1 minute read
Community Blessing of the Fleet & First Salmon Ceremony
MAY 21, 28, 29 – If May 2020 happened upon us like any other May before the coronavirus pandemic, we would’ve recently celebrated our Blessing of the Fleet & First Salmon Ceremony together as a whole community. However, since we’re in these very odd times, annual events were planned to look a lot different this year. And due to even further unforeseen circumstances, the annual event ended up taking place on three separate days.
Two of the three days were dedicated to preparing and distributing traditional foods to the tribal community – prawn and crab to-go lunches were served via drive-thru on May 21 and a to-go salmon meal was served via drivethru on May 28.
May 29 was dedicated to the blessing of our Swinomish fleet and the blessing on the water. With the protection of our fishermen and people at the forefront of importance, a limited attendance community blessing ceremony livestreamed over Facebook was what could be offered.
Continuing the Swinomish teachings and protecting the land and our people is important more than ever; nourishing our Indigenous spirit with traditional foods provides healing and comfort, providing more resilience to persevere and guide our people through this pandemic.
We raise our hands to everyone who participated in the success of the Blessing of the Fleet & First Salmon Ceremony this year.
