Waters of the North Sound, Yesterday and Today

When speaking about our region’s waterways, it’s important to acknowledge the Coast Salish peoples who have been stewarding them since time immemorial. The following words are courtesy of the Sacred Lands Conservancy, an Indigenousled 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting the life, culture, and sanctity of the Salish Sea.

AFEW HUNDRED YEARS ago, when European ships pulled into what is now called Bellingham Bay, the men aboard couldn’t see the land for all the trees; the trees were so big, the forests so thick. Fish were so plentiful you could walk across their backs. We’ve always said, “When the tide is out, the table is set,” meaning, at low tide, there are clams, crab, oysters, so much food to be harvested! The waters and the lands have always provided for us.

In our Lhaq’temish language, Xwlemi chosen, there is no word for famine. We never went hungry. All of our villages were right on the water. The waterways of the Salish Sea connected us with one another, and with our traditional fishing, hunting, and gathering places. The waters connected us, the waters provided for us. Our songs, stories, culture, and spirituality are of and in this place. We are one with all the life here, with the waters, with the rocks, with the fish, the whales, the eagles.

Water is life. We can’t survive without fresh water to drink, without the salmon that depend on healthy rivers and a healthy Salish Sea.

Right now, our waters are threatened by pollution, by large industrial projects, by marine vessel traffic. The Salish Sea has become crowded, dirty, noisy and this affects the health of all our relations who live underwater. Salmon runs are threatened, our resident orca population is endangered. Our fishermen are hurting, economically and spiritually. We are a fishing people. We can’t survive without fish, without salmon.

The Point Elliott Treaty that we signed with other tribes and the United States government in 1855 promises that we have rights to fish, hunt, and gather in our traditional territory for as long as the mountain still stands and the river flows. This promise is meaningless if there is nothing left to fish, hunt, and gather. The Treaty is the supreme law of the land. It’s up to all of us, tribal and U.S. citizens, to uphold the Treaty promises. This means we all need to work together to ensure the health and vitality of the Salish Sea and all the rivers that feed it.

We have always been in reciprocal relation with this place. We know that Mother Earth provides for us, so we take care of her the best we can. Take only what is needed. Never take the first, nor the last, of whatever you may be harvesting. Give thanks. Be generous. These are lessons of this place. We encourage all who now make their homes here, and those who may be visiting, to also be in such a relationship with this place.

We live in such a beautiful part of the world! Enjoy it!

But as you recreate upon the waters, or on the islands, in the forest, on the mountain, please take time to learn the history of this place. We have been here since time immemorial; our history is long. We have learned good teachings about how to live here, and we welcome the chance to share these teachings. The history of the past couple hundred years is brutal, but acknowledging the truth of history allows us all to learn from it, heal, and move forward into the future in a good way.

Learn about this place, about the finned, the winged, the four-legged creatures, about the trees, the rocks, the waters. How might you be kind and generous, how might you caretake, and be thankful? How might you treat this place as if it were your dearly beloved?

To learn more about the Sacred Lands Conservancy and their work, visit sacredsea.org.

You can also find this month’s installment of Since Time Immemorial, a recurring series spotlighting community members whose families have been here since time immemorial, on p. 30.