to support the Apache Stronghold in their efforts to save Oak Flat from extractive industry continued in prayer, massive organizing inviting communities to sign on to the Apache Stronghold amicus brief, a Sacred Sites Summit in November, and mobilization to host and support Apache Stronghold at the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in Pasadena in March.
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Efforts continued this year to organize communities in defense of the Indian Child Welfare Act, an essential piece of Indigenous human rights law that ultimately was upheld by the Supreme Court.
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Suriname Indigenous Health Fund was invited to offer testimony to the UN Committee on Elimination of Racial Discrimination in Geneva; Lars Åkerson and Manuel May (of the Wayana solidarity working group, showing up as a Maya testifying on behalf of Wayana self-determination) provided testimony prepared by Dan Peplow that witnesses to the destruction of Wayana homelands.
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Makoce Ikikcupi continues to flourish and grow, having this past November acquired a second Village Site that a Repair Network community in Mountain Lake supported to give land back to Dakota homelands.
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The Investment Justice working group continues to remain in relationship with financial partners, working together to envision how to engage our financial holdings to support the movements of Indigenous peoples.
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Story Sharing Committee continues to capture and communicate the narrative of blessed unrest to be shared in places like Anabaptist World, Die Mennonitische Post, online platforms and Coalition print materials.
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Cultural Change Committee encourages diverse initiatives such the Board Game project, dismantling Bible studies for the Anabaptism at 500 project, educational resources and songlines to animate the work of justice. Ted & Company are actively touring the play “We Own this Now” and revisiting tour plans that were pandemic interrupted.
Thank you to First Mennonite Church for hosting us. We look forward to another year of mutually transforming relationships. |
Panelists Mark Charles, Sara Gurule, Bizzy Feekes, and Jonathan Neufeld answer questions from the audience |
New Repair Partners for 2023-24 Announced
For the first time, the Coalition to Dismantle the Doctrine of Discovery has selected two repair partners to support for 2023-2024. These repair partners are Sararo Ecotourism Community-Based Development Program, which is a new partnership, and the Suriname Indigenous Health Fund, who was our repair partner in 2019-2020.
The Sararo Ecotourism Community-Based Development Program is located in the village of Zabalo, Ecuador. Sararo is the Cofan word for giant river otter. This program keeps people on the land, youth in the village, and enables the Cofan to maintain their traditional life ways of hunting, fishing, gathering , cooking and artisan craft making.The village of Zabalo has approximately 200 inhabitants. The community has legal title to about 160,000 hectares of primary rain forest surrounding the village. The forest is one of the most biodiverse places on the planet. The Cofan consider themselves the “guardians of the forest”. The program could benefit from an injection of funding after suffering a huge hit during the global pandemic. Funds could be used to support investment in infrastructure, develop marketing channels and promote community development.
Suriname Indigenous Health Fund (SIHF) is the second repair partner for 2023-2024. SIHF affirms self-determination by supporting indigenous communities as they define their own priorities and initiatives concerning private and governmental land development programs impacting their health and traditional way of life. The focus of SIHF includes human rights, land rights, the social determinants of health, community health and environmental health.
We look forward to new and deepening partnerships with these two groups! |
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| Welcome our new Coalition Organizer, Doe Hoyer!
Doe Hoyer is a current student at United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities, seeking a Masters of Divinity in Social Transformation and Interreligious Chaplaincy. They are a community song leader in the Twin Cities and have volunteered on the Coalition's Cultural Change Committee since 2022, working primarily on the Coalition's new community singing playlist project. Doe loves to invite new friends into community singing and reconnection with their singing voices, and also enjoys hiking and camping with their partner Reese and dog Ursa.
Doe became especially interested in the work of dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery because of their experiences as an interfaith organizer on the Stop Line 3 campaign. They are a member of the planning group for the Twin Cities Repair Community for Makoce Ikikcupi (Dakota land recovery) and an active member of Showing Up for Racial Justice - Twin Cities. Most recently, in collaboration with SURJ-Faith and Coalition member John Stoesz, Doe co-facilitated a learning circle on Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery for congregational lay leaders and organizers representing various denominations and locations in Minnesota. Doe is grateful and excited to continue this work of building an ecumenical reparative justice network as an organizer with the Coalition!
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Seeking Volunteers Activists with Disabilities Working/ Support Group
Coalition members are forming a group to provide support to activists living with disabilities. We'll share in monthly fellowship and mutual support. If this is something that interests you, reach out to Michelle Lee at admin@dismantlediscovery.org.
Land Relations Group
This new working group in formation is for those who want to learn and take action about relating to Land as a relative, not a resource or object. How can we listen and respond to the needs of the Land? Perhaps you're a farmer, gardener, earth tender, Wild Church member, or someone attuned to the living Earth! If you're interested, reach out to Michelle Lee at admin@dismantlediscovery.org. Thank You Note Writer
We want to share our gratitude with donors to the Coalition, and could use extra support writing and mailing personalized thank you notes! We'll send you all the supplies needed. Great for those wanting to offer volunteer support on your own schedule! If you're interested, reach out to Michelle Lee at admin@dismantlediscovery.org. |
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The next volunteer orientation will be Thursday, August 17th from 4:00-5:30 PST. Join this Orientation for new volunteers interested in getting involved in the Coalition. We'll share about the story of how we started, our structure and approach to decolonization, how we work with Indigenous partners, and ways to get engaged! |
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| | Sarah Augustine and Sheri Hostetler's book to come out in October! I’m excited to announce that Sarah and I will be publishing a book with Herald Press this fall — So We and Our Children May Live: Following Jesus in Confronting the Climate Crisis. She and I are in the throes of getting our first draft to the publisher by April 1. We expect it to be released on October 1.
We’ve all aware that climate change threatens our survival on this planet. But many initiatives seek to end climate change by using the same mechanisms that created the crisis in the first place. Rather than challenging and unpacking the assumptions and values that have brought humanity to the brink of collapse, conventional climate strategies focus on technological solutions that require more exploitation of natural resources, including the extraction of materials to build these technologies — like the copper from Oak Flat. Our book explores decolonization as a primary mechanism for seeking ecological justice, consistent with Indigenous cosmologies and experiences. Sarah and I find hope in the leadership of Indigenous communities who struggle for all life as land and water protectors and call on people of faith to join them.
We look forward to opening up this conversation with you this fall, as we together seek God’s shalom during this unprecedented time of climate crisis — and opportunity. - Sheri Hostetler, First Mennonite Church of San Fransisco |
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Our next Coffee Hour is Wednesday, Aug 30th at 9:00 am PST / 10:00 am MST / 11:00 am CST / 12:00 pm EST. A member of our staff will be available to answer questions and spend time in community together. Register at the link below. |
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Resource Corner -
Our website has had a makeover! Go check it out at dismantlediscovery.org.
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Mark Charles spoke at the Annual Gathering about his book, "Unsettling Truths: The Ongoing, Dehumanizing Legacy of the Doctrine of Discovery." You can purchase copies at his website.
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Check out this conversation with Sarah Augustine about Oak Flat.
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All check donations to the Coalition should be sent to the following address: Coalition to Dismantle the Doctrine of Discovery 3258 Thompson Ave. Alameda, CA 94501 Checks should still be made out to our fiscal sponsor, Pacific Southwest Mennonite Conference. If the check is for the salary campaign or another special fund, that should also be mentioned in the memo line. |
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The Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery Coalition is fiscally sponsored by and a ministry partner of the Pacific Southwest Mennonite Conference (PSMC). Want to receive our appeal letters by mail? Email your address to us at mennosdismantlingthedofd@gmail.com |
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