by Morgan Curtis, Ancestors & Money Coach

Rematriate the Land! One of the first two houses to soon be under Ohlone stewardship. Graphic by Sogorea Te’ Land Trust, from Rematriating a House in Huchiun.

Call to action: Support #Landback in Oakland/Huchiun, Lisjan Ohlone territory, California

"To do Indigenous led work in one the most expensive “real estate markets” in the world, Indigenous people have to be able to live here. While our work opens urban Indigenous access to land in many important ways, we still don’t actually “own” any land. Our local tribe doesn’t “own” any land. None of the Indigenous people on our staff “own” land. We cannot build housing on the land we currently have access to. So we’re going to start buying it back. A rare opportunity has come to us and we want to take it. Help us buy our first house. Help us return this land to Indigenous Hands. Help us raise $750,000 by August 28th.”

I’m honored to be on a small fundraising team working to make this happen, and we need your help! Please join me in supporting Sogorea Te’ Land Trust to Rematriate a House in Huchiun. We’ve raised $272,200 since Wednesday, and you can be part of helping us reach the $750k goal in the next two weeks!

Particularly calling on those who have ties to the San Francisco Bay Area (by residence, or family history, or wealth through tech), those who have used their wealth to secure housing for themselves, and those descended from colonizers of California or elsewhere, to be part of this historic effort. Now is the moment to demonstrate our commitment to redistribution and repair.

Ancestors & Money: Registration open now for the second cohort

The first Ancestors & Money cohort wrapped up at the end of July with two weeks of powerful sharing from cohort members about their ancestral stories, wealth redistribution action steps, and other learnings in this work. Here’s a little glimpse of what the journey was like from Edin, 28, climate justice organizer and art educator:

“This cohort creates openings into the unknown. It is an invaluable container that provides context, resources, stories, inspirational examples, and deep connections. Through this cohort, I found a community of other folks committed to anti-racist genealogy and wealth redistribution, where we hold each other accountable in this challenging and fulfilling work. I also found what ancestral healing looks like for me and how to do reparative action while rooted in my dignity. This cohort gave me the belonging, bravery, and inspiration I needed to feel supported on my path for this liberating, lifelong work.”

The second cohort will run for six months from November 2021 - May 2022. We have just opened registration, and there is space for 12 more people. Click here to read more about it, then you can sign up for a discovery call.

Where I’ll be this fall: Harvard Divinity School

My purpose and prayer in attending Harvard Divinity is to deepen this work supporting my fellow descendants of colonizers and enslavers with redistribution of inherited wealth in the spirit of reparations. I have the privilege to have been accepted to the Masters of Divinity program, returning, with new intention, to some of the lands and worlds that I come from. You can read my application essay if you like, for more of my thoughts and feelings: tinyurl.com/hdsessay

This was not an easy decision. I know that so many of the things Harvard stands for, and was built upon, are the same systems I/we are working to transmute: white supremacy, colonization, classism, capitalism, and more. And I know that I am already learning so much in my work, my organizing, and my life at Canticle Farm. Yet I trust there is a reason I’m being called into this study of ministry, of accompanying people in the deep questions of our lives and lineages.

I also feel there is a reason that I'm being called back to Massachusett territory in particular, where my ancestral story is so woven with colonization, genocide and enslavement on those lands. I am sensing there's some particular reckoning and repair that I can only do by being back on that land and in community with its people. I already feel grateful to be witnessing and learning from projects like Eastern Woodlands Rematriation Collective and Kibilio.

Something to tune into: Konda Mason’s Brown Rice Hour

Newsletter namesake poem by Mary Oliver