Events at the Gathering
Listening takes a lot of focus and energy, so we break up the listening sessions with a variety of events. There are also special, unscheduled, spontaneous events that the Elders and Presenters feel are appropriate. These events could include blessing the land, a water blessing, a naming ceremony, or a prayer offered at sunset. These special events often take the group outdoors.
Any ceremony or practice at the Flint Hills Wisdom Keepers Gathering is offered and will be led by an Elder or Presenter. They invite us to participate in these ceremonies because they want to include us. They also know that participation will further our understanding of their complex, spiritually guided cultures. Because any ceremony that they want to hold is a gift, it could be considered ungracious to refuse the offering. To be included in a ceremony is an honor.
Below are examples of offerings in past years:
Any ceremony or practice at the Flint Hills Wisdom Keepers Gathering is offered and will be led by an Elder or Presenter. They invite us to participate in these ceremonies because they want to include us. They also know that participation will further our understanding of their complex, spiritually guided cultures. Because any ceremony that they want to hold is a gift, it could be considered ungracious to refuse the offering. To be included in a ceremony is an honor.
Below are examples of offerings in past years:
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A Guided Plant Walk
Learn native prairie plants and their uses with an Elder or local Konza Prairie docent. |
Missouri evening primrose, Oenothera macrocarpa
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A Diné Sand Art Workshop
Well-known Diné sand artist, Eugene B. Joe, led the group in a sand art class. Participants practiced applying sand using the Diné technique of rolling it off the index finger with the thumb. |
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Blanket Exercise
Paula Palmer discusses her work as a Quaker and designer of the Roots of Injustice, Seeds of Change Workshop https://quakerspeak.com/seeking-right-relationship-with-native-americans/
FHWK hosted this workshop at the gathering and asked participants and board members to take reading roles. The exercise was very well received and challenged participants to expand their understanding of the suffering incurred because of the multitude of injustices suffered by Native peoples including broken treaties, genocide, and the inhumane policy of taking children from their families to place them in boarding schools.
The new home for Roots of Injustice, Seeds of Change: Toward Right Relationship with Native Peoples is now with the International initiative, Friends Peace Teams, https://friendspeaceteams.org/trr/
https://mcc.org/stories/mennonites-unsettled-native-american-history
https://www.boulderfriendsmeeting.org/ipc-right-relationship-2/
Paula Palmer discusses her work as a Quaker and designer of the Roots of Injustice, Seeds of Change Workshop https://quakerspeak.com/seeking-right-relationship-with-native-americans/
FHWK hosted this workshop at the gathering and asked participants and board members to take reading roles. The exercise was very well received and challenged participants to expand their understanding of the suffering incurred because of the multitude of injustices suffered by Native peoples including broken treaties, genocide, and the inhumane policy of taking children from their families to place them in boarding schools.
The new home for Roots of Injustice, Seeds of Change: Toward Right Relationship with Native Peoples is now with the International initiative, Friends Peace Teams, https://friendspeaceteams.org/trr/
https://mcc.org/stories/mennonites-unsettled-native-american-history
https://www.boulderfriendsmeeting.org/ipc-right-relationship-2/
