Bearing Witness to Extractivism, Colonialism: Day 6

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Interfaith Power & Light New Mexico & El Paso and Sisters of Mercy of the Americas are co-sponsoring an immersion retreat through some areas of New Mexico to bear witness to the damage #extractivism has inflicted on the people and the land of our state.  Tbe accounts and pictures come courtesy of Heather Scott-Molleda, senior director of communications for Mercy Sisters of the Americas.   Read Accounts for Days 1 and 2  Day 3, Day 4 Day 5

The Final Day

We begin the final day of our pilgrimage reflecting on the damage done by colonialism and extractivism which have treated God’s creation and Native people as disposable. New Mexico is suffering the consequences of that attitude.

 

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Day 6: A Prayer for Healing

On the sixth day, we ended our pilgrimage with a prayer for healing and call for new beginnings. We witnessed the beauty of God’s creation in Carlsbad Caverns, including the awesome sight of hundreds of thousands of bats flying out of the cave into the night. But we also saw evidence everywhere of the lack of care for people and for the Earth, farms turned into dumping grounds or new oil wells. This year is the centennial both of Carlsbad and of the first oil well in the Permian Basin. We are called to action. A dragonfly, the symbol of hope, change and love, joined us for the final gathering. We buried the “earthen treasure vase” that accompanied us on our travels, in the Permian Basin with the prayers of many, notably Pueblo and Diné (Navajo) elders.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sister Marlys Jackson, Rochester, Minn., offers her impressions

A reflection from Bro. Ryan Roberts, a Lutheran Franciscan friar and member of the justice team of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas

Bearing Witness to Extractivism, Colonialism: Day 5

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Interfaith Power & Light New Mexico & El Paso and Sisters of Mercy of the Americas are co-sponsoring an immersion retreat through some areas of New Mexico to bear witness to the damage #extractivism has inflicted on the people and the land of our state.  Tbe accounts and pictures come courtesy of Heather Scott-Molleda, senior director of communications for Mercy Sisters of the Americas.   Read Accounts for Days 1 and 2  Day 3, Day 4

Arriving in the Permian Basin

We have arrived in the Permian Basin on day 5 of the pilgrimage, an area of 6,000 square miles of southeastern New Mexico and West Texas where the explosion of fracking is releasing toxic methane and other chemicals into the air and water with little control. Activists from New Mexico Interfaith Power and Light, Earthworks and the local Citizens Caring for the Future are working to help the people, protect the land and prevent the climate bomb, while balancing the people’s reliance on the jobs the industry provides.

 

 

 

 

 

And here is a brief message from Marianne Comfort, justice coordinator for Earth, antiracism, and women for the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas.

Bearing Witness to Extractivism, Colonialism: Day 4

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Interfaith Power & Light New Mexico & El Paso and Sisters of Mercy of the Americas are co-sponsoring an immersion retreat through some areas of New Mexico to bear witness to the damage #extractivism has inflicted on the people and the land of our state.  Tbe accounts and pictures come courtesy of Heather Scott-Molleda, senior director of communications for Mercy Sisters of the Americas.   Read Accounts for Days 1 and 2 and Day 3

Day 4: Bosque Redondo

The pilgrimage has bought us in the fourth day to a painful place in US history: Bosque Redondo. The US government forced 10,000 Diné (Navajo) and Ndé (Mescalero Apache) to walk hundreds of miles to a concentration camp. The aim was to eradicate the native people. Hundreds died of starvation, disease and exposure. The Ndé eventually escaped. The Diné stayed until they signed a peace treaty allowing them to return to what was left of their sacred lands. The memorial museum here was created as the result of a letter from visiting Diné school children who wanted the true story of the hardship inflicted at Ft Sumner told.