My family owns land on the east coast. It has very little monetary value and the taxes are very low. However, in the traditions of my family, the land is how we define ourselves. We are the families of this particular land, in this particular location. Our extended families have lived in lands adjacent to each other for many generations. Our family stories are narratives of where the crops grew, families resided, our ancestors are buried, and the stream that nourished the land originated.

If we lose our land we lose a part of ourselves. The lands of many Indigenous people have been taken away. We desperately hold onto the land that we have because it is who we are.

We are proud that our Mission Peak UU Congregation has acknowledged our debt to the Indigenous people whose land we occupy and has voted to pay reparations.

-KB