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THE
INDIAN COMMITTEE
OF
PHILADELPHIA YEARLY MEETING
OF THE RELIGIOUS SOCIETY OF FRIENDS (QUAKERS)
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Annual
Reports
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Who
we are and how we work
The
Indian Committee serves Philadelphia Yearly Meeting which is made up of
approximately 11,000 individual Friends (Quakers) who meet in thirteen
Quarterly Meetings which are in turn made up of over 100 Monthly Meetings in
eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. The Indian Committee is part of the Standing Committee on
Peace and Concerns which assists Friends, groups of Friends, or Meetings to
address such concerns as world peace, racial relations, the United Nations,
the environment, AIDs, and conflict resolution. Some projects and working
groups have a short life and others, like the Indian Committee, have been
active for many years (over 200 years in our case).
It
is our responsibility to try to assist the Friends of Yearly Meeting to act
upon their concerns and to help them keep informed on issues of concern to
Native Americans.
The
Indian Committee meets on the second Saturday of each month (except July and
August) at the Arch Street Meetinghouse from 10 a.m. to noon. As is the case
for all Quaker business meetings, our monthly meetings for business are also
meetings for worship. In making any decision the Indian Committee works on the
basis of consensus and not “majority rule.” Every member of the Committee
must be comfortable with a decision. If just one person is not comfortable, we
continue to seek the right decision. This can be time-consuming, but it is
important in insuring that we make decisions by drawing on the Spirit within
us rather than by following one individual’s strong will. The Clerk of the
Committee is not so much a leader, but more of a convenor who makes sure that
decisions are based on consensus and our spiritual leading.
The
Indian Committee includes from 12 to 15 active members at any given time. We
are all volunteers and our membership changes. We are all individuals with a
strong interest in Native American cultures who have different levels of
knowledge and experience to contribute to the Committee.
