Minutes of Peace and Social Concerns Committee, 9/15/14

Present: Carol Let., Carol Lew., Susan C, Roger C, Adele S, Diane C, Daniel G, George M.

1. We opened with a time of silence.

2. Susan agreed to be the clerk for tonight’s meeting.

3. Carol Let. has been involved with Native American issues for some time and has attended workshops on The Doctrine of Discovery. She spoke of the Two Row Wampum expedition on which Beth participated. She gave some fascinating history of how the lands around here passed from Native Americans to ownership by Europeans. She suggested a list of possible actions that we might take or consider in the future. The list is below.

4. In considering the two-hour workshop offered in October by a Quaker from Colorado, on the Doctrine of Discovery, we agreed to say to the Northampton meeting that if they put on the workshop, some of us may offer to help. Roger will follow this up.

5. The Pat Hynes event on September 11 went very well, with the Champney Room “packed” though mostly with people not in the MtToby meeting. A lesson learned is that cooperation with other organizations is very valuable for such events.

6. The AFSC report written by Adele was distributed. It was well received on Sunday and reflects increased optimism by Adele about the direction and health of AFSC.

7. Because Beth is suffering from health problems, we considered whether we might relieve her of the responsibility of after-meeting announcements for a time. It might work to decide in our meeting each month who might take that on for the 4^th Sunday of that month. Roger offered for September 28.

8. Roger offered to be Clerk of the committee, provided that others on the committee would take turns clerking our monthly meetings. The arrangement was approved and will be tried for a year. Adele offered to be the presiding clerk for our October meeting.

9. Roger will take letter-writing for October 12 since he has not done it for two years.

10. We have asked for an 11:40 Hour, we think on November 2^nd, on the topic of gambling (both casinos and stocks) though we have not had verification on that date. On the issue of gambling, Adele pointed out that the upcoming vote on whether Massachusetts should (or not) prohibit casinos is functioning as a vote on home rule, because a vote to prohibit would overrule the vote taken in Springfield in favor of a Springfield casino. This makes the vote on two issues: gambling, and home rule.

11. Meeting for Business approved sponsoring Frances Crowe’s memoir. Our committee was asked to consider a donation from MtToby for its publication. We agreed to donate $50 from our committee budget, and we will recommend that the meeting also donate $50, for a $100 total from MtToby. Susan will contact the Clerk and the Finance Committee to communicate this decision.

12. Roger and Dan (and Carol?) will “do something” about a film series. Roger will put a note in the newsletter requesting suggestions for films.

13. Adele offered to continue taking responsibility for “Friends Concerns:Other Organizations,” with Dan’s help.

14. Diane brought to us the concept of “Concerts for Peace and Justice,” possibly with a talk or movie, to be held at MtToby. Diane will check out with the Handbook and others whether charging admission for such events would fit with MtToby policy. We will have this on our next agenda.

15. We closed with a time of silence.

(From Carol: see #3 above): Possible actions:

Acknowledge the history of the land and how the land was acquired from the earlier peoples.

Add it to the meeting's history.

Learn about the names and cultures of those who lived here before the 17"' century and later.

Include that in our meeting's history and webpage.

Research if there are sites on our land that may have been significant in the Native American culture.

Understand the role of The Doctrine of Discovery in our current laws.

Encourage our meeting to participate in The Doctrine of Discovery workshops I & II.

Work with FCNL through their Native American Advocacy efforts.

Include these issues in the letter-writing campaigns

Become aware of the ongoing challenges to Native American sites and burying grounds.

Provide support when needed. For example:

Turners Falls Airport planned to lengthen the runways, right through a significant Native American site.

The City of Greenfield has just accepted an ordinance to emphasize the honoring of Native American burial sites (this was precipitated by the plans to sell the former sand pit in east Greenfield for construction of a commercial building).