Richmond (VA) Friends Meeting

Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

Ad Hoc Committee on Reparations to Indigenous Peoples

by | Nov 22, 2025 | Race and Racism

The Ad Hoc Committee on Reparations to Indigenous Peoples was formed in February 2025 and charged with recommending a financial contribution of no less than $5,000 as a form of reparations to one or more indigenous tribes. The charge listed multiple items to be considered in the discernment process, among them: RFM’s historic and current connections to Virginia’s tribes, as well as any past harms caused by Quakers to those tribes. Later, RFM added the goal of determining how to live in ongoing, right relationship with Native tribes.

  • The committee has reached out to multiple tribes including the Monacan, Chickahominy (eastern division), and the Rappahannock to better understand and learn about any historic relationships between Quakers/RFM and their tribe and about how we might form and/or build upon relationships with these local tribes. 
  • Some of what the committee has learned:
    • The tribes are eager for non-indigenous people to know that they have survived destructive policies perpetrated over centuries by those in power. They are still fighting for their sovereignty, for their treaty rights, to defend their lands and other natural resources (water, minerals, timber, wild game), to educate and provide housing and healthcare for their tribal members, and for governmental acknowledgment of their continuing tribal existence.  
    • Virginia tribes seek non-Indians to partner with them in building a resilient future. They have told the committee about several projects for which they seek volunteer labor and, in some cases, financial assistance.  The tribes are open to financial assistance on projects as varied as the cataloguing and mapping of indigenous plants, teaching and promoting the use of traditional medicine among tribal members, creating a tribal apothecary, indigenous language restoration, and protecting their tribal land base from intrusion and pollution by non-Indian individuals and companies.  
  • The Committee is evaluating ways to better educate Meeting members and attenders on these topics as it finalizes a recommendation on the distribution of Meeting funds.