The Wild Church Network includes wild churches across the United States and Canada, and some across the ocean. The place known by the state sanctioned term “North America,” is known as Turtle Island to many Indigenous and First Nations peoples, based on a common creation story. These lands we gather on, live with, and love is colonized land, settled by white European peoples from whom many of us descend. We don't dismiss the complexity of human migration and each of our lineage’s unique ancestral movements across oceans and lands in search of safety, belonging. And, we acknowledge the harm caused to Indigenous Peoples, land, waters, and creatures, and seek ways to help heal this harm through relationship, kinship, and attention.

Wild Church leaders are encouraged to research their own watershed’s indigenous and settler histories and the current conditions of local native peoples, and to acknowledge these realities as the ground they stand on in their gatherings. 

Out of respect for indigenous cultures that have retained a cultural kinship with all of creation, members are encouraged to include any or all of the following as part of their own connection with the land and the land’s historic keepers: 

• Honor the land’s lineages through acknowledgment or other ways;

• Be aware of potential appropriation of indigenous practices as we also practice earth-honoring ways;

• Learn about the specific indigenous histories of the territories in which we dwell;

• Stand with local indigenous peoples in their struggle for justice for their land and waters, and for their culture and livelihoods. 

• Learn personal ancestral lineages and ancient practices of connection with the earth.