Relationships with our Indigenous neighbors

We left Goshen College Wednesday afternoon and settled in at Camp Friedenswald, our new home and host for the first half of May Term. Our group of eight students and two leaders have already experienced anticipation and disappointment together before we even left campus, given the significant changes to our course. Our group was originally the Navajo Nation SST set to depart for six weeks in Arizona. But after the April 14 fire at Diné College—where we were scheduled to stay—and other obstacles with our Arizona plans, we pivoted to a local learning May Term course focused on learning from and about members of the Pokagon Band of the Potawatomi in Michigan and descendants of the Miami peoples in Indiana.

 

All eight students remained in the course and have demonstrated incredible grace and flexibility, and have supported one another during this shift. As my co-leader Danaé Wirth said, “While doors have shut, many windows have opened,” as local learning opportunities with Indigenous groups emerged quickly for our group. Our first weeks of May Term include a variety of outings, speakers and experiences and could potentially become a new recurring May Term.

 

Wednesday evening, we were warmly welcomed by Camp Friedenswald staff in Cassopolis, Michigan, and we spent our first night together in our comfortable lodge making personalized flatbread pizzas and sharing some reflections as we began our time together. The following morning, our first full day of May Term, camp director Jenna Liechty Martin joined us to share about the camp and its “four pillars,” one of them including steps towards repair and reparations with Indigenous peoples, which also overlaps with their environmental sustainability and resilience journey. Over the past few years, the camp has been intentional about learning more about the Indigenous history of the land on which camp resides. She named the importance of relationships in these efforts, among other efforts of the camp.

 

During our orientation later that afternoon, Jerrell Ross Richer led us through some camping preparation for when we camp at the Pokagon Band campground next week. Kendra Yoder, SST co-director, reminded us that SST is all about “relentless pursuit of relationships.” That resonated with me as I considered how we are relating to each other in our group, with the land, with our hosts here at camp, and with the Potawatomi and Miami people we are eager to learn from.