The Truth and Healing around Colonization Group thanks the UCC congregation for the insights shared with us about the new People and Land Acknowledgement. Drawing on your feedback, we have revised, and we share this new version below. We will be using this version in the weeks to come. As before, there are slips of white paper in the pews; or feel free to speak with members of the group during coffee or other church gatherings.
In the interest of truth and healing, we acknowledge that the Séliš and Q’lispe people have lived on and cared for this land for thousands of years. As part of Western Expansion, settlers claimed this valley including the land upon which this church is built. As witnesses to the historical and ongoing harm done by colonization to Indigenous peoples, lifeways, and the land, we commit to learning from the original peoples of this place, to building friendships, and to taking action to work toward a more just and equitable future.