Bridging Mutual Aid and Decolonial Justice

For years, the annual Prairie Awakening event at Kuehn Conservation Area has been a vibrant celebration of Native American culture, a place where the land’s memory is honored through traditional music, dance, and storytelling. But for my meeting, Bear Creek Friends Meeting of Iowa Yearly Meeting Conservative, this event has evolved into something far more profound: a living demonstration of our journey from traditional aid to a deeper, more transformative commitment to mutual aid and decolonial justice with Native American communities.

Prairie Awakening: A Living Bridge to Mutual Aid and Decolonial Justice

A Deep-Rooted Connection Blossoms into Mutual Aid

Bear Creek Friends Meeting has maintained a year’s long connection with the Prairie Awakening celebration. I was amazement at the variety and depth of things that happened there upon my first attendance, and since. This sustained engagement of Bear Creek Friends has transformed the event from a mere cultural observance into a crucial nexus for the Meeting’s evolving justice work.

As I’ve written in “Mutual Aid is the Quaker way of being in the world”, this isn’t about top-down charity; it’s about fostering a flat or horizontal hierarchy, where everyone has a voice in decisions. It’s a philosophy that actively challenges the philosophy of the historical injustices of land theft, and the tragedies of the Indian boarding schools.

Prairie Awakening as a Microcosm of Mutual Aid

How does Prairie Awakening embody this transformative shift?

Direct Engagement and Reciprocal Learning: The event provides a consistent and invaluable platform for direct engagement and reciprocal learning. It’s a space where members of Bear Creek Friends can cultivate genuine relationships with Indigenous communities, artists, and leaders. This direct interaction moves beyond the traditional “giver-receiver” dynamic, fostering solidarity and shared understanding. It’s about being present, listening deeply, and learning from Indigenous wisdom, rather than simply providing external assistance.
Grounding Justice in Land and Culture: Prairie Awakening’s core purpose, “Maka Ochante” – a Sense of Place – invites “humans back into their native landscape to truly awaken something that has been asleep for so long”. This emphasis on the land and cultural revitalization is intrinsically linked to decolonial mutual aid. For Bear Creek, it means grounding their spiritual and justice work in the land’s history and its Indigenous stewards. This connection inspires further action within an integrated framework that recognizes the interconnectedness of land, culture, and justice. The Meeting even rearranged the benches in their meeting house into a square, reminiscent of a circle, to reflect the importance of the circle in Native culture and equality.
Inspiring Intentional Focus and Action: The experiences and relationships forged at Prairie Awakening have directly influenced Bear Creek Meeting’s broader commitment to Indigenous justice. The Meeting has been discussing making work with Indigenous people “more of an intentional focus”. This aligns with the Iowa Yearly Meeting (Conservative)’s approval of a “Minute on Racial Justice” in 2016 and the Young Friends’ discussions on “Accompaniment and Giving Voice” to marginalized groups. These internal shifts are fueled by the lived experiences and connections made at events like Prairie Awakening. The creation of my the LANDBACK Friends website explicitly advised by my Indigenous friends, further exemplifies this commitment to Indigenous-led action and education.

A Continuing Path of Solidarity

Prairie Awakening is more than just an annual gathering; it’s a dynamic, living space where Bear Creek Friends Meeting actively practices its evolving commitment to mutual aid. It’s where the Meeting moves beyond historical patterns of aid to embrace a philosophy of solidarity, reciprocal support, and the active dismantling of systemic oppression. Through this sustained engagement, Bear Creek Friends Meeting continues to build “right relationship” with Native American communities, demonstrating a powerful model for faith-based communities seeking true justice and healing.