“Most Quakers still don’t know our history as participants in this enterprise of forced assimilation of Native people,” Paula Palmer says. “So the first thing that we have to do is learn the truth.”
In this video, Paula discusses Friends’ role in the traumas inflicted on the Indigenous peoples of North America since the arrival of European colonists—particularly in the administration of boarding schools. Although it’s easy to “shake our fingers” at previous generations, Paula warns us that retroactive judgment isn’t enough—Quakers today need to hold themselves accountable as well.
Transcript and Discussion Questions Available Here
Produced by Christopher Cuthrell
In partnership with Friends Committee on National Legislation
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