Members of the Lummi Nation watch the burning of a symbolic million-dollar check stamped “Not Negotiable” as they protest the proposed export terminal at Cherry Point.Photo courtesy of Floyd McKay and Crosscut.com
By Floyd McKay
from Crosscut.com
Elders of the Lummi Nation announced opposition Friday to a proposed export terminal at Cherry Point north of Bellingham, an industrial port area that remains a point of contention for Native Americans and proponents of development on the site.
The port, proposed by SSA Marine of Seattle, would become the largest coal-export terminal on the West Coast, sending some 48 million tons of Powder River Basin coal annually to Asia when fully developed. Cherry Point, site of two oil refineries and an aluminum plant, is also a historic Lummi gathering ground and a major factor in historic fisheries that are important to Native Americans in the region.
Lummi leaders announced their opposition at a “Xwe’ chi’ eXen Gathering” Friday, presided over by Hereditary Chief Bill James and Lummi Nation Chairman Cliff Cultee; about 250 Lummis and guests from the area. Xwe’ chi’ eXen is the ancestral name for Cherry Point, a peninsula projecting into Puget Sound adjacent to the Lummi Reservation. “It is our promise and our duty to our ancestors, our elders and our future to protect and preserve Cherry Point,” said Cultee.
Opposition to the export terminal was emotional and personal for several of the tribal leaders.
To read the full story, go to crosscut.com/2012/09/21/coal-ports/110640/lummi
Floyd J. McKay, professor of journalism emeritus at Western Washington University, is a longtime Northwest journalist who covered Oregon politics for two decades. He lives in Bellingham and can be reached at floydmckay@comcast.net.
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