Further on / More of one thing leading to another / The Sand Talks / Gratitude

 

I want to thank Beth at Alive On All Channels for introducing me to so many sources of wisdom through the world's diverse traditions that communicate through books, visual arts, theater, dance, music, and often through oral tradition written down.  Most recently Beth has been posting excerpts from Tyson Yunkaporta's Sand Talk:  How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World.  I had just begun reading a copy that came from our public library when I learned about the concept of walking the spirits of the 215 children home through this YouTube channel which has its source in the Lummi Nation, located 30 minutes from where I live in Washington State.

We are all just walking each other home -- Ram Dass.

Three days of prayer in solidarity with those who are walking 215 spirits back to their families / Addendum: Further on

 

Especially listen at 32:30 regarding the power of song

Addendum on June 17, 2021:  Context.  Just in case this is not widely known.

This morning during the yoga and focusing-based meditation that has evolved for me, I remembered the words of Ram Dass:

We're all just walking each other home.

"A Generous Reading of Time"

"A school district declares "Treaty Day" and in so doing, recognizes one of the most important events of Pacific Northwest chronology, the Point Elliott Treaty of 1855. The people of Te'ti'sen (Ferndale) have taken an historical step toward acknowledging the rich history of many of its students and alumni. A Children of the Setting Sun documentary."

"A Generous Reading of Time"

Don't have much to say.  Using the time to listen.

"... What's the matter with me?  I don't have much to say.  Daylight sneakin' through the window ..."

(Bob Dylan)

This river flows near where my ancestors on my mother's father's side lived for centuries:

Tomorrow is January 15, 2021 / Infinite hope

 

Tomorrow Martin Luther King, Jr., would have been 92 years old.  The message he carried does not die.  Last night I had a hard time falling asleep and staying asleep due to a flood of fearful thoughts arising from tangled roots in the past, strangling the present and threatening any peace of mind and heart in the future.  As I tossed and turned, I remembered being a child and having the same troubling experience of sleeplessness again and again without the hope that came into my life when I was nearly 40 years old.  

In an unforgettable moment in 1987 came the realization that I was not alone and had never been alone and that there was at least one person, a Lummi woman who was ten years younger than I was and who had experienced severe trauma in her life and who carried a message of hope, a woman who had come to know that she was not alone, that she was part of a community that I now think of as the beloved community.  

Last night when I suddenly became aware that I was not alone in facing fearful thoughts, I was able to fall asleep and stay asleep.  I dreamed that a man I know who is in his fifties and who has survived against all odds told me with deep joy that he was going to be a father.  

This morning I found these sustaining quotes from Martin Luther King, Jr.:

Our goal is to create a beloved community, and this will require a qualitative change in our souls as well as a quantitative change in our lives.

*

We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope. 

*

Courage is the power of the mind to overcome fear.

*

I came to the conclusion that there is an existential moment in your life when you must decide to speak for yourself; nobody else can speak for you.

*

This day before Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday is an opportunity to revisit this Lummi story of infinite hope:

(Note:  When you click to start the video, it will not start but will direct you to click on a link to YouTube)

Meditation for March 24, 2020 / "Please Stay Home" / Birds singing before dawn

Spring Meditations with Native American Elders

Our religion is the traditions of our ancestors -- the dreams of our old men, given them in the solemn hours of night by the Great Spirit; and the visions of our sachems, and is written in the hearts of our people.  (Chief Seattle, SUQUAMISH)

Our spiritual ways have carefully been given to chosen people.  Slowly, through our past generations, through past conflicts, our Elders prayed for guidance, which the Creator provided.  Then it was passed down to the next generation through culture, ceremony and oral traditions.  Our Indian religion has been tested and is about how we should behave and treat other people, animals, and earth.  This knowledge is written in the heart of every person.  We can find this knowledge by looking inside ourselves.

My Creator, today, when conflict occurs, I will look inside myself for the answers.

(March 24, from Meditations with Native American Elders:  The Four Seasons, by Don Coyhis, p. 5)

The following is from the Lummi Indian Business Council:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  March 22, 2020 

Community Update 

Siam e ne schaleche siam 

My dear people, as we expected, today the Lummi Indian Business Council accepted the Lummi Public Health Team's recommendation and unanimously passed a Shelter in Place resolution (Reso #2020-055). This resolution is in response to mitigating the COVID-19 crisis by providing a mandate for all individuals living on the Lummi Indian Reservation to shelter in place. The resolution takes effect today, March 22, 2020 at 11:59 p.m. and will remain in place until April 5, 2020, 11:59 p.m. Please do not panic; we are prepared for this. Be assured that certain fundamental activities will still be allowed. Individuals may travel from their homes to: 

 Provide or receive certain essential services, like taking care of family members or to obtain medical services; 

 Engage in certain essential activities such as going to get groceries, medications, fishing, hunting and gathering; and 

 Work for essential businesses, essential infrastructure, and vital LIBC functions. 

LIBC will continue to provide for the health, safety, and welfare of the Nation during this Shelter in Place Order. Commodities and the student lunch programs will continue and the Lummi MiniMart and the Cove store will remain open to serve the community. All LIBC employees will be contacted by your direct supervisor with direction regarding your work schedule. 

We recognize that this shelter in place order may cause confusion. Our objective is to take every measure and to ensure the health and safety of our families during this COVID-19 pandemic. We love our people. This resolution is a mandate for our people and families to stay home. It further emphasizes the necessity to protect our elders and youth and prohibits all gatherings of individuals within the Lummi Reservation. 

When it is necessary for you to leave your home please practice good Social Distancing, take great care to protect our elders, and Wash your hands frequently. We cannot stress enough the value of each and every one of our Lummi members. Please join us in taking every precaution to mitigate the impacts of the great flood of this virus that becomes more of a threat to our community every day. Please stay home. 

Clarifying information about the Shelter in Place Order will be released this evening. For more information please visit our LIBC websites or our  outlets. 

It is important to have Sxwolowen at this time, one heart and one mind and one spirit for the work. Che Shesh Whe Wheleq Sen – we come from survivors of the great flood. Sqweshent-lh tse Xwlemi Elhta-lng-exw – we protect the Lummi People 

Hy’shqe Siam ne shcaleche siam Hyshqe xwian ne quol quol 

Chairman Lawrence Solomon

(Note: The following is from the Shelter in Place Order and is am's addition)

1. Background.

Today we are in the same position as our ancestors when the Great Flood arrived. Like our ancestors, we are doing everything possible to ensure that our children have everything they need in their canoes to survive. We want to make it clear that our children need the teachings from their elders; we refuse to give up any of our elders during this flood. On March 3, 2020, the LIBC declared a State of Public Health Emergency due to the novel infectious coronavirus (COVID-19). COVID-19 may cause respiratory disease leading to serious illness or death. The World Health Organization considers COVID-19 to be a global pandemic. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports COVID-19 is the most contagious when the person is most symptomatic, but may spread before symptoms appear. The Lummi Tribal Health Center has been actively monitoring the spread of COVID-19 and recommending self quarantine to individuals that may have been exposed to COVID-19. However, the number of potential contacts with COVID-19 has grown exponentially that the Lummi Nation must order shelter in place to protect the Lummi community.

2. Intent.

The intent of this Order is to mitigate the impacts of the great flood of this virus that has already reached our community. To be successful we absolutely need your help. We need all Lummi people and all Lummi residents to be leaders and ensure the safety of our vulnerable populations. The maximum number of people must shelter in their places of residence to the maximum extent feasible, while enabling essential services to continue, to slow the spread of COVID-19 to the maximum extent possible. When people need to leave their places of residence, whether to obtain or perform vital services, or to otherwise facilitate authorized activities necessary for continuity of social and commercial life, they should at all times possible comply with Social Distancing Requirements as defined below. All provisions of this Order shall be interpreted to effectuate the expressed intent. Failure to comply with any of the provisions of this Order constitutes an imminent threat and creates an immediate menace to public. Violations of this Order could subject a person to criminal penalties and/or civil fines.



Always sending love to blog friends near and far. 

Early Morning Meditation on Martin Luther King Day 2019: Nathan Phillips And The Significance Of His Drumming

Martin Luther King, Jr.:

“Our nation was born in genocide when it embraced the doctrine that the original American, the Indian, was an inferior race. Even before there were large numbers of Negroes on our shores, the scar of racial hatred had already disfigured colonial society. From the sixteenth century forward, blood flowed in battles of racial supremacy. We are perhaps the only nation which tried as a matter of national policy to wipe out its Indigenous population. Moreover, we elevated that tragic experience into a noble crusade. Indeed, even today we have not permitted ourselves to reject or feel remorse for this shameful episode. Our literature, our films, our drama, our folklore all exalt it.” 

Listen

Living close to the Lummi Nation, I have been fortunate to be able to attend numerous events in which I was moved by the presence of Lummi drummers, including at Martin Luther King Day celebrations.  Although it was clear to me and to anyone familiar with Native drumming, that Nathan Phillips was attempting to stop a charged situation from escalating by stepping in, playing his drum and chanting a healing prayer, that action was not understood by the crowd of Roman Catholic young men and perceived as an act of aggression to which they responded with edgy laughter, defensive body language and blatant disrespect toward a representative of the people who suffered so deeply historically in the Roman Catholic mission schools.  

To add to the complexity of the situation, Deb Haaland is Roman Catholic in the best sense of the word:

"This Veteran put his life on the line for our country," Haaland, one of the first two Native American women elected to Congress, wrote on Twitter.  "The students' display of blatant hate, disrespect, and intolerance is a signal of how common decency has decayed under this administration.  Heartbreaking."

May this Martin Luther King Day shed light on these words:

"Revolution is never easy.  It is hard and messy and painful."
(Nylah Burton)

"I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final work in reality.  This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant."
(Martin Luther King, Jr., from Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, Olso, Norway, 1964)

Protection and Care / The Water That Gives Us All Life

Yesterday evening, September 12, along with many others, including children, I went to the Bellingham City Hall for the solidarity rally. Freddy Lane was one of the many speakers, including men and women, young and old, Lummi and non-Lummi.  Freddy Lane was one of those who stood up and made his voice heard about the coal trains a year ago.  That project has been halted.  Many members of the Lummi Nation made the 30-minute drive to Bellingham for this event.  If you are on Facebook, you can listen to what came after the speakers -- drumming, song, dance:

https://www.facebook.com/350Bellingham/?hc_ref=NEWSFEED

There is hope for the future.  It won't be easy.  A good many of the tribal peoples are not willing to give up now or ever.  Their ancestors survived because they were not willing to give up.  I look to them for inspiration.  They have survived against all odds.  They are saying, "We are not protestors, we are protectors."  They say, "We are one - black, white, yellow, red.  All the races can stand together to protect the water."

Something I could do forever

From the Nooksack Indian Tribe Communications Page:

Nooksack Tribal Member Nathaniel Smith (am's note: He spoke briefly in the video documenting the renaming of Indian Street to Billy Frank Jr Street) recently traveled to the 2015 International Elders & Youth Council. The Council constitutes the continuation of an ancient practice of joint council among the most respected leaders of Indian nations, and is an Indian-only gathering. Its purpose is to nurture a grassroots renewal of traditional values and worldviews among Indian peoples, to ensure the continuity of Native wisdom, and to bring that wisdom to bear on important issues facing all peoples of the earth. 

Nathaniel's report of his experience at the Council is below.

---

The message I carry I cannot call mine; for the message I carry is for the people...

This is my report from the 2015 Elder & Youth circle, which was held in the heart of Ho-Chunk Territories. For any one who isn't familiar with the circle, it can be described as the east coast journey. The circle advocates choose one destination for the Tribes, Nations, Villages to gather the medicine men\women, healers, leaders, story tellers, or just any one who showed concern for their people.

It is a beautiful place for our oral tradition, so sacred that we don't allow cameras or cell phones to be present in these confessions to our great grandfather Fire! I have witnessed many powerful speakers introducing themselves in their own language describing how they are connected to the land; then translated into english.

I would like to raise my hands to my brother Eddy Pablo Jr. for he is the one to credit for my curiousity of the circle, to help me describe healing in my own words. We traveled with an elder of the name John Bagley was 72 years old but the spirit of a child still who has a soft genuine stare, with a sincere smoke house voice to carry our message to the circle. The message we brought to the circle was a heavy on to carry, we touched on gearing our message toward the youth for suicide.

Under the creator we are all his CHILDREN, as the creators children he has made us all powerful; sometimes we need to be reminded of this, and forever keep reminding our children. That the children are the most important and abundant resource we poses.

In saying that our great grandmother Earth has granted the women the ability to create life, we need to honor and respect how important our women mean to the future, for our children are our future. DON'T EVER FORGET TO EXPRESS YOUR CHILD THAT YOU LOVE THEM, those words can go a long way when said sincerely. 

There is no obstacle that I cannot overcome to save my people; for I will forever be a slave to the needs of the children. I love you all, to all my people.

Nathaniel James Smith

(Note from am:  A young Nooksack woman with children committed suicide a few weeks before the council that Nathaniel Smith attended.  

During a time nearly 30 years ago when I was without hope for the future, I heard a young woman from the Lummi Nation (not far from where the Nooksack people live) speak up quietly, with hope, in a similar fashion in a small informal group of mostly non-native women of all ages who had been affected by alcoholism in relatives and friends. I knew I wasn't physically or emotionally healthy, and I could see that she was healthy in a way that transcended all my previous conceptions of health.  She gave me hope that I still carry.  

She taught me that if finding the courage to speak up in a small quiet voice is all we can do, it is enough.)

Listen / Kwel Hoy: We Draw the Line

Jeremiah “Jay” Julius: “Kwel Hoy: We Draw the Line” from Fairhaven College, WWU on Vimeo.

Fairhaven College is part of Western Washington University, which is located here in Bellingham, Washington.

Knitting and Weaving in the Land of the Coast Salish

If you have 52 minutes, I recommend this fine film which was released in 2000 by the National Film Board of Canada. If you don't have 52 minutes, watch from about 40:15 to 44:28.  That footage was filmed on location at the Lummi Nation.

Bellingham is side-by-side with the Lummi Nation, home to 2,114 people of solely Native American heritage, many of whom are of Coast Salish heritage. A Lummi friend of mine, who teaches at Northwest Indian College, travels with family members to other Coast Salish reservations where they are vendors for events on weekends.  Her sisters knit Cowichan sweaters and other items.

Take a look at the woven cedar mortarboards that are worn by this year's graduates of the Lummi Nation School and look for the traditional cedar bark hats worn by family and friends who have come to celebrate the graduates.

Solidarity

"Members of Lummi Nation and other Puget Sound tribes meet Thursday, April 30, near the site of a proposed coal terminal at Cherry Point to show solidarity against the terminal."
(from the Bellingham Herald)

Lummi Nation

Good news.

Totem Pole Journeys

Another Totem Pole Journey will be starting on August 17, 2014.

Talking Late Afternoon Light with Rainbow and Great Spirit

A Lummi friend told me about this website some time ago, and just recently I have subscribed to their daily meditations for elders via email:

Elder's Meditation of the Day April 9
"Everything really is equal. The Creator doesn't look at me any better than He looks at the trees. We're all the same."
--Janice Sundown Hattet, SENECA
Sometimes humans think we are the center of the Universe. Sometimes we think we are above or better than other people or things. The Great Spirit made a set of Laws and Principles by which all things should live. Everybody and everything lives by the same Laws. We are all made of atoms just like the trees. The life force in the middle of the atom is the life force of the Great Mystery. It is the same for everything. We are all equal in the eyes of the Creator.

Great Spirit, today, I will respect your handiwork.

"Lummi Nation Sees No Compromise On Gateway Pacific"

Read here.

Photo and headline from Bellingham Herald.



May the Lummi message be heard and may Mr. Peabody's coal trains be stopped from shipping coal to China through the proposed Gateway Pacific Terminal.

Sacred Journey / Paddle to Quinault 2013

Watch a short video here about the Paddle to Quinault 2013.

Take a look at the map of the Canoe Journey route here.  Look for Cowichan Bay on the eastern side of lower Vancouver Island. Bellingham and the Lummi Nation are almost directly east of the Cowichan First Nation.

Here's some footage from the Paddle to Lummi Canoe Journey in 2007:

Creation Story Told By Tom Sampson Of Tsartlip First Nation

"Tom Sampson shares the Creation Story with 800 people at the "What About Those Promises?" stage play premier on Saturday, June 1, 2013, Bellingham High School Auditorium." (from the Lummi Nation YouTube channel)

Listen through to the English translation at 4:40.

"Always be proud of who you are and what you are" (Lummi man speaking on April 6, 2013, at an Idle No More gathering )

As I drove towards downtown Bellingham on Saturday morning, I noticed a group of people from the Lummi Nation gathered at the side of the road at the entrance to the Lakeway Holiday Inn where a conference associated with the CERA was taking place.  This morning I found the above video of their brief peaceful protest of the conference.

I did some Google research and found this:

Both the CERA and the CERF are made up of white owners of Indian Reservations lands. The CERF and CERA members are third and fourth generation descendants of the people who profited from acquiring Indian lands.  What alarms them these days is that tribes are re-acquiring some of these lands in order to build an economic base for their people again.  The hate groups can't stand the idea that Indians would get some land back, no matter now it happens.
(from Racism in Indian Country, by Dean Chavers, published in 2009).

It would be worth your time to listen to the voices of some of the Lummi people whose reservation is next to the town of Bellingham, Washington.

Radiant Woman with Cedar Hat and A Young Man Speaking from Indian Country

While looking at the above photo from the news today of the signing of the Violence Against Women Act, I noticed a woman wearing a woven cedar hat much like those woven at the Lummi Nation -- a few miles from where I live.

With a little Googling, I was able to identify the woman as Deborah Parker, the Vice Chairwoman of the Tulalip Tribes of Washington State.  Listen to her story (recorded in 2012):



Now read the words of activist Gyasi Ross of the Blackfeet Nation writing from Indian Country yesterday:



"The President's legacy with Native people will ultimately be determined by how he deals with the environment, climate change and Keystone XL. Why?  We're the stewards of this land -- we cannot "go back to where we came from." We come from right here.  Some, that do not understand Native people's relationship to the land, will argue "there are no federally protected sacred sites affected!" Those folks just don't get it -- it's not just the few places that the government determines are "sacred" that we're concerned about.  No, all of this land is sacred and is not supposed to be ripped apart for a few coins.  Soon, after the euphoria of winning the VAWA war wears off, we'll realize that the Obama Administration snuck a fast one past us--the day after VAWA passed!"

Please read the entire article for context.

We can celebrate the signing of the VAWA and International Women's Day and not forget the problem of violence against Mother Earth.

With a big tree and a little tree, looking out across Bellingham Bay to the Lummi Nation on a grey November morning/ View from my parked car

Something for the eyes that can listen and the ears that can see (thanks to Loren for that last concept).