Earth Stewardship Orientation — Community Research Keepers v0.2

This is the publicizable orientation packet for the Earth Stewardship Program → Community Research Keepers pathway, version 0.2. It was prepared for steward review and first pilot use with Sjeanne BC. Sections 1 and 2 are written to be shareable with light cleanup; Section 3 is for internal steward use only.

Note of Evidentiality

This document was shaped by Khipu from notes Truman captured after voice-recording Kichwalana during a South Day Rimanakuy on 2026-05-12. Kichwalana supplied the living vision, structure, and clarifications. Truman captured the notes. Khipu organized them into a cleaner orientation packet for review and pilot use. Final meaning and permission to publish remain with Kichwalana and Office stewards.

Section 1 — One-Page Orientation Path

Publicizable. Written to be shared with prospective Keepers.

What is the Earth Stewardship Program?

The Earth Stewardship Program is a community of people focused on giving to the Earth and to community. It is the broad participation pathway for people who feel aligned with the Office of the Three Sisters vision and want to support the work in a concrete, relational, and ongoing way.

At its simplest, Earth Stewardship is how someone says:

I want to be part of tending this work, and I am willing to learn how to do that in right relationship.

Who is Invited?

Anyone is welcome to participate. The invitation is especially for people who want to:

  • support Earth- and community-serving work;
  • receive and help circulate the Office's research and updates;
  • participate in a living community of practice rather than only follow from the outside;
  • contribute according to their capacity, relationships, and circles of influence.

What is the Circle of Community Research Keepers?

The Circle of Community Research Keepers is one collective within the broader Circle Keepers role inside the Earth Stewardship Program. Community Research Keepers help keep the Office's research alive in community by:

  • receiving research and update materials from the Office;
  • processing and integrating what they receive;
  • sharing appropriate insights back into their own networks;
  • helping knowledge stay living, relational, and transmittable.

This role supports knowledge sovereignty. It helps research stay connected to the communities it serves instead of becoming isolated, abstract, or extractive.

Core Commitments (v0.2)

A Community Research Keeper agrees to:

  1. Reciprocity commitment — contribute $25/month for one year.
  2. Attention commitment — receive Office research updates and offerings with care.
  3. Integration commitment — read, process, integrate, and further the work by sharing appropriate insights with their own circles.
  4. Acknowledgment commitment — respond through a simple read receipt, reflection, or participation in a lunar-cycle research gathering so the Office knows what is landing.

If someone wants to participate but cannot take on this specific reciprocity commitment, they may still find another role or entry path through the Office.

What Does a Community Research Keeper Receive?

  • acceptance into the Earth Stewardship Program;
  • a welcome / acceptance letter;
  • contribution receipts or records;
  • orientation to the Earth Stewardship Program, the Registry of Operational Needs, and the Circle of Community Research Keepers;
  • Office resources, participatory offerings, progress updates, and infrastructure context;
  • research updates from the Office and the circles they are connected to;
  • a concrete way to participate without having to invent their role alone.

Alli Kawsay — Areas of Community Need

Community Research Keepers may choose to follow or support one or more Alli Kawsay areas:

  1. Celestial rhythms and timekeeping support
  2. Rimanakuy — community gatherings and events (see Rimanakuy and Minga)
  3. Coworking / third spaces, mentorship, personalized learning, and creative exploration
  4. Higher education alternative opportunities — Hampina Path (see CoALA and the Hampina Path)
  5. Sacred intimacy, relational support, and repair
  6. Indigenous sovereignty and community resilience
  7. Habitat and ecological stewardship

First-Step Flow

When someone says yes:

  1. Collect their name and email.
  2. Confirm the $25/month contribution path and receipt process.
  3. Send an acceptance letter into the Earth Stewardship Program.
  4. Send the orientation packet and introductory video.
  5. Ask which Alli Kawsay area(s) they feel most drawn toward.
  6. Offer or schedule a first orientation / check-in.
  7. Record participation in the sign-up and orientation capture system.

Section 2 — Orientation Packet

Publicizable. This is the full packet sent to new Keepers.

Welcome

Welcome into the Earth Stewardship Program. This pathway is for people who want to help tend the Earth, community, and the living research of the Office of the Three Sisters. You do not need to arrive as an expert. You are invited to arrive as someone willing to listen, learn, support, and carry what is appropriate back into the circles you are already part of.

The Circle of Community Research Keepers is a circle for people who help keep research alive: not by storing it passively, but by receiving it, reflecting on it, integrating it, and helping it move where it can serve.

Why This Role Matters

Research Keepers are a pillar of knowledge sovereignty. They help ensure that research does not only live in documents, organizations, or experts. They help keep knowledge oral, relational, transmittable, and alive within community. This role supports the integrity of the Office's research methodology by making sure what is learned can continue moving through real relationships.

Relationship to Other Roles

  • Circle Keepers is the broader role family.
  • Circle of Community Research Keepers is one collective within that broader Circle Keepers role.
  • Community Research Stewards are different: they are mentors, guides, and direct research stewards, often with Indigenous research background or related experience. They guide researchers and help shape the work at a deeper level.
  • The Office receives and organizes research. Community Research Keepers receive publicized research from the Office and help it travel in community.

Core Commitments

A Community Research Keeper commits to:

  1. Financial stabilization — $25/month for one year.
  2. Attention — receive Office research updates, progress reports, and offerings.
  3. Integration — read, process, integrate, and further the work in their own circles.
  4. Acknowledgment — respond through a simple note, dashboard response, Discord reply, email, or lunar-cycle research gathering participation.

This commitment is specific to this circle. If someone cannot make this commitment, they may still enter the Office through another role.

What Keepers Receive

  • acceptance into the Earth Stewardship Program;
  • a welcome / acceptance letter;
  • contribution receipts or records;
  • the introductory video on Indigenous Research Methodology / the work;
  • orientation to the Registry of Operational Needs;
  • updates on Office progress, offerings, and infrastructure;
  • invitations into the Alli Kawsay areas of community need;
  • a living relationship to the work rather than a passive subscription.

Research and Update Rhythms

The Office may send different kinds of updates through the year, including:

Not every Keeper needs to follow every stream equally. Over time, people may gravitate toward particular areas of work.

Right Relationship and Use of Materials

Materials shared with Community Research Keepers should already be prepared for circulation unless otherwise noted. Even so, Keepers agree to:

  • preserve context and evidentiality when sharing;
  • not claim authority, authorship, or lineage they do not hold;
  • ask before using Office material for fundraising, teaching, public posts, or organizational claims;
  • honor requests to pause, correct, remove, or re-contextualize shared material.

This is not about surveillance. It is about keeping the work in right relationship as it moves.

Read Receipt / Acknowledgment

Acknowledgment should be relational, not surveillant. A Keeper may acknowledge by:

  • replying by email;
  • replying in Discord;
  • responding through a form or dashboard (once available);
  • participating in a lunar-cycle research gathering and naming what stood out and what they may share.

A simple acknowledgment could be:

I received this update. What stayed with me is ____. I may bring it into ____.

First-Step Flow

When someone says yes:

  1. Collect name and email.
  2. Confirm contribution setup and receipt method.
  3. Send acceptance letter.
  4. Send orientation packet and introductory video.
  5. Ask which Alli Kawsay area(s) they feel most drawn to.
  6. Offer a first orientation or check-in.
  7. Record their participation in the sign-up / orientation system and set up account access if appropriate.

See also: Community Research Keepers Intake / Payment / Receipt Flow v0.1 for the full manual intake sequence.

Graceful Pause or Exit

A Community Research Keeper may pause or leave the circle if their capacity changes. A graceful exit asks for:

  • a short note naming that they are pausing or completing;
  • any final reflection on what they received;
  • any commitments that need to be closed;
  • an updated communication preference for future contact.

No one should stay in the circle out of pressure or guilt.

Section 3 — Internal Steward Notes

Not public yet. For pilot and implementation use only.

Pilot Decisions

Minimum Viable Orientation Package (Sjeanne Pilot)

  1. Acceptance letter.
  2. Introductory video on Indigenous Research Methodology / the work.
  3. This orientation packet.
  4. A simple way to choose initial interest areas.
  5. A first check-in invitation.

Open Implementation Choices

The following have not yet been decided:

  • payment processor / subscription method;
  • receipt system;
  • where account access lives;
  • which read-receipt path is easiest for Sjeanne;
  • whether the first orientation is by call, Tending-the-Living-Day-style session, or written onboarding.

Still Under Review

  • final public wording for the Earth Stewardship Program;
  • exact acceptance-letter language;
  • which research / update rhythms are active first;
  • when to make the packet fully public;
  • shared-drive upload from the NUC succeeded on 2026-05-13 after Drive OAuth refresh.

Type: document · Also known as: Earth Stewardship Orientation — Community Research Keepers v0.2