A127 Commission

Mandate

2022 - A127: Resolution for Telling the Truth about The Episcopal Church's History with Indigenous Boarding Schools

Resolved, That we recognize the work of becoming Beloved Community as a long-term commitment directed toward dismantling racism, which is essential to our spiritual life, by acknowledging, engaging, and supporting the ongoing work of racial Healing, Justice, and Reconciliation as one Body of Christ. Thereby, we live into our Baptismal Covenant of “Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being? I will with God’s help,” and every Episcopalian strives toward the dismantling of white supremacy; and be it further

Resolved, That the 80th General Convention create a fact-finding commission to conduct research in the Archives of The Episcopal Church and its dioceses, the National Archives, and the Library of Congress, as well as any other repository of historical documents relevant to the role of the Episcopal Church in the Indigenous residential boarding schools of North America; and be it further

Resolved, That the 80th General Convention thanks the Executive Council for its commitment to work on “Native Boarding Schools and Advocacy, Resolution MW062 in VBinder), and urges it to work cooperatively with the conduct of a comprehensive and complete investigation of the church’s ownership and operation of Episcopal-run Indigenous boarding schools; and be it further

Resolved, That the Archives of The Episcopal Church be encouraged to hire one or more research fellows to work with dioceses where Episcopal-run boarding schools were located to find and share records from those schools; and be it further

Resolved, That the Archives be directed to share all relevant records with the Indigenous Ministries of The Episcopal Church and the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition for inclusion in their growing resource database; and be it further

Resolved, That the Archives be directed to work with the Office of Indigenous Ministries to support the production of an educational video that can be used across the church to share the history of Indigenous boarding schools in the US and the history of The Episcopal Church-run boarding schools; and be it further

Resolved, That the dioceses of The Episcopal Church will be strongly encouraged to, before the 81st General Convention, begin an audit of the relationship, financial or otherwise, between the federal government, the diocese and/or its subsidiary entities, its churches, and any Episcopal or non-Episcopal missionary societies with respect to any Indigenous residential boarding school operated within the territorial jurisdiction of that diocese; and be it further

Resolved, That the dioceses of The Episcopal Church will be strongly encouraged to, before the 81st General Convention, begin to gather information from boarding school survivors and their descendants about the experiences of Indigenous children and families in Episcopal run and/or supported residential boarding schools within the territorial jurisdiction of that diocese; and be it further

Resolved, That the dioceses of The Episcopal Church will be strongly encouraged to, before the 81st General Convention, provide a public platform through which the stories of boarding school survivors of any Indigenous residential boarding schools within the territorial jurisdiction of that diocese and their descendants might be preserved and shared; and be it further

Resolved, That the 80th General Convention acknowledge the intergenerational trauma caused by the Doctrine of Discovery, colonialism, genocide, ethnocide through the operation of Indigenous boarding schools, and other systems of white supremacy that have oppressed Indigenous peoples; and be it further

Resolved, That the 80th General Convention direct Executive Council to follow the lead of Indigenous communities and invest in community-based spiritual healing centers that will work to address the effect of intergenerational trauma by providing mental health and substance abuse counseling, traditional forms of healing, family counseling, and other services and support desired by local communities; and be it further

Resolved, That The Episcopal Church will support federal legislation to create a truth and healing commission on Indian boarding school policy, consistent with the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative of the U.S. Department of the Interior and its efforts to “shed light on the traumas of the past;” and be it further

Resolved, That the 80th General Convention recognize, affirm, and support the ongoing work of Executive Council around these issues through the creation of the Executive Council Committee for Indigenous Boarding Schools and Advocacy, as well as the extraordinary efforts of the Presiding Officer’s Working Group on Truth-telling, Reckoning, and Healing; and be it further

Resolved, That the 80th General Convention appropriate $2,500,000 over the next biennium, or some other degree of funding commensurate with The Episcopal Church’s commitment to the work of truth-telling and reconciliation around its role in Indigenous residential boarding schools, to adequately fund the provisions of this resolution, specifically 1) to fund the creation and support of a fact-finding commission; 2) to fund the work of the Office of Indigenous Ministries to create an education resource regarding the church’s role in Indigenous residential boarding schools; 3) to fund a grant program to support the work of the dioceses of The Episcopal Church in both conducting their own research into the diocesan role in Indigenous residential boarding schools and preserving the stories of boarding school survivors and their families; and 4) to support the establishment of community-based spiritual healing centers in Indigenous communities across The Episcopal Church to address the intergenerational trauma rooted in the church’s role in Indigenous residential boarding schools.