Local Community Connection
Learning from Coast Salish Culture and Peoples “As taught by the old people, everybody carries a certain gift and these gifts are to be passed to the next generation. The ancestors’ wisdom is remembered through their lives. Their spiritual connection comes from being in touch with our past, with the earth, the water, and the people.” —Natasha Frey BY NATASHA FREY, CHILDREN OF THE SETTING SUN PRODUCTIONS
The Co-op is honored to host a special First Friday and October art show featuring photos from Jesintel—meaning to learn and grow together—in collaboration with the Lummi community. hildren of the Setting Sun Productions and the Lummi Youth understanding of earth indigenousness. They convey an essence Canoe Family will participate in a very special October First of humanity through ancestral teachings on place, matrilineal law, Friday Art Walk from 6 to 8 pm Friday, October 6, natural law, the power of the giveaway, resiliency, in the Co-op’s Downtown store. and pursuit of spirit. Lummi Youth Canoe Family will share canoe We are also documenting the bioregional The Lummi Youth family songs and stories from their international consequences of environmental and climate Canoe Family and regional travels, and Children of the Setting change—following “the miner’s canary,” our wild grows together, Sun Productions will share stories and prints from Pacific sockeye, through their four-year cycle its Jesintel book and educational project. and their relationship to our people since time laughs together, The Lummi Youth Canoe Family are Lummi cries together, heals immemorial—in a film tentatively called Spirit of youth between the ages of 13–21 who engage in our the Sockeye. together, and pulls culture by preparing for the annual canoe journey In August, CSSP broke the tragic story of and international cultural exchange opportunities. the net-pen farmed Atlantic salmon and are together as One. Our desire is to learn who we are as Lummi People continuing to provide information as the event while protecting, promoting, and preserving our unfolds. Follow our coverage at facebook.com/ strong Lummi values and Sche’lang’en (Way of Life). As youth, we are ChildrenoftheSettingSunProductions. We are very concerned empowering youth and communities around us to stand up for their about the health and viability of life for Pacific salmon—both the rights and to be the voice of the next generation. Currently we are center of our traditional subsistence economy and diet, and the raising funds to travel to New Zealand for cultural exchange. interconnector species of our regional environment. Children of the Setting Sun Productions (CSSP), enlivens the Children of the Setting Sun Productions and the Lummi Youth rich history, legacies, stories, and historical traditions of the Salish Canoe Family invite you to join them on October 6 and to visit the people. CSSP is one year into the development of Jesintel: To Learn Jesintel exhibit and share in the gifts of their elders. Panels from and Grow Together, a book of interviews, stories, and photographs of Jesintel will be on display in the Co-op’s Downtown store mezzanine Coast Salish elders. through the end of October. The stories of suffering, resilience, and ultimately joy are found in our Sche’lang’en—teachings highly specific to the Salish culture Learn more at settingsunproductions.org and at and location yet relevant to a developing outward-facing global “Lummi Youth Canoe Family” on Facebook.
photo courtesy of Children of the Setting Sun Productions
C