October 27, 2019 Newsletter
There are many ways to show up in solidarity and continue our path of learning and growth in supporting our local Native Nations and Coast Salish neighbors over the next few weeks!
Please continue reading for events and related news:
Ongoing Call to Action &
Traditional Powwow this Saturday, November 2nd 4-9pm
Support the Protectors of the Salish Sea
Sta,chas Village Site
Washington State Capitol Building
416 Sid Snyder Avenue SW, Olympia WA
Message from Protectors of the Salish Sea:
Calling all Water Protectors!
Protectors of the Salish Sea are still here at the Olympia State Capitol calling on Governor Inslee to declare Climate Emergency. Since we began our 46-mile walk from the proposed LNG site in Tacoma over a month ago we have faced down riot police after occupying the Capitol steps, come back even stronger with a gathering of several hundred people on Oct 5th, confronted Inslee at public and private events, and continue to host ongoing prayer circles and jam sessions at the Capitol steps when we are not organizing at our resistance camp nearby.
Please join us to celebrate our growing community this Saturday, November 2 for a Protectors Powwow on the Capitol Steps from 4-9pm. There will be music, vendors, food trucks, raffle items, and wonderful community. Dress warmly and bring blankets and hot drinks to share if you would like!
Protectors of the Salish Sea are continuing to invite Governor Jay Inslee to join them in declaring a Climate Emergency. Please call Inslee's office, 360-902-4111, and express your support for the Protectors of the Salish Sea's demands, and ask that he declare a climate emergency today!
Allies and supporters are invited to join them for daily community gatherings, including sunrise prayer circle on the capitol steps, noon prayer songs in the capitol rotunda, and evening prayer songs and story teachings on the capitol steps.
Please note this is an Indigenous led event and we ask that anyone coming to celebrate with us respects the traditions and protocols of the First Peoples of this land.
To offer support for their ongoing presence, please reach out directly at protectorsassistance@gmail.com, or 360-870-8290.
Click here to visit Protectors of the Salish Sea facebook page.
Mark Your Calendars
Tentative Date for our next Gathering is:
Sunday, November 17th 1:00 - 4:00pm
Olympia Unitarian Universalist Congregation
Details are still being confirmed; please continue to watch this newsletter and
our facebook page for updates!
Meaningful Movies & Learning Right Relations Presents
Dawnland
Thursday November 21st 6:30pm
Olympia Unitarian Universalist Congregation
2315 Division St NW, Olympia
This powerful documentary follows the first government-sanctioned truth and reconciliation commission (TRC) in the United States, which happened in Maine and explored the experiences of Wabanaki children taken from their homes and placed with white families through the foster care system. For over two years, Native and non-Native commissioners gathered testimony and bore witness to the devastating impact of the state's child welfare practices on families in Maliseet, Micmac, Passamaquoddy and Penobscot tribal communities. Collectively, these tribes make up the Wabanaki people.
For most of the 20th century, government agents systematically forced Native American children from their homes and placed them with white families. As recently as the 1970’s, one in four Native children nationwide were living in non-Native foster care, adoptive homes, or boarding schools. Many children experienced devastating emotional and physical harm by adults who mistreated them and tried to erase their cultural identity. Now, for the first time, they are being asked to share their stories.
Click here to read synopsis of the film.
Click here to read article published in High Country News on the history of Indian boarding schools in the US: The U.S. stole generations of Indigenous children to open the West
LOCAL NEWS:
On Indigenous Peoples' Day, the Yakima and Lummi nations came together to call for the removal of the Bonneville, The Dalles and John Day hydroelectric dams on the Columbia River to restore salmon runs that were once the mightiest in the world. JoDe Goudy, chairman of the Yakama Nation, stated "On behalf of the Yakama Nation and those things that cannot speak for themselves, I call on the United States to reject the doctrine of Christian discovery and immediately remove the Bonneville Dam, Dalles Dam and John Day Dam."
Click here to read article published in the Inlander: Washington tribes call for removal of Columbia River dams, reject doctrine of Christian discovery
Click here to read article published by the Seattle Times: Yakama, Lummi tribal leaders call for the removal of the three lower Columbia River dams
The Puyallup Tribe of Indians and the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI) invite you to attend Part 1 of our summit series hosted by the Puyallup Tribe of Indians. This summit will focus on the history and current developments of the PGE LNG project currently under construction on the Tribe's ancestral homeland in the Port of Tacoma.
Click here for details and registration.
IN THE NEWS:
Earlier this month, young climate activists Tokata Iron Eyes and Greta Thunberg were the featured guests of the Standing Rock High School, speaking to the community about their experiences working in environmental activism at such young ages. As a very special gift, Greta was given a Lakota name from Chief Arvol Looking Horse, Maphiyata echiyatan hin win, which translates as "woman who came from the heavens."
Click here to read brief article and video posted on kxnet.com: Woman Who Came From the Heavens visits Standing Rock
Click here to read article published by The Guardian: Greta Thunberg, favourite to win Nobel peace prize, honoured at Standing Rock
Click here to read an article published on Indian Country Today that gives background on Chief Arvol Looking Horse, the intergenerational keeper of the sacred bundle that belonged to the White Buffalo Calf Woman, who conferred the name Maphiyata echiyatan hin win upon Greta: Important Message from Keeper of Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe.
In the words of Chief Arvol Looking Horse:
"Each of us is put here in this time and this place to personally decide the future of humankind. Did you think the Creator would create unnecessary people in a time of such terrible danger?
"Know that you yourself are essential to this world. Understand both the blessing and the burden of that. You yourself are desperately needed to save the soul of this world. Did you think you were put here for something less? In a Sacred Hoop of Life, there is no beginning and no ending."