July 15, 2019 Newsletter
We want to extend a big Thank You to all who have donated to the Paddle to Lummi Blanket Project, and announce that the blankets are on their way!
We will be posting updates on our website at: https://learningrightrelations.org/canoe-journey-support as well as in future newsletters on how to pick up your complimentary blanket, if you donated $90. Please feel free to email learningrightrelations@gmail.com with any questions!
If you have the opportunity to come to Lummi for the Canoe Journey landing on July 24th, this will be a very special event. All canoes will arrive at Lummi on the 24th and the canoe landings will be followed by 4 days of protocol, through July 28th. Also, if you are planning on volunteering please don't forget to sign up at https://paddletolummi.org/stay-connected (sometimes this page has trouble loading, if so, hit "refresh")
Read further for specific opportunities to engage in support and related news:
You can still donate to the
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!!
Following the Canoe Journey
8 canoes will be leaving Arcadia Point, Squaxin, the morning of July 16, according to the tides (around 5am) and arriving through the late morning into the afternoon at Luhr Beach launch, Nisqually. Click here for directions to Luhr Beach launch. The canoes will depart Nisqually July 17th, again according to the tides (around 9am) and arrive through the afternoon at Puyallup. They will leave Puyallup the morning of July 18th, around 9am. More canoes will join along the way.
Click here to view Squaxin Community Calendar, which shows the schedule of canoe landings from Squaxin to Lummi from July 15th to the 24th.
Click here to view Tribal Canoe Journey Facebook page, which will have photos and updates posted throughout the journey. You can also click here to watch updates on the Paddle to Lummi website.
*A reminder, from Squaxin Island Tribe's Native American Etiquette*
"Ethnic regalia is never called a 'costume.' That would be insulting. Regalia is most often worn during sacred ceremonies, but Native Americans often wear traditional accessories as a symbol of pride in their cultural heritage. Feathers are sacred. If a one falls, do not pick it up. Leave it where it is.
"Likewise, canoes are an important part of tribal culture, and are never to be referred to as 'boats.' Doing so might cause you to be thrown in the water (in a teasing, but loving way)."
Click here to view full article, Native American Etiquette: Just Good Manners
Canoe Journey Landings and Protocol
Paddle to Lummi 2019
July 24th - 28th
Watch the Paddle to Lummi 2019 Trailer
Click here for video of Lummi youth canoe family from 2017
Interested in volunteering? Click here to sign up.
For those who are planning on going to the canoe landings at Lummi, here is a notice from the recent Native Events newsletter:
HEADS UP on JULY 24 Canoe Landings
Record crowds are expected at Lummi on July 28 when the canoes come ashore. In 2007 there were 18,000 people on Lummi Shores and close to 75 canoes landed. This year 111 Canoe families are currently scheduled to land and the estimate for the crowd is larger.
Be Prepared:
The actual canoe landings will happen between Noon and 2:00 pm on July 24. Consider getting there early to find parking and avoid severe traffic issues. There will be no seating so bring a lawn chair, sunscreen, water, food for lunch. Though there will be food vendors possibly up the hill by Wexlium not down on the Stommish Grounds.
Donations still being accepted by Lhaq'TeMish Foundation here
Please consider the cost to Lummi for hosting not only the thousands of Original Nations and Peoples but non-natives who will be attending this incredible celebration of culture and generosity.
MAKING A STATEMENT
Photos recently went viral of Rosalie Fish, Cowlitz, a senior track star from Muckleshoot High School, as she ran for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. Fish ran multiple races, each dedicated to a different missing and murdered Indigenous woman. Fish said, "I had a lot of people ask me, 'Aren't you happy to be state champion?' Suddenly, my meet felt insignificant compared to what I was running for." Click here to read article published in The Nation:Rosalie Fish Runs for the Murdered and Missing
For a deeper look at the issue of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, set aside some time to listen to this amazing podcast featuring Sarah Hunt, Kwagu'l, Assistant Professor at University of British Columbia in the First Nations and Indigneous Studies department:click here for her talk on Decolonizing the Roots of Rape Culture. She identifies the origin of rape culture in colonization, and talks eloquently about the nature of consent in an Indigenous context, even defining "consensual allyship".You can also click here for the transcript.
H.R. 1585, a bill to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) has passed the House but still needs to go through the Senate. This bill has a number of provisions that increase protection for women in Indian country. Click here to send a message to your senator, urging them to act now to reauthorize!
HISTORICAL CONNECTIONS:
For those who have read Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz's Indigneous Peoples' History of the United States, you will be familiar with the connection between the origins and development of the US military and the ongoing process of colonization, and the fact that this connection is alive today in the military usage of terms such as "Indian Country" to mean "behind enemy lines" (see page 57, beginning of Chapter Four: Bloody Footprints).
Locally, Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) represents two-thirds of the land Nisqually was allocated in the Medicine Creek Treaty of 1854. This land was taken outright from the tribe in 1917. For more on this history, click here for recent article published at Northwest Treaty Tribes website: Nisqually Honors Ancestors on Joint Base Lewis-McChord with Walk
The Badlands Bombing Range is another example of the relationship between militarization and colonization, and was the last major Indian land grab by the U.S. government. In 1942, this land was taken from the Oglala tribe by the U.S. Army and used for precision bombing exercises. Click here for article by David Bunnell, including stunning photography: Last Big U.S. American Indian Land Grab