Dear Quaker Earthcare Witness,

I see that the Indian Affairs minute from New York Yearly meeting is attached [in the November-December edition of BeFriending Creation]. There are many things I like about this minute, but when I brought it to my meeting in Seattle it was pointed out to me that the minute neglects to acknowledge some of the darker moments in Quaker history in dealing with native peoples, for example the Quaker Boarding schools.Please see attached link: www.boulderfriendsmeeting.org/ipc-boarding-school-research.

I don’t bring this up to put Quakers down, but to humble ourselves in all situations and be mindful that we do not always get it right despite our best efforts. The minute from NY Yearly meeting seems very unbalanced in its description of Quaker history with natives peoples and a more complete story would be beneficial for everyone.

Our meeting did take action to support Standing Rock but were not able to use the NY Yearly meeting minute.
Thank you for your interest in my comment.

Sincerely and in gratitude,
Arvia Morris, Salmon Bay Friends, Seattle, Washington

PS. This email is from me as an individual not the meeting as a whole.