Loss of Turtle Island: A Simulation

Two opportunities:

Tuesday, Nov. 3, 11 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. with optional conversation time  following
Goshen College, Newcomer 19
Several Goshen College classes will be in attendance. Community members are  welcome to join the group.

Wednesday, Nov. 4, 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Goshen College, College Mennonite Church Fellowship Hall, Rm 306/307

The Loss of Turtle Island is an experience led by Erica Littlewolf and Karin Kaufman Wall, peace educators with Mennonite Central Committee Central States. Participants step onto blankets and are taken back in time, guided through the history of contact between Indigenous Peoples and Europeans with the assistance of a facilitator and narrator. The experience explores the historic relationship between Europeans, specifically Mennonites in the United States, and the Indigenous nations who inhabit the land we call the United States of America.

Why relive this painful part of history? Members of the Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery Working Group point to the fact that it isn’t over. Doctrine of Discovery assumptions were incorporated into international law and continue to affect Indigenous Peoples today. For example, they explain why some Indigenous Peoples do not have title to their own land and cannot prevent outside corporate interests from stealing or polluting.

“What was done in the name of Christ needs to be undone in the name of Christ,” says Sheri Hostetler, who serves on the working group’s steering committee.

The public is welcome to attend. Be forewarned that attenders may get smallpox or be sent to boarding school.