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This is a living and evolving document. If you have material you feel should be included, please let us know at harvardsquarelibrary@gmail.com
Our timeline includes only those persons, institutions, and organization explicitly self-identified as Unitarian, Universalist, or Unitarian Universalist.
Society for Propagating the Gospel among the Indians and Others founded
November 8, 1787
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Harvard Square Library exists solely on the basis of donations. If you have benefitted from any of our materials, and/or if making Unitarian Universalist intellectual heritage materials widely available and free is a value to you, please donate whatever you can–every little bit helps: Donate The Society’s object was “the dissemination of Christian knowledge, and the means of religious instruction among all those, in their country, who were destitute of them.” The goal…
Read moreAmerican Unitarian Association Accepts Charge over Colorado Reservations
November 8, 1870
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Harvard Square Library exists solely on the basis of donations. If you have benefitted from any of our materials, and/or if making Unitarian Universalist intellectual heritage materials widely available and free is a value to you, please donate whatever you can–every little bit helps: Donate In 1870, President Ulysses S. Grant invited Protestant denominations to take over the management of American Indian reservations and agencies. His hope was that this move would cut down on reported government corruption while simultaneously helping to “civilize” the Indians. The American Unitarian Association (AUA) accepted charge of the district covering the Colorado reservation occupied by various tribes of the Ute, consisting of about 8,000 people. Eventually the mission was moved to Montana, and established as The Montana Industrial School for Indians. Read the UU World account of this history here. The most complete history can be found here: Dana Capasso Stivers, “The Montana Industrial School for Indians at Romona Ranch,” Journal of Unitarian Universalist History Vol. XLI (2017-2018): 38-65.
Read moreEliot Appointed to Bureau of Indians
November 8, 1909
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Harvard Square Library exists solely on the basis of donations. If you have benefitted from any of our materials, and/or if making Unitarian Universalist intellectual heritage materials widely available and free is a value to you, please donate whatever you can–every little bit helps: Donate In 1909 President Taft appointed American Unitarian Association President Samuel Atkins Eliot to the Board of Indian Commissioners. In that capacity Eliot gave addresses such as his speech “From the Scalping Knife to the Can Opener” which argued how only assimilation to white culture would save Native Americans from their own “barbarism.” Eliot believed that liberal Christianity was an appropriate vehicle for teaching native character:…
Read moreGA Calls for Support for Indian Rights
June 20, 1970
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Read moreGA Abhors Violence at Pine Ridge Reservation
June 28, 1975
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Read moreGA Opposes Extradiction of Dennis Banks
June 26, 1976
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Harvard Square Library exists solely on the basis of donations. If you have benefitted from any of our materials, and/or if making Unitarian Universalist intellectual heritage materials widely available and free is a value to you, please donate whatever you can–every little bit helps: Donate Opposing Extradition of Dennis Banks 1976 General Resolution Dennis Banks is acknowledged by many Native Americans to be a militant leader in the struggle for justice in the cause of Native American rights; and . . . has publicly stated that he will be killed if he is returned to South Dakota; . . . The 1976 General Assembly of the UUA request that both Governor Brown and Governor Straub grant asylum and refuse to extradite Dennis Banks to South Dakota and that members and societies be urged to communicate the same request to these two governors.
Read moreLaDonna Harris Offers Ware Lecture at General Assembly
June 23, 1980
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Harvard Square Library exists solely on the basis of donations. If you have benefitted from any of our materials, and/or if making Unitarian Universalist intellectual heritage materials widely available and free is a value to you, please donate whatever you can–every little bit helps: Donate LaDonna Harris, President of Americans for Indian Opportunity, is a statesman and national leader who has devoted her life to building coalitions that create change. She has been a consistent and ardent advocate on behalf of Tribal America. In addition, she continues her activism in the areas of civil rights, environmental protection, the women’s movement and world peace. Raised in Indian country on a farm near the small town of Walters, Oklahoma, during the Great Depression, she spoke only Comanche when she entered grade school, and because of her unique upbringing, Harris views all things with the wisdom and values of two cultures. Harris began her public service as the wife of U.S. Senator Fred Harris. Her partnership with Senator Harris made her a strong force in Congress, where…
Read moreGA Calls for Justice for Indigenous Peoples
June 26, 1993
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Harvard Square Library exists solely on the basis of donations. If you have benefitted from any of our materials, and/or if making Unitarian Universalist intellectual heritage materials widely available and free is a value to you, please donate whatever you can–every little bit helps: Donate Justice for Indigenous Peoples 1993 General Resolution The UUA encourages its member congregations and individual Unitarian Universalists to work beyond 1993 in their own regions to: learn from indigenous peoples about the richness of their cultures and about the problems and issues they face; support local indigenous peoples’ political action committees in their struggles for social justice and religious freedom; and act individually and through coalitions to respect and support indigenous peoples in preserving their cultural pride and heritage and in protecting their natural resources.
Read moreGA Express Solidarity with the San Carlos Apache Regarding Mt. Graham
June 21, 1997
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Harvard Square Library exists solely on the basis of donations. If you have benefitted from any of our materials, and/or if making Unitarian Universalist intellectual heritage materials widely available and free is a value to you, please donate whatever you can–every little bit helps: Donate Solidarity with the San Carlos Apache Regarding Mt. Graham 1997 Action of Immediate Witness The 1997 General Assembly of the UUA calls upon the Executive Staff and the Board of Trustees of the Association to join with the Apache in requesting the cessation of new telescope construction on Mt. Graham and the removal of all existing telescopes…
Read moreGA Calls for Fair Treatment of Native Americans
June 27, 1998
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Harvard Square Library exists solely on the basis of donations. If you have benefitted from any of our materials, and/or if making Unitarian Universalist intellectual heritage materials widely available and free is a value to you, please donate whatever you can–every little bit helps: Donate Fair Treatment for Native Americans 1998 Action of Immediate Witness The Assembly asks Unitarian Universalists in the United States to take action to urge the United States government to begin a program of reconciliation and renewal by way of the following: holding at least one Race Initiative hearing on an Indian reservation prior to the cessation of the current work of the Race Advisory Board; setting up a Presidential Commission on Indigenous Race Relations with a Native chair and majority indigenous representation; initiating through the Presidential Commission a process for apology, financial reparation, and healing for the historic injustice suffered by indigenous peoples in their relations with the United States government and the other citizens of the United States, finding inspiration in the Canadian government’s recent action of apologizing to and allocating funds for its indigenous peoples; creating an…
Read moreGA Resolution Supports Native American Treaty Rights
June 24, 2000
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Harvard Square Library exists solely on the basis of donations. If you have benefitted from any of our materials, and/or if making Unitarian Universalist intellectual heritage materials widely available and free is a value to you, please donate whatever you can–every little bit helps: Donate Economic Injustice, Poverty, and Racism: We Can Make a Difference! 2000 Statement of Conscience We, the member congregations of the UUA, hereby rededicate ourselves to the pursuit of economic justice, an end to racism, and an end to poverty. We recognize that racism is a major contributor toward economic injustice. We pledge ourselves to strive to understand how racism and classism perpetuate poverty and to work for the systemic changes needed to promote a more just economy and compassionate society. Our work for economic justice must include support for . . . respect for treaty rights of First Nations and Native…
Read moreGA Supports Native Communities in Removing Cleveland “Indians” Mascot
June 24, 2000
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Read moreGA Resolution to End Use of Native American Imagery in Mascots
February 24, 2001
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Harvard Square Library exists solely on the basis of donations. If you have benefitted from any of our materials, and/or if making Unitarian Universalist intellectual heritage materials widely available and free is a value to you, please donate whatever you can–every little bit helps: Donate Resolution to Establish Formal Relationships with the National Coalition on Racism and Sports in Media 2001 Responsive Resolution In response to the moderator’s report, moved that this General Assembly direct the UUA’s Board of Trustees and administration to establish formal relationships with the National Coalition on Racism in Sports and Media as models for local Unitarian Universalist congregations to use in developing relationships with regional Native American groups working to end the use of Indian images and symbols for sports and media mascots
Read moreGA Resolution Calls for Truth, Repair, Reconciliation
June 23, 2007
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Harvard Square Library exists solely on the basis of donations. If you have benefitted from any of our materials, and/or if making Unitarian Universalist intellectual heritage materials widely available and free is a value to you, please donate whatever you can–every little bit helps: Donate Truth, Repair, and Reconciliation 2007 Responsive Resolution In response to President Bill Sinkford’s report, moved that delegates begin this work by encouraging their congregations and the UUA to research their own and the Association’s history: to uncover our links and complicity with the genocide of native peoples; with slavery and the slave-based economy; and with all types of racial, ethnic, and cultural oppression, past and present, toward the goal of accountability through acknowledgment, apology, repair, and reconciliation.
Read moreUUA President Sinkford Apologies to Ute Peoples
June 23, 2009
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Harvard Square Library exists solely on the basis of donations. If you have benefitted from any of our materials, and/or if making Unitarian Universalist intellectual heritage materials widely available and free is a value to you, please donate whatever you can–every little bit helps: Donate During the opening assembly of General Assembly, UUA President Bill Sinkford issues an apology to Ute people the mistreatment of their people by Unitarians, during the time period when the American Unitarian Association had management of reservations in Colorado. Read more about it here.
Read moreGA Repudiates Doctrine of Discovery
June 23, 2012
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Harvard Square Library exists solely on the basis of donations. If you have benefitted from any of our materials, and/or if making Unitarian Universalist intellectual heritage materials widely available and free is a value to you, please donate whatever you can–every little bit helps: Donate The Doctrine of Discovery (English) Sobre la Doctrina del Descubrimento (Spanish) 2012 Responsive Resolution We, the delegates of the 2012 General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association, repudiate the Doctrine of Discovery as a relic of colonialism, feudalism,…
Read moreUUs partner with Lummi Nation
June 30, 2015
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Harvard Square Library exists solely on the basis of donations. If you have benefitted from any of our materials, and/or if making Unitarian Universalist intellectual heritage materials widely available and free is a value to you, please donate whatever you can–every little bit helps: Donate Building on a previously existing relationship, Unitarian Universalist partner with the Lummi Nation to protest coal terminal. Read more about it here.
Read moreGA Calls for Reconsideration of Thanksgiving Day
June 23, 2016
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Read moreUUs Join Witness at Standing Rock
November 3, 2016
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Harvard Square Library exists solely on the basis of donations. If you have benefitted from any of our materials, and/or if making Unitarian Universalist intellectual heritage materials widely available and free is a value to you, please donate whatever you can–every little bit helps: Donate Unitarian Universalist clergy and lay persons join witness with the Sioux people at Standing Rock Reservation, North Dakota, to protest pipeline. Read more about it here.
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