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.

The Indian Committee currently has 15 Members and 4 regular attenders. At the request of Yearly Meeting, we are now tracking volunteer hours contributed to Committee work [we have no paid staff support]. A conservative estimate for the period of July 1998 through June 1999 is 1,700 hours-an average of approximately 140 hours per month

The Committee maintained contact with the Lenni Lenape Historical Society’s Museum of Indian Culture, and will be assisting with travel expenses of Society members who will be visiting Delaware tribes in the U.S. and Canada to establish contact and enhance communication. In the past two years we have supported renovations necessary to expand educational programs at the museum.

The Committee is working to get a better understanding of the complexity of Indian communities in the Philadelphia area. At our May and June 1999 meetings we met with representatives from the Lenape communities of the Pinelands and Brotherton, NJ. We will continue to strengthen our knowledge of less visible Indian communities in the area, and support projects they present to us that will help them lay groundwork for building cultural and economic strength and unity.

The Committee has continued to work jointly 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. A Committee member participated in a conference held in Ben Lomond, CA, in the Fall called “Friends and the Peoples”. Two Committee members participated in the “1999 Gathering of Friends on Native American Affairs” held in Tulsa, OK, April 29-May 2.

The Committee’s long relationship with ACFIA (Associated Committee on Friends and Indian Affairs) has been maintained. The Committee’s annual contribution to ACFIA is targeted to support of the Mowa Choctaw Academy in Alabama. Several Committee members participated in the annual ACFIA meetings held in New Bedford, MA, in April 1999. This has helped us better determine financial needs of the Choctaw School and consider other ways to offer support which might more effectively help the children and Choctaw community.

The Committee assisted the Friends Committee on Unity with Nature for the travel of Native Americans to participate in Friends General Conference in Kalamazoo, MI.

Committee members continued to make themselves available for educational talks, and spoke at several Friends Meetings and Schools. This is an area where we anticipate a greater investment in the 1999-2000 year. The Committee continues to make a curriculum packet on the Lenni Lenape/Delaware available to Friends Schools at no cost.

The Committee began preparation of an exhibit on Friends and Indians for the Arch Street Meetinghouse (Fall 1999).

The Committee worked with AFSC to provide support for four Native American women to travel to the UN working group on the Draft Declaration on Indigenous Rights held in October 1998 in Geneva, Switzerland.

The Committee supported travel to the Philadelphia area by Oren Lyons, Faithkeeper of the Onandaga Nation and Professor of Native American Studies at SUNY Buffalo. In April 1999 he gave several public lectures on the topic of Native American perspectives on environmental concerns.

The Committee provided support for start-up expenses for the “Onodowaga (Seneca) University.” This will be a Seneca owned and operated educational institution working towards cultural revitalization in the Seneca community of New York State.

The Committee provided support to the Little Wound School (Oglala Lakota Nation, SD) for student and Native community staffing expenses for their summer School-to-Work program.

As recommended by Baltimore Yearly Meeting’s Indian Affairs Committee, the PYM Indian Committee supported the First Environment Iewirokwas Program in Akwesasne, NY [Mohawk]. This is a project under the umbrella of a larger national organization, Running Strong for American Indian Youth. The support will allow a family nurse practitioner to travel to South Dakota for a gathering focused on native healing, and is part of monies raised toward a $5,000 matching grant for the Program.

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 key sources o f information.

The Indian Committee held a one-day retreat in October (led by Committee members) to focus on issues of Native American sovereignty, repatriation and cultural ownership. This was extremely useful in giving us a better understanding of complex issues so that we can help other Friends act on these concerns.

The Committee has noted the importance of recruiting new members for the Indian Committee given our relatively small size and the growing needs to address concerns of Native Americans both nationally and in our own area. We will continue to make an effort to make our work known to Friends. With a growing number of Friends and Native Americans using the internet to communicate and gather information, the Indian Committee is considering the establishment of a website to make us more accessible.

Lois Kuter, Clerk