The legislature passed HB 1287, the zero emissions vehicle (ZEV) bill, after it was amended to “establish a goal that all publicly and privately owned passenger and light duty vehicles of model year 2030 or later sold, purchased, or registered in Washington state be electric vehicles, contingent upon vehicle participation in a new road usage charge or equivalent tax or fee policy.” Note that is a “goal,” not a mandate, and it is contingent on a new road usage charge for electric vehicles (to fund transportation like the gas tax does). Because of this contingency, Governor Inslee vetoed provisions of the bill referring to the 2030 goal. Other provisions remain intact, including some that require the state to plan for increases in electric vehicle chargers.
2nd Call for Support: Bring Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut Home!
Netse Mot: Support Lummi Nation and Xw’ullemy (the Salish Sea)
2nd Call for Support: Bring Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut Home!
JUUstice Washington has signed . . .
Board of Trustees of the Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship has signed . . .
Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship’s Social and Environmental Justice Committee has signed . . .
Have you?
We are being called upon as groups and organizations to support the effort to bring Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut home to the Pacific Northwest. Specifically, we are being asked to sign a request to Governor’s Inslee (WA) and Brown (OR) and B.C. Premier John Horgan to sign a proclamation to support the efforts to bring her home. This is different than the petition to Miami Seaquarim for individuals that went out earlier.
Please sign by 24 May 2021 as a group or organization. The desired goal is present it to the Governors in June during Orca Action Month for signing. Here’s the link to the form to be signed by your group, congregation or organization. The text of that proclamation is listed below.
I realize that many of us have specific procedures and protocols that we are required to adhere to, especially as faith-based congregations and we may not be able to achieve congregational resolutions by the 24 May deadline. Please try where you are able to do so. If you are not able to come forward with a full congregational resolution or organizational support, then by all means, request that your various racial, Indigenous-related and/or environmental justice teams and Indigenous teams to sign on as their respective groups.
For those of you unfamiliar with the story of Skk’aliCh’el-tenaut, here’s brief synopsis.
In 1970, a number of young Southern Resident Orca relations were violently captured from their native Salish Sea waters and sold to aquariums. Only one of these qwe’lhol’mechen survives to this day. Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut, who has also been called “Tokitae” and “Lolita” in captivity, remains the star attraction of Miami Seaquarium, where she is held in the world’s smallest orca tank, subjected to relentless sun and extreme social isolation.
The Southern Resident Orcas of the Salish Sea are culturally and spiritually significant to the Coast Salish peoples whose territories overlap with that of the orcas. In particular, the Lhaq’temish people of Lummi Nation consider these orcas to be family. The Lummi term for orcas is qwe’lhol’mechen, meaning “the people under water,” and ancestral teachings hold that there are kinship bonds between the Lhaq’temish and orca peoples.
In 2017, Lummi Nation was called to work to bring Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut home. In 2019, Lummi elders Squil-le-he-le (Raynell Morris) and Tah-Mahs (Ellie Kinley) invoked their legal, cultural, and spiritual rights in calling for her release and homecoming, and announcing their intent to sue on the grounds of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) should negotiations not be successful. They are represented by Earth Law Center on the legal front, and are working with the Whale Sanctuary Project on the operational front. There is now a comprehensive plan that details how to safely and responsibly bring Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut out of captivity and back home to the Salish Sea. The plan is grounded and guided by Lummi culture and oversight, and is a living document that will change according to Sk’aliCh’elh- tenaut’s needs as they change over time. The ongoing health and well-being of Sk’aliCh’elh- tenaut, her Southern Resident Orca family, and the Salish Sea are centered in this plan.
Other background resources are:
Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut, Sacred Sea: for a living Salish Sea at sacredsea.org
Here’s a heart-wrenching and warming explanatory video: https://vimeo.com/266726774
https://juustwa.org/program-areas/issues/first-american-indian-nations/our-work/totem-pole-journeys/tokitae/ and https://juustwa.org/program-areas/issues/first-american-indian-nations/our-work/totem-pole-journeys/tokitae/tokitae-totem-pole-returns-home/
You can also google “Tokitae” and view other websites, articles and videos regarding Lummi Nation’s work to bring her home.
Success for WA Immigrants in 2021 Session
Our platform for the 2021 legislative session has been a total success. The budget provisos that we worked on this year made it into the budget and the two priority bills passed and were already signed by the governor!This means the following:
Workers
- There will be an income replacement program for Washington’s undocumented workers who lost their jobs or lost their income due to the pandemic. There will be an implementation process and afterwards we will be sharing more about the program and how your members will be able to access it. This proposal includes funds for a work group to create a proposal to create a permanent program for undocumented workers who suffer loss of income in similar cases.
Healthcare
- $35 million was appropriated to provide healthcare services to people with little or no health coverage, regardless of immigration status. This will be provided through grants to providers, and
- A long-term plan is also included – funds will be used so that the Health Benefit Exchange can explore opportunities to facilitate the enrollment of people excluded from Medicaid or federal programs, such as undocumented persons, to a state health program for the year 2024. One option for the Exchange is to develop an application for a federal waiver. Other exceptions were included.
Detention and deportation
- HB1090, Banning Private Prisons, has been passed by the legislature and signed by the governor! The contract for the Northwest Detention Center expires in 2025 and cannot be renewed.
Legal services
- HB1072, Eliminate Restrictions on the Use of Civil Legal Aid Funds, has been passed by the legislature and signed by the governor! This change will remove the restriction on the use of civil legal aid funds that does not allow the funds to be used to help undocumented persons.
We do not expect any pushback on the two budget provisos, but the healthcare equity coalition will send a letter to the governor to ask that he sign our healthcare proviso without any changes.
Red Road to DC Totem Pole Journey
Below is the the bare bones schedule of stops so far on the Red Road to DC Totem Pole Journey. For details right now, you have to go the the “Our Shared Responsibility” Facebook page and look up events. The schedule is changing minute by minute so please follow on Facebook! Please pass this information onto all your family, friends, networks, associations and connections. All are welcome and encouraged to attend.
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Lummi Nation House of Tears Carvers, led by Master Carver Jewell Praying Wolf James, is based in Bellingham, WA is renown for its Totem Pole Journeys. The House carves Totem Poles and gifts them to Tribes and Nations across the North American continent.
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This year they are doing the Red Road to DC having carved a Totem Pole in honor of Sacred Sites, bringing attention to, and promoting the protection and restoration of, sacred lands, landscapes, and waterways. The Journey will also bring attention to the urgent need to address the crisis in Xw’ullemy (the Salish Sea), and to the sacred obligation to restore and protect waterways critical to the future of the salmon. It will also stop for ceremony and special events in other areas that are threatened by unsustainable destructive practices we see here in our home waters.
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There are two tours the Northwest/West Coast tour and the National Tour. The West Coast Journey which began locally on 21 April 2021, will visit Tribes/Nations and communities up and down the West Coast starting here in Washington State and stopping in Oregon and California. It will continue until the National Tour which will begin some time in July.
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The National Tour will then take the Totem Pole cross-country visiting Chaco Canyon, Grand Canyon, Bears Ears, Black Hills and Missouri River. There may be a stop in Minnesota for Line #3 as well. They’ll take the Totem Pole to Washington DC and it will be presented to Biden and an exhibit within the Smithsonian. The final placement of the Totem Pole will be up to the White House and the Smithsonian.
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PLEASE DONATE!! This Journey would not happen if not for the continuing generosity of communities along the way. Funds will be used to cover costs of gas and to provide food and lodging for the 6-person crew coming your way. Small and large donations are very gratefully accepted and appreciated. DONATE HERE!
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“The protection of Indigenous sacred places, Ancestors, cultural items, medicines, and cultural ways of life are paramount, and Native Nations’, traditional societies’, ceremonial grounds’, and Indigenous spiritual leaders’ authority on these matters must be given full weight and center around Indigenous free, prior, and informed consent. These are matters that pertain to: our self-determination; our families, past, present, and future; and our ability to practice our ways of life. They represent a sacred duty and traditional law, which are indigenous to these lands.
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The harms done to our sacred places, Ancestors, and cultural ways of life violate our natural rights, constitutional rights, natural & spiritual laws, and individual freedoms. These harms have taken an immeasurable toll on the health, safety, welfare, and well-being of our Peoples and caused drastic and intergenerational trauma, sickness, loss, and death.
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The need for the journey is part of an old story written across all indigenous lands. It is a story of coercion and violence, with new players, big money, and cooption of corrupt politicians and coopted agencies. The Indians are in the way of ‘progress’: Indians and their sacred grounds, their burial grounds, their customary way of life, and Indians who value family and future generations above short-term profit. The Red Road totem pole journey from the Salish Sea to Washington, DC, tells our story in our terms, based on our history, and based on our ancestral, inherent rights. It is a journey for now, for our ancestors, and for future generations.”
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Here are some links to the Journey to provide some background on Totem Pole and the Journey.
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This is the place to follow them on the Journey and the events are listed here as well. On many of the events pages is listed the contact info for the event coordinator should you have any questions https://www.facebook.com/totempolejourney
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Here’s a video link of Jewell Praying Wolf James, describing the imagery and symbols on the Totem Pole: https://youtu.be/oLsOweAedgo
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The National Tour: Lummi Nation carvers and allies to embark on national tour to D.C., give totem pole to President Biden
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Respect to COVID protocols will be adhered to. Mask up and Social Distance! Protect our Elders!
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Netse Mot: Bringing Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut Home!
Netse Mot 2021-Call to bring Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut Home
2021 will focus on the return of Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut (Tokitae/Lolita) to the Pacific Northwest from Miami Seaquarim in Florida. In the 1970s Southern Resident Orca youth were forcibly and violently taken from their pods and shipped out to aquariums and parks all over the world. Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut (Tokitae/Lolita) was taken to Miami Seaquarium where she is the last surviving Orca youth taken. Lummi Nation has been trying for decades now to have her returned but Miami Seaquarim is refusing to release her. In 2019, two Lummi women, Squil-le-he-le and Mah Tahs working with Earth Law Center, invoked the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) and announced their intent to sue Miami Seaquarium if the Seaquarium. To date (April 2021), Miami Seaquarim is still refusing to release Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut. Squil-le-he-le and Mah Tahs are calling upon us to respond as well.
- For individuals, they are asking that we sign the petition established by Earth Law Center that is collecting signatures to go to Miami Seaquarim and its parent and affiliates—Palace Entertainment and Parques Reunidos Servicios Centrales SA.
- For groups and organizations, they are asking that we sign a request to Governor’s Inslee (WA) and Brown (OR) and BC Premier John Horgan to sign a proclamation to support the efforts to bring her home. Please sign by 24 May 2021. We’d like to present it to the Governors in June during Orca Action Month.
- We are also being asked to reach out to other Indigenous connections we may have and invite them to sign the Indigenous Statement of Solidarity. The request also includes a video of ceremonies in solidarity. If you have connections with an Indigenous group, please ask them to contact Julie at info@sacredsea.org.
More info can be found at sacredsea.org or our other webpages on the Totem Pole Journeys dedicated to her at https://juustwa.org/program-areas/issues/first-american-indian-nations/our-work/totem-pole-journeys/tokitae/ and https://juustwa.org/program-areas/issues/first-american-indian-nations/our-work/totem-pole-journeys/tokitae/tokitae-totem-pole-returns-home/
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