Following work by the NHLC Racial Justice Team, a Land Acknowledgment Statement was adopted in 2022 by Nokomis Heights Lutheran Church, to recognize and lift up the Native American groups who have previously lived on the land now occupied by Nokomis Heights. To help us better understand the reasons for the adoption of this statement we have scheduled another Healing Minnesota Stories—Sacred Sites Tour for Saturday, June 1, 2024,  from 10:00am to 2:00pm. We invite you to join us.

Healing Minnesota Stories—Sacred Sites Tour is sponsored by the Minnesota Council of Churches (MCC) and is an effort to create understanding and healing between Native American and non-Native people, particularly those in various faith communities. Native people have suffered deep trauma over many years, losing their land, language, and culture, and all who call Minnesota home are the lesser for it. While many people and institutions contributed to that trauma, it happened with the full participation of Christian churches. We all still need healing; healing is doable, and churches have a role to play in healing.

We believe in the power of healing stories. Stories heal because they make invisible pain visible. The listener and the storyteller are both healed by their acts. Churches and all faith communities can play a key role in promoting and experiencing healing by opening ourselves to our own history and listening to the stories of Native people. Through the sharing and retelling of old traumatic stories, we can create new positive ones. This effort began in 2012 and continues to bring Native and non-Native people to share stories and increase awareness of the value of American Indian language, culture, and our shared history.

Tours are led by Rev. Jim Bear Jacobs (Mohican) and Dr. Kelly Sherman-Conroy (Oglala Lakota). The tours offer an opportunity to learn about Minnesota history from a Native perspective through storytelling and experiencing the sites in silence / meditation / reflection. There is a $30 per person charge (but please don’t let that stop you from participating). The group is limited to 50 people. All tours meet at the Church of St. Peter, 1405 Sibley Memorial Highway, Mendota Heights. We will try to arrange some carpooling from Nokomis Heights.

PLEASE JOIN US ON SATURDAY, JUNE 1, 2024, FROM 10:00AM TO 2:00PM.

Register by calling or emailing Nokomis Heights Lutheran Church

Phone: 612-825-6846

Email: office@nokomisheights.org