First Annual Red Nations Rising - Healing the Wounds: An Intercultural Interfaith Gathering

This event is a three-day educational and healing weekend put together by Red Nations Rising in conjunction with the Spring Interfaith Council, Spring, TX. 

The event starts Friday morning, and includes three full days of Talking Circles on topics in need of healing, educational documentary films, and workshops culminating in a final Prayer and Sharing session and closing dinner on Sunday afternoon and evening.

Paula Palmer, Coordinator of Toward Right Relationships with Native Peoples will be facilitating workshops on Friday and Saturday from 4-6 PM.

There is NO COST or fees to register and/or attend any day or evening sessions. Love offerings and donations may be offered but are not required. All are welcome. You may attend for one day, two days or all three days. 

We invite all faith communities to make a financial contribution if possible, provide a lunch, and provide food for the Sunday dinner. Funds collected will go towards funding this event and planned future events of this type. 

CLICK HERE to OFFER a DONATION to Red Nations Rising to help fund this and future Red Nations Rising events planned across the nation! 

Lunch each day will be provided onsite. Breakfast and dinner will be on your own and the responsibility of the participant, although there will be a light breakfast provided each day as well. Restaurants are available within a few minutes of the Agape Church site. If you have special dietary needs, please bring what you need for meals just in case. Well water and tap water are available; bring a water container to fill. Sunday evening is a potluck dinner - please bring something to share. 

Free Parking available onsite.

There will be open dry camping areas available at no cost, or visitor participants' tipi sites with no open fires allowed. Personal small camp grills allowed. What garbage you bring and or create,  you will take out with you when you leave. Indoor toilets and showers will be available. 

WORKSHOPS

Workshops presented by Paula Palmer on Friday and Saturday evening from 4pm -  6pm. Paula is a bilingual sociologist, writer, and activist for racial justice, human rights, and environmental protection. As a Quaker, she serves on the steering committee of Decolonizing Quakers and is a frequent speaker at the FGC Gathering and yearly and monthly meetings throughout the United States. 

She is a member of Boulder meeting, Intermountain Yearly Meeting. As the 2016 Pendle Hill Cadbury Scholar, she conducted research and produced articles and videos about the role Quakers played during the era of the Indian Boarding Schools.

Paula is a founding member and co-coordinator of Right Relationship Boulder. For 17 years, as executive director of the non-profit organization, Global Response, Paula directed over 70 international campaigns to help Indigenous peoples and local communities defend their rights and prevent environmental destruction.

To learn more about the work of Friends Peace Teams and their work as well as other workshops Click Here

Workshop 1: Friday, April 19, 2024 4:00 PM

The The Quaker Indigenous Boarding Schools: Facing Our History & Ourselves

Native American organizations are asking churches to join in a Truth and Reconciliation process to bring about healing for Native American families that continue to suffer the consequences of the Indian boarding schools. With support from Pendle Hill (the Cadbury scholarship), Friends Historical Library (the Moore Fellowship), the Native American Rights Fund, and other Friendly sources, Paula Palmer researched the role that Quakers played in implementing the federal government’s policy of forced assimilation of Native children. This 1-hour slide presentation is followed by an hour of discussion about what this history means for Friends and Native Americans today. 

Workshop 2: Saturday, April 20, 2024 4:00 PM

Roots of Injustice, Seeds of Change: Toward Right Relationship with Native Peoples

In this 2-hour participatory program, we experience the history of the colonization of Turtle Island, the land that is now known as the United States. The story is told through the words of Indigenous leaders, European/American leaders, and Western historians. We engage with this history through experiential exercises and small group discussions. And we are invited to consider how we can build relationships with Indigenous peoples based on truth, respect, justice, and our shared humanity. 

Talking Circles in the Tipi

Scheduled @ 10 AM - 12PM &  2 PM - 4PM, Friday, Saturday & Sunday

Various small groups based on topic will group together to share thoughts and feelings on the topic. One speaker at a time without interruption may speak until all that would like to have spoken. This sharing will be held in a safe environment where what is said stays in the circle. Counselors will be on-hand immediately after the sharing to help those that experience distress over recounting or hearing about these subjects to get help with any trauma that arises.

Topics for Talking Circles Include:

• Historical Trauma
• Multigenerational Grief and Grieving
• Shame
• Rage and Anger
• Addictions
• Suicide and Overdose Loss

Click here to learn more about the Ceremonial Leaders, Medicine People & Wisdom Keepers who will be facilitating the ceremonies, talking circles & events. We are honored to have each one of them join us for this sacred event.

Film Screenings with Discussion

Savage Land Film: Presented by the filmmakers Wilbur & Melissa Goodblanket

When Custer County Police kill 18 year old Cheyenne Arapaho Mah-hi-vist Red Bird Goodblanket in his family’s kitchen, descendants of the Sand Creek and Washita Massacres take us back 150 years to reveal how historical trauma and the horrors of the past are still present in America today.

Wiping the Tears of Seven Generations

In December 1990, 300 Lakota Sioux horseback riders rode 250 miles, in two weeks, through bitter, below-zero winter weather, to commemorate the lives lost at the Wounded Knee Massacre of 1890.

The Peyote Road

This widely acclaimed, landmark documentary was instrumental in the campaign to have Congress overturn the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1990 “Smith” decision, which denied the protection of the First Amendment to the traditional sacramental use of peyote by Indian people.

I Found My Heart at Standing Rock

I Found My Heart at Standing Rock is about what people found or discovered about indigenous rights and their deep relationship associated with land, air and water and Mother Earth. Also hundreds of interviews with both indigenous people and non indigenous youth, adults and elders from across the country and globe who found their “hearts” by coming to this international protest against BIG OIL!

The Hopi Prophecy - The 11th Hour

A timely spiritual statement about a humanity in concert moving towards global transformation, one prayer, one act of kindness and compassion. Speaks to the oneness of all beings and Mother Earth in relationship with the Great Spirit. A powerful positive proactive statement for our times of global crisis on many levels.

500 Nations

500 Nations is an eight-part documentary series that originally aired on CBS and is hosted by Kevin Costner. The series looks back at life in North America before the arrival of the Europeans, then follows the epic struggles of Indigenous Nations as the continent is reshaped by contact.