"History of the Six Nations Peacebuilding Project"

Carmen Thomas Jr. Six Nations Peacebuilding Project

June 28, 2012

PROJECT OVERVIEW
What We Want To Do: 1) Examine Ogwehonwe and All Peoples ability to live in harmony and peace by researching and documenting peacebuilding traditions across North America 2) Provide a safe forum for Ogwehonwe to think, discuss and develop tools and processes that build peace as part of a leadership program for youth 3) Listen to, respect and honour the wisdom of the people from all walks in life on important issues and problems within our communities 4) Provide examples of peace as a path for Ogwehonwe to help others, their families, their place of work and within governance & leadership recognizing role models set an example for others to follow 5) Link and network with other Ogwehonwe peacebuilders to support peacebuilding efforts that promote unity and a safer and healthier community What We Have Done: 1) Researched peacebuilding societies including: Haudenosaunee; Lakota; Mennonite; Quakers; Gandhi & Non-Violence; Martin Luther King; Ethnic Diversity 2) Documented and compiled reports on peacebuilding traditions, ethnostress, colonization and moving beyond its effects, healing processes, Indigenous efforts to help society 3) Hosted several community meetings on peacebuilding to test our thinking as part of a community wide effort to engage more people in this project. As part of that process we discovered the following: a) Many community groups are strong in their beliefs however many individuals within those groups do not want to sit at one table to discuss some hard issues amongst other groups b) In order to understand peace we need to understand anger and violence and how that is used to move our peoples agenda within our own and outside of our communities c) To encourage people to meet we needed meeting locations that were neutral and the environment is safe enough for individuals to share their truth and wisdom d) Many of our people have unresolved grief from the past & present; this is a huge issue requiring people like seers, medicine people, healers, speakers, singers & dancers to help heal the effects of this unresolved grief e) Our work will focus on young people with the hope that that change will take affect when they are in leadership when it is their turn to take on that role as community leaders. 4) Developed a position paper to engage community members and stakeholders to participate. What We Would Like To Do: 1) Start our own peacebuilding entity to develop a project idea for community members to participate 2) To conduct research on peacebuilding ideas then meet with community members to develop and implement actionable ideas as part of a clear deliberate strategy to reverse the effects of colonization 3) To offer education and awareness activities such as: a) Work with Indigenous theatre talent to train leaders/youth in theatre & arts b) Community workshops on our own and other peacebuilding traditions c) Develop a Haudenosuanee identity program to help adults and students learn of their roots d) Develop a Peacebuilding education manual with community ownership for different groups e) Create a weblog site to post our research and compilation of resources on peacebuilding 4) Submit your own personal story of peace as a way to show others that change can happen 5) Tell others, including the folks back home about the vision and SNPP.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS TO DATE
In order to move forward the project has been tracking and documenting important situations, tasks, actions and results. The history of the project is important so here is a list of those points: May 2010 Jul 2010 Aug 2010 Peacebuilding Project research was funded in part by Joint Stewardship Board. Completed a Peacebuilding report that we can share that with you. This report helps explain the broad implications of peacebuilding according to our traditions. Developed working relationships with Mennonite Central Committee Ontario; Gandhi Institute of Rochester, NY; National Federation for Just Communities of Buffalo, NY; Community Centre for Research Learning Action in Waterloo. Peacebuilding project approached Two Rivers Community Development Centre to provide administrative support and to build our capacity to become an institute. Met with Mennonite Central Committee of Ontario to present peacebuilding concept. Met with Darren Thomas and Terry Mitchell of Wilfrid Laurier Universitys Centre for Community Research Learning and Action (CCRLA) to lend the project and Six Nations community a new expertise in community based participatory research and project evaluation skills. Joint Stewardship Board, Two Rivers and CCRLA submitted a proposal (under review) to Citizenship, Immigration Canada's "Inter-Action Fund", research project in partnership with CCRLA. Project based on 3 phases: Phase I: Community Consultation - workshops to gain feedback from community Phase II: Development of Curriculum - develop Youth Bundling Programs Phase III: Implement and Evaluation of Training Programs. Nov 2010 Hosted a Stakeholder's Meeting at CCRLA on November 12, 2010. Highlights of meeting include: Violence as a motivator of social change vs Peace as a motivator of social change; History of Grand River and its importance to building the identity of individuals; Lifting one another up as Leaders, Heroes and Mentors for the next generation to see. Developing a strategy to reverse the effects of colonialism and supporting these efforts with community based research methodologies and project evaluation skills; Jan 2011 Feb 2011 Mar 2011 New project sponsor Six Nations Polytechnic's Indigenous Knowledge Centre to facilitate the project's development. Secured funds from Ontario Power Generation under capacity building initiatives to assist with further research and to host a community workshop on peace building. Exploring partnership opportunities with higher learning institutes to assist the project in areas of community based participatory research, project evaluation, workshop facilitation, future search conference planning, and other areas. Securing resources to host a series of workshops on peacebuilding traditions in the Six Nations community in the Fall 2011.

Sept 2010 Oct 2010 Oct 2010

Oct 2010

Apr 2011

June 22/23

Planning a community meeting to present findings from Peacebuilding Traditions paper and to begin dialogue on putting ACTionable Principles & Values for future activities in the community. Meeting was cancelled due to schedule and people conflicts. Small group met to discuss project and to commit to organizing a workshop for Six Nations youth. Participants are to bring three (3) recruits to share information on project, seek their input on the possibilities of peace here in Grand River. Community workshop Carrying a New Legacy Forward hosted at Six Nations Polytechnic on August 23rd. Results include continue host meetings, guest speakers, examine more discussion topics and to look at developing a Decolonizing Strategy. Held a focus group amongst core support group to discuss options on how to move project forward. A number of activities were highlighted but more importantly the group agreed a vision is needed for the community to support the project and its future. Held focus group to reflect upon work accomplished to date. We recognized our work is so immense that we need to focus the project on areas were able to begin working on and then gather support from the community. We also realized our message and delivery must be flexible to reach the many different target groups we have in our community youth, Elders, parents, addictions, single parent families, service providers etc. Held 2nd focus group meeting to continue discussion on projects development. We agreed to develop a 2-3 page project description statement as a way to encourage other stakeholders to participate and for potential funders to support our work. Held 3rd focus group to continue project development discussions. We agreed to test our thinking with various community stakeholders from education and social development sectors and invite them to participate and possibly partner with us to continue this work. In the meantime would continue developing the projects capacity by networking with many resource experts in the community and abroad. We organized a community meeting to host Canadian Roots Exchange present their group and discuss Historical Trauma and we in turn presented to them what our group is all about too. What we discovered here is historical trauma and how we as Indigenous people to this land continue to remain in a state of victimization so our work needs to look at ways of how to move out of this victimization state of being. We prepared a Position Paper and What Our Ancestors Left Us papers as part of a Awakening Our Sacred Gifts presentation to community educators and social service providers. We discovered role playing drama and theatre work is so real and so necessary to help individuals to feel and to reconnect to the sacredness of who they are as Ogwehonwe. The project the project has conducted research on Haudenosaunee peacebuilding and other traditions. Peacebuilding happens on four (4) levels: i) Individual; ii) Family; iii) Institutional; iv) Governance & Leadership.

July 2011

Aug 2011

Sept 8

Oct 2011

Nov 2011

Dec 2011

Feb 2012

May 2012

Notes:

We have compiled many resources on the topic of peacebuilding traditions from an Indigenous and NonIndigenous perspective and documents on ethnostress and the effects of colonization. We distributed a questionnaire to assist us in the design of workshops too. This information available for your review upon request at Deyohha:ge: