Rebecca Gonzalez-Campoy, Beloved Community Communications and Indigenous Justice Ministry Teams

Unity Church-Unitarian sits on land stolen from the Dakota people. We read this in our weekly Order of Service and proclaim it prior to the start of most church meetings, our own pledge of allegiance of sorts. However, what does this really mean and how did it happen?

Unity’s Act for the Earth and Indigenous Justice Community Outreach Ministry Teams series, “Truth Telling and Healing: Indigenous and Environmental Justice," included a close look at how Unity came to be located on Dakota land (Land and Reparations). During this presentation in March 2023, Jessica Intermill of Minnesota Interfaith Power and Light and Intermill Land History Consulting, invited us to look at history differently.

Unity Church-Unitarian sits on land stolen from the Dakota people. We read this in our weekly Order of Service and proclaim it prior to the start of most church meetings, our own pledge of allegiance of sorts. However, what does this really mean and how did it happen?

Unity’s Act for the Earth and Indigenous Justice Community Outreach Ministry Teams series, “Truth Telling and Healing: Indigenous and Environmental Justice," included a close look at how Unity came to be located on Dakota land (Land and Reparations). During this presentation in March 2023, Jessica Intermill of Minnesota Interfaith Power and Light and Intermill Land History Consulting, invited us to look at history differently.

History is typically laid out chronologically in books: American Revolution, Slavery, Western Expansion, and the Civil War. However, slavery occurred before and during the Revolution and played a part in westward expansion. “Today’s physical landscape has everything that came before us right now,” explained Intermill. The question is, “What does it mean to take responsibility for a past that’s not past?” 

Intermill mapped the location of Unity Church and then peeled back the layers of events on our land since the occupation of stolen Dakota land. She started with the arrival of United States General Zebulon Pike at the convergence of the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers who declared it an ideal spot to build a fort (Fort Snelling). In 1805, the United States Congress purchased from the Dakota people 155,000 acres of land at this spot for practically nothing. Through deception and manufactured devaluation, land that should have brought $300,000 to the Dakota people possibly brought them the remains of $2,000 worth of goods. 

Keep in mind that Bdote, the convergence of these two rivers, is where human life began according to the Dakota. So, this is sacred land which started out as a place of genesis and eventually became the site of genocide.

Things didn’t fare any better when the U.S. government purchased more land surrounding Fort Snelling through the 1837 Sioux Treaty. Here again, treacherous cruelty prevailed — this time the Dakota only received $16,000 through this treaty while those who had intermarried with them received $110,000, and $90,000 covered fabricated Dakota debt created by white people (many of whom were of the federal government). This thievery stemmed from the demise of the fur trade and a need for those traders to come up with a new source of income. From there, the U.S. government paid soldier Sam Taylor for his work with a New York regiment with a voucher for a section of land between St. Clair and Marshall Avenues. Taylor didn’t want the land and sold it to land speculators, and it eventually wound up in the possession of a man named Woodword.

So, back to Intermill’s original question: “What does it mean to take responsibility for the past that’s not past?” 
Participants in the final session in the Truth Telling and Healing series held last month shared their stories of how the programs had impacted them. These are some of the themes that emerged: 

• Relationship to the land — ownership (white) vs. stewardship (Indigenous);
• Expanded awareness and knowledge about our Indigenous neighbors — the more we learn we realize how little we really know;
• Capitalism and climate crisis — we must listen to and follow Indigenous practices for caring for the earth as a relative.

The group then considered next steps for themselves as individuals and for Unity as a congregation:

• Healing circles — opportunity for people to speak about their own journey and where they as an individual want to go next;
• Viewing of Doctrine of Discovery video (there are several options on YouTube);
• Creating and using more than we need — consider the counter practice of disowning;
• Joining an Antiracism Literacy Partners group — there are several Indigenous resources to explore, including the Truth Telling and Healing: Indigenous and Environmental Justice series.

Among the suggested resources to continue the Indigenous and environmental justice journey is the Native Governance Center's Beyond Land Acknowledgment Guide. This is one avenue Unity’s Indigenous Justice Community Outreach Team will explore as it plans future learning and spiritual growth opportunities. Be sure to also check out Act for the Earth activities.

Meanwhile, continue your own spiritual and educational journey by exploring:

• Indian Land Tenure Foundation’s Beyond Land Acknowledgment Fund
• Mni Sota Makoce Honor Tax
• Minnesota Interfaith Power and Light
• Unity's Justice Database

Session three of Minnesota Interfaith Power and Light’s (MNIPL) Reparations Learning Table generated discussion and reflection around how our faith community traditions or spiritual practices determine how we engage in meaningful repair work for the long haul. 
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Take a look at the MARCH/Multifaith Anti-Racism Change and Healing Eco Map as a visual reminder of our reparations journey.

Learning about atrocities that our faith traditions committed against people of color may motivate us to abandon those communities. Yet, they can be the very place in which we find strength and support to engage in what Reparations Learning Table co-leader Jessica Intermill calls “the repentance/repair/return framework.” 

This notion of lament, then repair and return of ill-gotten gains with penalty payment included, is a theme found in many faith traditions. The Biblical story of Zacchaeus the tax collector and Jesus (Luke 19:1-10 New International Version) is one of several examples. Aparigraha in the practice of yoga is the concept that nonpossession of things grounds you in the universe. Zen Buddhism teaches the ethics of not taking what is not given. Many Indigenous nations live by the code, “take only what you need.” It’s by no means a new concept. We’re just returning to it. 

The 7th Principle of Unitarian Universalism calls us to respect “the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.” The proposed 8th principle currently under consideration by the Unitarian Universalist Association — “journeying toward spiritual wholeness by working to build a diverse multicultural Beloved Community by our actions that accountably dismantle racism and other oppressions in ourselves and our institutions” — could be a call to lament, repair, and return land and resources to our Black and Indigenous neighbors. 

What does this action look like? And why do the work as a faith community? MNIPL Reparations Table co-leader Liz Loeb lifted up these reasons:

• Faith communities wield moral and ethical credentials on the political stage — in short, people listen when clergy and congregation members show up to rallies at the State Capitol, for instance. The chemistry changes, suddenly meetings get on the calendar, and media coverage changes.
• Community support within communities is more likely to lead to achievable reparations (as opposed to individual efforts).
• Faith communities typically have resources — they own things that can be converted to returnable resources.
• Faith community members show up to events already organized — this planning and organizing that’s in place can help bring more people together for effective collaboration.

​This is intergenerational work: elders possess wisdom that, when combined with the energy and new ideas of younger people, can create a stronger faith community committed to the spiritual practice of reparations, however they are defined.

Here’s a personal example. I have an adopted, now estranged, Ojibwe brother who many in the Two Harbors, Minnesota, public education and law enforcement systems deemed lesser than the white kids, while growing up. When some believed that he could succeed, he did, but many teachers expected nothing from him. And that’s what they got. My brother wound up in juvenile detention for minor offenses. When he got out, the local sheriff typically went after him first when a crime occurred. 

I’m currently pursuing a master’s in divinity in UU Social Justice and completing my Community Pastoral Education (CPE) unit with Volunteers of America High School. There I provide whatever support staff needs to help mostly students of color who’ve been bounced out of the mainstream Minneapolis Public School system. My fellow Social Justice CPE cohort meets at Stillwater State Prison because that’s where half of our group lives. We are each trying to make the lives better for those who, for whatever reason, veered off the path to a healthy life. We are trying to return what was taken from the ancestors of our clients.

I work with kids who have family members in prison, who are from immigrant families struggling to make their way in a completely foreign country, who’ve already been to juvenile detention, and/or who are members of gangs. Some will graduate. Some won’t. I could not do any of this work as an individual. Getting involved in Unity’s social justice work led me to pursue a master’s in divinity in UU Social Justice so that I may work in community to repent, repair, and return that which was ill-gotten. As Dr. Maya Angelou said, “Do the best you can until you know better. Then, when you know better, do better!” 

I leave you with prompts for reflection: What traditions or practices help ground you when you think about reparations as a lifelong commitment? What insight does your faith tradition or community of practice hold that feels relevant to reparations? 

For more information about reparations work, please visit these online resources:
Minnesota Interfaith Power and Light
Reparation actions from around the country
Amicus
Volunteers of America
The Justice Database, a project of Unity Church

Rebecca Gonzalez-Campoy, Beloved Community Communications Team

​Reparations. This word elicits many responses, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual: fear, anticipation, lament, joy, confusion, clarity of purpose, resistance, courage. Reparations means different things to many people. Reparations to the descendants of slavery might be monetary. Reparations to Native American nations would more likely be through returning land, enforcing tribal rights, and honoring treaties. This month, Unity Church delves deeper into conversation about reparations within and among congregants in various spaces, defining what it is and is not, exploring the difference between individual and organizational reparations.

I am participating in the Reparations Learning Table, a four-part series about the basics of reparations, offered by Minnesota Interfaith Power and Light. Led by Jessica Intermill and Liz Loeb, we began with this working definition of reparations:

With this definition in mind, Intermill and Loeb explained what reparations is not:

• Charity — charity is philanthropic giving with strings attached. At the root of reparations is returning wealth that wasn’t ours to begin with;
• An apology — although that’s necessary. Reparations recognize that we benefit here today even if we didn’t “cause” the original harm; 
• Purchasing — while support of Buy Black or Native businesses is crucial, doing so is not returning what was taken;
• Forgiveness — our work is our responsibility.

Perhaps the easiest way to visualize the concept of reparations is to refer to a graphic that Intermill calls the Reparatory Eco Map.
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Reparations is the intersection of the five sectors — Truth Telling, Spiritual Practice, Political Solidarity, Relationships, and Wealth Return. All are essential, and yet none is sufficient on its own. Each component leads to another with no starting point and no stopping point, meaning that regardless of what portal you enter, the act of reparations is lifelong, generational work. This is about shifting how we live in connection with others and with history. 

Learning the language of reparations is essential to making this work accessible, allowing anyone to take those first steps. We may enter the Eco Map at different portals. I began at Truth Telling. My white parents could not conceive any more children after me so they turned to adoption. My father had a strong interest in the Ojibwe community and so in 1966 my parents adopted a baby from the White Earth Reservation. In spite of their efforts to connect my brother to his heritage, white society on the North Shore of Lake Superior wasn’t having it, and my brother experienced racism such that he ultimately became estranged from us. In addition, thanks to diligent family history work by one of my sons, I now know that one of my ancestors dealt in land theft from an Indigenous nation in Massachusetts. 

We may have identifiable personal reasons to get involved with reparations, or we may simply know that we are responsible for the continuation of today’s disparities. Whatever the reason, our work must disrupt systems, not merely apply band-aids and call it good. 

For those who want to learn more about reparations, be sure to register for the Truth and Healing Indigenous and Climate Justice Series sponsored by Unity’s Indigenous Justice and Act of the Earth Community Outreach Ministry Teams. Session Five will be held Wednesday, March 1, at 7:10 p.m., in Robbins Parlor. The topic is land and reparations and the guest speaker will be Jessica Intermill from Minnesota Interfaith Power & Light.

You may also register for the remaining Reparations Learning Table sessions. Previous meetings were recorded and are available to view upon registration.

Resources

• NDN Collective Land Back
• Indian Land Tenure Foundation
• St. Paul City Council Reparations Commission
• Native Governance Center - Beyond Land Acknowledgment