TRAIL OF MENDING
A journey remembering all histories...
...so we can step forward together.
MAY 23-26, 2023
KANSAS CITY
SUMMARY
This event is a traveling examination of Kansas City's little-known history, known well by Kansas Citians whose families have been affected by certain events and actions that have lately been ignored or misunderstood by many others.
Four Days, Three Nights: May 23 - May 26, 2023 from MO to KS.
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We're visiting spots where people have famously crossed boundaries to work together before in our metro, and some spots that mark past division. Their stories teach us how we can do better.
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Why? Effective cooperative efforts are vital to solving big problems—and our society's got some doozies.
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The Premise: If people from different backgrounds can listen to each other, then they will eventually find things to trust and love about each other, building common ground for effective work together.
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For Your Consideration: Who do you know who has a story to tell? Who can offer prayer or song? Who can bring a food dish that meant "home" to them when they were growing up? Please share the stops along the way of this cultural and historic journey with that person. Please help them be involved.
That person could bless this journey, even if just for a few moments. Scroll below to find which time they could bring their wisdom.
Current Needs
or text "MENDKC" to 53-555
or text "BIGFAN" to 53-555
Share this with someone by copying and pasting this into a text or post:
ACTIVITY ITINERARY
Spots for Circling, Stories, Song & Prayer
Day 1: Tuesday 5/23/23
​(Day of Many Hands, represented by the 'hand number', which is 5 or 2+3, on 5/23)
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8:30 a.m. – Opening circle, song & prayer – Camp Lake of the Woods, 7331 Oakwood Dr., Kansas City, MO 64132
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9:30 a.m. – Invocation of ancestors, prayer for personal service – KC Urban Farm Coop, 5051 E Gregory Blvd, Kansas City, MO 64132
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11:30 a.m. – Circle, stories, song, prayer & lunch – Cleaver Family YMCA, 7000 Troost Ave, Kansas City, MO 64131
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2:15 p.m. – Circle, stories, song & prayer – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Square Park, 4650 Woodland Ave, Kansas City, MO 64130
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3:30 p.m. – Roundtable Discussion: I care as deeply as I feel my roots – Bruce R. Watkins Cultural Heritage Center, 3700 Blue Pkwy, Kansas City, MO 64130
(just show up or register to attend via Zoom)
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6:30 p.m. – Capoeira Demonstration by Grupo Axé Capoeira – Parking at the Ewing and Muriel Kauffman Memorial Garden, 4800 Rockhill Rd, Kansas City, MO 64110
Day 2: Wednesday 5/24/23
​(Day of Remembering Conflict, Complacency, and their Consequences)
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8:30 a.m. – Morning circle, song & prayer – Route-side sleep site
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9:30 a.m. – Circle, stories, song & prayer – Massasoit Statue @ Winstead's on the Plaza, 47th & Main St, Kansas City, MO 64112
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11:00 a.m. – Circle, stories, song, prayer & lunch – Shawnee Indian Mission State Historic Site, 3403 W 53rd St, Fairway, KS 66205
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3:00 p.m. – Circle, stories, song & prayer – The Scout Statue, 2237 Pennsylvania Ave, Kansas City, MO 64108
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4:00 p.m. – Circle, stories, song & prayer – Pioneer Mothers Memorial, 2900 Kessler Rd, Kansas City, MO 64999
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5:00 p.m. – Public Address by Chief Black Spotted Horse – National WWI Museum and Memorial, 2 Memorial Dr, Kansas City, MO 64108
Day 3: Thursday 5/25/23
​(Day of Remembering Captivity, Freedom, and their Consequences)
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8:30 a.m. – Morning circle, song & prayer – Route-side sleep site
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10:30 a.m. – Circle, stories, song & prayer – Confluence of the Kansas River and Missouri River at GPS marking 39.111892, -94.614840 with parking at Levee Rd & N James St, Kansas City, KS 66118
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11:30 a.m. – Circle, stories, song, prayer & lunch – John Garland Park (which is an EPA Mitigation Site), 450 Cleveland Ave, Kansas City, KS 66101
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1:30 p.m. – Circle, stories, song & prayer – Parkwood Park, 952 Quindaro Blvd, Kansas City, KS 66101
(see more about Rattlebone Hollow)​
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3:30 p.m. – Circle, stories, song & prayer – Quindaro Ruins Overlook Structure, 3507 N 27th St, Kansas City, KS 66104
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5:30 p.m. – Circle, song, prayer & dinner – Camp Carver Institute, 4700 Sortor Dr, Kansas City, KS 66104
Day 4: Friday 5/26/23
​(Day of Remembering Hope and How WE CAN – with consideration and celebration)
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8:30 a.m. – Morning circle, song & prayer – Route-side sleep site
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12:30 p.m. – Circle, song, prayer & lunch – Emerson Park Christian Church, 1501 S 40th St, Kansas City, KS 66106
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1:30 p.m. – Circle, stories, song, prayer – Tensquatawa Shrine & Resting Place, 3818 Ruby Ave, Kansas City, KS 66106
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3:00 p.m. – Reflection circle, connection collection – Common Ground Field, 2455 S 42nd St, Kansas City, KS 66106
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5:30 p.m. – Trail Completion Ceremony and Potluck – Common Ground Field, 2455 S 42nd St, Kansas City, KS 66106
(All are welcome to come. Please bring yummy dishes.)
HOW TO HELP
Meals, Wheels or Helpful Deals
Whether you're bringing story or song, bringing a meal for at least 4, driving a support vehicle, or getting a local business to provide something that's needed, this journey will feel so much more meaningful to the travelers when they know all their needs are taken care of, when all they have to do is carry the intent of this healing ceremony forward with them. Thank you so much for the gift of your involvement. (Simply donating? Do that here.)
Sign Up to Volunteer on the Trail
How will you bring what you have to offer to this journey? All volunteers are welcome to participate in any part of the Trail of Mending event—the moving, the circling, the listening, the singing, the dancing, the sharing, the resting, all of it. Be with us.
Task-Based Volunteers
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Meal providers: Sign up to provide a balanced meal for up to 40 travelers and volunteers. Yes! I can bring food.
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Support vehicle drivers: Sign up to be a water carrier / exhaustion relief in your own vehicle, to pull a flatbed trailer carrying the hay/tipis/table/port-a-potty, or to drive your own horse trailer for switching out horses. This happens in 3-4 hour shifts. One of those drivers can definitely be ME.
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Tipi setup/takedown: Rehearsal on Saturday, May 20 at 3:00 p.m. near the Swope Park Pavilion. No reservation necessary. Just show up.
General Volunteers are needed to walk/wheel/bike/ride along for:
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Brushing horses, retrieving saddles/rope
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Vehicle tack storage/organization as needed
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Poop scoopers for farm compost as needed
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Assist with meal prep by setting up the potluck table
Sign up as an individual or a group. We welcome participation from youth groups, companies, civic groups and sporting clubs. ​I'm on board to be available to help during this ride. Thank you!
Current Sponsors & Partners
APPROACH
Discussing Multi-Track Histories and Beliefs
This ceremonial journey is not affiliated with any religion or creed, but it recognizes by its structure that ceremony and prayer are practices used by many of us around the world to address issues of concern.
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YES, WE WILL be specific, referring to what happened involving specific people, in specific areas, saying, "at that time..." But we will try not to make sweeping statements about a whole group of people.
YES, WE WILL tell our own stories or our family's firsthand personal experiences or our favorite traditional fables. But we will try not to tell secondhand or third party tall tales. We'll stay and listen to the histories as they are told, even when they refer to harm that was done, even when they may make us uncomfortable.
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YES, WE WILL speak our own traditional wisdoms, saying, "the way I was taught was," or "the way my people do it is..." But we will definitely not try convert anyone to believe or do an "only way."
When talking about family history and spirituality, sometimes things can feel heated. If you feel someone is angry at you, or accusing you of wrongdoing, or trying to convert you to an "only way" of living your life, take a deep breath and imagine that this person really intended to inform you about their own experience as a human being, with no ulterior motive. Then you may choose to separate yourself from the situation for a break.
That result is a bit easier on you, but getting there requires a challenging step for you to take in the heat of the moment: that deep slow breath to remember it's possible you may have misinterpreted another person's communication. Best of luck—May you stay strong, calm, and full of love.
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This is an adventure, an experiment, and we are all human. Thank you for your brave, hopeful listening.
CONTACT
Contact Us
Got a question? Contact us directly at trailofmending@clementwaters.org
“I salute the light within your eyes where the whole universe dwells. For when you are at that center within you and I am at that place within me, we shall be one.”
– TÈŸašúÅ‹ke Witkó (Crazy Horse)