our Ways with Money are informed by the practices of
Inspired by many & in particular, two of our Guardians Gigi Coyle and Orland Bishop, we seek to practice ways of working with resources that stand in contrast to an extractive, racialized capitalist system. These ways include solidarity economics, transformative economics, regenerative economics, and sacred economics
We are committed to offering services at or below the cost of direct expenses for systemically oppressed communities, such as Black and Indigenous/First Nations communities.
We aim to pay our collective members and partners of color higher rates. They are often on the frontlines serving communities facing complex and immediate challenges, and it is a big ask for them to step out of that service to provide facilitation and teaching for others. In doing so, we support their home organizations and communities rather than drain their resources.
We invite, but not require, organizations that are white- and middle- class led pay top rate, even if they are working hard to raise their own funds or are struggling financially. This financial responsibility will allow people of marginalized and systemically oppressed identities to receive reparations, mutual aid, and subsidized services; and ensures that we are able to compensate our BIPOC members well for their services outside of their direct communities.
school of lost borders
"We are not a charity organization. Nor are we a foundation. We are a small non-profit organization with a very modest budget. But, really, we are not that either. Rather, we are a group of ordinary people who just happen to have an insatiable passion – a calling, perhaps – for taking people out on the land as a means for bringing about community and personal transformation. We have witnessed, again and again, the life-changing power of the wilderness rites of passage ceremony and wilderness fasting, and for this reason, we are hooked. We ask, therefore, for a spirit of reciprocity, that the gift be exchanged as a means for keeping the gifting alive."
darcy ottey
"In today’s world, earning money allows me to keep a roof over my head, put food on my table and clothes on my back, support my teachers and others doing good work in the world, and give back to organizations and communities strengthening vulnerable communities and fighting for cultural sovereignty, reparations, decolonization, and the health and vitality of our ecosystems. It allows me to seek medical and wellness care, to spend time with the people I love, and get to the places where I can learn, work, and be inspired." Read more...
reparations and settler responsibility offer - Inspired by Acorns nw forest school
Towards Decolonization and Settler Responsibility: Reflections on a Decade of Indigenous Solidarity Organizing by Liza Minno Bloom – Berkley Carnine
"This writing and work relates to us—as white settlers acting in solidarity with an Indigenous struggle—proactively pursuing decolonization and anti-colonial work amongst ourselves. It is one of many attempts to disrupt the narrative that says decolonization and anti-colonial work are solely the job of Indigenous people and to explore what we are calling parallel processes of decolonization. We are thinking through what it means to shift out of a solely solidarity framework to one of joint struggle, wherein we clarify our own sense of having a stake in defending the earth and in confronting systemic violence and intergenerational trauma caused by colonialism."
"Parallel processes of decolonization entail transforming our relationship to the state, capitalism, extractive industries, and modes of thinking that are defined by white supremacy, etc. We need a community in which we can do the work of holding each other and ourselves accountable, reflecting, and finding modes of uniting in the face of divide and conquer strategies without losing our own political compass." Read more...
“I am not concerned with gifts given in spite of fear, nor those gifts we accept out of servility or obligation; my concern is the gift we long for, the gift that, when it comes, speaks commandingly to the soul and irresistibly moves us.” ~Lewis Hyde
While the market economy is deliberately impersonal, the whole purpose of a gift economy is to establish & strengthen the relationships between us, to connect us one to the other. Because of this element of relationship, we can speak of gift-giving as ‘erotic’ commerce, referring to eros, the principle of attraction, union, or a connection which binds us. So, the erotic nature of dana (gift, offering, giving or generosity) refers to the way in which the dharma (an aspect of truth or reality), when freely given, has the potential to draw a community together and lift it up.
The ambiguity of this foreign word (dana) is being used as a defense against our own discomfort with the tension that is created when the reality of our materialistic strivings are not in alignment with our spiritual aspirations to transcend those strivings. In other words, the grey area created by using a foreign word allows us to fool ourselves (or others) into believing that we are talking about generosity when we’re actually talking about fundraising; and it allows us to believe that we intend to give, when we really intend to get. ~Kris Bailey
When the ECC was in the creation phase, I was asked what I would like as an identity symbol. This is what I chose. Both the moon (feminine) & sun (masculine) energy with the flying fish. An exquisite creature, with me on my transatlantic crossing.Adorned across my chest to represent sailing 10,000 nautical miles. Traditionally the swallow (bird) has been used with sailors, I chose the flying fish - pure freedom.
Black and Indigenous/First Nations Lives Matter People of the Global Majority & First Nations Lives Matter
We recognize that this land is stolen and the labor of Black and Indigenous folks has been stolen. In efforts to support Black and Indigenous joy and connection to outdoor spaces, we are committed to offering services at or below the cost of direct expenses for systemically oppressed communities, such as Black and Indigenous/First Nations communities.
In the spirit of reparations and rematriation, we aim to give 10% of our monthly earnings to BIPOC lead organizations. We are always eager to learn of folx to share our earnings with. If you have a suggestion please be in touch.
We are monthly donors to Youth Passageways & Sogorea Te' Land Trust.
We invite those who work with us to contribute to local indigenous peoples’ Land Tax (or other BIPOC led organizations) as a direct action of reparation. Learn more about #landback & working with money across difference.
OUR WORK, MOSTLY, TAKES PLACE ON THE TRADITIONAL, UNCEDED TERRITORY OF THE CHOCHENYO OHLONE PEOPLE, KNOWN TODAY AS THE MUWEKMA OHLONE TRIBE. WE RECOGNIZE THEIR SOVEREIGNTY, AS THERE ARE NO TREATIES ON THESE LANDS, AND WE ARE DEDICATED TO BUILDING A NEW RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN OUR NATIONS BASED ON RESPECT AND CONSENT.
KNOW THE LAND.
OTHER WAYS YOU CAN SUPPORT
SKILL TRADING
INVITE ME TO STAY WITH YOU + FEED ME- IT WILL BE GREAT!
SPONSOR MY WEBSITE: ANNUAL RENEWAL DOMAIN @ $20 + WEBSITE @$96 PLUS TAX + EMAIL @ $50 = $166 + TAX & IN EXCHANGE I HIGHLIGHT YOU AND ORGANIZATION OF YOUR CHOOSING ON THE SITE + SOCIAL MEDIA.
WISH LIST
QUEER LAND - WE BUILD IT THEY WILL COME (NW, SE & SW LOCATIONS)
A DJ MENTOR, PLAYMATE & SOFTWARE #LIFEGOAL
A BOAT - ONE THAT HAS CAPACITY FOR EVENTS FLOATING HOME WITH A DANCE-FLOOR, LIKE ODESSA AMSTERDAM
TEACH AN ASPIRING QUEER ASL INTERPRETER SIGN LANGUAGE
~The greatest barrier to getting what you want is not asking~