Good morning, Siam, son of Snaatlam, the Slayochtin. My name is Watashlam and I also carry a name, Zlayeltin. Beth asked me the other day if there was meaning to my name and there's deep history to my name.
Thank you for reading the poem by which you acknowledged Richard Solomon, who was my mentor.
On a boat ride in from home, Orcas island in Friday Harbor. (I picked up my daughter at Friday harbor, and I also reside on Orcas at a village called Al Long, Lummi's second village from the beginning of time.)
First was San Juan Island, Papiawath, Garrison Bay near Roche Harbor that's where our creation story comes from, and the first individual to exist was Swatan, by the Changer, the Creator. We call him the Changer or Transformer.
Anyway, I picked up my daughter. I boated from Orcas and picked her up, so we came in yesterday together. Coincidentally, I was driving silently, and I looked over her and said, “I sure miss Richard. I sure miss my Axala,” my teacher, because he was a spirit, if you knew him. He was a spirit you don't encounter, if ever in life, in a lifetime, and I am so blessed.
I shared this with my daughter [that I was] fortunate to have spent his last six months of his life with him. He stayed with me on Orcas. And he stayed with me here at Lummi and we spent a lot of time together and fished together. I helped him put on his rain gear. That's something my grandpa, my Uncle Chuck, who we lost last year, that's something we all want to do. We just want to fish one more time, because the Salish sea has always been our mother, or giver of life, where we're connected to our ancestors in place. Thank you particularly for reading Richard’s poem this morning.
I didn't write a speech coming into today. I had a lot of things in mind, but it always changes, and today as I watched and listened to the land acknowledgement being recited.
Watching the video of the gentleman [Dana Lyons] singing [Salmon Come Home] during the Coal Port fight. I remember seeing his face and being thankful for the art, for the voice, [and for the message].
I'm going to drift a lot and I'm going to lose my train of thought. So, I want to make you aware of that. And then I think it's extremely important that I make sure you're aware I'm speaking English.
Speaking English, and it's only 17 decades since we've even known this [English] language. This language does not tell our story. We're not able to tell our story or fully create understanding and empathy with this language as to who we are and how we are genetically designed, and we're not fully colonized nor are our imaginations fully colonized because we're so new to this new marriage with the newcomers [the settlers].
So, I want to acknowledge that too, and I want to make sure everyone here knows that it is not my intent to offend anybody here with what I say. So, if I do, I'll apologize. That's not my intent ever. But I think truth is important. I think our truth, our marriage, is important.
But then I really think whatever is coming following this moment and what I share, what is equally important is us as humans. And that's one of the inspirations of this book. In the Spirit of Right and Respectful Relations is one of the questions I hope, or we hope. The book is authorless. We hope that is understood from the point of view that it is really asking ourselves as individuals, what is it to be human? And more important, what have we become?
I heard numerous times acknowledgement to the indigenous peoples, and I hear it all over the country and that's great. But in the video of [Dana Lyons singing, “The Salmon come home again and again”] I saw a grizzly bear. I saw salmon. I saw a river on that video. In the music video, I saw a qualiton, an eagle. I saw a quethomichton, an orca.
And, if you followed Lummi, Cha-das-ska-dum Which-ta-lum whose story of Salmon Woman was. These stories and our ancient covenant that Lummi has that we hold dearly in or hearts and souls. These animals were the first. They were first. They were here long before us, long before Lummi and long before you newcomers. So, what does that mean in the spirit of right and respectful relations? Really?
As a human as put the selfish human away for a moment for myself, for me. What does that mean really? For example, other faiths have different creation stories. And biblical creation says, and in the beginning, the Creator created. It's never humans first.
So, from a child's perspective, a not colonized imagination. Little children really get that and think through that without systems that teach us different, subtly, subconsciously.
So, for the spirit of right and respectful relations with nature, we were wild. At the arrival, we were wild. And I'm proud to say that I'm trying to hold on to that wild. It's not bad. It's actually rich. It's in tune. When I saw [Dana’s] music video, I saw everything was in tune.
And in the spirit of right and respectful relationship, What has caused the disruption to where we are today?
We have many recovery services, and recovery ideas, and nonprofit organizations, and, you know, we have deep concern all throughout and we say it. But one of the things, one of a man I really look up to this man, is Oren Lyons.
He shared that we're looking in the garage for a wrench big enough to fix a problem that we have created, and it's not a wrench we need. It's an evaluation of what and who we've become as a human.
If we really care. It's not a wrench. It's not a task force. It's not a (unknown word) It's really this serious, truthful look at what have we become. We just don't care and that's okay, and we carry on.
But I think land acknowledgments more so need to be like the song. That song is just great.
When I was sharing with my lady this morning over a phone call, how I used to look across the reservation, and I, as a child, felt this anger and pain because I would see these straight lines in the mountains above Bellingham, and it was these clear cut but, I didn't know that, and I didn't understand why. There were perfectly straight lines on the mountains and there were taller trees over here, and this part was just bare.
When we entered the treaty in 1855, it opened the doors for stake your claim on Indian land. Stake your claim. Stake your claim. Stake your claim.
And one of the thoughts I think we need to reflect on, and I think, you know, if I don't share this, in the end, what's really important is can we shift our focus from the beginning of your relationship with my people and then the claiming process to can we shift our focus to more focused on the question, Would the river claim you? Would the salmon claim you? Would this land claim you? Would this place claim you? And if so, why? How?
But if not, then how do we shift our focus from claiming everything, claiming the river, claiming the water, claiming the salmon, claiming this land, to how do we become more in a relationship-based living with what the English word calls nature to being claimed by it? Because a real common-sense fact is we can't live without it.
We claim all this stuff, And in 17 decades, catastrophic disruption has taken place here. And I want to Properly introduce myself, because I think going back in time, 17 decades is important for us as a people, as humans, to understand the significance and the collapse in time frames.
What took 1000 years in Europe to do, 1200 years in Europe to do, has only taken 17 decades here. And that's a reality that we are living through. And I want to share this with you friends and neighbors and partners, because we can only change ourselves for that change to take place that we've created. We can only do that together.
It's hard in this relationship. We have the orca, have the salmon, have the rivers, have the extinct wolves on San Juan island, the extinct wolves in this territory. Everything that once was. It's difficult.
So how do we get to a place. And I want to begin that thought around, you know, if we can go back in time for a moment. The immigrant, Governor Stevens, United States representative of the Oregon Territory, met with the sovereigns of this territory and came together January 22, entered not an Indian thing, but a US thing called a treaty.
Article 6 of the United States Constitution states that the treaty is a supreme law of the land. And one thing I think that's important for us. We entered a marriage. We entered a relationship.
It's a marriage that we, we, you citizens here, entered with my people. It's not an Indian thing. It's not an Indian treaty. Right? It's not the Indian's treaty. It's your treaty with reserved inherent right. And I think that's important for us to understand where our marriage began.
The Indians, as sovereigns of this territory, didn't come together with the immigrant and say, hey, this is how it's going to be. No, it was a us thing. And that's your treaty too.
So, I would encourage us to, when we're talking about a treaty as it relates to salmon, orca, rivers, tribal, it's your treaty. And when it's your treaty, one must ask, what does honor mean?
Seven generations ago, the largest real estate transaction that ever took place in this territory was with the true sovereigns. And it's called the contract is called a treaty. It was not. No disrespect, I was not chairman during the Cherry Point fight, I was a council member, but I was chairman in Supreme Court in 2018 for culverts, and that's all about salmon.
1974, My grandpa was chairman in 1969. Led to a decision USV Washington and the Reef Net association known as the Bolt decision. That was in 1974.
Our court cases are not about Necessarily human rights. They're about rivers and salmon because we were claimed by all that nature. Salmon, rivers, sea, land, at the beginning of time. So that's what we fight for. Not because we claim it. Because the salmon woman story, that's an ancient covenant. It's not something we have to have an attorney say, hey, kind of might want to do this because legally you're in an ancient covenant with salmon.
No, that's a mythical story that is here that tells us we must respect salmon. Even in 2026, even though that was long, long, long, long time ago, it's still within our DNA. It's important.
Richard Solomon's grandfather was Felix. Felix had a daughter named Nancy Solomon, who was my grandmother. Felix's father was Joseph Solomon. Felix was born in 1888. Joseph Solomon was his father. His mother was Mary. Joseph was from Swallow Orcas. Mary was from northern San Juan.
Mary's mother was Sitsia. Sitsia’s mother was Pachasia Gibbs.
And Governor Stevens called Pachasia's brother George Washington identified him as a Lummi chief because it was that northern San Juan clear up to Point Roberts territory. He was listed as chief of the Northern Lummi.
My father was Mike Julius. His mother was Vila Jefferson. Vila's father was Simon Jefferson. Simon's father was Thomas Jefferson, too.
Thoma’s mother was Victoria. And Victoria was who Gibbs spent a lot of time with. And Governor Stevens identified as a chief of Lummi who represented Lopez, Shaw and San Juan connected to all reef net locations. And they called him Thomas Jefferson.
You'll see in the treaty two of 14 signatories of Lummi. Many of you might not even know that Lummi did not arrive here until Hutashlam was murdered by his Skolachan wife's brothers. Chotashlam was Orcas Island Shwala people, klaktamish.
There were eruptions long ago of Kulshan, Mount Baker. Not 1848, but after the eruption, but before that old, old, old story of the eruption, how Kushan got its name right here.
There was a Lummi chief named Chalakhal Suit. This was his territory.
My mother is Doreen Lane. Her father is Vernon Lane. Many of you might know Freddie. Freddie's one of 12. My mother is his older sister. Vernon Lane was the father.
Vernon's father was Art. Art's wife was Christine. Goes up to George Swalus. And then Swalusa's father was Chalakal Suit.
One of the 14 signatories that represented Whatcom Creek and where Bellingham Post office and that whole area is where the longhouse was.
My father's father was Haynes Julius. Haines father was John Julius. John's wife was Catherine Jack. They were married in 1901.
If you read old Lummi lawsuits starting in 1894, you'll see Captain Jack Yakship Lummi testifying against Alaska packers.
That was my great, great, great, Grandfather Heinz Julius was John's father buried up at Point Roberts. You might know them as Semiamman people.
Another important thing for citizens here to know is there's only one treaty tribe that speaks our language. Coast Salish is a broad name for all indigenous people which might lead one to think that we're all the same. But linguistically Lummi is very distinct. Northern Straits Salish is our language.
My great grandmother was Dora Williams from Skagit. Her language is Lishootseed. It's not the same, but different, Zanich Suk, Semmiamman. That's northern straight Salish language beginning at the islands and then going north and west.
At that time in 1855, what I think is important is the relationship amongst what we call nature in salmon, in quethomedgeon and how things were just in tune, and we see and feel beauty here. Especially newcomers who arrive here right now from California, Texas and other places. It's just this magical place.
But we're in a time right now and it's happening on our watch where my people are in deep grief right now. It's one of the reasons I'm here before you. I value this relationship, this friendship with Beth and all of you Unitarian Fellowship because there is some serious, serious, deep grief amongst our people right now, and it's happening on our watch.
Our policies that we see, and we praise are doing nothing more than managing everything to extinction. That's what we're living in right now. That's your reality and that's our reality. We know this very well because this is new.
I was raised by Felix and Dora who were born in 1888 and 1891. They died when I was five and six. They were raised by pre contact individuals who lived as one and in tune with everything we call nature.
We're in some serious times right now that we're almost kind of blind to. We're seeing ourselves manage some important things to extinction. And that's where I hope. This is not what my ancestors dreamt. But I do believe we're dreamt here together for some reason. I believe we're all dreamt here for a purpose. I'm not sure exactly what it is. I do believe that.
But how do we get to a right and respectful relationship with this place we call home with that English word, nature?
If you're from Ireland, Scotland, [you are indigenous from a place.] I'm indigenous from here. You are indigenous from somewhere. If you're not originally from here.
There was a relationship, deep relationship with nature in Ireland, in Scotland, in Europe, While we were removed from our villages and territory, it was only 30, 35 miles as a crow flies, so it's different from.
I can't imagine what some folks went through from other countries and in Europe and other places. I know, and I've read the history of what has taken place, forced removal. Okay?
What's different about us is we're not going to vacate. We're a place-based people, like was stated. I can't imagine abandoning my ancestors and vacating my home. We can't begin to imagine that.
But how do we come together, us, all of us, and love this place like it's all our giver of life, Treat it like it's our Cecila, our mother, our grandmother. Because it's a different relationship-based living, and that's the hope from here.
I hope we can all come to a place rapidly, fast, with urgency to being claimed by everything that is together. Because that's when we'll ensure a great future for the salmon, for the rivers, for the sea, and for future generations.
Thank you always. It's always a pleasure and a privilege to share time with you. Thank you for sharing the book and I did want to touch on this, but [it is time to bring this to a close].
Thank you all. Thank you for our friendship.