It’s challenging to see a story you are in alone. The deep stories that shape the way we make meaning of actions become visible only when we are in the company of others. NewStories has worked with the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee to support Indigenous peoples around the world who are quite literally being drowned by the huge impact of the climate catastrophe. Rising waters are claiming whole islands in the South Pacific. Warmer temperatures and stormier seas break down the icebergs off the Alaskan coast and the oceans pound on the permafrost, claiming lands that villagers live upon. The Unitarian committee, in partnership with the Alaska Institute for Justice, reached out to NewStories for help. We were guided most by our principles of Connect & Share, Link Inner & Outer Work, and Feel & Notice as we worked with our partners to design a powerful three-day convening of people from 28 communities of First Peoples from the South Pacific, Alaska, Bangladesh, Louisiana and the Olympic Peninsula. At the end of the convening an Alaskan tribal elder stood and said, “We have heard 28 stories – and they are all one story. We must tell this story of the destruction of our lands. We are invisible to most people – and we must stand together to be seen.” The story of this convening is rich and powerful. Part of Re-Storying is finding the larger stories we are in. Only then can we begin to shift them, together.
Immerse yourself and learn more about this seed story here.