Monday, Oct. 11, 2021 is Indigenous Peoples' Day and we want your help in celebrating Indigenous peoples and honoring their histories, culture, legacies, and futures. 

Before Columbus came to the Americas, millions of Indigenous peoples lived on the land; the Americas were not discovered, but rather stumbled across, occupied, and colonized. There is a deep history of violence, attempted erasure, and claims to land as Europeans continued to make their way to the Americas. While it is important to acknowledge these facts, we must also recognize the lives and cultures of Indigenous people pre-colonization and their resistance, survival, and struggle for justice ever since.

We also want to acknowledge Indigenous people more locally, who have been and still are here, and recognize that Northshore School District has been built on Coast Salish lands. The Coast Salish peoples live in and beyond the Puget Sound, and we continue to honor them for their persistence, strength, and legacies.

The “First Nations: Land Rights and Environmentalism in British Columbia” website states, “Coast Salish peoples inhabit the Northwest Coast of North America, from the mouth of the Columbia River in Oregon, north to Bute Inlet in British Columbia. Coast Salish territories includes much of the ecologically diverse Georgia Basin and Puget Sound known as the Salish Sea. This huge drainage basin comprises the coastal mainland and Vancouver Island from Campbell River and Georgia Strait south through the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the Lower Fraser Valley and the lowlands of Puget Sound. Archaeological evidence of human occupation in this coastal marine area is extensive and ancient, dating back some 8,000 years.”

On Indigenous Peoples Day and always, we should honor the histories and legacies of Indigenous peoples more broadly and Coast Salish peoples locally. 

Resources

• Shift in language from "Columbus Day" to "Indigenous Peoples Day" (Video)
• Why Seattle Voted to Celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day (Video)
• William Nu’utupu Giles & Travis T. - "Oral Traditions" (Video)
• Burke Museum: Coast Salish Art
• Burke Museum: Indigenous Peoples Day Activities