Green Sanctuary February 2025 News

Jan Weaver, Green Sanctuary

Climate Justice Revival (CJR) Updates

Since the Revival in November a couple of groups have met to work on goals. The Diversity group met and agreed to combine engaging with diverse groups and building diversity in our congregation into one group. Ideas include collaborating with other churches, incorporating more cultural celebrations into our services and events (like Kwanza), and figuring out how to evaluate our progress. Green Sanctuary is taking responsibility for helping our church become a Resiliency Hub, and for bringing Sustainability deeply into our members’ lives. Less formally, there have been conversations around Social Justice Education and increasing the culture of giving at UUS. Stay tuned!

Green Sanctuary Projects

  • February All Ages Sunday will repeat a chance to play Constitutionopoly. Can you help diverse groups of Americans secure their civil rights?
  • We will be working with Worship Associates to plan an Earth Day Service April 20
  • We are happy to report that Compost collection has been added to UUS’s Operations Budget! Thanks to Bonnie Penno for funding the first year of composting as a demonstration project.

February Better Together

Each month of Better Together we have actions that members of the congregation can take to address climate Mitigation, Adaptation, Resilience, and Justice. Winter’s focus is Justice and Equity. For February the specific focus is to Repair Our Bonds with the Oppressed. We need to ensure past injustices are corrected and future injustices are avoided. This month the focus is on our relations with Native Americans.

Key to Land ceded to the United States by the different tribes in Iowa:

  • Yellow – Blackhawk Purchase 1832
  • Blue Chevron- 2nd Black Hawk Purchase 1832
  • Pink – Sac and Fox (and Iowa)1842
  • Green & Orange Bands – Neutral Ground 1830-1846
  • Orange Triangle on northern border  and in nw corner- Sioux 1851
  • Blue band on west – Potawatomi 1846
  1. Learn more about the tribes that are recognized in our land acknowledgement.
  • Kickapoo (Algonquian-Language) They migrated from the Great Lakes region into the Upper Iowa River region. There are currently three federally recognized tribes in Kansas (https://www.ktik-nsn.gov/), Oklahoma (https://www.kickapootribeofoklahoma.com/), and Texas (https://kickapootexas.org/)
  • Meskwaki (the Sac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa) – The Meskwaki own their own land in Tama county, free from federal control. https://www.meskwaki.org/
  • Oceti Sakowin (Sioux Nation) – Formerly from the Spirit Lake Iowa area. Now settled in MN, NE, SD, ND, MThttps://americanindian.si.edu/nk360/plains-belonging-homelands/oceti-sakowin
  • Iowa – a Siouan tribe of the great plains, now part of two federally recognized tribes, the Iowa of Oklahoma and the Iowa of Kansas and Nebraska – https://ioway.nativeweb.org/
  1. Stay up to date on the Dakota Access Pipe Line (DAPL). The Army Corps of Engineers has delayed its review of the project until 2025. GOP states, including Iowa, have joined the case to oppose the Sioux lawsuit against the pipe line. https://northdakotamonitor.com/2024/12/17/13-more-gop-states-sign-on-to-oppose-standing-rock-sioux-in-new-lawsuit-over-dapl/
  2. Track legislative bills affecting Native Americans – https://narf.org/nill/bulletins/legislation/119_uslegislation.html
  3. Make a donation to a tribe or organization working on behalf of Native Americans.

    Social and Environmental Justice (SEJ) Sunday February 9

    Green Sanctuary is collaborating with the Social Justice Team to hold Social and Environmental engagement activities on second Sundays. In February check out the Equitable Local Lending Initiative – ELLI. Plus, there are bound to be some legislative actions in the State Legislature to talk about.

    Our February Meeting Will be on Zoom!

    Green Sanctuary is Wednesday February 12 at 7 pm at us02web.zoom.us/j/88132264216. Contact Jan Weaver – jan.weaver57@gmail.com for more information or to get on our email list.

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