From LACO, the Lisbon Area Christian Outreach, which operates a vital area food bank.
The bottle drive, food collection, and bake sale will be held at Food City in Lisbon Falls on October 2 from 8-6 and on October 3 from 8-6. We are asking you to announce it in your church this week and ask people to bake for the bake sale if they can for either day. Volunteers will be needed to work at Food City. Just come when you can and stay as long as you can.
We also need more volunteers at the food pantry on Wednesdays from 10-1 and Saturdays from 8-10. There are only 6 volunteers left and several have had knee surgeries.
A Brief History of Our Journey Thus Far (compiled by the Indigenous Relations Resource Group)
The difficult circumstances and the longstanding injustices endured by the Penobscot, Passamaquoddy, Maliseet, and Mi’kmaq Peoples of Maine and the Canadian Maritime Provinces (known collectively as the Wabanaki) have been a concern of New England Friends since the early nineteenth century (at least). Beginning in the 1950s the AFSC Waponahki (Wabanaki) program evolved to become an indigenous-led organization supporting Native grassroots movements in Maine focusing on restoration of Waponahki languages, ceremonies, and traditional healing practices.
In the 1980s and 1990s, Shirley Hager (Winthrop Center MM) and Wampanoag activist gkisedtanamoogk convened a series of gatherings between Indigenous and non-Native individuals, held in Maine and the Maritimes, to explore if it was possible to come to know one another as individuals, and to begin to repair the tragic history between our peoples caused by generations of colonization. Participants attended from throughout New England and the Maritimes, and many of the non-Native participants were Quakers. (See The Gatherings: Reimagining Indigenous-Settler Relations, Hager and Mawopiyane, 2021.)
The Friends Committee on Maine Public Policy formed in 1992 to focus on state-level issues, especially support for Wabanaki self-determination and sovereignty.
Native leaders, with support from Quakers in Maine, established Wabanaki REACH to support the work of the Maine Wabanaki-State Child Welfare Truth and Reconciliation Commission. This involvement continues as Wabanaki REACH has evolved in its work for Truth Healing and Change in Native and non-native communities. The historic Maine Wabanaki-State Child Welfare Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was officially seated in 2013, investigating child welfare practices over a 27-month period by interviewing over 150 individuals.
Informed by their work and the experiences of a small but growing network of individual and Meeting connecting with local Native groups, New England Friends began studying, praying, and wrestling with the meaning of our participation in the colonization and settlement of what is now called the United States. This came into sharp focus in 2013 with our reflections on the foundational “doctrine of discovery.” We found this amalgam of papal and royal proclamations that are embedded in the American legal framework to be morally and theologically indefensible. (Minute 2013-52).
Several years of discussion and prayer over what might be an appropriate way to make substantive our repudiation of the “doctrine of discovery” followed. Guided in part by local Indigenous elders, NEYM discerned that the foundation of a new kind of relationship between ourselves, mostly the descendants of European settlers, and the Native people who continue to call New England home would be a respectful, candid acknowledgement of the history and an explicit, uncomplicated apology.
After two years of study and reflection by local Meetings, Sessions 2019 approved a “Letter of Apology to Native Americans” that named our complicity and recounted some of the grievous harms that followed. After further consultation that included local Native elders and Friends whose lineage includes Settler and Indigenous ancestors, the “Apology” was sent to the leaders of all the Indigenous Tribes and Bands in New England.
In 2021, Shirley Hager and gkisedtanamoogk talked about their experiences as keynote speakers at New England Yearly Meeting (NEYM) Sessions, and the book The Gatherings: Reimagining Indigenous-Settler Relations was published. This book describes the experiences together and the lessons learned during the conservations in the 1980s and 90s mentioned above. That same year, a number of New England Friends became aware of the deeply disturbing research of Paula Palmer, Boulder Friends Meeting, into the role of Quakers in the funding and operation of approximately forty boarding schools whose primary purpose was to assimilate Indian children and disrupt the ties of family and Tribe. Ostensibly intended to equip Native People to function in the dominant culture, the underlying goal was to sever their connections to the land and make millions of acres available for homesteading by White settlers.
Directed by Sessions and under the care of Permanent Board, a working group spent two years (2022-23) examining countless federal records and local histories, and years of Yearly Meeting Minutes and reports of the Associated Executive Committee of Friends for Indian Affairs. To the surprise and dismay of many, this working group identified a number of schools located in what had been the Quapaw and Sac and Fox Indian Agencies, in what is now eastern Oklahoma, and a number of New England Friends who played important roles on the ground in Indian Country and in federal policy-making. NEYM Quaker Indigenous Boarding Schools Report.
Since 2024, Mary Zwirner, Suzanna Schell, and Gordon Bugbee have been following a leading to implement the recommendation of Sessions 2023 that directed that efforts be made to open communications with the thirteen Tribes and Bands most directly affected by the assimilationist efforts of New England Friends. Undertaking three trips so far, these Friends have conducted research in the federal archives in Fort Worth (TX) and Oklahoma City (OK) and have made overtures to all of the affected Tribes. New and promising relationships are developing with the Modoc, Wyandotte, Iowa, Eastern Shawnee, and Seneca Cayuga Nations. Reports for 2024, 2025, 2026 (need IRRG page link)
At the 2024 NEYM Sessions, the Legacy Gift Committee presented a 10-year review of their funding program with a recommendation to continue for another 10 years. In addition, the Legacy Review Committee recommended that a significant portion of the Funds be set aside for financial reparations. Friends were not yet clear to set aside funds but asked the Right Relations Resource Group (now the Indigenous Relations Resource Group) to lead conversations and discernment about reparations and “If NEYM becomes clear to make financial reparations, a significant draw from Witness and Ministry Fund and/or the undesignated funds could be used for this purpose.” Minute 2024-62
That same year, Friends in Maine raised over $105,000 to support a part-time Wabanaki Elderin-Residence program on the University of Maine campuses in Orono and Machias. Carol Dana, recognized as a Penobscot language master in 2002, was named the inaugural Elder-inResidence.
In 2025 we returned to the question of Reparations in response to the report from the Quaker Boarding School Research Group report. 2025-49 Revised Minute on Quaker Indigenous Boarding Schools Research Group
Again, the YM asked us to continue to “support continuity in the reparative relationship-building and knowledge-sharing that has already begun. This should be the foundation for next steps we take toward retrospective justice.”
In September 2025, on the recommendation of the IRRG, NEYM became an affiliated member of the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition (NABS). The proposal emerged from recognition that while NEYM has engaged in important research and education about boarding school history, we have not yet taken substantive steps toward repair with affected communities.
As a result of ongoing outreach efforts, in 2026, the Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma requested financial support for their program of language reclamation.
Local efforts to build right relations with Indigenous Peoples by individual Friends and local Meetings in Wellesley, Hartford, Providence, Burlington (VT), Sandwich and Dover Quarters, among others, continue.
From Peace andf Social Concerns Committee: Durham Friends folks may be interested in an upcoming community conversation at Curtis Library (Brunswick) on Wednesday, September 16, 2026 at 5pm. Ot is being sponsored by Curtis Library, The Wabanaki Alliance, and the Unitarian Universalist Church of Brunswick
The Social Justice Book Project is now chronicled in a splendid article in Friends Journal, just published. Kudos to Ingrid Chalufour and to many others who worked together on this.
“In these dark times when people are wondering what they can do, Durham (Maine) Meeting has found a path to peace education in local schools. In the fall of 2020, Durham Meeting held a series of conversations about becoming antiracist, including how we might live out our values in our local community. The Social Justice Book Project grew out of one of those conversations.”
That’s how it begins: Ingrid Chalufour’s account of the Social Justice Project she has led on behalf of Durham Friends Meeting and working in collaboration with teachers from schools in our area.
Peace and Social Cobcerns Committee calls our attention to the third annual Powwow at Bowdoin College, sponsored by the college’s Office of Inclusion and Diversity and the Bowdoin Indigenous student group.
Friends Committee on National Legislation is beginning its next round of setting its legislative priorities. Each Quaker Meeting is invited to participate in the process. Below is a letter sent to all Quaker Meetings about this opportunity. Following it is a summary of the process FCNL follows.
Durham Friends Meeting will hold its discernment discussion on Sunday, April 12, 2026, 11:45 to 1:45 pm.
Invitational Letter to Quaker Meetings: January 1, 2026 Dear Friends,
On behalf of the General Committee of FCNL, we invite you to engage your meeting or church in worship and discernment about our legislative priorities for the 120th Congress, which begins in January 2027. From its inception, the Friends Committee on National Legislation has relied on meetings and churches to ground our work in the concerns of Friends. Our process of asking Friends to consider, every two years, which issues should be the focus of their lobbying organization in Washington, DC, connects our advocacy strongly to the testimonies and values of Friends. As your meeting, church, or other Friends group takes part in this priorities-setting process, please first review FCNL’s policy statement, The World We Seek, available at https://www.fcnl.org/LegislativeStatement. Your discernment on which specific issues are rising to the priority level provides guidance to FCNL staff on where to focus their lobbying attention for the next two years. The following questions can then guide your identification of the issues of greatest importance to you. • How are Friends called to influence our government today? • What issues should be the priority for our advocacy efforts? • Where is the Spirit leading us? The enclosed documents, Guidelines for Participating in the Priorities Process, and FCNL’s website, fcnl.org/priorities, provide information and materials to guide you. Please submit the outcome of your discernment no later than April 17, 2026. Participation of Friends in meetings and churches across the country is essential to making our Quaker lobby who and what we are — from the issues we work on to the way we focus on building relationships and looking for that of God in everyone we talk with. In politics today, the kind of approach that FCNL takes is increasingly important and increasingly rare. We know that it makes a difference, but we can’t do it without you. The Policy Committee is ready to support you if further guidance is needed. Requests for help can be directed to Noell Krughoff (nkrughoff@gmail.com; (317) 512-1091) or Scot Drysdale (scotdrysdale47@gmail.com; (603) 643-3989). Additionally, on February 12, 2026, from p.m. Eastern, we will be hosting a call to answer questions, connect you with others leading this process, and ensure you are prepared to share your group’s priorities by April 17.
Understanding the Process: Setting Legislative Priorities
1. Nationwide Quaker Discernment
Every two years, FCNL asks Friends and their meetings, churches, and other groups all over the country to discern which public policy issues they feel are most pressing for the next Congress. These groups highlight legislative priorities from the many topics and questions identified in FCNL’s Policy Statement, “The World We Seek.”
2. Policy Committee
Next, the 13-member FCNL Policy Committee, appointed by the 200 Friends on General Committee, reads all the responses and meets together to consider what meetings, churches, groups, and individuals are telling FCNL.
For each concern raised, the committee considers how that area is supported in the FCNL Policy Statement and the historic leadings of Friends. The committee also considers the capacity of staff, the financial resources of FCNL, and the potential role of FCNL and other groups working on the issues. Finally, the committee considers whether a chosen issue is likely to come before the upcoming Congress.
The committee makes difficult choices among the many advances we would all like to make toward the World We Seek, knowing that if we try to do everything, we will do nothing well.
3. General Committee at Annual Meeting
The Policy Committee brings its recommendation to the FCNL General Committee meeting for final discernment in the November Annual Meeting. The General Committee may choose to accept the recommended priorities or ask for further modifications. Throughout the discussion, however, the priorities discerned by Friends across the country remain at the center of the Committee’s consideration.
Fight Hunger One Bowl, Cup at a Time will be held on February 14, Valentine’s Day, at the Lisbon Falls Baptist Church, on Rte. 196 from 4:00-6:30 P.M.
The cost is $15.00 per person. We need as many people from the board and the supporting churches to make salads, soups, chili, breads, rolls, and pies for this event.
Kim Bolshaw. our representative to LACO, will pick items up from the Meetinghouse on Saturday morning; to contact Kim, text her at 207 808 3007. Thank you.
UPDATE: February 12, 2026: The date for the public hearings on the two big “sovereignty bills” has been announced. The date is: Thursday, February 19, 2026, 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. in the Judiciary Committee meeting room, State House, Room 438. 10:00 a.m.: LD 395: “An Act to Restore Access to Federal Laws Beneficial to the Wabanaki Nations” 1:00 p.m.: LD 785: An Act to Enact the Remaining Recommendations of the Task Force on Changes to the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Implementing Act”
See the Wabanaki Alliance website for a summary of the bills and talking points: LD 395: https://www.wabanakialliance.com/ld-395-talking-points/ LD 785: https://www.wabanakialliance.com/ld-785-talking-points/ These bills will be very similar to ones that have come up in previous sessions, so you can dust off and update those previous testimonies! To support these bills contact your legislators. You can find them by going to www.maine.gov and type voter lookup into the search bar. Select Government: eDemocracy: Voter Information Lookup and enter the name of your town
Important Wabanaki Legislation, January 23, 2026
The Wabanaki Alliance will be having a Lobby Day, likely in February, in conjunction with the hearings on the two most important bills coming before the legislature this session. We ask you to contact your legislators in support of these bills.
P&SC will provide more information as we learn the dates and committees that will hold the hearings.
To support these bills contact your legislators. You can find them by going to www.maine.gov and type voter lookup into the search bar. Select Government: eDemocracy: Voter Information Lookup and enter the name of your town.
LD 785 (previously LD 1626 in past legislature), which will incorporate all of the proposed amendments to the 1980 Settlement Act that haven’t already been passed (which is the majority of them recommended by a 2019 bipartisan task force); and,
LD 395 (previously LD 2004), which seeks to give the Wabanaki Nations access to all of the beneficial laws that have been passed for the other 571 federally-recognized Indigenous Nations, but which have been denied to the Wabanaki since 1980)
Through Wendy Schlotterbeck, the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) is asking us to participate this month in a campaign they are calling Letter by Letter: Building Solidarity with Migrants.
“Throughout the fall, FCNL is collecting handwritten letters to deliver to Congress on December 18 for International Migrants Day. We’re sending a clear message: Immigrants make this nation whole. Unchecked, clandestine detention and deportation must stop.”
Time is of the essence. Wendy will be delivering our letters on December 18. She’ll be at Meeting this Sunday, December 14, equipped with pens, paper and envelopes to write letters right then and there. This Sunday will be the best day to get to her for her to carry to Collins’s office.
Here’s more from FCNL:
“Legislators must reject President Trump’s efforts to deport millions, close the border to families and children seeking refuge from persecution, and strip protections from sensitive locations like schools, hospitals, and places of worship. His administration has moved to deputize the military for civil immigration enforcement and divert funds Congress set aside for humanitarian and migration needs.
“This is not an immigration policy—it is a reckless, punitive, and unconstitutional abuse of executive power. It’s an assault on our faith calling to love the immigrant as thyself. It’s an abandonment of American values. Members of Congress can still choose another path.
“Constituent handwritten letters cut through the noise like little else. Below are talking points on four themes to help you begin: refugee admissions, threats to Dreamers, enforcement in sensitive places, and military involvement in immigration enforcement. Share your story, how your community is affected, and urge your members of Congress to act.”
Lisbon Area Christian Outreach (the food pantry we support) will hold a Christmas Craft Fair on December 6, 2025, from 8am to 4pm at the Lisbon Falls Baptist Church, 555 Lisbon Street, Lisbon Falls, Maine.
On November 9, we sent out a Friends Note seeking monetary assistance for legal costs in aid of two migrants (Miguel and Patricio) who had been seized by ICE. Haven Immigration Law has filed habeas corpus petitions on their behalf, but funds are needed to pay for this legal assistance. Money can be sent via Venmo to Christine Livia@steeny-bean, or to one of the four organizations below. (NB: links need to be retyped.)
For the message at Durham Friends Meeting on November 9, Jeanne Baker Stinson read Encounter, a children’s book by Brittany Luby (writer) and Michaela Goade (illustrator). The publisher (Little, Brown) describes it as “A powerful imagining by two Native creators of a first encounter between two very different people that celebrates our ability to acknowledge difference and find common ground.”
From Storytime Trail: “Based on an actual journal entry by French explorer Jacques Cartier from his first expedition to North America in July 1534, this story imagines the first encounter between a European sailor and a Stadaconan fisher.
“As the two navigate their differences (language, dress, food) with curiosity, the natural world around them notes their similarities. The seagull observes their like shadows, the mosquito notes their equally appealing blood, the mouse enjoys the crumbs both people leave behind.
“This story explores how encounters can create community and celebrates varying perspectives and the natural world. It is at once specific and universal. It’s a story based on a primary document and historical research, but it is in equal measure beautifully imagined. It makes room for us to recognize our differences while celebrating our shared humanity.”
Peace and Social Concerns Committee would like to call our attention to the emerging food crisis with the interruption of SNAP benefits during the federal government shutdown. P&SC urges DFM folks to be especially generous in contributions to local food banks and pantries.
Here’s a statewide initiative to support food banks.
From Shirley Hager, regarding the Friends Committee on Maine Public Policy (FCMPP):
Please save Thursday, October 16, 4:00-6:00 p.m. for a fall FCMPP meeting on Zoom.
Maulian Dana Bryant, Executive Director of the Wabanaki Alliance, will be our guest to share highlights of what the Alliance would like to achieve in the upcoming legislative session, and also to talk about the importance of Question #1, on the ballot this November, for Wabanaki communities and for all of us. This is an opportunity to get revved up and focused on upcoming important issues, and to have your questions answered.
Members of the Episcopal Committee on Indian Relations are invited as well. I have included several of them in this email and invite them to spread the word on their committee.
Stay tuned for further details of the meeting, and for the Zoom link, a bit closer to October 16.
Best wishes to all amidst this beautiful fall weather.
Please include a request for anyone wanting to join us who are not on the FCMPP list to email me at: shirley.hager@maine.edu, so that I can send them the Zoom link and meeting details closer to the meeting date.
Peace and Social Concerns Committee calls to the Meeting’s attention bills before the Maine legislature that are of particular importance to the Wabanaki Alliance.
To find your legislators go to www.maine.gov and type voter lookup into the search bar. Select Government: eDemocracy: Voter Information Lookup and enter the name of your town.
Important Wabanaki Legislation
132st Legislature
Updated May 23, 2025/Updated March 28, 2025/ Originally posted February 18, 2025
Important Wabanaki Legislation 132st Legislature February 18, 2025
The following information, and more, can be found on the Wabanaki Alliance Bill Tracker website at https://www.wabanakialliance.com/legislative-bill-tracker/
To support these bills contact your legislators. You can find them by going to www.maine.gov and type voter lookup into the search bar. Select Government: eDemocracy: Voter Information Lookup and enter the name of your town.
+++
LD 14, An Act to Provide Indigenous Peoples FreeAccess to State Parks
Sponsor: Sen. Craig Hickman (D-Kennebec)
The Wabanaki Alliance supports this bill. Read our testimony >> SUMMARY This bill provides that a citizen of a federally recognized Indian nation, tribe or band in Maine is not required to pay a fee for admission to any state-owned park, historic site, camping area or beach managed by the State. The bill also specifies that to qualify for free admission, a person is required to present a qualifying tribal identification, as approved by the respective tribal government, to the park attendant or other designee of the Director of the Bureau of Parks and Lands within the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry. Read the complete bill text» The Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry held a public hearing March 11 (read the public testimony) and a work session March 18. The committee voted that the bill Ought to Pass. ⚠STATUS: Passed initial votes in House and Senate!
The bill passed “under the hammer” (no roll call) in the Senate and passed the House 121-18 (see how your representative voted). The bill will undergo more procedural votes next.
+++
LD 958, An Act to Prohibit Eminent Domain on TribalLands
Sponsor: House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham (R-Winter Harbor)
The Wabanaki Alliance supports this bill. Read our testimony >> SUMMARY This bipartisan bill amends the 1980 Maine Indian Claims Settlement
Implementing Act and the 2023 Mi’kmaq Nation Restoration Act to prevent the state from taking Wabanaki land for public uses, often referred to as “the right of eminent domain.” This would apply to land located within Passamaquoddy Tribe territory, Penobscot Nation territory, Houlton Band Trust Land and the Mi’kmaq Nation Trust Land. By removing language that gives the state eminent domain power over tribal lands, LD 958 restores a fundamental principle that the Wabanaki Nations are sovereign governments with inherent power to regulate their territories. In committee, the bill was amended to stipulate that legislation would apply only to trust lands. Read the full bill text >> Learn more in our Take Action Post on LD 958. ⚠STATUS: Committee voted OTP; Full Legislature will vote soon. The Committee on Judiciary held a public hearing April 4 (read the public testimony). Committee members introduced an amendment that stipulates the legislation would apply only to trust lands. The committee voted 10-4 that the bill Ought to Pass as amended. It now goes to the full Legislature for a vote.
+++
LD 1474, An Act to Strengthen the Teaching of Wabanaki Studies in Maine Schools
Sponsor: Rep. Laurie Osher (D-Orono)
The Wabanaki Alliance supports this bill.
SUMMARY
This bill creates the position of Wabanaki Studies Specialist within the Maine Department of Education to oversee compliance with the 2001 Wabanaki Studies Law, which requires the inclusion of Wabanaki history, economic and political systems, and culture in the curricula of all public K-12 schools. According to
a 2022 report by the Wabanaki Alliance, the Maine Indian Tribal-State Commission, ACLU of Maine, and the Abbe Museum, most school districts in the state have largely ignored the law since it was enacted, which prompted the introduction of this legislation. LD 1474 requires ongoing funding for the Wabanaki Studies Specialist and for contracted Wabanaki advisors to advance the implementation of Wabanaki studies across the state. LD 1474 also directs the state Board of Education to require completion of a Wabanaki studies component within teacher certification requirements and ensures funding is available to hire Wabanaki advisors and educators who would help the Wabanaki studies specialist create short-term courses that would be available to all Maine teachers. A similar bill (which also included additional provisions related to African American Studies) was approved by the 131st Legislature but died on the appropriations table last spring along with dozens of other unfunded bills. Read the full text of LD 1474>> Learn more in our Take Action Post on LD 1474. STATUS: Voted OTP by the committee; full Legislature will vote soon. The Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs held a public hearing April 22 (read the public testimony). The committee held two work sessions and the majority voted (7-6) that the bill Ought to Pass. It goes to the full Legislature for a vote next.
Rachel Carey-Harper, a Quaker in New England Yearly Meeting, recently made a gift to Durham Friends. (At the same time she made similar gifts to other Meetings in NEYM.) She asked us to re-donate this money to causes of importance to us. Here is what we have done.
From the February 2025 Meeting Minutes: The Meeting received a $2,000 gift from Rachel Carey-Harper. She expressed a desire that the money support people who are affected by the ways in which our government is no longer funding organizations, e.g., immigrants and refugees, LGBTQ+, Women’s shelters, etc. The money may be given to more than one organization. The suggestion was made that a portion of the funds go to domestic violence survivors. Several people spoke in support of giving to Maine Immigrant and Refugee Services (MEIRS) today, the need being immediate. Clerk proposed giving $1,000 to MEIRS today, and return next month to discuss allocation of the remainder. Meeting approved this proposal.
From the March 2025 Meeting Minutes: “On the use of Rachel Carey-Harper’s Donation — Linda Muller. After conducting some research, Linda Muller and Sarah Sprogell recommend the Meeting donate the remaining $1,000 (out of the original $2,000 gift) to Safe Voices, a domestic violence direct service organization working in Androscoggin, Oxford and Franklin Counties. This is a geographic area of greater risk, many towns without standing police departments. Over 2,700 women were served last year. Meeting heartily approved this contribution.”
Rachel Carey-Harper has asked us to look at and give feedback to Healing Reflections, a new website launched with support, collaboration, and guidance from Barnstable Friends Preparative Meeting and approval of Mattapoisett Monthly Meeting. The website focuses on grounding ourselves in what connects us, healing that which separates us from each other, and ways we can move forward in love. They would like to know if you think there is anything being presented that is contrary to basic Friends faith and principles. We are encouraged to contribute to the “From the Orchestra” section which includes messages or reflections sharing our sense of Spirit.
You can learn more about the family business, Eden Hand Arts, which Rachel Carey-Harper now owns, HERE.
Shirley Hager, of Winthrop Center Friends Meeting, brought the message to Durham Friends Meeting on December 15, 2024. She outlined the proposal now afoot for creating a Wabanaki Elder-in-Residence at the University of Maine. Initially, this would be a three-year pilot program, costing about $30,000 each of the three years.
The materials she distributed encouraging contributions from Quaker Meetings and individual Friends are below.
As we all seek to find our own path forward in the current environment, we invite you to join us in reading Active Hope by Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone.
We will be meeting on the 4th Sunday in January, February, and March at 9:30am.
A section of the book will be discussed at each meeting.
Where: Meetinghouse Arts, 40 Main Street, Freeport
Tickets:
$10 for non-members,
$5 for members,
Free for Teachers & Students (ticket still required)
What is the impact of history and education when more inclusive of Native peoples of this land? How do you bring it into your learning space? Chris Newell will examine these questions and more as he discusses the far-reaching work of himself and his partners at Akomawt Educational Initiative to bring Native content to all areas of education in our society.
The lecture will be followed by a screening of the short film “Weckuwapok (The Approaching Dawn).”
Chris Newell’s book “If You Lived During the Plimoth Thanksgiving” will be available for purchase.
There will be a LACO Fundraising Dinner at Durham Friends Meetinghouse, October 5, 2024, 4:30 to 6:30 pm.
LACO is Lisbon Area Christian Outreach, a food pantry amd clothing bank supported by a number of churches, including this Friends Meeting, in and around Lisbon, Maine.
FCNL is asking us to contact our congressional representatives urging support for creation of a Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies.
The Social Justice Book Project, at Durham Monthly Meeting of Friends in Maine, has produced the materials in this folder for use by teachers of young children and organizations wishing to establish similar projects in their communities. These materials are available to you to print and share. By October 1, 2024 all of the materials will be available and they include:
Peace and Social Concerns calls these events to our attention:
Dear friend,
Over the course of 2024, partners committed to surfacing the truths of colonization and oppression in the place known for millennia by the Wabanaki people as the Dawnland will engage with local communities on a journey across land and water, shining a light on the ways that Indigenous, Black, and settler-descendent populations are represented—or not—in Maine’s commemorative landscape.Convened by the public history nonprofit Atlantic Black Box, the Walk for Historical and Ecological Recovery (WHERE2024) is a broad-based and community-engaged effort carried out in partnership with Wabanaki REACH, Indigo Arts Alliance, Community Change Inc., and In Kinship Collective.
Join WHERE2024 partners on Thursday, May 9 at 5:30 pm for a launch event hosted by the Land We Live Onto kick off this epic collective journey.
Over seven months, a series of walks and programs situated in seven locations throughout the state will engage the public in surfacing suppressed stories of genocide and survival, enslavement and resistance, displacement and represencing.Walking in solidarity to forward ongoing processes of truth-seeking and transformation, our aim is to catalyze creative and embodied approaches to antiracist and decolonial historical recovery efforts across the state and the region.Please join us on May 9 as we move to reckon with all that has happened here and to engage in dialogue around the ways that our past continues to shape our present-day relationships and our possible futures.CLICK TO RSVP OR JOIN MAILING LIST
Peace and Social Concerns Committee will be showing a film, “Common Ground” at the Meetinghouse on April 26 at 7:00 PM. More on the film HERE.
From the film’s website:
From the filmmakers of ‘Kiss the Ground’ (Netflix) comes the follow-up documentary ‘Common Ground’, winner of the Tribeca Film Festival. Common Ground is an important new documentary film featuring Laura Dern, Jason Momoa, Woody Harrelson, Ian Somerhalder, Donald Glover, Rosario Dawson, Mark Hyman, Gabe Brown, and many others.
Directed by Josh and Rebecca Tickell, Common Ground provides hope for future generations with concrete ways to fix a broken planetary system. The film explores how regenerative agriculture can help heal the soil, our health and the planet.
We know elections matter, and we know that our voices matter. That is why Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) asks us to identify the top priorities that they will focus on in the next Congress, convening in January, 2025.
On Sunday, April 14 at 12 noon, our Peace and Social Concerns Committee will lead us in a meeting wide discussion and discernment. If you cannot attend, in person or by Zoom, please reply to this email (durham@neym.org) with your thoughts.
“We may all feel at times that we stand alone and are helpless as single individuals to influence issues that we have a driving desire (leading) to improve and/or change. Please recognize that if you accept this invitation to provide input to FCNL you will be joining hundreds of others pushing for a better world. The success of FCNL’s 80 years of advocacy work has always depended on persistence, patience and the support of caring people (examples: 2016 US-Iran Nuclear Agreement, 2023 repeal of 2002 Iraq War Authorization, 2024 advocacy for passage of Bill S.1723 Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act).”
On April 14 we will prepare a message from Durham Friends, letting FCNL know what is most important to us right now. Please help us do that by attending our meeting or sending your thoughts by email.
Here’s a list of current priorities, feel free to add yours under Other Issues
Portland Friends Meeting (and others) invite us to participate in a Zoom Letter Writing Party for Maine Gun Safety — to be held on Leap Day, February 29, 2024.
(to avoid zoom bombing you’ll have to quickly take a moment to register)
Not sure what to say in your letter? We’ll send you a template you could use, or you can write your own if you feel inspired! More materials HERE.
Come spend an hour with Quakers and others throughout Maine by writing letters to your legislators, Janet Mills, or the newspaper, to promote the four priorities of the Maine Gun Safety Coalition.
Make it even more of a party by invite friends to join you in person at your home, and then log on together!
Can’t make the party? That’s ok, you can write a letter on your own time. Attached is a Letter to the Editor Toolkit, and you can also use that to help you reach out to Janet Mills or your legislator. Find your legislators here: https://nrcm.salsalabs.org/mainelegislatorlookup/index.html.
Also, we’re attaching a list of high-priority legislators who could use more nudging on this issue. Most of them are outside of Greater Portland (although one is in part of Westbrook and Windham). But please take a few minutes with the list, and if you know someone who lives in one of these towns, please reach out to them to contact their legislator, and invite them to this zoom party. This is how the work gets done!
Hosted by members of Portland Friends Meeting and Durham Friends Meeting, open to all!
Rob Levin and Heather Denkmire and Valerie Todd and Leslie Manning
Ingrid Chalufour brought the message at Durham Friends Meeting on February 4, 2024
Today I bring good news. Your money for children’s books is well spent. The 7 teachers who worked with us this fall have completed a process of using books to help them create an anti-bias classroom community. Basically, we have layered an anti-bias approach onto what they already do to create community. A definition:
“Anti-bias curriculum is an approach to early childhood education that sets forth values-based principles and methodology in support of respecting and embracing differences and acting against bias and unfairness.” From Teaching for Change
Note that we not only introduce injustice but we let children know they can do something about it.
The teachers received books about kindness; books that elicited empathy including topics such as homelessness and bullying; books that introduced all kinds of diversity (race, ethnicity, family structure, gender). They wrote reflections for us about the use of the books and the children’s responses. In conclusion, they wrote reflections about the impact of the whole unit. Their stories have provided evidence that the books do have an impact on children’s learning and on the teachers as well. I will share a few quotes:
Jeanne, who teaches a combined 1st-2nd Grade wrote, “I see that my work has had an impact this year because… my students feel comfortable asking questions and sharing ideas about the similarities and differences between us. I think the sense that any of these topics (race, ethnicity, language, religion, other aspects of culture…) are open for discussion and wondering is a key aspect of the anti-bias classroom. The other key component is the idea that we can each make a difference…. We all have such a long way to go but pure curiosity, without judgement, in a space of caring is how we start the journey.”
Aja, a PreK teacher wrote, “The books and conversations we had helped create a safe space where our ideas are not right or wrong but used to build knowledge from one another. We found joy in our physical differences and people colors are now widely used and discussed in the classroom. Children went home and talked about learning about melanin. We challenged some biases around gender stereotypes, abilities, and family and home structures. The kindness book was a wonderful book to read over and over and was such a simple yet helpful book in establishing a caring classroom community.”
From Emma another 1st-2nd Grade teacher, “I believe that because I made an effort to have open and honest conversations about identity, the children became more comfortable talking about the different ways they identify and the different ways people in their community identify. We spent time defining words like ‘empathy’, ‘race’, ‘diversity’, ‘community’. I know the majority understand these words because when I first asked what they meant, few students raised their hands and their answers were off-base; now when we have conversations revolving around those topics, it’s clear that we don’t need to define them because they are either a) using those words, or b) able to answer the questions I pose that contain those key words. I think in these early stages of language acquisition, this is a critical piece.”
Finally, from Kate a Kindergarten teacher, “Adding this layer has made me look more closely at the curriculum in order to figure out where could I weave in these books, so along with content students are experiencing, accepting, celebrating differences.”
We, the work group, are continually learning from the work of the teachers and from the consultants who are informing our journey. The teachers work this fall has taught us that spending time on creating an anti-bias classroom community is an essential foundation to the social justice work that follows which is exploring the Black experience in America and Wabanaki studies, with attention to care of the environment.
As we move from creating community to this new work about People of Color, we are introducing racism. Some ask why do you introduce 4- to 8-year-old children to racism. A primary reason is that small children are keen observers of the world. They are noticing similarities and differences and forming opinions, making judgements. When their judgements are made in the white dominant culture, they can begin to discriminate. At the same time these children are very quick to see unfairness. It is the perfect time to introduce the unfairness of racism. The question we have tackled recently is how do you do this. Young children are concrete thinkers so you must scaffold the message, moving from experiences the children can identify with to more abstract concepts like race. It is also essential to our approach that introducing any injustice is accompanied by the idea that you can do something about it.
Recently I happened upon a book at Curtis Library that does all of this. It is just the perfect book as our teachers transition to their new topic this winter and spring so we bought one for each of them and I will share it with you now: Our Skin, by Megan Madison, Jessica Ralli and Isabel Roxas.
