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Origins of White Supremacy by Brayton Shanley
It is October 7, 2017, and I am looking out at the crowd of 350 people with about one hundred Native people representing twenty tribes. As Native sisters and brothers drum, dance, sing, give talks, and display their beadwork, I wonder: “How could a scene like this happen at Agape?” Asking the question, I begin […]
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Standing at the Sacred Fire Before Dawn by Suzanne Belote Shanley
We had been communing with local and national Native brothers and sisters for weeks before Chief Arvol Looking Horse’s arrival our 35th Anniversary on Saturday, October 7th, for Agape’s 35th Anniversary when he began his prayerful, meditative morning reflection, standing in headdress and purple shirt. I was enveloped then and still rest in a sacred […]
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Standing Rock is Everywhere by Chief Arvol Looking Horse, Standing Rock, SD
Blessings and Greetings to each and every one of you. It’s a great honor to be able to speak to you today. I live on the Rez, in South Dakota. I come from there to here. Over a year ago, in August, I was invited to Standing Rock by Dave Archambault, the tribal chairman […]
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Listening to Native Voices by Rev. Margaret Bullitt Jonas
Hundreds of people – including leaders and elders of Native American tribes from across the U.S. – assembled under a large tent at Agape, a Christian community in the woods of central Massachusetts dedicated to social justice, non-violence, and sustainable living. We were there to mark the 35th annual celebration of St. Francis Day at […]
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The Power of Female Energy by Elena Creef
I didn’t know until I arrived at Agape how much I needed to be in the healing company of like-minded individuals in a community devoted to a shared vision of peace and unity. Beatrice Menase Kwe Jackson and Peggy McNew were dynamic, amazing, while leading the beautiful water ceremony. There was a powerful female energy […]
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Women Are Keepers of the Water by Beatrice Menase Kwe Jackson
According to the Anishnawve migration story, we always thought the East Coast Indians would come out west to do ceremony with us. But that never happened. Agape made this possible for us Indians in the west to come to those in the East, as we wanted them to know that they are never forgotten, and […]
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Cangleska Wakan – The Sacred Hoop by George Aguiar
Recently, in a phone conversation with Suzanne and Brayton, I was sharing with them how wonderful my experience of this St Francis Day ended up being for me, in fact it was somewhat life changing. When they asked if I would write what I felt “drawn to share from my perspective as one of the […]
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Finding Community by the Water: A Reflection on Saint Francis Day at Agape by Oliver Mesmer
Agape’s Francis Day brings people together from all for the purpose of peace. I came to help lay the groundwork for the event to run smoothly, arriving, somewhat unprepared, on a Sunday evening a week prior to Francis Day, fresh from a three month adventure in Europe. Adjusting to life in a small community was […]
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The Native Drum Beckons by Skip Schiel
After parking and walking and lugging, I approach Agape, hear the drum, then smell the sweet grass. I am smudged by a greeter. I spot the tepee, placed strategically at the entrance of the main gathering area. I see many people in brightly colored regalia, noticing the tent that holds some 300 chairs. All the […]
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Sacred Transformations by David Perkins
A weapon of words is consumed by the flame;/a document to dust, denouncing its claim./Out of ashes now grows a tree;/ a pine for peace, a transformation we long to see.” Excerpt from a dedicatory poem for Francis Day, by Agape friend, David Perkins
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