Monthly Spiritual Gathering |
For the past 18 months the Coalition has hosted monthly online space for a Spiritual Gathering focused on decolonizing our worship - prepared by the Spiritual Care Team. Our regular meeting times are set for the last Friday of each month at 4 pm ET / 1pm PT.
We are wondering if this time and day work well, or if an alternate If you are a regular attender of our Spiritual Gatherings, or someone who cannot make it but would like to join us, please indicate your preferred meeting times/days based on the options in this short Google Form (open until Aug 4th).
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Join us TODAY: June 26th at 1pm PT / 2pm MT / 3pm CT / 4pm ET You are invited to join our monthly Spiritual Gathering on the last Friday of every month. The Coalition continues its focus on the Sacred Values in all our gatherings including the monthly Spiritual Gathering. Today we will focus on the Sacred Value of LOVE.
Join us: register for the link
*Once you have registered, save the link into your calendar -- we will use the same link each month. |
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July's Spiritual Gathering - hosted in your community! On July 31, 2026 our monthly Spiritual Gathering will be held locally in your communities.
There will not be an online gathering hosted by the Coalition Spiritual Care Team in July. Instead, you are invited to put into action what we have been modeling for you and ask that you gather in your communities. The Coalition Annual Gathering will begin on this same day and we invite you to include those gathered, and traveling to gather, in your prayers.
A guide that includes the Realms of Resistance and the Coalition Prayers for our Campaigns is available here to help you plan. We look forward to hearing your reflections at our August gathering. Please feel free to post pictures of your gathering and tag us on Facebook. |
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Join us at Annual Gathering
July 31st - August 3rd, 2026 |
2025 Annual Gathering in The Dalles, OR (photo by Joe Hubbard) |
All are welcome to join us at our upcoming Annual Gathering! Whether you are a longtime volunteer, in process or part of our Repair Network, or just getting to know us - we hope you can join us at our in person gathering the weekend of July 31st - Aug 3rd, 2026.
Our gathering will be hosted by two congregations: St. Paul’s Episcopal Church (248 Seneca St. Harrisburg, PA 17110) and Landisville Mennonite Church (3320 Bowman Rd, Landisville, PA 17538). Registration cost: $40 for Annual Meeting
If registration cost is a barrier, there are scholarships available (see RSVP form for details).
If you plan to join us for all or part of the long weekend in person, please RSVP at this link by July 15th. A Zoom option will be available for Annual Meeting sessions, please register by July 25th to join us online. Questions? Contact admin@dismantlediscovery.org |
Weekend Schedule
- Thursday July 30 - Early arrival day
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Friday July 31 Carlisle Boarding School Tour and Welcome Dinner
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1-5pm - Tour of Carlisle Boarding School (meeting location TBD)
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What to expect: The tour will include a lot of walking and standing - please wear comfortable shoes and clothing. It is possible that we could be outside for long periods of time without chairs.
If you register to attend the Friday tour: Carlisle Boarding School is located on an active military base. In order to gain access for the tour, each individual is required to fill out and submit this application 15-30 days prior to July 31st. This is a military base, so they run background checks before permitting access. If you are a U.S. Veteran and have your ID or paperwork you do not have to complete the form, but you must have your ID/paperwork on you to enter the base on July 31st. Email completed forms to: usawc-cbks-des-visitorcenter@army.mil
Carlisle Barracks Visitor Center / Visitor Access Information
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5:30pm - Dinner and social gathering at St. Pauls Episcopal
- Saturday Aug 1 First day of Annual Gathering at St. Paul's
- 8:30am - Morning Sessions
- 11:30am - Lunch
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12:30pm - Afternoon Sessions
- 5pm - Dinner
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Sunday Aug 2 Second day of Annual Gathering at Landisville Mennonite
- 9am - Communal Worship
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11am - Potluck Lunch
- 12-2:30pm - Annual Meeting Sessions
- 6:30-8:30pm - Story-telling Event (Location TBD - open to the public)
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Monday Aug 3 Repair Network Training: "Economic Justice, Mutual Aid Organizing, and Entryways into the Movement" at Landisville Mennonite
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Lunch provided
- Repair Network members are encouraged to stay for the Monday training and are offered a discounted rate ($30/person) during registration.
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Note for travel: We recommend flying into Harrisburg Airport, as it will be the easiest location for homestay pickups and transportation. You can indicate whether you would like a homestay on the RSVP form. If you fly into Philadelphia Airport there are buses and trains from Philadelphia to Harrisburg. |
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Decolonizing 250 Years of America - Call to Action |
On June 8th we held a panel discussion led by our Executive Director, Sarah Augustine, featuring elder and artist Diane Schenandoah (Oneida/Haudenosaunee Confederacy), theologian Mark Charles (Navajo/Diné), and legal scholar Asma Uddin. We asked our panelists what it means to 'celebrate' 250 years of America on colonized land. You can watch the full recording on our YouTube channel here.
As people are actively engaging with America 250 celebrations in our communities and across the nation it is a key time to expand the dominant culture’s narrative around the U.S.A.'s founding. The Coalition to Dismantle the Doctrine of Discovery is inviting you to take action in two ways:
1) Host a prayer vigil with your community in July around the weekend of the 4th using this toolkit: https://tinyurl.com/Decolonize250-vigils
2) Write a Letter to the Editor about America 250 highlighting the way the Doctrine of Discovery continues to show up in our present day legal structures using this toolkit: https://tinyurl.com/Decolonize250-LTE
With these vigils and letters, we can highlight what is missing from the conversation - the influence of the Doctrine of Discovery in shaping our common history and our present reality.
If you are planning a vigil or writing an LTE, please let us know! We'd love to support you and track our Coalition's impact for narrative change. Reply to this email or contact Deborah Yoder at deborah@dismantlediscovery.org |
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Tuesday July 7, 2026
12-1:30PM PT / 1-2:30PM MT / 2-3:30PM CT / 3-4:30PM ET
Join Land Justice Futures' upcoming webinar on Tuesday July 7 as they apply a critical, historical lens to the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Learn about the Indigenous roots of American democracy and discuss the unfinished work of truth-telling, repair, and right relationship for the next 250 years. This conversation will include Condoled Mohawk Clanmother “Mommabear” Louise Herne, How To Citizen host Baratunde Thurston, and Reverend Sara Jolena Wolcott, a theologian and descendent of one of the signers of the U.S. Declaration of Independence. |
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Lakota Sacred Lands Update: The Black Hills and Lakota Sacred Sites are Still Under Siege |
Last month, Coalition organizers Doe Hoyer and Amanda Pittman traveled to Hot Springs, South Dakota in response to a request from Lakota organizers fighting to protect the sacred sites Pe'Sla and Craven Canyon from graphite and uranium test drilling, respectively. The Lakota resistance to the threat to Pe'Sla resulted in the company withdrawing its permit request. In the case of Craven Canyon, the permit hearing has been indefinitely adjourned following the filing of a federal civil rights lawsuit by Lakota land and water protectors.
Yet, the threats to Paha Sapa / He Sapa (the sacred lands now called the Black Hills) and to other Lakota sacred sites are in no way stopping. Despite objection from tribes and both Indigenous and non-Indigenous activists, last week on June 15th, the Dewey-Burdock uranium mining project received approval from the Bureau of Land Management to begin constructing the "initial ancillary infrastructure" needed to begin mining. This project, located in the Black Hills west of the Craven Canyon project, would still need further permitting, but has passed a significant milestone toward becoming reality.
Another site, Pipestone National Monument in Minnesota, which is sacred to the nations of the Oceti Sakowin (the Lakota and Dakota peoples) and Indigenous nations across the continent, is being threatened by a corporation wanting to rebuild a previously decommissioned oil pipeline. Pipestone Quarry is the sole source of the red catalanite used in sacred pipes, which are central to Indigenous spiritual practice for numerous nations. Damage to or contamination of this site would be catastrophic for current and future spiritual practice and religious freedom for Indigenous peoples. The pipeline has been decommissioned for four years and is not needed.
We are being called to stand alongside our relatives, whose lands are under attack. Right now, Indigenous organizers are calling on faith communities across the country to submit public comments in defense of Pipestone National Monument.
Join us in telling the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission to deny the permits for the Magellan Pipeline Project. Learn how you can sign on to the Coalition's letter of support and send your own public comment at: https://linktr.ee/ProtectPipestoneCalltoAction
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Land Justice Working Group Update |
On May 4th, the Land Justice working group launched a campaign to support buffalo restoration and land return on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming. In a well-attended webinar, Jason Baldes, founder and Executive Director of the Wind River Tribal Buffalo Initiative (WRTBI) shared his vision for cultural and community revitalization through the restoration of buffalo to the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho peoples. And Sarah Augustine, founder and Executive Director of the Coalition to Dismantle the Doctrine of Discovery, announced that it is the Land Justice working group’s goal to contribute the final $100k needed for the Wind River Tribal Buffalo initiative to complete a critical land return purchase for their growing buffalo herds.
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It’s not too late to learn about buffalo restoration and support this campaign! -
Contribute online through PayPal and choose “Land Justice Fund” in the drop down menu, or visit dismantlediscovery.org/landback-fund/ for more information on how to donate via check!
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Join the update call July 8th at 4 pm PT / 7 pm ET - open conversations with the Land Justice working group about buffalo restoration, land rematriation, and progress made towards the $100K goal. Register here: https://forms.gle/b467PP464o6CTxq77
If you would like to watch the recording of the May 4th webinar, or to get more involved in land justice, reach out to phoebe@dismantlediscovery.org. |
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Legal Scholars Explore Fight to Save Oak Flat |
In a recent American Bar Association webinar titled “First on the Land, Last in Court? The Apache Stronghold Case,” a panel of lawyers and legal scholars explored the legal,
constitutional, and moral stakes of the fight to protect Oak Flat (Chi’chil Bildagoteel). Panelists discussed the long and complex legal history of the Oak Flat case and jurisprudence that led up to it -- as well as, more broadly, sacred-site protection and the future of Native religious freedom in the U.S.
The San Carlos Apache, in Arizona, have been fighting for years to save their most sacred land from complete destruction by a foreign-owned copper mine. In what panelists called a “tragic” record, both Congress and the federal courts (including the U.S Supreme Court), have failed to protect the Apaches from this existential threat. Panelist Lauren van Schilfgaarde (Cochiti Pueblo), assistant professor at UCLA School
of Law and assistant director of its Native Nations Law and Policy Center, called this a
“powerful moment that does show the potential impact of civil society and legal activism -- in part because the outrage that is shared, with this decision, is not exclusive to Indigenous communities. And frankly that’s brand new,” she said. “Native communities have simply not enjoyed this type of consensus any time in American history. Any time before, this type of decision would have been understood as part of the course, Manifest Destiny, ‘this is a necessary tragedy.’ That’s not the response right now.
“I think that reflects a good renormalization of tribes, not just as a historical anomaly but as contemporary parts of American society that can and should be respected, but also that sacred places can and should be respected. There’s a lot of potential there, and we should further that. The more that the average American is exposed to these issues, the more they’re persuaded that they [native rights] are worth protecting. That’s incredibly powerful, and something we simply haven’t enjoyed before.”
A recording of the 90-minute webinar is available on YouTube. The Oak Flat Buddhist Working Group recommends it to anyone interested in Oak Flat and the fight to save sacred Indigenous sites across the country: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFo3jqo9Lxg
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Activists Living with Disability - July 8th |
Activists Living with Disabilities have gifts to offer the movement for repair and seeking justice alongside Indigenous relatives. Together, we will explore these gifts and how we can effect change towards disability justice and increased accessibility within the movement. Anyone living with any kind of disability or chronic illness is encouraged to join our monthly drop-in calls. We meet monthly on the second Wednesdays.
Our next meeting will be Wednesday, July 8th from 3-4pm PST / 5-6pm CST / 6-7pm EST. You can register here to receive the Zoom link. This month, we will continue our discussion on activism as part of a life of resistance.
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SSU Reconciliation Studies |
This Fall, Sarah Augustine is teaching a course at St. Stephen's University (SSU) as part of their Certificate in Reconciliation Studies. Sarah's course is Joining the Vulnerable in Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery
In this course, we will unpack the legal and policy structure that is the Doctrine of Discovery, the basis of land-tenure policy pertaining to Indigenous Peoples in North America and around the globe. Writer, speaker and activist Sarah Augustine will share her life experience as an Indigenous woman to demonstrate its current impact, and lead discussion about how to resist and dismantle it in the context of Indigenous cosmology. Students will have the opportunity to generate creative responses that link Indigenous liberation with climate and environmental justice, joining vulnerable peoples in land and water defense movements for liberation.
Other courses offered at SSU this Fall: - Indigenous Sovereignty and the Colonial Legacy
- Culturally Safe and Trauma-Informed Relationship
These courses can be taken either fully online or in a hybrid online/in person form. They can also be taken as part of the certificate program or individually, either for academic credit or audited. Learn more
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| About the Certificate in Reconciliation Studies program: - The certificate can be taken on its own or integrated into a master’s degree at St. Stephen’s University.
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The certificate requires a total of 18 credit hours, spread out over two semesters. Students may start with either semester.
- Semester One - in 2026 - starts on September 8 and ends on December 9, consists of three courses (each 3 credit hours, for a total of 9 out of 18 credit hours).
Complete an application online: ssu.ca/application
Questions? Contact: ssu.ca/contact |
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A Dangerous Faith Submission Call |
A Dangerous Faith: Inspiration for the Journey is an online and printed zine for youth and young adults with content written by them and for them. Do you know a young adult or teen who writes and/or creates art? Share this submission call with them!
Submission Call: We want contributions from young people of faith who are passionate about justice and advocacy. We are interested in visual art, poetry, songs and reflections (max: 1000 words)
Our theme for the Summer 2026 issue: Holding Love and Justice
Psalm 85:10 describes a relationship between Love, Faithfulness, Justice, and Peace. Depending on the translation, they are paired together, like the NIV: “Love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other.” -
What do you picture the meeting of righteousness (or Justice) and peace would look like? How would you describe the meeting of Love and Justice? What examples of this have you seen in the world around you?
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In Matthew 5:43-48 Jesus calls us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. How is ‘love’ as a practice or skill different from an emotional feeling? What does justice look like when we love our enemies?
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In 1 Corinthians 1:18 it says “the message of the cross is foolishness”. The idea of loving your enemies can seem foolish, and appearing ‘foolish’ to others can be seen as a negative. What is possible when we appear foolish in front of others as we live out our values? What does it look like when love, justice, and foolishness meet?
Submission deadline: Monday, July 13, 2026
To share your submission, fill out this short google form |
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Looking for how to plug-in? Want to learn more about the Coalition? Join our next Volunteer Orientation on July 16th from 4-5:30 PST / 5-6:30 MST / 6-7:30 CST / 7-8:30 EST. You can register below for the zoom link! |
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Our July Coffee Hour has been cancelled. Our next Coffee Hour - hosted by Coalition staff - will be Wednesday, August 26th at 9:00 am PST / 10:00 am MST / 11:00 am CST / 12:00 pm EST. Grab a hot beverage of your choice and bring your questions as we spend time in community together. Register for the link below to join!
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Resource Corner - Moving Towards Right Relations Training in July:
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Read the latest 'Calls to Action' and reflections on the Coalition Blog
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Sarah and Sheri's Substack: Sheri Hostetler completed her series on Substack called “What I Inherited from My Father: On Being Raised Working Class but Structurally Privileged”. These are her last five reflections:
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Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery Podcast - In the newest season of the DoD podcast we are releasing the Indigenous Speaker Series in audio format! Listen to the latest episodes with Jim Rock and Tela Troge
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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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Our Contact Information
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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 admin@dismantlediscovery.org |
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