In a world that requires knowledge and wisdom to address developing crises around us, The Gatherings shows how Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples can come together to create meaningful and lasting relationships.
Thirty years ago, in Wabanaki territory
a region encompassing the state of Maine and the Canadian Maritimes
a group of Indigenous and non-Indigenous individuals came together to explore some of the most pressing questions at the heart of Truth and Healing efforts in the United States and Canada. Meeting over several years in long-weekend gatherings, in a Wabanaki-led traditional Council format, assumptions were challenged, perspectives upended, and stereotypes shattered. Alliances and friendships were formed that endure to this day.
The Gatherings tells the moving story of these meetings in the words of both Indigenous and non-Indigenous participants. Reuniting to reflect on how their lives were changed by their experiences and how they continue to be impacted by them, the participants share the valuable lessons they learned.
The many voices represented in The Gatherings offer insights and strategies that can inform change at the individual, group, and systems levels. These voices affirm that authentic relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples
with their attendant anxieties, guilt, anger, embarrassments, and, with time, even laughter and mutual affection
are key to our shared futures here in North America. Now, more than ever, it is critical that we come together to reimagine Indigenous-settler relations.
Mawopiyane:
Gwen Bear Shirley Bowen Alma H. Brooks gkisedtanamoogk JoAnn Hughes Debbie Leighton Barb Martin Miigam'agan T. Dana Mitchell Wayne A. Newell Betty Peterson Marilyn Keyes Roper Wesley Rothermel
Afterword by Dr. Frances Hancock
To reflect the collaborative nature of this project, the word Mawopiyane is used to describe the full group of co-authors. Mawopiyane, in Passamaquoddy, literally means ""let us sit together,"" but the deeper meaning is of a group coming together, as in the longhouse, to struggle with a sensitive or divisive issue
but one with a very desirable outcome. It is a healing word and one that is recognizable in all Wabanaki languages.
By:
Shirley N. Hager,
Mawopiyane
Imprint: Aevo UTP
Country of Publication: Canada
Dimensions:
Height: 226mm,
Width: 152mm,
Spine: 25mm
Weight: 380g
ISBN: 9781487545888
ISBN 10: 1487545886
Pages: 312
Publication Date: 17 June 2022
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Primary
,
Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Foreword With Gratitude Notes on Terminology Introduction Gathering The Talking Circle Miigam’agan Wayne Gwen Dana Alma Barb gkisedtanamoogk Shirley H. Debbie Shirley B. Wesley Marilyn Betty JoAnn The Last Gathering The Decision Hindsight The Gatherings: May 1987 to May 1993 Creating This Book The Giveaway Blanket The Circle and Ceremony The Circle and Decision Making Ceremony: Protect or Share It? Allies, Friends, Family Beginnings The Women Compare Notes The Relationship Evolves Mutuality How We Got Here The Doctrine of Discovery But What about the Treaties? The Personal Is Political Economic Self-Determination Beginning to Make Amends Some Progress ... and a Long Way to Go How It Could Be Different Being Here Legitimately Acknowledging First Peoples/Honoring the Treaties An Indigenous Worldview The Need for Gathering Spaces Creating a Gathering Space Working Together on a Cause Humility versus “White Guilt” Non-Natives Working with Our Own People Entering the Longhouse Being in the Relationship: An Afterword by Dr. Frances Hancock Appendix: How This Book Came to Be Notes Suggested Resources Contributors Map: Location of the Gatherings Reader’s Guide Index
Shirley N. Hager is a retired associate professor with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension. Currently, she serves with the Friends (Quaker) Committee on Maine Public Policy and chairs its Committee on Tribal-State Relations. Mawopiyane is a name chosen to describe the full group of co-authors. It means, in Passamaquoddy, “let us sit together.”
Reviews for The Gatherings: Reimagining Indigenous-Settler Relations
The Gatherings is an unusual book in the powerful authenticity of feeling it expresses. -- Dana White * OFF RADAR, centralmaine.com * The Gatherings: Reimaging Indigenous-Settler Relations offers eye-opening information that is beautifully tied together with thought-provoking and insightful stories from individuals who have initiated the work that needs to be done to end the fragile relationships between Indigenous peoples and settlers. -- Carly Smith * Cloud Lake Literary * Calling themselves collectively 'Mawopiyane,' a Passamaquoddy word meaning 'let us sit together,' they spent several years piecing together this simply framed, but profoundly encouraging book. -- Dana Wilde, National Book Critics Circle * <em>The Working Waterfront</em> * The Gatherings: Reimaging Indigenous-Settler Relations offers eye-opening information that is beautifully tied together with thought-provoking and insightful stories from individuals who have initiated the work that needs to be done to end the fragile relationships between Indigenous peoples and settlers. -- Carly Smith * <em>Cloud Lake Literary</em> *
- Short-listed for 2021 New England Book Awards - Nonfiction 2021 (United States)
- Short-listed for Foreword INDIES 2021 Finalist for Multicultural 2022 (United States)
