Sunday, September 3, 2023

In 1887 under the Dawes Act, millions of indigenous people were forced into signing treaties with the United States government and removed, often by armed force, off their ancestral homelands. While the Dawes Act aimed to convert indigenous people to farmers, the land they were frequently assigned was inhospitable to the agriculture they were expected to practice. Today many native communities continue to fight for the basic rights they believe they were promised as part of those treaties. 

While the states in the southwest argue and fight over a dwindling share of the Colorado River, which is largely impacted by human made climate change, the Navajo still lack basic access to fresh clean water. The Navajo continue to fight for justice and a fulfillment of those treaty obligations. 

Creator of all, open our hearts to receive the living waters of God’s justice and peace, and to share it with our brothers and sisters, all creatures around us, and all creation.

From The Liturgy Committee