Deaconess Community,

Earlier this month our board and staff held a retreat to recenter ourselves in our strategy, enjoy building Beloved Community by participating in Holy Spirit-led relationship and trust-building, and practice the work of individual and collective liberatory consciousness.

As we met at the Pere Marquette Conference Center in Grafton, Illinois, our Board Chair, Patrick Brown, called upon us to recognize and remember the origin and history of the land on which we gathered.

Our team researched the complex history of the land and this region, and found much of the heritage of its original inhabitants has been intentionally erased, a key aspect of settler colonialism. The land on which we gathered to fortify ourselves for Deaconess’ mission is the unceded, ancestral land of at least five distinct Indigenous peoples: the Osage, Myaamia (pronounced me-AAH-me-a / Miami), Očhéthi Šakówiŋ (pronounced o-che-tee SHA-ko-wee / People of the Seven Council Fires or the Sioux), Kickapoo, and Kaskaskia people.

We acknowledge the profound debt we owe to them—not only for their stewardship of this land but also for their labor, which has often been appropriated and unrecognized.

We also recognize the labor—both stolen and coerced—that has built and upheld this nation and whose contributions have profoundly shaped the St. Louis region. This includes, but is not limited to:

• The earliest Africans in the Americas, enslaved and trafficked individuals of African descent, whose forced labor provided immense economic benefit to colonialist settlers.
• Chinese immigrants who laid the railroads.
• Japanese Americans unjustly imprisoned during World War II.
• Mexican and Mexican American farmworkers who cultivate much of the food that nourishes us.
• Immigrant and American-born workers of Black, Asian, Central and South American descent, and Caribbean and African immigrants, whose labor and creativity continue to enrich our communities.

We further recognize the persistent refusal of U.S. institutions to fully acknowledge the humanity of these unforgotten people and the ongoing impacts of these centuries of injustices.

Philanthropic institutions, as stewards of wealth accumulated through the extraction of Indigenous lands and the exploitation of communities of color, have a particular responsibility to contribute to the healing of the lands they occupy and to enter into a restorative relationship with their local Indigenous communities—including supporting the work of land rematriation to return Indigenous land to Indigenous people.

At Deaconess Foundation, we are clear about this call to action, and we take seriously the need to continue our (un)learning journey. This year:

• The Deaconess Financial Stewardship Committee will focus on liberating Deaconess capital.
• The Racial Equity Committee will explore restorative justice practices to build right relationships with local Indigenous people.

Deaconess donated 10% of our total bill with Pere Marquette for the Board retreat to The Osage Nation, with the expressed purpose of supporting the rematriation of the Sugar Loaf Mound and future preservation work. This 10% aligns with tithing in our faith heritage and follows the philosophy of a land tax, often a percentage of expenses.

We invited our board, staff, and guests to enjoy the beauty of the land during the retreat, and hold these few examples of Indigenous history and culture close while doing so:

• The park is near the confluence of three large rivers—Mississippi, Missouri, and Illinois—which were significant migration routes for Indigenous tribes. These rivers were central to their identities and way of life. The Osage are known as the “children of the waters,” and the Myaamia (Miami) as “coming out of the river.”
• Over 150 small Indigenous burial mounds are present throughout the park, including one atop McAdams Peak. Named for William McAdams Jr., a 19th-century local professor and amateur naturalist who facilitated the removal of 100 Indigenous skeletons from the site.
• There is evidence that a prehistoric Indigenous village was located where the Pere Marquette Lodge now stands.
• The Piasa Bird, 20 miles south of the park near Alton, is visible from the Great River Road. There is more fiction than fact in the colonizers’ oral history associated with this mural. However, one indisputable fact: this and another prominent pictograph on the bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River were painted by Indigenous communities and documented by Joliet and Marquette in their explorer journals.

Lastly, as we gathered in Beloved Community for the weekend, we said the names of the Deaconesses that represent the very essence of what is beautiful and BOLD about the United Church of Christ, in whose footsteps we continue the journey. We encouraged everyone to take time to reflect on the history and healing power of the land and draw from the power sourced in their own ancestral roots. It is in this Beloved Community that we have been anointed to face the headwinds.

We invite you to acknowledge and learn more about what reckoning and reconciliation is possible with Indigenous communities and the land you occupy. This resource was our inspiration: Beyond Land Acknowledgement: A Guide—Native Governance Center.

In service to the will of the Spirit and the mission,

Bethany Johnson-Javois, President & CEO
Amanda Stoermer, Director, Grants & Partnerships

Read the full March 2025 newsletter here.