Native American Apology Resolution

At the request of our Native sisters and brothers, delegates at the July 2007 San Jose convention supported the joint U.S. Senate and House bills commonly called the Native American "apology bill." Following are resources to help you and your congregation take follow-up actions.

Date

Dear Representative (Name):

As a member of your constituency, I ask you to support the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (H.R. 1328), the companion to a recently passed Senate bill (S. 1200). This legislation would modernize the Indian Health Service and improve the health care of millions of American Indians and Alaska Natives. It would expand the IHS to provide long term care, mental health services and hospice.

Additionally, the Senate bill included an amendment sponsored by Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas, which officially "acknowledge[s] a long history of official depredations and ill-conceived policies by the United States' government regarding Indian tribes, and offer[s] an apology to all Native Peoples on behalf of the United States."

Mennonite Church USA includes over a dozen active Native American congregations. Delegates at the July 2007 San Jose convention supported the joint U.S. Senate and House bills commonly called the Native American "apology bill." Along with nearly 1,000 Mennonite congregations in the United States, I support this resolution of our governing body.

The Indian Health Care Improvement Act is an important step towards reconciliation between the United States and American Indian tribes. With the apology amendment included, the bill would both acknowledge the past mistreatment of American Indians and address some of the present needs of Native American communities.

Please help pass the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (H.R. 1328). Thank you for your time and attention to this important bill.

Sincerely,

(your name and address)

(Be certain to include your mailing address so your representative knows you are a constituent.)

We, the delegates of Mennonite Church USA, gathered in San Jose, California in July, 2007, support the joint U.S. Senate and House bills that "acknowledge a long history of official depredations and ill-conceived policies by the United States government regarding Indian tribes and offer an apology to all Native Peoples on behalf of the United States."

Senate Joint Resolution 4
House Joint Resolution 3

Friends Committee on National Legislation analysis

Introduction of Resolution at San Jose 2007

During the Tuesday morning adult worship session, the congregation saw a video about the U.S. government's forced relocation of Native peoples and the stealing of their land.
(download available)

Delegate Statement and resources (256k PDF)
Litany for congregations (97k PDF)

Earlier statements:

Resolution on the 500th Anniversary of Columbus, 1989 Mennonite Church USA
On Observing 1992 Mennonite Church USA, 1991

Be willing to take time to listen to the stories of First Nation peoples and, if you are white, to acknowledge the benefits you have received by centuries of their mistreatment.

Whose land do you worship on? Research which Native Americans originally lived in your community, how they were dispossessed of their land and their current living conditions.

These websites might be helpful:

footnotes

The introduction to the Litany for congregations (97k PDF) includes these references:

• Tisquantum (also known as Squanto), a member of the Patuxet Tribe within the Wampanoag Confederacy who aided the Pilgrims through the winter of 1620, was enslaved and sent to Europe by the English in 1614. His ability to speak English was likely a result of this captivity. (Humins, pp. 58-59) Humins, John H. Squanto and Massasoit: A Struggle for Power. The New England Quarterly, Vol. 60, No. 1. (Mar. 1987), pp. 54-70. (reference)

• During the five years it took Tisquantum to return to his homeland, approximately 90 percent of Wampanoag Confederacy citizens living on the New England coast died from diseases introduced by European colonists and merchants. (Salisbury, p. 501) Salisbury, Neal: Religious Encounters in a Colonial Context: New England and New France in the Seventeenth Century. American Indian Quarterly, Vol. 16, No. 4, Special Issue: Shamans and Preachers, Color Symbolism and Commercial Evangelism: Reflections on Early Mid-Atlantic Religious Encounter in Light of the Columbian Quincentennial. (Autumn 1992), pp. 501-509. (reference)

• Early Thanksgiving ceremonies were conducted for a variety of reasons, and the "First Thanksgiving" story involving the Pilgrims was only one of a number of early Thanksgiving celebrations. The 1637 Thanksgiving feast at the Massachusetts Bay Colony was conducted to celebrate the near annihilation of the Pequots during the Pequot War. (Shurtleff, p. 204) Shurtleff, Nathaniel, ed. Records of the Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New England, Vol I. Boston, 1853.

References for Delegate Statement and resources (256k PDF)

i Juhnke, James C. and Hunter, Carol M. "The Original Peacemakers", The Missing Peace: The Search for Nonviolent Alternatives in United States History. Kitchener: Pandora Press, 2001.

iii "Indian Trust: Cobell vs. Kempthorne".

iv Erb, Paul. South Central Frontiers. Scottdale: Herald Press, 1974.

v Sharp, John E. "Mennonites and Native Americans: Reconciliation?" Mennonite Life, June 2006.

The MCC U.S. Washington Office Guide to Native American Issues.
For free copies, email Gabe Schlabach ( ).

Acknowledging the Past, Transforming the Future 1/24/2008
Gabriel Schlabach
Mennonite Central Committee Washington Office
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