December 3, 1998

Elsie Dakota: Local peace advocate

By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
     
      Last Christmas, the phrase 'Peace on Earth' took on a whole new, very personal meaning for Elsie Dakota.
      Just back from a ten-day trip to the Middle East to work for peace, the Garfield Township resident realized that we could all make peacemaking efforts in our daily lives. She learned that every day can be an opportunity for working for peace, even small actions locally can make a difference.
      "The trip was a life-changing experience for me," said Dakota, who works as the regional administrative assistant for the United Methodist Church district office. "It's like I have seen this and now I can't let it go. I have to be telling others about it and doing what I can to make others aware."
      Dakota traveled to the Middle East as part of a seven-member delegation sponsored by the Christian Peacemaker Teams. The Christian Peacemaker Teams is a Chicago-based organization dedicated to nonviolent peace activism around the world.
      Dakota and her team went to the Middle East to learn about and possibly prevent the destruction of Palestinian homes in the Hebron area. They spent days in Bethlehem and Jerusalem learning about the situation on the West Bank and then traveled to Hebron.
      There, she was struck by how much the area looked like a war zone, with damaged buildings and rubble strewn everywhere. Residents went about living their lives the best they could, despite the conditions and the military presence.
      "Everywhere you looked there were Israeli soldiers and checkpoints," said Dakota, who had previously traveled in Western Europe. "They carried guns and the Israeli settlers carried guns, too. I had heard of occupation before and being there brought it home to me with incredible force what it means."
      Since returning, Dakota has given talks about her experiences to 33 church groups in the area, even though she had never before spoken in public. She shares her experiences and hopes that her listeners will learn to look beyond mass media presentations of Middle Eastern issues and perhaps work for peace themselves.
      "I still quake during preparation, but once I get up there it's like this is Right!" Dakota said.
      Dakota has lived in northern Michigan since 1981, first in Elk Rapids then moving to Traverse City six years ago. She was raised in a conservative family near Bay City, where no one was a role model for her current activities as a peace activist. Her family did not encourage independent thought or action, she recalled, but slowly she began to make up her own mind.
      "Growing up I neither thought much or spoke much," said Dakota. "Now when there is a controversial issue being discussed I will at least speak up."
      Over the years she became involved in the fringes of the peace movement. She participated in the Hands Across America movement during the 1980s and a few other peace marches. Her breakthrough came two years ago she and a friend enrolled in a weekend seminar at the Neahtawanta Center on nonviolent peace training. Offered by the Michigan Peace Team, the seminar taught Dakota how to help peacefully resolve conflicts, with issues ranging from every day life problems to situations like in the Middle East.
      After completing her training, the Christian Peacemakers Teams offered her a chance to go to Hebron and be a witness for peace. She was very skeptical, not sure what she could contribute and worried about cost and safety. She prayed for guidance and began talking about the potential trip at her office. Officials at the United Methodist district office offered to support her both financially and spiritually so she decided to go.
      "I said to myself, 'I really believe in peace, this is it,'­" Dakota said. "I had to go."
      Now Dakota works for peace by helping to revive the Central United Methodist Church's Swords into Plowshares Peace Center. The Center's main thrust is to organize letter-writing campaigns to Congress, each month focusing on a different topic. Their January issue will be requesting the closure of the School of the Americas.
      "It's important to me to speak out against so much injustice in the world," said Dakota, who is a member of the Swords into Plowshares board. "I feel most of the time a heaviness in my heart for the people I met in Palestine, it may last the rest of my life. But I have the incredible luxury of pulling away while they can't."