What does reconciliation actually look like?

This story is the third of the four-part Our Mission in Action series! Read on to see how Reconciliation, one of the four pillars of our mission, lifts Native and non-Native people of all ages to a place of connection and healing in the Circle.

Whether we're on a volunteer service trip in one of the Native communities we serve, closing out a youth workday at our Lafayette Hub, or gathering at camp following a 4 Directions Ride, a day with the Tipi Raisers is almost always punctuated with a call to "Circle Up!"


What happens when we "circle up," you may ask?


Inspired by the Indigenous tradition of the Talking Circle, each volunteer, youth, and community member gathers into an unbroken circle - no one in front of or behind another - and shares their truth, one person at a time.


As the sharing goes around, this can often look like a recap of the workday. Many times, it takes the form of a raw and real reflection on race relations, on trauma, on the prejudice that divides so many communities and the humanity that unites us all.
Here are some of the transformative moments of reconciliation we've witnessed in the Circle over the years:​

•  A volunteer from the University of Georgia coming to understand that historical wrongs committed against Indigenous communities by people who looked like her are still echoing into the present, and that she must find her unique role in healing this history
• A young Lakota woman from Pine Ridge, face-to-face with a white youth from Colorado Young Leaders, realizing that she was carrying prejudice towards white people
• Waylon Belt, a community member living on Pine Ridge, placing Colorado volunteer Joe Loetscher at the opposite side of the Circle to demonstrate the chasm he felt between himself and the white world - a potent visual lesson on the legacy of a fraught history and a divided present
• Elders and youth, both Native and non-Native, admitting to projections such as "I thought the elders would look down on us and see us as a nuisance," and "I assumed the young people would be disrespectful and unwilling to help," then being joyfully proven wrong over the course of side-by-side work and play

Our Executive Director often reminds us: "There is so much going on under the surface of the circle."

When a young person, an elder, a non-Native volunteer, or a Native community member step into courage and share what is true for them under the surface of it all - something magical happens. Barriers fall down; assumptions and stereotypes are admitted, explored, and dismantled. Sometimes tensions rise. Often, tears are shed. It's messy, it's hard, it's beautiful - and it is necessary if we are to move forward together towards reconciliation.​

In friendship,

The Tipi Raisers Team

Gen7 Youth, Alleviating Poverty, Reconciliation, and Indigenous Wisdom are the guiding pillars which integrate across all our activities. Stay tuned next week as we explore the final pillar of our mission!