Q'al: Bellingham Totem Pole Morning Blessing Ceremony

August 23, 2016

9:00 am

Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship
1207 Ellsworth St., Bellingham

On Tuesday morning at 9:00 am there will be the first Blessing stop of the Totem Pole Journey.  All are welcome to attend and share, with the Totem Pole and the Journey crew, your blessings, grief and hopes.  

This year’s theme is rooted in Q’al.  It means “Belief” in the Lummi language.  It is a fitting title for the 2016 totem pole journey.  The journey, the fourth in four years, will unite tribes and communities all along the 4,865-mile, 18-day journey with the totem pole.  It is belief that helped defeat the various coal port proposals over the past three years.  And it is belief that is needed now as we continue opposing the onslaught of deadly and toxic tar sands and Bakken oil that would be transported by rail and shipped out of ports in Washington and British Columbia. The 2016 journey will not only help to inspire the belief that is needed to win, again, but also be a call for diligence, vigilance, and unity as tribes and communities across the PNW and western Canada stand up for their families, the land and water, and future generations.

The sacredness of the Totem Pole is heightened when imbued with the prayers and messages by many people of many communities, sharing and standing together in a moment of unity at each of the Journey's Blessing stops.  From these acts of unity, the Totem Pole, Master Carver Jewell James says, becomes a lasting part of our memories and a symbol of our resistance against those forces that would destroy those things that we all hold as so very precious and on which we all depend on for our very existence.  

When the Totem Pole finally reaches its home in Winnipeg, it will embody the voices and prayers of thousands of people throughout the U.S. and Canada.  At the place Where the Two Rivers Meet, it will stand as yet another sentinel, watching over the Land, the Waters and the Peoples.

Come, offer up your voices and prayers as the Totem Pole and its crew, begin its Journey of Q'ay in the work of today and hope for tomorrow.

2016 Totem Pole Journey Commencement Event

Join the Totem Pole Journey crew as they begin the 2016 Totem Pole Journey. Master Carver Jewell James and Dr. Kurt Russo will be talking about this year's Journey with a Totem Pole to be installed at Where the Two Rivers Meet, in Winnipeg, Manitoba Province, Canada.

August 18, 2016
Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship, 7:00 pm
1207 Ellsworth St., Bellingham

Guest presenters will include:

BUF Welcome by Rev. Paul Beckel
Traditional Welcome by Richard Solomon and the Solomon Family
Dr. Kurt Russo, Lummi Sovereignty and Treaty Protection Office
Master Carver Jewell James, House of Tears Carvers
Fred Lane, Lummi Nation and Totem Pole Journey Crew member
Matt Petryni of RE Sources for Sustainable Communities
Roxanne Murphy, Bellingham City Council

Other guest speakers to be announced.

2016 Totem Pole Journey on Faithy!

2016 Totem Pole Journey on Faithify!

Paddle to Nisqually is coming up!

Check out the Blanket Project and we need volunteers to help with Paddle to Nisqually!

Video of Freda Huson and Dini Ze Toghestiy speak out at the Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship BUF

For those of you who missed the opportunity to hear the Unist'ot'en story from Freda Huson and Dini Ze Toghestiy, here's a video that Reese Semanko took and offered to the public.

For more info on the camp and to register to help at the camp, go to: http://unistotensolidarity.com/

Financial Donations towards the materials costs can be made to https://fundrazr.com/campaigns/d11tq5

BUF and Lummi at the Canadian Unitarian Council General Conference in May 2016

Bolder Ways of Being

May 20-22, Vancouver, British Columbia will be hosting the Canadian Unitarian Council General Conference and registration is now open.  Early bird registration fees are available for those who register by March 31st.

Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship, Lummi and Tsleil-Waututh will be putting on a workshop entitled "No Borders:  Climate Justice and First Nations."  We're trying to encourage as many UUs from the U.S. to attend so we can start collaborating on erasing the border when it comes to justice issues.  The presence of U.S. UUs would greatly be appreciated.  This will be a great opportunity to meet up with UUs across the border to get to know each other and work together on projects like the upcoming Totem Pole Journey.

There are also workshops on the Truth and Reconciliation movement in Canada (First Nations issue and one that we will want to be exploring here in the U.S.), climate justice and action organization, criminal justice reform and restorative justice, Israel-Palestine situation, music and storytelling, and much more.

If we could get a few of our members to attend the "Building Bridges Through Understanding the Village: Truth, Healing and Reconciliation" workshop that would be really great.  It's one of those ideas that we've been discussing and talking about creating a similar movement here on the U.S. side.  It would be great to have someone take notes.  Two UU ministers are on the CUC task force and at some point I'd like to get them down here to make a presentation on the work they're doing up there.  The description is as follows:

During this experiential workshop Kathi Camilleri will take participants through an exploration of our personal role in supporting the revival of the values that worked so beautifully in Indigenous villages for thousands of years. We will also explore in‐depth the effects of Residential Schools and Canada’s Policy of Assimilation. This workshop is geared to solutions and is done from a non‐blame and non‐shame perspective, inviting all participants to become a part of the healing that IS already happening. Please be aware that Residential School effects and other issues may trigger unresolved grief and loss issues for some. Hosted by the CUC’s Truth, Healing and Reconciliation Task Force co‐chairs, Revs. Samaya Oakley and Meg Roberts.

For general information:  http://cuc.ca/conference-2016/
Saturday and Sunday Workshops:  http://cuc.ca/conference-2016/workshops/
Registration:  http://cuc.ca/conference-2016/adult-registration/adult-registration-form/