Land Acknowledgment links:
Telling the truth about the lands we inhabit: https://www.livinglutheran.org/2021/11/48330/
Labor Acknowledgment link: https://www.diverseeducation.com/demographics/african-american/article/15108677/on-labor-acknowledgements-and-honoring-the-sacrifice-of-black-americans
Book reference: Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson
News reference: The Federated Tribes of Graton Rancheria have regained stewardship of 466 acres of their ancestral lands along the coast. (January 2025)
Indigenous websites with newsletters: (consider joining at least one or two to begin learning more about current affairs)
- Turtle Talk - “the leading blog on legal issues in Indian Country” - https://turtletalk.blog/ - scroll down to “Follow blog via email” along the right side of the home page, enter email address, and click on Follow
- National Indian Law Library - “devoted to federal Indian and tribal law” - https://narf.org/nill/ - scroll down to “Indian Law Bulletins” along the left side of the home page, enter email address, and click on Sign Me Up
- The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition - “leading the movement for truth, justice, and healing” - https://boardingschoolhealing.org/ - scroll down to the bottom of the home page to “Subscribe to our newsletter”; enter email address, first name, and last name; then click on Subscribe
- Native American Rights Fund - “the fight for Native rights and Tribal sovereignty” - https://narf.org/ - scroll down to the bottom of the home page to “Get NARF News,” enter email address, and click on >> arrow
- Lakota People’s Law Project - “fighting for the sovereignty and security of Indigenous People everywhere” - https://lakotalaw.org/ - scroll down to Stay Involved; enter your first name, last name, and email address; then click on Sign Up
- Amazon Frontlines - “The Amazon Rainforest is approaching an irreversible tipping point. We partner with Indigenous peoples to protect the forest they call home and that we all depend on.” - https://amazonfrontlines.org/ - scroll down to “Stand with Indigenous peoples…” toward the right side of the home page; enter first name, last name, email address, and country; then click on Join the Movement
- U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights - “for all who believe that freedom for the Palestinian people is an integral part of achieving our collective liberation” - https://uscpr.org/ - scroll down to Who We Are and click on Join Us, which opens another webpage to Sign Up
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In collaboration with ELCA Indigenous Ministries and Tribal Relations, ELCA Coaching is partnering with Rev. Solveig Nilsen-Goodin and Jason O'Neill to facilitate our gatherings on the second Wednesdays of each month through 2025. For January 2025, we met on January 15 instead of January 8.
(Most other Wednesdays will explore additional elements of Creating Beloved Community.)
"Rarely, if ever, are any of us healed in isolation. Healing is an act of communion." -- bell hooks, All About Love
This year, we will be engaging with a book written by an Indigenous author, scholar, leader, theologian, etc.: Custer Died For Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto, by Vine Deloria, Jr. (Standing Rock Sioux)
We ask you to read one chapter per month on your own, then we will discuss together during these monthly gatherings. (Chapter 1 for January, Chapter 2 for February, and so on.) You are still welcome to join us if you are unable to read beforehand, and we do encourage you to read as you are able so that your contributions are filtered through the lens of this Indigenous elder.
If you do not have the book and cost is an issue for you, please send a request to jill.beverlin@elca.org
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Bonus learning:
In November 2024, the Vine Deloria Jr. Theological Symposium focused on Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto, with presenters sharing their take on Deloria’s book. You can find those recordings here:
"Red Power, Black Power, and Critical Race Theory" -- Rev. Dr. Robert O. Smith (Chickasaw)
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If you feel called to facilitate your own ELCA Truth and Healing Movement Reading Circle, please access the free discussion guide here.
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We began gathering online with faith leaders in March of 2020 to wrestle together with Being Church in a global pandemic, which transitioned over the summer of 2021 to Courageous Leadership, as COVID revealed our perceptions and misconceptions about most things in life. Jesus is our primary model as we move toward Creating Beloved Community: Healing Together to learn together and experiment in community with a variety of spiritual practices and focus areas.
We believe this is in attunement with our call as Christians from:
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Scripture and our expanding understanding and expression of love for ALL of our neighbors
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MLK's Letter from Birmingham Jail and Vision of the Beloved Community
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ELCA Teaching, and especially our "connection to all of life"
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ELCA Truth and Healing Movement (as facilitated by Indigenous Ministries and Tribal Relations)
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Dr. Shawn Ginwright's The Four Pivots: Reimagining Justice, Reimagining Ourselves
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And so many other diverse voices and sacred ways we engage with each other and with the world.
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To answer some commonly asked questions about these regular gatherings:
"Why are you still meeting?" "Don't become too familiar with loneliness. Community is a risk, but liberation depends on the collective. Who can you trust to hold you?" -- Cole Arthur Riley, author of Black Liturgies
