A Matter of Spirit - Spring 2023 - Sacred Salmon

From the Editor

Salmon Woman sacrifices her children to humanity, writes Jewell Praying Wolf James in a retelling of a Lummi story, because she is moved by Raven’s compassion for his people and his generosity.1 “I give my children to you and your people, so that they may survive,” she tells Raven. “If your people are as loving and caring as you are then they deserve these children.”

And for a while, everyone lives together in harmony. The people never have to worry about food. Raven and Salmon Woman get married. Everyone is happy. But then, something happens—somehow, in some way, the people forget to significance of the gift that has been given them. And Salmon Woman takes her children, and they leave. “She vowed to never bring her children to a place that they are not wanted or appreciated,” writes James. “She would not tolerate the disrespect of herself or her children’s great sacrifice.”

The people had no food, and they began to starve. Raven went out in search of Salmon Woman and her children, but it was only after promising to respect her and her children that she would even come close enough to his canoe to talk. After a long discussion, she agreed to come back, but there were some conditions. No longer would they stay all year long with the people: Now they would leave the river for certain times of a year, returning to Salmon Woman’s home in the ocean.

Today, writes James, the First Salmon Ceremony “teaches and reminds the people to respect their food . . . It reminds the people that their food, once again, could be taken away from them.”

Today, the people—or, to be more accurate, non-Indigenous Americans—have again shown disrespect for the salmon, and Salmon Women and her children have again left. Today, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration lists 28 populations of salmon and steelhead on the West Coast as threatened or endangered.2 A 2020 Washington State report, “The State of Salmon in Watersheds,” lists several reasons for this population decline, including: habitat degradation, climate change, dams, predation, and harvesting practices.3

1 Jewell Praying Wolf James, “Salmon Woman and her Children,” Lummi Culture Protection Committee, February 4, 1992, / https://www.lummi-nsn.gov/userfiles/190_Story%20of%20 Conservation%20of%20the%20Salmon.pdf.

2 “Pacific Salmon and Steelhead,” NOAA Fisheries, January 27, 2023, https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/pacific-salmon-and-steelhead.

3 “2020 State of Salmon in Watersheds,” Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office, December 2020, /https://stateofsalmon.wa.gov/wpcontent/uploads/2020/12/StateofSalmonExecSummary2020.pdf.

In 2022, the Washington State Catholic Conference recognized this crisis, releasing a statement that called for the development of a plan to care for salmon populations in the Lower Snake River region. Guided by Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’ (On Care for Our Common Home), the bishops write, “We pray for a plan that serves the common good, taking into account care for God’s creation, treaties and rights of the Original Peoples of Washington state, and those who live and work in the Lower Snake River region.”

Inspired by the bishops’ statement and Laudato Si’, this issue of A Matter of Spirit considers our responsibility to be guided by Indigenous people when caring for our common home, specifically when it comes to preserving salmon populations in the Pacific Northwest. In “Ey Kw’elhsh en-sela’Iexw,” Jay Julius talks about salmon’s place in Lummi culture and the effect of their population decline. “According to what higher moral authority are these extinctions allowed, and what is the price to be paid by the Salmon Nations, whose lifeway, cultural identity, and spirituality relies on our salmon relatives?” he asks. He makes a plea to listen to the Indigenous people who are calling for measures like dam removals in the spirit of honoring our treaties with them and working to repair the damage that has been done.

In “A Web of Relationships,” Jeff Renner focuses on the science of the problem, explaining the salmon’s lifecycle and why, exactly, they are so sensitive to environmental changes. And Tere Flores Onofre, in “Our Common Home,” put the issue of salmon within the context of Catholic social teaching and the call to care for creation. Finally, in “Land Justice,” I interview Brittany Koteles, director of the Nuns & Nones Land Justice project, about how people of faith around the nation can work to restore relationships with both the land and marginalized communities. “Land justice is about healing the land but also about healing human relationships and those relationships that have been cut off from land because of past and present colonization, extraction, and racism,” she says. Together, the articles in this issue demonstrate the importance of being in what Robin Wall Kimmerer calls reciprocal relationships. “Just as all beings have a duty to me, I have a duty to them,” she writes in her book, Braiding Sweetgrass (Milkweed Editions).

Emily Sanna

Damming is one of the major reasons for the drastic decline in salmon population on the West Coast. Today, several Snake River dams are being considered for removal, including (from left to right) Ice Harbor Dam, Lower Monumental Dam, Little Goose Dam, and Lower Granite Dam. (Photos: Wikipedia)

Caring for Creation and the Common Good in the Lower Snake River Region

Saint Francis, faithful to Scripture, invites us to see nature as a magnificent book in which God speaks to us and grants us a glimpse of his infinite beauty and goodness. “Through the greatness and the beauty of creatures one comes to know by analogy their maker” (Wis 13:5); indeed, “his eternal power and divinity have been made known through his works since the creation of the world” (Rom 1:20). (12)

The urgent challenge to protect our common home includes a concern to bring the whole human family together to seek a sustainable integral development, for we know that things can change . . . Humanity still has the ability to work together in building our common home. (13)

—POPE FRANCIS, LAUDATO SI’

Pope Francis reminds us that through the greatness of creation we can become closer to God. Additionally, we are all called to be stewards of God’s creation and to come together to care for our common home. Collaboration on innovative, holistic, and sustainable solutions is a timely, moral imperative that Catholics around the world are addressing through the Laudato Si’ Action Platform.

In the Lower Snake River region, we are also called to come together to care for our common home. A serious decline in salmon, a keystone species, is an indicator of environmental damage. Southern Resident orcas are also increasingly endangered as their food source diminishes. In response, we urge federal and state policymakers to care for creation, address the loss of biodiversity, and ensure the Lower Snake River ecosystem and its neighboring communities are able to thrive.

A comprehensive plan developed with the input of affected communities is needed to address the health of the Lower Snake River and the decline of species in the region. In taking action to care for God’s creation, we urge policy makers to respect the dignity of every human person and serve the common good, two important pillars of the teachings of the Catholic Church.

In respecting the dignity of every human person, we first consider the Original Peoples of Washington state. Native American tribes of the region have a long-standing relationship of care and respect for the salmon of the Lower Snake River. We acknowledge that the decline of salmon and loss of their original habitat poses a threat to the spiritual lifeways of the Original Peoples of the Northwest. In response to requests for solidarity with Indigenous leaders, we recognize that deliberate action is necessary to find ways to restore the health of the salmon of the region.

1 Originally published on November 3, 2022. Reprinted with permission.

Pope Francis emphasizes the importance of consulting with Indigenous peoples and highlights the sacred relationship many Native communities have with the environment in Laudato Si’:

. . . it is essential to show special care for Indigenous communities and their cultural traditions. They are not merely one minority among others, but should be the principal dialogue partners, especially when large projects affecting their land are proposed. For them, land is not a commodity but rather a gift from God and from their ancestors who rest there, a sacred space with which they need to interact if they are to maintain their identity and values. (145–146)

We must all come together to care for our common home. We urge federal and state policy makers to develop and implement a holistic plan for the Lower Snake River region that seeks input from the Original Peoples of Washington state as principal dialogue partners, as well as input from farmers, community members, and concerned citizens. Any policy changes should carefully consider those who may be negatively impacted. Ultimately, we pray for a plan that serves the common good, taking into account care for God’s creation, treaties and rights of the Original Peoples of Washington state, and those who live and work in the Lower Snake River region.

In the heart of Christ,

Most Rev. Paul D. Etienne Archbishop of Seattle

Most Rev. Eusebio L. Elizondo, M.Sp.S. Auxiliary Bishop of Seattle

Most Rev. Frank R. Schuster Auxiliary Bishop of Seattle

Most Rev. Joseph J. Tyson Bishop of Yakima

Most Rev. Thomas A. Daly Bishop of Spokane

There is an immense Sadness. Sometimes it visits us unexpectedly Haunting the sides of our awareness, A darkness rising beneath and behind the house Of our mind, filling our being

With an anger too large to name. Can we pretend that this Sadness Is not there? Can we package and store it In a forgotten room of our memory?

So much has been lost!

Everything has been altered, changed. We have come to know again

What the ancient ones knew from the beginning: The lives of fish and fishermen Are tightly bound together. Because forests have been destroyed High in the mountains, Because fertilizers and chemicals Poison the rivers, Because generations of fisherman Have left a legacy of waste and greed, Because dams and their gift, electricity, Are considered greater goods than the perfect Beauty of streams and rivers seeking the sea, The salmon no longer return.

In a place of generosity and cooperation

There is war out on the water, Indians against cowboys, tribes against tribes, Tribes against the state, nation against nation, All seeking to take the last salmon.

Today the People no longer live around all Of the wide bays and rivers.

Roads wriggle through the mountains, Running through the quiet places

Where the old-timers used to bathe and fast

And seek Helpers to guide and protect the

Songs that used to be heard everywhere

Announcing the goodness and mystery of things Are mostly forgotten. Languages that still bring Joy to the great-grandmothers are no longer understood By their children and grandchildren.

These great-grandmothers were once the little girls

That we now see in the old photos. Their frightened eyes Show the pain of hearts rapped in cold buildings And stiff military uniforms. These great-grandmothers lived when they were young With a sense of being separated from the unseen powers That they knew once blessed their Peoples with abundance And shared with them one single home.

These great-grandmothers knew well the cold gaze And meaningless words of the countless neighbors Moving in around them. They knew well The feeling that they were no longer a People With a living story, and a common journey. Their origin and presence on this earth Was no longer seen and held as sacred. Their People had somehow become a problem. A problem to be solved, a problem to be endured, A problem to be ended, a problem to be forgotten.

And yet, these great-grandmothers, and some grandfathers Are still here!

Their children and grandchildren are still here! War and disease could not kill them. A thousand plans could not make them Like everyone else.

Living beings, not extinct casualties

Of a cruel westward expansion. Demand back the bones of their ancestors From universities and museums.

—FATHER PAT TWOHY, S.J.

Reprinted with permission from Beginnings: A Meditation on Coast Salish Lifeways.

“MOVING THROUGH SADNESS”

“MOVING THROUGH SADNESS” “MOVING THROUGH SADNESS”

Ey Kw’elhsh en-sela’Iexw

(Take good care of the elders)

BY W’TOT LHEM (JAY JULIUS)

As I write this, I am here on Swa’lax (Orcas Island) with other members of our Indigenousled nonprofit, Se’Si’Le (Our Grandmother), working on writing a book, Right and Respectful Relations. It is good we are here, where the Lummi people lived for countless generations, back to the ancestral before-time of Xales (the Transformer) and where our Ancient Ones live on in sacred songs, oral histories, and the spirit of place. Like other members of the Lummi Nation, I am often out on these waters in the company of our ancestors and with our elders: scha’enexw (the salmon), qwe’lhol mechen (the killer whales), and all our other relations in Xw’ullemy (the Salish Sea).

We call these beings our elders because they are the ones who came first. We were the young and weak ones who could not survive without their generosity, their pity and compassion, and their spiritual strength. I sometimes wonder what a qwe’lhol mechen would say if they could speak about their two-legged relatives on the land. I believe they would ask us if we know we are destroying their home and way of life, starving their families and driving them to extinction. I believe they would ask why we have forgotten the inviolable and sacred obligation we made with them long ago.

The same is true for the scha’enexw, who have been in these waters for thousands of years and who once were so many in the streams it is said you could walk on their backs. The scha’enexw would remind us of our covenant, our promise to Salmon Woman. When we were starving, she came and said to our people, “I am Salmon Woman. I have many children. My children play in the oceans all around you. They follow me wherever I go and lead them. My children are beautiful, healthy, and their color glows like the sparkle of the sun off the water’s surface.” 1 Every year, our First Salmon Ceremony reminds the people to always respect Salmon Woman and her children. But the salmon people are disappearing, down almost 99 percent of what their numbers were in the Salish Sea just 100 years ago. They, too, would ask if we have forgotten or forsaken our covenant with Salmon Woman.

1 “Salmon Woman and Her Children,” by Jewell James, Lummi Culture Protection Committee (1992).

Lest we forget!

But we have not forgotten or forsaken this sacred obligation, this covenant. Like our Xw’ullemy relatives, we, too, are living through a catastrophic disruption that arrived to our lands and waters just six generations ago and is driving our Xw’ullemy to a catastrophic ecological collapse. The salmon are disappearing from their ancestral waters—from the Yukon River in Alaska to the Frasier River in British Columbia to the Columbia River, down the West Coast to the Sacramento River, and across the Bering Sea to the Russian Far East. We need to ask ourselves: According to what higher moral authority are these extinctions allowed, and what is the price to be paid by the Salmon Nations, whose lifeway, cultural identity, and spirituality relies on our salmon relatives?

This betrayal of trust is occurring now on the Lower Snake River. The urgent ecological, cultural, and spiritual crisis on the Lower Snake River led Se’Si’Le to request a letter from the Washington State Catholic Conference in May 2022. The letter, “Caring for Creation and the Common Good in the Lower Snake River Region,” arrived on October 30, 2022. It was read by Archbishop Etienne during our International Indigenous Salmon Seas Summit. The letter, signed by all five Bishops of the Washington State Catholic Conference, cites Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’ (On Care for Our Common Home): “It is essential to show special care for Indigenous communities and their cultural traditions. They are not merely one minority among others, but should be the principal dialogue partners.” The bishops’ letter draws on Pope Francis’ statement and places it in the context of the Lower Snake River dams: “We urge federal and state policy makers to develop and implement a holistic plan for the Lower Snake River region that seeks input from the Original Peoples of Washington State as principal dialogue partners” (italics added).

These are good and necessary words, but they are not sufficient in themselves to prevent the great dying of the salmon or the end of the southern resident killer whales. We appeal to state and federal politicians to honor the spirit and intent of the treaties by breaching the Lower Snake River dams. They know and understand this is a matter of the survival of our lifeway and the spirit of our people. But, as in the parable of the sower in Matthew 13, we find in them “hearts that are waxed gross, ears are dull of hearing, and eyes they have closed.” We have been, and are being, betrayed by descendants of those who made promises to our people in the name of every American.

I will close with the words and feelings of a Lummi elder, who I hope speaks to the deeper meaning of our spiritual struggle for our relatives and to the sacred obligation of honoring the Creator by stewarding in right and respectful relations with the Creation:

Scientists will offer theories on the precipitous decline of the salmon population. Politicians will talk about stakeholders, economic trade-offs, and constituents, while agencies will tell you how they are—at least in our view—managing salmon, along with the southern resident killer whales, to extinction. If that sounds harsh, it is because it is the hard reality: Ecocide leads to extinction and, with it, genocide. Our salmon and orca relatives are being dishonored, along with the rights and promises made by the settler sovereign to the Salmon Nations of the Xw’ullemy just six generations ago. The First Peoples of the Xw’ullemy are awake to this reality.

The Salmon People aren’t hardly here no more. We need to talk to them. We need you, Salmon People; the life-givers. You gave up your lives so we can live. It is important for our people, about who we really are. We sit in the lap of Mother Earth learning all there is to learn . . . not all at once, but built up over a lifetime, every day. We need to keep learning. To never quit learning.

W’tot lhem is a former chairman of the Lummi Nation, a fulltime fisher and father, and the founder and president of Se’Si’Le. Learn more about their work at https://se-si-le.org/.

“Our salmon and orca relatives are being dishonored, along with the rights and promises made by the settler sovereign to the Salmon Nations of the Xw’ullemy just six generations ago.”

Lummi Nation-gifted Pole-Raising ceremony at Tsleil Waututh Nation, flickr (photo on pg. 6) 150,000 Salmon on the Cannery Floor, Bellingham, Wash. Courtesy of Jay Julius

A Web of Relationships

BY JEFF RENNER

The salmon made sleep impossible. The splashing from their night-time migration through the shallow water just beyond my streamside tent was almost continuous. These determined fish had not eaten in the weeks since they left the ocean. Consider running an ultra-marathon after days of fasting, and you have an inkling of the power and endurance of salmon. To witness their migration is to witness an ancient convergence of life surrendered and gifted, a cycle that reaches beyond the dawn of our own species. Forty-million-year-old salmon fossils have been found in northwestern British Columbia; their ancestors include the saber-toothed salmon, which reached lengths of nine feet and, of course, the five smaller species of contemporary Pacific salmon: chinook, coho, chum, pink, and sockeye.

Straining to track a pair of salmon upstream in the darkness, I knew persistent splashing likely marked a female excavating a depression in the gravel streambed, creating a nest for her eggs that would soon be fertilized by a nearby male. The female then moves upstream, sweeping up gravel that will drift with the current to cover and protect the embryos. She dies soon afterward.

Perhaps 20 percent of the embryos will survive to become alevins. Unable to swim, they dwell within the gravel, subsisting on the lunch bag of nutrients within their yolk sacs. Emerging from the riverbed as fry, the developing salmon begin feeding on aquatic insects. As they grow to roughly the length of your hand and develop the ability to survive in salt water, the smolt enter the vastness of the Pacific Ocean, their body weight multiplying as they feed incessantly. The imperative of their biological clock eventually drives them to return to the river or stream of their birth, intent on producing a new generation. The timing, typically one to four years, depends upon their exact species.

The salmon who survive this journey are champions of endurance. Fisheries scientists estimate that for every 3,000 eggs laid, there are two adults who return to spawn. Human activity has become a threat multiplier, further diminishing their odds of survival. University of Washington scientist David Montgomery grouped these threats into what he termed the Four H’s in his book King of Fish (Basic Books): harvest, hydropower, hatcheries, and habitat.

The challenges confronting salmon in their struggle to survive as a species along the Pacific Coast have increased more

in the last two centuries than in the preceding two million years. The magnitude and impact of the human-driven environmental damage is so great that it’s been referred to as geotrauma. A recently discovered form of rock called plastiglomerate has been held up as evidence of that trauma. A blend of plastic, sand, shells, wood, and seaweed, future geologists may use it as a fossil marker of human-driven environmental degradation.

The changes to the biosphere—the zone where life exists on Earth—are what make the determined grasp of salmon to life increasingly tenuous. These include changes in the temperature, chemistry, and movement of air and water.

One quarter of a million Columbia and Snake River salmon died before spawning in 2015. That was half of the expected migration. Water temperatures exceeded 70 degrees, increasing their susceptibility to infection and parasites and decreasing needed oxygen. In 2021, the Columbia River temperatures were even warmer. Underwater video revealed widespread fungal infections and lesions; huge clusters of salmon crowded into pockets of cooler water, desperate for oxygen; and salmon carcasses obscured warmer riverbeds nearby.

This map, from a study by Feist et al. predicts the mortality of salmon in the Seattle area due to land use and urban development. 1

1 From: Blake E. Feist et al., “Landscape Ecotoxicology of Coho Salmon Spawner Mortality in Urban Streams,” PLoS ONE, 6(8): doi:10.1371/ journal.pone.0023424.

The Northwest Energy and Salmon Plan

The Northwest Energy and Salmon Plan, proposed by Representative Mike Simpson, is a comprehensive proposal that aims to restore and protect the migratory routes of salmon in the Columbia River Basin while also addressing the energy needs of the region and better honoring the treaties that have been established with Indigenous communities. The plan is considered one of the most significant conservation efforts in the history of the Pacific Northwest and has been welcomed by Indigenous communities in the region.

The Northwest Energy and Salmon Plan acknowledges the importance of salmon to Indigenous communities and proposes measures to restore the habitat of salmon while recognizing tribal sovereignty. Furthermore, the plan proposes to invest in renewable energy projects—such as wind and solar power—as a substitute for hydropower generated from dams that have negatively impacted salmon runs. The proposed changes to the Columbia River Basin will result in a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, restore the health of the river, and create new economic opportunities for the region.

Key parts of the bill include:

• Restoring a free-flowing Lower Snake River in southeast Washington through the removal of four federal dams

• Improving water quality in the Columbia Basin, Puget Sound, and Washington and Oregon coasts

• Restoring salmon in currently blocked areas in the upper Columbia and upper Snake Rivers

• Funding the Yakima Basin Integrated Plan to protect farming communities that rely on irrigation water diverted by the dams

• Providing additional incentives to remove select fish-blocking dams in the Columbia River Basin

• Increasing tourism and recreation opportunities.

This plan can only be enacted through an act of Congress.

Take action on this bill by writing to your senators and representatives today: https://tinyurl.com/28snrmbk.

These and other die offs confirmed a 2010 University of Washington Climate Impacts Group prediction that the favorable water temperatures long enjoyed by salmon in regional waters will shrink to small, isolated patches by the end of this century.2 Such localized variation in survivability is already evident in stretches slowed by dams, which experience significantly warmer temperatures, lower oxygen levels, and toxic algae blooms. Such blooms, the result of warm water and agricultural runoff, have forced occasional summer closures of stretches of the Columbia River. Less easily detected changes in water chemistry are also killing salmon. In 2020, University of Washington scientists discovered the cause of mysterious die offs of Pacific Northwest coho salmon migrating through urban streams.3 As many as 90 percent of these salmon died before reaching their spawning grounds, because particles from vehicle tires rubbed off during travel on nearby roads and parking lots and washed into streams by rain-driven runoff. Meanwhile, the fossil fuels used by vehicles, industry, and other human activity has driven increased carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and ocean. The increased carbon dioxide levels have resulted in a process known as ocean acidification, which is threatening the insects and crustaceans salmon utilize for food.

2 N.J. Mantua, I. Tohver, and A.F. Hamlet, “Climate Change Impacts on Streamflow Extremes and Summertime Stream Temperature and Their Possible Consequences for Freshwater Salmon Habitat in Washington State,” Climatic Change 102, no 1-2 (2010): 187-223, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-010-9845-2.

3 Zhenyu Tian et al., “A Ubiquitous Tire Rubber-Derived Chemical Induces Acute Mortality in Coho Salmon,” Science 371, no. 6525 (2020): 185-189, DOI: 10.1126/science.abd69.

Some argue that the diminishing runs of wild salmon are an unavoidable consequence of evolution, but then so too are the shared threats to human health and survival. Research confirms the need to recognize we essentially all are Salmon People; the conditions needed for salmon to survive are also the conditions we require. Evidence of this connection includes the discovery of particular forms of nitrogen known to originate in the ocean. These isotopes of marine nitrogen, carried up rivers and streams in the bodies of salmon, have been found in the bears and birds that feed on them, in the soil that absorbs nutrients from the decaying carcasses, and in the vegetation that grows in that soil; in all life dependent upon this web of relationships. Each form of life stands as proof of the matrix of vulnerability between the elements of these ecosystems, including us.

I’m reminded of the words of University of Washington scientist David Montgomery:

“The fall of salmon populations is part of a global crisis as well, for how it unfolds may foretell the environmental future of many other regions and ecosystems. What does it say for the long-term prospects of endangered species worldwide if one of the most prosperous regions of the richest country on Earth cannot accommodate its own iconic species.”

Jeff Renner served as chief meteorologist at the Seattle NBC affiliate KING TV for over 30 years, where he also coproduced, wrote, and hosted a series of award-winning science and environmental documentaries. He remains active as an environmental activist and journalist with a particular interest in the convergence of science and faith.

“ Research confirms the need to recognize we essentially all are Salmon People; the conditions needed for salmon to survive are also the conditions we require.”

Our Common Home

BY TERE FLORES ONOFRE

Iwas born in the state of Puebla, Mexico, in a small, rural community called Santa Maria (Holy Mary) Xuchapa. In Xuchapa, the only church was a Catholic one. It was built in the 1800s on the highest part of town, where it could be seen by all. Thus, I knew I was Catholic before I knew many other things. From a young age, I remember learning about the key teachings of the church from my catechism teachers. The one that always stayed with me was: “God created the sky, the Earth, and all things in them.”

This teaching helped me understand God as a powerful creator. As I got older, I realized we were also part of that creation and, at the same time, called to be stewards of it. This realization and the experiences I faced as an immigrant in the United States propelled me into faith-based community organizing from the time I was 16 years old, and Catholic social teaching has continued to ground my faith and calling ever since.

Catholic social teaching (CST) is not something new: It can be traced back to papal documents and statements from the 1800s, but the foundation and clarity of these teachings is embedded in scripture itself: “The LORD God then took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden, to cultivate and care for it” (Gen. 2:15).

One of the seven pillars of Catholic social teaching calls us to care for creation, not only as a social responsibility but also as a moral and spiritual one. As we read in the Book of Genesis, after God created the Earth, God created humans to be one with creation and to care for it. In the opening lines of Laudato Si’ (On Care for Our Common Home), Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical letter, he reflects on this amazing relationship between creation and human beings: “In the words of this beautiful canticle, Saint Francis of Assisi reminds us that our common home is like a sister with whom we share our life and a beautiful mother who opens her arms to embrace us. ‘Praise be to you, my Lord, through our Sister, Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us, and who produces various fruit with coloured flowers and herbs.’”1

Although human actions and inactions have caused great damage to God’s creation, Pope Francis also reminds us that we can and must act now to help project our common home,

that we need to do this together through collaboration, authentic listening, and solidarity. “The urgent challenge to protect our common home includes a concern to bring the whole human family together to seek a sustainable and integral development, for we know that things can change,” he writes in Laudato Si’. “The Creator does not abandon us; he never forsakes his loving plan or repents of having created us. Humanity still has the ability to work together in building our common home.”2

Throughout my 18 years of social justice work, I have found faith-based community organizing to be one of the most effective ways to work together to identify, advocate, and win sustainable solutions to the pressing challenges we face, including ecological ones. Working toward integral ecology and community organizing for ecological justice requires, first and foremost, deep engagement and listening with the local communities that are most directly impacted.

The Washington State Catholic Conference is working to ensure the voices of Indigenous communities are heard and valued when it comes to finding solutions to the salmon crisis in the Lower Snake River. In their letter, “Caring for Creation and the Common Good in the Lower Snake River Region,” they remind us that being in solidarity and listening to the voices of Indigenous communities needs to come first: “In respecting the dignity of every human person, we first consider the Original Peoples of Washington state. Native American tribes of the region have a long-standing relationship of care and respect for the salmon of the Lower Snake River . . . we recognize that deliberate action is necessary to find ways to restore the health of the salmon of the region.”

This is the same call that the Catholic bishops of the Watershed Region shared more than 20 years ago in their international pastoral letter, “The Columbia River Watershed: Caring for Creation and the Common Good.” In discerning the challenges facing the region, the bishops held listening sessions to hear from all those impacted and then developed 10 key recommendations, including “Respect the Dignity and Traditions of the Region’s Indigenous People.” To this point, the bishops honor Indigenous people, saying that “indigenous peoples have a wealth of spirituality, culture, and traditions that call forth a need for appropriate respect and preservation.”

1 Pope Francis, Laudato Si’ (Vatican City: Vatican Press, 2015), sec. 1.

2 Laudato Si’, 13.

Although the journey to answer the call to care for creation often begins with an individual response, such as reducing one’s carbon footprint, composting, or recycling, Laudato Si’ reminds us that “love for society and commitment to the common good are outstanding expressions of a charity which affects not only relationships between individuals but also ‘macro-relationships, social, economic and political ones.’”3

Pope Francis invites us to discern the many ways in which we can work toward an integral ecology. Both in small ways and also by developing and advocating for systemic solutions to the environmental challenges facing our communities. The Washington bishops served as a model in “Caring for Creation and the Common Good in the Lower Snake River Region,” stating, “We urge federal and state policy makers to develop and implement a holistic plan for the Lower Snake River region that seeks input from the Original Peoples of Washington state as principal dialogue partners, as well as input from farmers, community members, and concerned citizens.”

Real Rent Duwamish

Faith-based community organizing is an integral way of responding to the call to care for creation. Grounded in Catholic social teaching, it is a powerful reminder of the importance of centering and listening to those who are directly impacted by the issues, those who are oftentimes marginalized and not heard. It shines a light on strategic and systemic issues that go upstream to address the root causes of the problems impacting communities, including environmental injustices. Lastly, it invites and moves us into collective action to work for structural solutions that help us be in solidarity with our sisters and brothers and care for our common home.

Tere Flores Onofre has been a faith-based community organizer for over 18 years and is currently the codirector of movement development for the Laudato Si’ Movement. She is a 1.5-generation immigrant and mestiza from Puebla, Mexico. Learn more about the Laudato Si’ Movement at https://laudatosimovement.org/.

3 Laudato Si’, 231.

Real Rent Duwamish was started by the Duwamish Tribe—the city of Seattle is named after Chief Si’ahl, a Duwamish leaded and signatory of the Treaty of Point Elliott in 1855. The program seeks to honor the fact that the land on which Seattle is built was originally inhabited by the Duwamish people by inviting nonIndigenous individuals and organizations in the local community to contribute “rent” as a form of reparations to help support the tribe and their efforts to preserve their culture and sovereignty.

The Duwamish Longhouse is located in West Seattle and is open to the public as a place to learn more about the Duwamish Tribe and history of the Seattle region. Learning more about the Duwamish people and the true history of the region is a first step in working toward reconciliation and healing from the injustices that the tribe has experienced, and continues to experience, at the hands of colonial settlers, especially as the Duwamish struggle for federal recognition.

To learn more about Real Rent Duwamish and to contribute, visit realrentduwamish.org.

“ Faith-based community organizing is an integral way of responding to the call to care for creation.”

Brittany Koteles is the director of the Nuns & Nones Land Justice Project, an initiative that helps religious communities make long-term decisions about their land that are rooted in ecological and racial healing. They offer education, support, accompaniment, and other resources for religious communities who are facing decisions about their longheld land and property.

Since much of this issue focuses on a very specific geographic area, AMOS talked to Koteles about how the overarching message of land justice and being led by Indigenous people in movements for ecological justice is one that can be applied to communities around the nations. Learn more about this initiative and work at: nunsandnones.org.

Could you talk a little about what land justice is?

Land justice is about restoring relationships between and among people and with the Earth. The definition that we give sisters is that land justice is the holistic pursuit of three things: protecting land from development and extraction, regenerating the health of the land, and expanding equity and access to people who have been dispossessed of land. Specifically, we focus on expanding equity and access to Black and Indigenous people, but also to anyone who has experienced marginalization under the paradigm in which we live.

Land justice is about healing the land but also about healing human relationships and those relationships that have been cut off from land because of past and present colonization, extraction, and racism. Land justice is about considering and trying to pursue both racial and ecological healing in decisions about how land is loved, governed, tended, and stewarded.

Land Justice

AN INTERVIEW WITH BRITTANY

From a Catholic perspective, a lot of it boils down to what Pope Francis talks about in Laudato Si’ (On Care for Our Common Home): heeding the cry of the Earth and the cry of the poor. Land justice is about making decisions that attempt to do this.

Why was this the area that Nuns & Nones decided to focus on?

When we talk about the healing of the Earth, we have to reckon with the fact that 1,500 acres of land are developed every day and 98 percent of private land is owned by white people or institutions. The same construct that has allowed for white ownership of land allows for the continued extraction of land. It is all part of a paradigm of domination that has led us to a crisis of racial injustice and a climate crisis. It is all connected. If we really care about taking action for justice, we can’t forgo thinking about the land we own and steward. It’s a huge responsibility, but I believe it’s also a huge opportunity for transformation and transformative leadership. If religious landowners can change how they plan for the future stewardship of the lands they hold in trust, then I think we could see the world change.

The Land Justice Project was the result of a several-years-long organic unfolding that allowed for this “spinoff” to happen. We never planned on this. This wasn’t

part of the Nuns & Nones blueprint, but it was the result of really listening to how we wanted to manifest their values of a solidarity economy—the redistribution of wealth, the healing of the Earth, and racial and ecological justice. Those were all things the Nuns & Nones community were grappling with.

At the same time, many of the sisters in our community were being faced with really unsatisfactory options about the land that they have loved forever. No one else is talking about this—no one is talking about how to make decisions about land that are in-line with Laudato Si’ and with the solidarity economy movement. Many of the sisters wanted their lands to be a part of this type of movement but didn’t have the resources to figure out what that looked like.

This issue centers around salmon in the Pacific Northwest, but there are similar calls from Indigenous communities to change our ecological practices around the nation. How can the church be better at listening to Indigenous communities when it comes to ecological justice?

In Laudato Si’ Pope Francis talks about Indigenous people as the primary dialogue partner in ecological work.

KOTELES

“. . . land justice is the holistic pursuit of three things: protecting land from development and extraction, regenerating the health of the land, and expanding equity and access to people who have been dispossessed of land.”

If we’re really listening to Indigenous people, what they’re asking for is the rightful connection to their land. Indigenous people can’t lead or practice the ways of being in right relationship with Earth if they don’t have access to it and aren’t given power. Listening is the first step in giving over power to a worldview that has been disempowered by institutions such as the Catholic Church.

What would the world look like if land justice was the model by which the Catholic Church stewarded its land?

Tangibly, there would be more examples of regenerative stewardship led by the very people who have been cut off from land because of the extractive economy in which we live. We would see land-regeneration work or habitat restoration led by Indigenous lifeways and that draw on ancestral practices. Indigenous spirituality, which is mostly land-based spirituality and practices, was illegal in this country until 1978. Land justice would look like land being loved back into health by the very Indigenous lifeways that were marginalized for so long.

It would also look like Black food sovereignty collectives and BIPOC regenerative farms that serve as thriving community spaces. That’s not to say that white people aren’t involved in this new kind of stewardship; we point toward BIPOC stewards because this is also about equalizing land access and centering the very people who were pushed out by white colonialism.

Land justice also means that the church embodies an ethic of repair and reparation. It means that religious institutions embody environmental justice through the ways in which they redistribute their wealth. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has in its official guidelines to look at land-back efforts when disposing of land. I want to know what it looks like when the return of land and this very critical and tangible act of healing and repair begins to be expected as an expression of faith.

Pope Francis talks about how we’re not in an era of change, we’re in a change of era. I believe that the choices we make about where and to whom our land goes, how it’s stewarded, and how we redistribute our wealth are foundational stepping stones to a paradigm of healing and wholeness.

How can our readers start discerning what to do with land in their own communities?

Come to our learning platform: There’s lots for you there. My first piece of advice is that if your community is planning on letting go of land at some point, to resource yourselves to make that choice from a place of ecological and racial healing and to bring land justice into that decision-making process.

That is true even for communities that feel like they can’t afford to donate land. Even if you need to sell your land, there are ways to do it through this paradigm. For example, look around and see if there are regenerative stewardship partners who might be interested in your land. Build relationships with them. Come to the table together: Be clear about what you need, and see if they might need time to fundraise. Contribute to their fundraising. Be active allies in that process. Help local foundations see the importance of this work. People want to pay to see these projects happen, so the money and resources are there.

Communities who know they are downsizing or letting go of land now or in the future should also educate themselves about the history of land injustice and various case studies as part of their discernment process. They can do this at our website: nunsandnones.org/ land-learning.

In the examples we’ve seen where this works, relationships rooted in solidarity are key. How do you build relationships in a way that acknowledges this might be hard for Black or Indigenous people? People might be distrustful, need more time, or want to engage more or less—it’s not always a rosy-glasses, best-friends-forever type of situation. Be

aware of how long the relationship-building process can take and commit to building relationships from a place of solidarity. Center the experience and the healing of people who might want to explore being on the land in the future.

The Vatican recently repudiated the doctrine of discovery. What implications does this have for land justice movements?

The doctrine of discovery is literally woven into U.S. property law. In 1823, a court case addressed whether Indigenous people had the right to own land in the United States. Johnson v. M’Intosh found that the land did not belong to the Indigenous people, because it was “discovered” by white settlers. Because the country was relatively young and there wasn’t a lot of precedent, the courts cite the papal bulls and the doctrine of discovery in the case.

That case has been cited as recently as 2005 by Ruth Bader Ginsberg. This is not a partisan thing. This is the water we are swimming in that we think is normal and fine, and it is built on the harmful and erroneous statements of the Catholic Church.

While the repudiation is not everything—it fails to fully own the responsibility the church had in that moment—it is a very important step and cultural moment. It is less about what the church is saying and more about the onus it puts on all of us to look around to see that the way we talk and think about property is fundamentally flawed and rooted in violence. The implications are what we do with that information.

This moment is a wakeup call to what our history means. If we can own it, we can live into some very creative exciting and healing possibilities. I believe so deeply in the power of religious communities, because they’ve already done so much transformative work to heal the Earth, especially on the lands where they live. I feel like land justice is a natural next step for them. We have the potential to do some very wonderful and healing acts.

Reflection Process

WINTER EVENTS

Prophetic Communities: Organizing as an Expression of Catholic Social Thought:

Questions

n In “Caring for Creation and the Common Good in the Lower Snake River Region,” the Washington bishops stress that any plan for preserving the salmon population must include the voices of local Indigenous peoples. What might it look like to truly listen to and be in reciprocal relationship with Indigenous communities, whether in addressing the salmon population crisis or in your own local area?

n How adequately do you think our culture and society allows for reciprocity? Is there anything you or your communities can do differently to foster such reciprocal relationships?

n How might understanding our relationship with salmon and the rest of the ecosystem as reciprocal change how we address ecological crises?

n Have the articles and reflections in this issue changed your perspective at all? How so? How might you act differently after reading about the importance of salmon in both Indigenous culture and our ecosystems?

Find and support Native owned bookstores at blog.libro.fm/indigenousowned-bookstores/

From February 9-11, Catholic community organizers, theologians, and those committed to social justice work gathered at the University of San Francisco for a conference titled “Prophetic Communities.” Participants from across the country participated in plenaries, workshops, and synodal sessions aimed at connecting Catholic social thought and the work of community organizing. The conference offered the opportunity for meaningful and intentional dialogue, networking among Catholics from diverse vocations, and the creation of materials that express the importance of Catholic community organizing to the Catholic tradition. On May 12, planners and participants of the conference will gather virtually to work toward ensuring Catholic community organizing is part of the spiritual formation of the faithful with the long-term goal of creating a more just church.

“ Cultures of gratitude must also be cultures of reciprocity. Each person, human or no, is bound to every other in a reciprocal relationship. Just as all beings have a duty to me, I have a duty to them. If an animal gives its life to feed me, I am in turn bound to support its life. If I receive a stream’s gift of pure water, then I am responsible for returning a gift in kind. An integral part of a human’s education is to know those duties and how to perform them.”

—ROBIN WALL KIM MERER, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants (Milkweed Editions, 2015)

Prophetic Communities speaker, and participants

At the Table: Conversations with Catholic Students

On March 22nd, IPJC’s Youth Action Team interns hosted an event called “At the Table: Conversations with Catholic Students.” After three months of engaging community stakeholders in listening sessions and relationshipbuilding events, the interns identified that racism and ableism were key issues affecting the educational community. As their first course of action to address education inequities, the students planned and facilitated a public storytelling event to raise consciousness about the issues and build relationships with interested parties. Eighty Catholic school students, faculty, and staff attended the action. Four interns shared their experiences of racism and ableism at their schools and the remainder presented listeners with their vision for creating a more equitable and inclusive Catholic school system. To read the students demands and potential solutions and to support their petition visit: https://tinyurl.com/3fvx78fu.

Season 4 of Justice Rising Podcast

Justice Rising is back for a fourth season! This season will be an expansion of the themes, ideas, vision, and desires developed at the Prophetic Communities conference. In each episode, Justice Rising host Cecilia Flores will interview faith-based community organizers about the community organizing cycle, the joys and challenges of organizing in the church, organizing in diverse contexts, and how organizing leads to the reinvigoration of the Catholic tradition. Catch up on past seasons and tune in for season four at: https://ipjc.org/justice-rising-podcast/

UPCOMING EVENTS

The Annual Spring Benefit

Ignite - July 2023

We are so excited to partner with Agape Service Project, Youth Migrant Project, and Jesuits West to offer an immersive faith-based community organizing experience in Whatcom County and Skagit Valley in July. Ignite allows Catholic high school students and faculty the opportunity to be immersed in the farmworker reality, serve in solidarity and collaboration with farmworkers, develop leadership skills as faith based organizers, and meaningfully engage in spiritual practices. Learn more about Ignite and register your school at: https://ipjc.org/ spring-benefit-registration/.

Youth Action Team Internship Application

Thursday May 18, 6:30pm

Join us on May 18th at 6:30pm at Seattle University for our annual Spring Benefit fundraiser. We are excited to gather in person after many years apart due to the challenges and risks related to COVID. This year’s theme, Extraordinary Courage, stemmed out of a desire to celebrate the courage each of us had to embody to survive the pandemic and the courage our community partners enact each day as they strive for justice. The 2023 Thea Bowman award will be presented to an extraordinarily courageous woman, Sr. Judy Byron! To purchase tickets to this year’s event visit: https:// ipjc.org/spring-benefit-registration/. We cannot wait to see you there!

It is time to begin the application process for next academic year’s cohort of Youth Action Team Interns! The application deadline is May 24th. The details of Youth Action Team Internship, its requirements, and the application are available at: https://ipjc.org/youth-action-teaminternship/.

DONATIONS

IN HONOR OF Judy Byron, OP IN MEMORY OF Gael O’Reilly Rose Gallager, SNJM

Intercommunity Peace & Justice Center Spring Benefit 2023

Intercommunity Peace & Justice Center

1216 NE 65th St

Seattle, WA 98115-6724

SPONSORING COMMUNITIES

Adrian Dominican Sisters

Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace

Jesuits West

Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, U.S.-Ontario Province

Sisters of Providence, Mother Joseph Province

Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia

Tacoma Dominicans

AFFILIATE COMMUNITIES

Benedictine Sisters of Cottonwood, Idaho

Benedictine Sisters of Lacey

Benedictine Sisters of Mt. Angel

Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose

Dominican Sisters of Racine

Dominican Sisters of San Rafael

Sinsinawa Dominicans

Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Sisters of St. Francis of Redwood City

Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet

Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon

Society of the Holy Child Jesus

Sisters of the Holy Family

Sisters of the Presentation, San Francisco

Society of Helpers

Society of the Sacred Heart

Ursuline Sisters of the Roman Union

EDITORIAL BOARD

Gretchen Gundrum

Vince Herberholt

Kelly Hickman

Tricia Hoyt

Nick Mele

Catherine Punsalan-Manlimos

Will Rutt

Editor: Emily Sanna

Copy Editor: Gretchen Gundrum, Elizabeth Bayardi

Design: Sheila Edwards

A Matter of Spirit is a quarterly publication of the Intercommunity Peace & Justice Center, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, Federal Tax ID# 94-3083964. All donations are tax-deductible within the guidelines of U.S. law. To make a matching corporate gift, a gift of stocks, bonds, or other securities please call (206) 223-1138. Printed on FSC® certified paper made from 30% post-consumer waste.

Cover illustration: Adapted from OpenStreetMap; Adobe Express ipjc@ipjc.org • ipjc.org

Thank You for 25 Years, Sister Judy!

Dear IPJC Community,

It is with a heart full of gratitude for the work of peace and justice that we have done together over the past 25 years that I share with you that I will retire from the Intercommunity Peace and Justice Center at the end of June.

In the many thank you notes I have written to donors through the years I have often quoted Jean Baptiste Massieu, who is responsible for the French proverb: “Gratitude is the memory of the heart.”

Indeed, the gratitude that I feel for the ministry opportunity given to me by our religious communities and our IPJC community for a quarter of a century comes from the depths of my heart where I hold the work we have done together to create a world where all can thrive, people and Earth. The extent of our mission is amazing—events, convocations, speakers, vigils, publications, and legislative and shareholder advocacy. But, what matters the most to me is that we have been companions on the journey.

On May 18th, the Intercommunity Peace and Justice Center will host its annual Spring Benefit at Seattle University from 6:30-8:30pm. I hope that you will join us for dinner to celebrate, reminisce, and support the mission of IPJC.

Gratefully,