Indigenous Peoples' Day: Celebrating Identity and Existence
The Wex'liem Community Building on Lummi Nation was bustling full of people. Where the elders’ tables normally reside by the kitchen, sat tables of local Indigenous artists and nonprofits seeking volunteers.
The cooks in the kitchen were working hard on filling carry-out plates with salmon, frybread, and pasta salad. The line for the dinner wrapped around the room: Hundreds of people showed up for Indigenous Peoples’ Day.
“Smoke Signals: Messages From Mother Earth,” was a free event at Lummi Nation, open to all and cosponsored by Western Washington University.
“How do we address climate change on a global scale? We start reconnecting our local lands, Indigenous-wise, and you start working small … if one community succeeds, other communities are going to follow,” said WWU senior Xwesulten Raven Borsey, a member of Lummi nation and an event organizer with Children of the Setting Sun Productions.
A shuttle from Whatcom Community College and student-organized carpooling from Western brought students to the event. Hundreds celebrated Indigenous Peoples’ Day along with families, members of tribes from all over the Pacific Northwest and local leaders, including Whatcom County Executive Satpal Sidhu, among many others.
“We’re Lummi and we wanted to invite other tribes to come and participate with us and advocate on this day, ” said Quin^cia Isabella James, Project Coordinator of Children of the Setting Sun Productions, one of the organizers for the event, “how we’ve been here since time immemorial,(and) how we need to decolonize Columbus Day, because the fact is that Indigenous people have been here long before that.”
Santana Rabang, a student at Western’s Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies, was the youth speaker for the event. She identifies as being from Lummi Nation, Nooksack Tribe, and First Nations Shxwhá:y Village and began her speech by encouraging the crowd to hug someone to their left and someone to their right.
Emphasizing the importance of representation in forming her experience, she mentioned how seen she felt watching “Reservation Dogs,” a series that follows the lives of Indigenous teenagers on a reservation.
Rabang showed vulnerability choking up when speaking on the importance of representation in politics, shouting out 40th District State Rep. Debra Lekanoff, a member of the Tlingit tribe and first Indigenous woman elected to the Washington State House, who was at the event.
In his keynote speech Adams, member of the Tla'amin Nation north of Powell River, British Columbia, spoke about the treatment that Indigenous people experienced in Canada and the United States.
Adams starred in the movie “Smoke Signals” and has won multiple awards including two Best Actor awards. In addition to his career in the arts, Adams is a medical doctor who brings Indigeneity into his healthcare practices.
Indigeneity in medicine also looks at acknowledging the trauma that Indigenous people have gone through, he said, looking to community for care, and expecting that challenging times will come – but persevering anyway.
“We need to empower Indigenous knowledge,” said Adams. “I am asking for a better world for ourselves and our families.”
The Indigenous Peoples’ Day event was a partnership among Lummi Nation, Children of the Setting Sun, Western Washington University, Northwest Indian College, Whatcom Community College, Bellingham Technical college, Ferndale School District, the city of Bellingham, Bellingham Public Schools and PeaceHealth.
The night ended as it started, with the renowned Blackhawk singers, some as young as 4, dancing in time to the beat of drums.
“We are not going to assimilate to your ways. We want you to assimilate to ours,” said Irene Thomas, a Lummi Nation elder.
Photos by Luke Hollister.