In the early 1980s discussions began on the development of a network of relationships among indigenous peoples. These discussions took place during the meeting of the General Assembly of the World Council of Churches in Vancouver in 1983 and in the context of setting procedures for the election of an Aborigine Bishop. From this discussion further meetings were held which included indigenous delegates from Australia , Canada , Hawai‘i, Aotearoa and the United States . But during the remainder of the 1980s the matter of a formal network never went beyond the discussion stage.
During the 1991 General Convention of the Episcopal Church in Phoenix , Arizona the first step was taken toward forming a network of indigenous Anglicans. It was here that the Anglican observer to the United Nations, the Rt. Rev. Sir Paul Reeves, convened a meeting of indigenous Anglicans and/or their representatives: Dr. Owanah Anderson, the Rev. Dr. Martin Brokenleg, Bishop Steven Charleston and Dr. Carol Hampton of the Episcopal Council of Indian Ministries; Bishop Wakahuihui and Doris Vercoe from Aotearoa; the Rev. Charles G. K. Hopkins from Hawai‘i; Archbishop Michael Pierce representing native Canadians. The idea of an indigenous network to coincide with the United Nation's International Year of the World's Indigenous People was presented and the countries represented at the meeting agreed to participate in it. It was further decided that one person from each country meet as a steering committee with Sir Paul Reeves to develop a plan for networking among American Indians and Alaska Natives, Canadian Natives, Native Hawaiians and Maori. Father Hopkins' offer of his Mission , St. John’s By-the-Sea in Kahalu‘u, Hawai‘i, as the site and host of the meeting was accepted with appreciation.
In April 2015 the Anglican indigenous Network gathered at the Stony Point Center in New York, USA, hosted by Shinnecock-Sewanaka tribe of the area. A Communiqué from the meeting can be found here and the Te Pihopatanga o Aotearoa delegations report here.
In May 2011, in spite of severe flooding that seriously affected New South Wales, the Anglican Indigenous Network gathered in Collaroy, Australia, hosted by the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Anglican Council. A report of the meeting is here.
The Eleventh Gathering of the Anglican Indigenous Network was held from April 23-27, 2009 at the Kilauea Military Camp (a retreat site not an active military base) at the Volcano National Park on the island of Hawai‘i. The Commission on Native Hawaiian Ministry (CONHM) hosted the event. There was a con-current meeting of indigenous theological educators. Full report from the Hawai'i Meeting is available here
The Tenth Gathering of the Anglican Indigenous Network was held in Vancouver Canada in 2007. The delegates gathered at the Vancouver School of Theology. A full report of the meeting can be found here.
The second Elders and Youth Consultation was convened by the Secretary-General, Malcolm Naea Chun at the Pala Resort in Southern California to further the dialogue of these two groups as the next AIN membership gathering approaches in May 2007. Consultants from the member groups of USA , Hawaii and Aotearoa ( New Zealand ) were able to attend. A full report is available here.
The ninth gathering of the Anglican Indigenous Network (AIN) was held on the reservation of the Pala Indian Mission in Pala , California and was hosted by the Episcopal Council on Indigenous Ministry (ECIM) of the Episcopal Church of the United States , from 10-15 April, 2005. A full report is available here
For the 8th gathering the member host Aotearoa asked each delegation to be prepared to have a delegation that can focus and work on specific issues and therefore each delegation should consist of a priesthood, woman, youth, educator, and elder. A full report of the meeting is here.
Under duress and the difficulty of international travel after the tragic events of 11 September in the United States of America, delegations from Canada, Aotearoa (New Zealand, Hawai‘i and Australia (including representative of the Torres Strait Islands) met in Cairns, Australia for gathering of the Anglican Indigenous Network (AIN). The delegation from Hawai‘i was delayed for four days before they reached Cairns and the Canadian delegation comprised of two members. Greatly missed was the entire American delegation, although they were represented by proxy through Episcopal Council on Indigenous Ministry member, Malcolm Naea Chun, head of the Hawaiian delegation. A full report of the meeting is here.
Five delegations representing the People of the Land in Aotearoa (NZ), Australia, Canada, the continental United States, and Hawai‘i gathered on September 8, 1999 on Kaua‘i, fourth largest of the Hawaiian Islands, for the seventh meeting of AIN. A more detailed report is found here.
On the campus of the University of Lethbridge , the Canadian delegation convened the 1997 assembly of AIN. A fuller report is found here.
In 1995 the AIN met in Alaska. A fuller report from that meeting is available here.
From February 28 through March 6, 1994 AIN met at St. John’s Theological College , Auckland , the home of Te Pihopatanga’s Te Rau Kahikatea and at St. Faith Parish in Rotorua. At this gathering an indigenous delegation of Aboriginal Anglicans from Australia was added to the Network which helped to make it the largest gathering of delegates and observers. A fuller report is here.
Network delegations met at St. John's By-the-Sea in Kahalu‘u, Hawai‘i on November 12 – 15. At this meeting the Anglican Indigenous Network was adopted as the official title of the network along with the following Mission Statement:
We are indigenous minority peoples living in our own lands. We are committed to the Anglican tradition while affirming our traditional spirituality. We have discovered that we have many things in common: a common spirituality, common concerns, common gifts, and common hopes. We believe that God is leading the Church to a turning point in its history and that the full partnership of indigenous peoples is essential. Therefore we pledge to work together to exercise our leadership in contributing our vision and gifts to transform the life of the Christian community. A fuller report is found here.
The steering committee, consisting of Sir Paul Reeves, chair, Dr. Owanah Anderson, Mr. Charles Bellis, the Rev Laverne Jacobs, the Rev. Charles Hopkins, Professor Pua Hopkins, Bishop and Doris Vercoe, met on December 10 through 12 in Hawai‘i where each one expressed the concerns of their people and identified the areas of mutual concerns. A fuller report can be found here.
