BeFriending Creation

Bi-monthly newsletter of Quaker Earthcare Witness
Volume 27, Number 1, January-February 2014

Greetings ,

Happy New Year! This issue of BeFriending Creation offers many reasons for hope as we begin the year together. Our lead stories are reflections from Friends Buffy Curtis and Liseli Haines, as they recount their experiences as part of the Two Row Wampum Renewal. You'll also hear about the happenings at COP 19, thanks to a piece by QUNO representative Lindsey Fielder Cook. You'll also get a glimpse of the view from the World Council of Churches, through the eyes of Anne Mitchell, and learn about the negotiation landscape at the UN, thanks to Mary Gilbert.

This first issue of the new year is also the time when we invite QEW Friends to send along reviews, reflections, and recommendations for resources they've discovered that they want to share with Friends. Thanks to all who participated this year! We have a particularly rich and diverse set of resources to share.

Enjoy this issue and be well, safe, and in tender tune with our shared planet in 2014!

Also in This Issue:

Letters to Share

2014 QEW Mini-Grant Applications Now Being Accepted!

Two Row Journey: July 27 - August 11, 2013

Reporting from the WCC in Busan

The Negotiation Landscape: Countries

Special Insert: Quaker Eco-Bulletin: "The New Call for a Jubilee: How Friends Can Aid a Convergence" 

Traveling with the Two Row Wampum Renewal

by Buffy Curtis with Liseli Haines

In 1613, two sets of peoples made an agreement to travel down the "river of life, side by side, each in their own boats–as long as the sun rises in the East, the grass is green and the river flows downhill." It was called the Two Row Wampum Treaty, the original treaty that stands as the benchmark for all the treaties to come.

Four hundred years later, two sets of peoples, two cultures made a plan to travel down the "river that flows both ways" to honor the Two Row Wampum Treaty. The physical embodiment of that original treaty was a spark that continued to grow through two years of planning, outreach, and educational events by both First Nations and Allies working together. What emerged was a planned 150 mile journey down the Hudson River by canoe and kayak, from Albany to New York City, arriving at the United Nations for the International Indigenous Peoples Day. At its peak, this voyage would be represented by over 500 paddlers and ground crew and many enthusiastic volunteers who helped to carry gear, move supplies, and feed this moving representation of unity and the "Good Mind." For 12 full days, we laughed, sang, danced, tended blisters, ate together, shared stories, set up and broke down camp, and paddled for hours and hours in community. Read more.

A View from COP 19

By Lindsey Fielder Cook, QUNO Climate Change Representative

In November, more than 8,000 people gathered in Warsaw to attend the UN Conference on Climate Change. The conference was known as COP 19, including the 19th Conference of Parties and the 9th Meeting of Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (COP19/CMP9) to the United Nations Framework on the Convention of Climate Change (UNFCCC).  Read more.

Eco-Resources from Friends

by QEW Friends

We like to begin each new year with an offering of Earth-friendly resources—in print, video, and web content—shared by QEW members and supporters. This year we have a good mix of inspiring and informative sources to recommend. Thanks to all who participated! Read more.

Envisioning 2014

By Shelley Tanenbaum, QEW General Secretary

What is in store for QEW in the coming year? As I begin my new job as your General Secretary, I’ve been thinking about new directions, areas that need shoring up and existing strong programs that we want to maintain and grow."

Read more.

We hope the new year is beginning well for you, wherever you are in the world. We look forward to seeing you at a QEW meeting this year (in Chicago in April or at Pendle Hill in October--join us!). And remember to send along your story ideas, resources, or letters by emailing them to katherine@quakerearthcare.org. We also invite you to visit us on Facebook and tweet along with us at @quakerearthcare.

In Friendship & Peace,

Katherine Murray
QEW Publications Coordinator

Thank you for your continuing support of Quaker Earthcare Witness! Whether you share our pamphlets at your Yearly or Monthly Meetings, send in financial contributions, like our posts on Facebook, or encourage others to visit our website, everything you do is appreciated as we work together to lift up our concern for Earth.