The Gatherings: Reimagining Indigenous-Settler Relations
© 2021
Thirty years ago, in Wabanaki territory – a region encompassing the state of Maine and the Canadian Maritimes – a group of Native and non-Native individuals came together to explore some of the most pressing questions at the heart of Truth and Healing efforts in the United States and Canada. What price do we pay for the tragic, unresolved, and fraught relationship between generations of settlers and Indigenous peoples of the land? Can the divide be bridged and, if so, how? Meeting over several years in long-weekend gatherings, in a Wabanaki-led traditional Council format, assumptions were challenged, perspectives upended, and stereotypes shattered. Alliances and friendships were formed that endure to this day.
The Gatherings tells the moving story of these meetings in the words of both Indigenous and non-Indigenous participants. Reuniting to reflect on how their lives were changed by their experiences and how they continue to be impacted by them, the participants share the valuable lessons they learned. Themes emerge, such as the mutual benefits that can be achieved by coming together; what meeting in a Talking Circle, surrounded by ceremony, taught the participants; and what Indigenous ways of knowing can teach us all. The participants were given a rare window into one another’s lives and, in The Gatherings, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous readers may come to view one another with new eyes.
The many voices represented in The Gatherings offer insights and strategies that can inform change at the individual, group, and systems levels. These voices affirm that authentic relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples – with their attendant anxieties, guilt, anger, embarrassments, and, with time, even laughter and mutual affection – are key to our shared futures here in North America. Now, more than ever, it is critical that we come together to reimagine Indigenous-settler relations.
Mawopiyane
Gwen Bear
The Reverend Shirley Bowen
Alma H. Brooks/Zapawey-kwey
gkisedtanamoogk
JoAnn Hughes
Debbie Leighton
Barb Martin
Miigam’agan
T. Dana Mitchell
Wayne A. Newell
Betty Peterson
Marilyn Keyes Roper
Wesley Rothermel
Afterword by Dr. Frances Hancock
To reflect the collaborative nature of this project, the word Mawopiyane is used to describe the full group of co-authors. Mawopiyane, in Passamaquoddy, literally means "let us sit together," but the deeper meaning is of a group coming together, as in the longhouse, to struggle with a sensitive or divisive issue – but one with a very desirable outcome. It is a healing word and one that is recognizable in all Wabanaki languages.
Product Details
- Imprint: Aevo UTP
- World Rights
- Page Count: 304 pages
- Illustrations: 23
- Dimensions: 6.0in x 1.0in x 9.0in
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Author Information
Shirley N. Hager is a retired associate professor with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension. Currently, she serves with the Friends (Quaker) Committee on Maine Public Policy and chairs its Committee on Tribal-State Relations.
Mawopiyane is a name chosen to describe the full group of co-authors. It means, in Passamaquoddy, “let us sit together.” -
Table of contents
Foreword
With Gratitude
Notes on Terminology
IntroductionGathering
The Talking Circle
Miigam’agan
Wayne
Gwen
Dana
Alma
Barb
gkisedtanamoogk
Shirley H.
Debbie
Shirley B.
Wesley
Marilyn
Betty
JoAnnThe Last Gathering
The Decision
Hindsight
The Gatherings: May 1987 to May 1993
Creating This BookThe Giveaway Blanket
The Circle and Ceremony
The Circle and Decision Making
Ceremony: Protect or Share It?Allies, Friends, Family
Beginnings
The Women Compare Notes
The Relationship Evolves
MutualityHow We Got Here
The Doctrine of Discovery
But What about the Treaties?
The Personal Is Political
Economic Self-Determination
Beginning to Make Amends
Some Progress ... and a Long Way to GoHow It Could Be Different
Being Here Legitimately
Acknowledging First Peoples/Honoring the Treaties
An Indigenous Worldview
The Need for Gathering Spaces
Creating a Gathering Space
Working Together on a Cause
Humility versus “White Guilt”
Non-Natives Working with Our Own People
Entering the LonghouseBeing in the Relationship: An Afterword by Dr. Frances Hancock
Appendix: How This Book Came to Be
Notes
Suggested Resources
Contributors
Map: Location of the Gatherings
Reader’s Guide
Index
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Subjects and Courses