Kids and Canoes: a Lummi – Odd Fellows Project

— from Peter Fisher —

Odd Fellows and Lummi Dean Washington . Photo courtesy of Ron Glassett

Kids and Canoes!

Dear to the heart of many of us over the years has been to find a way to get Lummi and Orcas Island kids together on a regular basis to create friendships and learn from each other. In 2000, at a celebration of the 10-year anniversary of preserving Madrona Point, I asked Lummi elder Chadaskatum how Orcas Islanders could build an enduring, mutually beneficial relationship with the Lummi people.

His answer: “Let’s find a way to get our kids together.” One successful approach for involving youth among native peoples of the northwest in traditional activities has been the revival of “Canoe Culture” exemplified by the yearly “Tribal Canoe Journey” events. The photo above is from a War Canoe Race event sponsored by the Lummi Nation in 2002.

Recently an exciting new project has been started by the Lummi. They have built four reef net canoes (they fish as a pair) with the intent of reviving some of their reef net traditions in the islands. This would of course require the cooperation of property owners, reef net permit holders and others.

Dean Washington

Dean Washington, who owns a canoe building business, has a 40 foot travel canoe we plan to purchase in the fall of 2016. By ordering one more in the future, we will have the ability to fill two vessels with a mixture of our kids both for paddle adventures and possibly for reef netting.

This September, the canoe is on view in the Village Green. Our idea is to raise $31,185 this fall to buy the canoe, a set of paddles, and the cost of delivery. For this we need to create a committee to organize the fundraising, and another one to design a program. Once the first canoe is paid for we will then raise money for the yearly program itself.

As of today Sept. 7,2016, I expect this week to set up a way to collect donations and to begin planning for a community meeting to officially launch the Kids and Canoes program. The Kids and Canoes program is part of The Madrona Point Partnership for Restorative Justice project.

Madrona Point Partnership for Restorative Justice
The Madrona Point Partnership for Restorative Justice is a collaboration of Orcas and Lummi people to take constructive action. Our goal is to create a durable and mutually beneficial relationship through cultural and educational programs. “Kids and Canoes” is our first effort; we plan to get our kids paddling and learning together (see info sheet).

The second project is to realize the Lummi vision for the future of Madrona Point as first presented in 1987. This involves two elements: a facility for cross-cultural understanding and a management and stewardship plan for restoring and protecting Madrona Point. The Lummi Vision:
“Ts’el whi>sen (Lummi name for Madrona Pt.) is a spiritual site with a sacred meaning to the Lummi people. Our people used it for generations upon generations as a final resting place for our ancestors.

Also on Ts’el whi>sen are rare and endangered plant foods and medicines still needed and used by our people today. These, too, give expression to the sacredness of Ts’el whi>sen, as do the trees, where the eagles nest, roost, and feed undisturbed by the forces of progress.

We share an appreciation for Ts’el whi>sen with non-Indians, including many of the current residents of Orcas Island. They, too, wish to keep Ts’elwhi>sen in a natural state and to protect its fragile beauty, its unique history, and its sacred meaning. This is a vision shared by people of different culture in the interest of us all.

Our vision of Ts’el whi>sen is guided by a desire to protect and preserve what is there for past, present, and future generations. Our spiritual and historical sites will be protected from any further disturbance and the natural environment will be preserved through careful management and stewardship.

Ts’el whi>sen will also provide a setting where cultures can begin to learn from, and better understand, each other. History shows us that differences between cultures can often lead to misunderstanding, mistrust, and conflict. True understanding between Indian and non-Indian peoples means an appreciation of, and respect for, the differences that have so long divided us.”

The Ts’el whi>sen Center
Twenty-six years ago an agreement was signed between San Juan County and the Lummi Nation concerning the future of Madrona Point. (The photo to the left was taken February 17, 1990 at the Oddfellows Hall when Lummi and Orcas residents gathered to celebrate the day the deed transferred). It is a unique legal document in which various legal rights were retained by the county although ownership went to the Lummi.

That document included several goals. One is the possibility of creating a Lummi center for cultural education, inspired by their vision. Another is a management plan to be written and adapted with certain objectives for preserving Madrona Point. A caretaker’s cabin is also allowed.

Unfortunately at that time no source of funding was provided for these and other actions called for in the agreement. Without money or a timeline nothing happened. Political systems and leaders changed in both communities. In 1993, after three years of informal cooperative caretaking, our relationship broke down. The Madrona Point Partnership for Restorative Justice feels that we have a moral responsibility to find a way forward now to accomplish these necessary and desirable items.

Since the Madrona Point agreement was signed in 1989 the Northwest Indian College (NWIC) has emerged as an impressive organization for teaching indigenous culture and as a partner for implementing the Lummi vision for Madrona Point as a place “… where cultures can begin to learn from, and better understand, each other.”

While Madrona Point traditionally served as a burial ground for the Lummi, there were also three white and mixed blood cemeteries dating from the 1850’s. Historically, archeologically, culturally, geographically, aesthetically and spiritually Madrona Point is the heart and soul of Orcas Island. Let’s link up our communities, build and work together – and repair old wrongs and harms in the course of, and via, the good we do today and tomorrow.

Donations for Kids and Canoes program:
TO DONATE BY MAIL:
write a check to the “Orcas Island Community Foundation” for “Kids and Canoes.”
Mail to: OICF, PO Box 1496, Eastsound WA 98245 (376-6423)

TO DONATE VIA WEB:
Go to their site: www.oicf.us
and select “For Donors.”
Then select “Donate to a fund.”
Scroll and click on “Kids and Canoes Fund.”

Or go here: https://oicf.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create?setc=1&funit_id=1146

For more info contact Peter Fisher: pcf@petercfisher.com or call 360-376-5955
Mail: POB 1030, Eastsound WA    98245