Established in 1795, the Indian Committee is the oldest PYM committee in continuous operation. In supporting the many projects that come before it, the Indian Committee places high priority on those that directly support Native American communities and the development of leadership and self-sufficiency in those communities. Dedicated bequests fund the Committee’s work.

The Committee continued support of UAIDV (United American Indians of the Delaware Valley) with support of Tamanend Weekend activities. The Committee maintains an annual membership in UAIDV and receives its newsletter. We supported travel of Delaware tribe leaders from Oklahoma and Canada to participate in Tamanend activities as well as in a talk sponsored by Merion Meeting and Lower Merion Historical Society.

The Committee maintained contact with the Lenni Lenape Historical Society’s Museum of Indian Culture, and provided some support for building renovations necessary to expand educational programs.

The Committee supported a children’s’ craft/storytelling tent at the Southeastern Cherokee Confederacy May 1998 Festival held on the Temple University Ambler campus to benefit Indian college scholarships.

We supported work by Native filmmaker C.L. Williams to prepare a video about the Lenape relationship to the Schuylkill River. Called “Sipo/Native River,” this video was part of a Spring 1998 art exhibit “Through the Heart of the City” held at the Philadelphia Art Alliance. A copy of the video has been contributed to the PYM Library.

The Committee initiated work with AFSC Native American/Native Peoples Task Force, FCNL, and the Indian Committee of Baltimore Yearly Meeting to address the issue of sovereignty and make plans to assist Monthly Meetings to become better educated about this key area of concern to Native Americans.

The Committee established contact with the Friends Committee on Unity with Nature to assist them with travel support for Native Americans to speak at Friends General Conference.

The Committee’s long relationship with ACFIA has been maintained. The Committee’s annual contribution to ACFIA is targeted to support of the Mowa Choctaw Academy in Alabama, and we delivered computers to the school which were contributed by West Chester Friends School.

The Committee supported Hominy Friends Meeting in Oklahoma with equipment for an Osage language preservation project. Hominy is an all-Indian church, formerly part of ACFIA, which actively supports the Osage language and culture.

In November 1997 the Indian Committee sponsored a performance of the Woptura Dance Theatre (Lakota, South Dakota) at the Media-Providence Friends School. This dance group gives Lakota youth the opportunity to share and take pride in their culture and serves as an incentive for them to stay drug and alcohol free.

The Committee provided support for a Navajo staff person to work with 14 students from the Moorestown Friends School helping to build a ball field for the Torreon/Starlake Community in New Mexico. The Baltimore YM Indian Committee has been active working with this Navajo community.

In April 1998 the Indian Committee supported travel to the area by Jake Swamp from the Akwesasne Mohawk community for talks at Haverford and Kendal.

Committee members continued to make themselves available, for educational talks, and spoke at several Friends Meetings and Schools.

The Committee reestablished regular contact with the Mohawk Nation at Akwesasne to determine further assistance for the Freedom School which fosters the Mohawk language and culture. We delivered computers to the school which were contributed by West Chester Friends School.

The Committee continued support of the Native American Rights Fund, Association of American Indian Affairs, and FCNL. Newsletters produced by these organizations are used to keep informed of current issues.

The Committee provided travel support to Esther Gilbert, Middletown Monthly Meeting, for her work to assist the Nez Perce (Idaho) to establish a hospice program sensitive to the needs of its tribe.

The Committee provided support to Peace Brigades International for work in Arizona to negotiate conflict between the Hopi and Navajo tribes.

The Committee provided support to assist two Lakota women from the Wicosa Ta Omniciye with travel to the UN working group on the Draft Declaration on Indigenous Rights to be held in October 1998 in Geneva, Switzerland. [actually, this did not happen. Although we approved support, we were not able to get enough information to actually send a check … to be continued]

The Indian Committee wrote to the President’s Initiative on Race in September 1997 to express our concern that there was no Native American representation on the President’s commission on race relations.

The Indian Committee was present in a demonstration held at the Mexican Consulate in Philadelphia in January 1998 to protest the Chiapas massacre

Lois Kuter, Clerk