June 18, 2019 Newsletter

As we take a break from our monthly Gatherings for the summer, we invite you to continue in the journey of learning right relations with the First Peoples of the South Salish Sea and beyond through ongoing learning, direct action, and support of projects such as the Paddle to Lummi Blanket Project!

There is also a current need to support a local Indigenous activist and poet in securing safe housing. See details below on how to contribute towards this effort!

Read further for specific opportunities to engage in support and related news:

We need your help in reaching our goal!
Paddle to Lummi Blanket Project

Invite your friends, co-workers and neighbors to contribute
Click here to learn more about how to donate and find flyer to distribute
A big thank you to all who have contributed thus far!!

Donate towards secure housing for local Indigenous activist
Lennée Reid, past LRR Gathering presenter

This is an urgent need! If you are able, please do contribute towards this fundraiser, and share with anyone you know who may also support. Even $5 or $10 can make a difference.

Lennée Reid is a Creole Choctaw disabled single mom based in Olympia, WA. She is a grand slam winning poet and spiritualist who has been a vocal activist for social, environmental, and Indigenous rights for years. Her album "The Second Coming of Matriarchy" and books "Universal State of Mind" and "Qi Woo Mojo Juju" are available online.

Click here to read more and donate towards Life Changing Housing for Lennée.

IN THE NEWS:

Click here for recent Unitarian Universalist newsletter on Creating Climate Justice. Make sure to scroll down for section on Indigenous Solidarity!

The Unist'ot'en were in court June 12-14th, continuing to resist efforts of Coastal Gas Link to make way for construction of a fracked gas pipeline and a "man camp" to house workers on Unist'ot'en traditional territory. Click here for Unist'ot'en page with latest updates.

Click here for twitter feed documenting Day 1 of courtroom hearings, with Coastal Gas Link presenting their arguments.
Click here for twitter feed documenting Day 2 of courtroom hearings, with Unist'ot'en Defense presenting their arguments.

Learn more about Native people in politics within Washington state in this recent article from Indian Country Today: More Native candidates are running for local office - and winning - in Washington state.

Congresswoman Debra Haaland is drawing attention at the national level to the epidemic of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women in her recent article published in The Guardian: Women are disappearing and dying in Indian country. We must act.

Words of Wisdom:

In the work of ecological and environmental justice, we find it crucial to lift up and center Indigenous voices and wisdom in understanding what needs to be done to repair our dysfunctional relationship to the Earth. Click here to watch Peruvian Indigenous leader Arkan Lushwala speaking about the earth as our mother.

Amy Troyer-Karas