Sing: All shall be well, All shall be well, My peace I give to you, All shall be well.*

Voice 1: As we gather here at Camp McDowell, Alabama, we name this land and the people who have inhabited this holy space where we sing and pray, laugh and cry, where we are challenged, nurtured, and transformed. This land is a gift which welcomes and supports us in our holy journey.

Voice 2: We name, now, the Yuchi, Muscogee, Chickasaw, and Shawnee people, whose ancestors – as many as 23,000 years ago entered this land and became a part of it.

They used this area as common hunting grounds. And were custodians of the land on which this camp stands. They occupied and cared for this land over countless generations before being invaded and decimated by European forces; and then, in 1830, forcibly relocated to the area we now know as Oklahoma. 

Voice 3: We also acknowledge the enslaved persons of African descent who lived in bondage here in Winston county, Alabama. In 1860 the U.S. Census records the presence of 120 Africans -- ranging in age from 2 months to 56 years who were enslaved by 16 owners.

We acknowledge the 347 reported lynchings in the state of Alabama between the years of 1882 and 1968. We acknowledged those lynchings that went unreported and those which have occurred since then. 

Voice 4: We acknowledge and repent of the ways that we have, over generations, benefitted from the genocide of the indigenous human beings of this land. Have benefited from the enslavement of beloved human beings. Have benefitted from the system of white supremacy that created so much of this country. 

[Pause]

Voice 1: This land is rich with history. We are surrounded by the spirits of those who walked this ground before us. As we walk on this land, let us walk gently. It is land hallowed by the blood and sweat, moans and tears of our indigenous and African siblings. It is land hallowed by the lives of all those who went before us.

Sing: All shall be well, All shall be well, My peace I give to you, All shall be well.

Voice 2: Beloveds, this land is hallowed by our tears and our prayers. Our laughter and our songs. Our breaking bread together over meals and at the communion table. Our storytelling and our silences. In the mystery of love, we are united with the land and with all the people who have gone before us and all who will come after us.

People: We gather, ready to be transformed by the power of God’s spirit. 

Voice 3: Our time here, walking together as the community of Academy 42 has transformed this land we walk on, has transformed the air we breathe. This time has transformed our lives and the trajectory of the world in its long arc towards Love.

People: We gather, ready to be transformed by the power of God’s spirit. 

Voice 4: In the mystery and power of love, we are united in this place and at this time with all of our community. Those of us here today, those of us who are not with us this week, and even into the reaches of heaven.

People: We gather, ready to be transformed by the power of God’s spirit. 

Sing: All shall be well, All shall be well, My peace I give to you, All shall be well.

*Land Acknowledgment Litany and music by Beth A. Richardson. betharichardson.com 

Resources:
Become a historian wherever you are. Keep learning about what happened on the land where you live and work and worship so that you can honor those who came before .

Learning about the indigenous people in your area: https://native-land.ca/
First Americans Timeline: https://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/era.cfm?eraID=1&smtID=4

Learn about the history of enslavement in your area. For example, the resources I used for Camp McDowell include the 1880 slave census for the county of Winston, Alabama. http://www.freestateofwinston.org/1860censlave.htm. For the history of lynching in this area, I used this website: https://lynchinginamerica.eji.org/explore/alabama