09/11/2026
Grace, and peace -
A gift of remembrance from our siblings in the Native American Inter-Tribal Caucus of the United United Methodist Church
SEPTEMBER 11
Twenty-Five Years Later, We Remember
Twenty-five years have passed since the morning of September 11, 2001, yet there are moments in the life of a people that are not measured simply by the passing of years.
They are measured by the empty chair at a family table. By the name that is still spoken. By children who grew up without a parent, and parents who grew old carrying the memory of a child. They are measured by survivors who still remember what they saw, heard, and felt, and by those whose bodies and lives were forever changed because they answered the call to help.
On September 11, nearly 3,000 human beings went to work, boarded airplanes, answered emergency calls, said goodbye to someone they loved, or simply began an ordinary Tuesday morning without knowing how profoundly the world was about to change.
They were mothers and fathers, daughters and sons, grandparents, siblings, friends, coworkers, neighbors, and Relatives.
We remember them.
We remember those who ran from danger, and we remember those who ran toward it.
Firefighters climbed stairways while others were coming down. Police officers, emergency workers, medical personnel, military personnel, ordinary citizens, and strangers reached for one another. In places filled with fear and confusion, human beings carried other human beings. They held doors. They offered water. They gave directions. They carried the injured. They stayed beside strangers who were frightened and alone.
Some gave their lives trying to save someone whose name they did not even know.
That is also part of what September 11 asks us to remember.
For Native people, remembrance is more than looking backward. We understand that those who walked before us continue to place responsibilities into the hands of those who remain. Memory carries obligation.
If we say we remember those who reached for one another on September 11, then our remembrance must ask something of us.
It must ask whether we are still willing to reach for one another.
Whether we can look beyond differences long enough to recognize a Relative standing before us.
Whether we can choose compassion when fear tells us to turn away.
Whether we can carry someone when their burden has become too heavy to carry alone.
Twenty-five years later, there are young people alive today who know September 11 only through photographs, recordings, classrooms, and the stories of those who lived through that day. It is now our responsibility to tell them not only how many lives were lost, but also what human beings did for one another in the midst of unimaginable tragedy.
Tell them about the hands reaching through smoke and darkness.
Tell them about strangers becoming helpers.
Tell them about courage.
Tell them that remembrance is not meant to keep hatred alive. Remembrance should teach us how precious life is and how quickly an ordinary day can become the last opportunity we have to tell someone they are loved.
On this twenty-fifth anniversary, the Native American Inter-Tribal Caucus pauses with the families who still carry September 11 in ways the rest of us may never fully understand. We remember those who walked on that day and those who later walked on because of illnesses connected to their service and exposure. We hold close the survivors, first responders, families, communities, and all whose lives were forever changed.
May we speak the names of those we love while they can still hear us.
May we reach for one another while our hands can still touch.
May we never become so divided that we forget how deeply we need one another.
And when future generations ask us what September 11 taught us, may we be able to tell them:
When the world became dark, people carried one another toward the light.
May we remember them not only with our words, but by the way we choose to live with one another.
September 11, 2026
KiiKaay RagghiRain 🌿
Native American Inter-Tribal Caucus
The United Methodist Church
Peace,
Pastor Andrea
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