Published June 2, 2023
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Join Bellingham Friends in our self-education about Quakers' role in Indian schools that harmed the people they thought they were helping. Sierra Cascades Yearly Meeting of Friends (SCYMF) has issued an invitation to “Friends Everywhere” to join their annual session's June 24 Plenary, "Friends and Alaska Native Peoples." The session will feature storytelling by three Indigenous people: Jamiann S’eiltin Hasselquist (Tlingít); Jim LaBelle (Iñupiaq) and Susan (Suggia) LaBelle (Suqpiaq). Zoom attendance is free, though donations to SCYMF are welcome.
The storytellers will share their lived experiences and those of their family members with Indian schools, including those run by Quakers. Jim is the president of the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition. Susan will tell about how leaving her family to attend boarding school impacted her, her family, and her village. Jamiann told Sierra-Cascades Friends that listeners are invited to come with the speakers into a healing river. She said it’s the kind of healing river that Jesus had in mind when he said, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
from Virginia Herrick, Bellingham Friends Meeting