Facing Our History and Ourselves

ARE–Racial Healing & Wholeness Program

SAVE THE DATES—April 16 & 23

What

“The Quaker Indigenous Boarding Schools: Facing Our History and Ourselves”

Who

Andrew Grant from New England Yearly Meeting, doing research for a time at Haverford College on Quaker involvement in “Indian education.” See more about Andrew Grant below.

When and Where: Two complimentary programs

April 16 for CPMM, 1-2:30, hybrid in-person and virtual.

April 23 for Philadelphia Quarterly Meeting at Germantown, time TBD.

These two programs are not the same; they compliment each other.

CPMM program

Co-sponsored by our committees on Racial Healing and Wholeness and Adult Religious Education. The program starts with a one-hour recorded presentation, followed by a period of reflection, sharing our reactions to the presentation, and explorating how we might wish to respond. Andrew will also worship with us on 4/16. A light lunch will be available before his presentation

PQM program

On Sunday, April 23, (time to be announced later), Andrew will give a related and complementary presentation to PQM hosted that day by Germantown Meeting.  He will present on the results of his research into the role Quakers, including Philadelphia Quakers, played in the support of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, PA.  We encourage Friends to attend both sessions.

About Andrew Grant

Andrew Grant (he/him/relative) is a Quaker peace activist with a concern for Indigenous Relations, supported by witness and ministry grants from the Legacy Fund of the New England Yearly Meeting (as it is called). A ministry oversight committee in his monthly meeting provides moral support and accountability, and Andrew will be carrying a travel minute from his home meeting.  His work is further guided by a two-spirit Indigenous elder Strong Oak (Abenaki) of Visioning B.E.A.R. Circle Intertribal Coalition. He is a trainer in their Walking In Balance With All Our Relations circle process. They are working with others to form a Land Justice Affinity Group, to catalyze conversations between land holders and Indigenous communities.
 
Andrew is a member of the NEYM Right Relationship Resource Group that reinforces Monthly Meetings' desire to improve relations with the peoples who were at home in this region before colonization. The group has distributed a formal Letter of Apology to Native Americans on behalf of the Yearly Meeting and is encouraging ongoing dialog with representatives of local tribes.
 
A trained facilitator with Toward Right Relationship With Native Peoples, Andrew worked with Paula Palmer and Gail Melix (Herring Pond Wampanoag) to present The Quaker Indigenous Boarding Schools: Facing Our History and Ourselves, hosted by Beacon Hill Friends House in October 2022.   

For the last several months, Andrew has been engaged in archival research in the Quaker collection at the University of Massachusetts, looking into Quaker's involvement in "Indian education" and the forced assimilation of children. He has been invited to visit the special collection at Haverford College specifically to review material related to the Associated Executive Committee on Indian Affairs, the means by which Quakers collaborated across Yearly Meeting lines. He will be staying on campus, April 10-30.