(Wind River Reservation, WY) – In part of an ongoing partnership between the Episcopal Church of WY and the Northern Arapaho Tribe, a group of Episcopalians will be visiting the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming next weekend (May 18-20).
Last year on Indigenous Peoples Day (Oct. 14, 2024) over 200 tribal items were repatriated to the Northern Arapaho. These items had been in the possession of the WY Episcopal Diocese since the 1940s. They had been collected by Episcopal deaconess Edith May Adams while she was running a small food store at St. Michael’s Mission. Adams’ store served tribal members who [likely] traded these items in exchange for food and necessities during the Great Depression.
The process of returning these items was an important step in acknowledging and repairing a historical wrong. Now, in a continuation of this historical reckoning, pilgrimage attendees will visit the Wind River Reservation to learn about how the Doctrine of Discovery shaped federal and church policy for Indigenous child and land removal. Following Indigenous leadership from the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribes, attendees will learn the history of the Episcopal Church’s role in removal of Indigenous children and lands in WY and will hear from tribal leaders and elders about what repair might look like.
Pilgrimage participants will begin with an orientation and talking circle led by Sarah Augustine, Executive Director of the Coalition to Dismantle the Doctrine of Discovery, and Joe Hubbard, the Coalition’s Episcopal Organizer. They will visit the cemetery for the old Fort Washakie School where a new, contextually appropriate historical marker will be unveiled and dedicated. Afterwards, the group will travel to the Eastern Shoshone Buffalo Initiative, where participants will hear from local Indigenous leaders about land reclamation and sustainability initiatives.
The group will also visit the site of St. Michael’s Mission School, home of another Episcopal Boarding School. Attendees will hear from elders and survivors about the continuing impact of the boarding school experience in the lives of individuals, families, and the community. Local leaders will discuss a redevelopment project of the old mission property in partnership with the Episcopal Church in WY. Attendees will participate in talking circles with tribal leaders and Indigenous elders, as they learn how to be in better relationship with Indigenous communities and lands.
This pilgrimage is an organizing effort by the Coalition to Dismantle’s Episcopal Indigenous Justice Roundtable. In coordination with the Episcopal Church’s Boarding School Commission, the Roundtable is organizing pilgrimages across the church to help Episcopalians draw the connection between the church’s role in the history of residential boarding schools and the ongoing impact of the Doctrine of Discovery on Indigenous communities, including the environmental degradation of Indigenous lands.
About The Coalition to Dismantle the Doctrine of Discovery: The Coalition to Dismantle the DoD emerged from the Mennonite Church in 2014. We are a group of people who work together to mobilize Christian church communities to dismantle the Doctrine of Discovery and follow Indigenous leadership. We proclaim an Anabaptist spirit of discipleship rooted in the call to love of neighbor, seeking right relationship and reconciliation through active non-violence.
About the Episcopal Indigenous Justice Roundtable: The Roundtable, which is made up of Episcopalians and Episcopal communities, congregations, and dioceses all across the United States, has committed to furthering the work of the Coalition to Dismantle for the self-determination of Indigenous lands and peoples. The Roundtable meets each month on the third Tuesday to learn about the needs of Indigenous land and water protectors across the U.S. and to coordinate resources in support.