Commit2Respond's Blog on the Totem Pole Journey

Commit2Respond on the Totem Pole Journey

2014 Declaration to the NW Tribes Gathering - October 9th

In 2014, the Totem Pole Journey would deliver a Totem Pole of solidarity and healing from the Lummi House of Tears Carvers, to the Beaver Lake Cree Nation whose Sacred Lands, Waters and Lifeways were being systematically destroyed by tar sands extraction.  Blessed by thousands of hands and voices all throughout the North Pacific and Mid-West of the U.S. and British Columbia and Alberta Provinces of Canada, the Totem Pole had become a unifying symbol in our shared struggle to preserve the Earth.

Just prior to the 2014 Totem Pole Journey, another symbol was created and then also accompanied the Totem Pole on its Journey.  This was a Declaration, signed by some of the leadership of the faith community in the Northwest to the Northwest Tribes, entitled A Public Declaration to the Tribal Councils and Traditional Spiritual Leaders of the Native Peoples of the Northwest.  The text of the Declaration reads as follows:

August 2014

c/o Jewell Praying Wolf James, Lummi

In 1987 and again in 1997, bishops and denominational executives of churches in the Northwest offered letters of apology to the indigenous peoples of our region. These letters acknowledged the historical disrespect of traditional Native American spiritual practices and traditions. In those letters, the leaders of our denominations promised “to honor and defend the rights of Native Peoples … [including] access and protection of sacred sites … [and to] end political and economic injustice against tribal communities.”

In this decade a new threat has arisen against Native Peoples: the mining, transport, burning, and disposal of fossil fuels. Proposed coal export terminals would damage native fisheries protected by long-standing treaties and poison our shared air and water. Coal trains servicing these terminals would cut across lands sacred to indigenous peoples, and impact the health of those communities. In this generation we also acknowledge that the mining and burning of fossil fuels creates the terrible threats of climate disruption, ocean acidification, and pollution to the harm of all God’s children, especially the poorest.

Tribal leaders have asked us to keep our past promises, and to stand with them in defense of their sacred lands and fishing rights. And so we call upon the Northwest Congressional delegation and other elected officials, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Department of the Interior, and all people of goodwill to uphold the treaty rights of Native communities of the Northwest. We ask that all environmental and cultural harm to Native lands and peoples be considered in making public policy decisions about the mining, transport, and export of coal and other fossil fuels.

As religious leaders we call for the protection of the life we have been given and the Earth we all call home. Our greatest commandment is to love our neighbor as ourselves (Mark 12:30-31). Putting this ethic into action, we stand in solidarity with our Native neighbors to safeguard the traditional lands, waters, and sacred sites of their peoples from destruction.

At the request of several northwest Unitarian Universalist congregations and activist groups, the Unitarian Universalists Association (UUA) Pacific Northwest District (PNWD) agree to consider becoming signatories to this document.  At their annual meeting during the UUA General Assembly on June 27, 2015 in Portland, Oregon, PNWD delegates and board unanimously voted to become signatories.

It is now mid-September 2015.  In the intervening time, UU individuals and congregations rallied behind the 2015 Totem Pole Journey.  They organized, hosted, spoke, supported, fundraised, publicized and participated in Totem Pole Blessing stops that began in Vancouver, British Columbia, traveling through Washington and Oregon and into Montana.  The Totem Pole would find it’s way to a new home in Lame Deer, Montana, home to Northern Cheyenne who’s Sacred Lands and Waters are threatened by coal projects along Otter Creek and the Tongue River.

Now, that our role in the Totem Pole Journey is complete, it’s time to turn our attention back to the Declaration we signed onto earlier.  The 2015 Totem Pole Journey was just a beginning for UUs in bringing the Declaration to life.  But our work is not done yet.

As UUs, we have a long history of supporting First Nation/American Indian issues reflected in our policies and statements as a denomination.  Historically, we passed:

·      1970 Business Resolution on Indian Rights,

·      1975 Business Resolution on Native Americans

·      1976 General Resolution on Opposing the Extradition of Dennis Banks

·      1993 General Resolution on Justice for Indigenous Peoples

·      1997 Solidarity with the San Carlos Apache Regarding Mt. Graham

·      1998 Action of Immediate Witness for the Fair Treatment for Native Americans

·      2000 Statement of Conscience on Economic Injustice, Poverty and Racism

·      2000 Responsive Resolution for the Cleveland, OH Native American Community

·      2001 Responsive Resolution on Racism and the Sports Media

·      2007 Truth, Repair and Reconciliation Responsive Resolution,

·      2012 Resolution on repudiating the Doctrine of Discovery

·      2015 Act of Immediate Witness Act For a Livable Climate

·      2015 PNWD becomes signatory to A Public Declaration to the Tribal Councils and Traditional Spiritual Leaders of the Native Peoples of the Northwest. 

On October 9^th, as part of the NW UU Justice Network Annual Summit, UUs are gathering, with other representatives of the faith community, to learn more of the history behind the document that we signed, discuss and scope out our commitment to the NW Tribes and how to put action to that commitment.  Lummi Elder and Indian Rights Scholar Jewell James will be speaking with us on what the Declaration means to the Native community and the Vision for what that document could become.  This gathering will be held at the Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship in Bellingham, WA.  More information about the Declaration event can be accessed at:  http://tinyurl.com/Pre-Event-Oct9 and registration is at:  http://tinyurl.com/RegisterOct9Event

The Summit (October 10^th) information can be found at:  http://www.nwuujn.org/topics/view/552c1b4c0cf24df5070a05b7/

We need all hands on deck and hope you’ll join us!  If you are unable to attend the event, but still interested in working with a group of UUs and other interfaith folk, please let me know at dwcruz@comcast.net

Let’s erase the cultural, national and international borders that block our way from preserving the Earth and the Right to Exist for all Her Children.

Northwest UU Justice Summit at BUF!

On October 9th and 10th, the Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship will be hosting and co-sponsoring the 5th Annual Northwest UU Justice Summit.  This is a regional gathering of UUs and other justice-oriented folks, reviewing and tackling the social and environmental issues of our time.

There are two components to this year's Summit:
·        a Pre-Event on Friday evening October 9th related to supporting the Northwest Tribes, and
·        an all-day, multi-issue Justice Summit on Saturday, October 10th.

Each event has its own registration process, so be sure to note the registration websites and be sure to register for both events (or one or the other) that you plan to attend.

Friday, October 9th at 7:00 pm.  Putting Our Words into Action: The NW Tribes Declaration 

Background: This past June, Pacific Northwest District delegates voted on behalf of all UUs in the Pacific Northwest to have the PNWD board sign “A Public Declaration to the Tribal Councils and Traditional Spiritual Leaders of the Native Peoples of the Northwest" and to become one of many other faith communities making a commitment to our First Nations' struggle to protect Lands and Waters sacred not only to them, but to us as well.

Program: This will involve two presentations and a work-session on this document, with guest speaker Lummi Elder Jewell James who is named on it.  This pre-event is for those of the UU and other faith communities who want to pursue making this Declaration to the NW Tribes a living document.  We will hear from Elder James on the history of this document and his vision for it.  We will also hear from Jessie Dye from Earth Ministry (Washington's chapter of Interfaith Power and Light) whose organization was instrumental in getting many of the other signatories including: the Pacific Northwest Conference of the United Church of Christ, Sisters of Providence, Pacific Northwest & Alaska Conferences of the United Methodist Church, Northwest Regional Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Evergreen Association of American Baptist Churches, the Episcopal Dioceses of Olympia and of Spokane, and the Northwest Washington, the Eastern Washington-Idaho and the Southwestern Washington Synods of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Registration for this Pre-Event is at:  http://tinyurl.com/RegisterOct9Event
Learn more about this event, the Declaration and download the flyer at: http://tinyurl.com/Pre-Event-Oct9
For more information contact Deb Cruz at dwcruz@comcast.net.

Saturday, October 10th at 7:00 pm. 2015 Annual Justice Summit

This year's theme is Allied for Justice.  In the morning, we'll listen to TED-style talks from representatives of Lummi Nation and from Community to Community.  They will brief us on their powerful work on issues ranging from national sovereignty to food sovereignty, from preserving our sacred lands and planet to preserving our democracy.

During afternoon breakout sessions, attendees with particular issues of concern (or participants looking for their next issue!) will gather in issue-oriented groups.  Throughout the day, we will discover new resources, forge relationships and collaborate to create positive change.  Many will exchange email addresses or decide to convene new or expanded issue-support groups.

Last year, 26 congregations sent participants to the Summit, with 119 registrants coming from three states.  Will you be among them this year?  Will we be international this year?! How might that give more power to our work?

Register for the 2015 Annual Justice Summit: http://tinyurl.com/Register2015Summit
Learn more about the Summit Program: http://tinyurl.com/2015SummitProgram

See you in October.

Deb

Lummi related workshops at GA

Lummi, BUF and Climate Justice at GA - Public Witness event

Coal Road to China with Jan and Harold Hoem and Alaina Buffalo Spirit

Donations will be accepted to help cover transportations costs of the speakers who will be coming in from Montana.

Alaina is also a member of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe and a member of the Northern Plains Resource Council as well (https://www.northernplains.org).

Also, after/below the flyer I've included some additional information passed on from Jan, Harold and Alaina.  Seems Wyoming and Montana are marshaling there forces to get coal out of the Powder River Basin and there's much ado out there about Lummi.

So please, come and give Jan, Harold and Alaina some sorely needed support!

Alaina went into Crow country yesterday where a hearing sponsored by the Crow and Montana's new Senator Steve Daines ®, pro-coal folks.  She felt very unsafe the whole time, but passed out packets of information (which she said she'll email to me today) giving a different story.  Everything said there was pro-coal.  Tim Fox, Montana's attorney general who will probably get a $1million slush fund to contest Washington and Oregon's resistance the the coal export terminals, was also there, as well as Jason Small and Darrin Old Coyote.  There's a write up in today's Billings Gazette that you can pull up which includes an interview of Alaina, and she was on state-wide tv last night.

Some of things Alaina and others are up against out there can be read at:http://billingsgazette.com/news/government-and-politics/indian-coal-economy-has-suffered-because-of-epa-regs-tribes/article_03ca1060-23f9-5eff-bb21-58935095b670.html

Alaina's testimony:

 

Chairman Barrasso and Senators of the Indian Affairs Committee,

My name is Alaina Buffalo Spirit.  I am an enrolled member of the Northern Cheyenne tribe and a landowner near Birney on the southern end of the Northern Cheyenne Reservation.  I am also a member of Northern Plains Resource Council.

Thank you for allowing me to submit my perspective on coal development in Indian Country today.  Today’s Field Hearing has a small number of hand-picked witnesses.  I am afraid those witnesses will not truly represent the will of Native peoples, and especially the will of my people, the Northern Cheyenne.  In particular, I would like to emphasize that Jason Small does not speak officially for the Northern Cheyenne.

It is true that the Northern Cheyenne have a weak economy right now, and it is true that we need to work to build a stronger, more resilient economy.  But coal cannot bring prosperity, and it will harm our people.

The 57 Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians passed a resolution in 2012 stating that they oppose export of coal from Montana and Wyoming through the Pacific Northwest.  The Lummi have formally asked that the government reject the permit to construct the Gateway Pacific Terminal because it would violate their treaty rights, disrupt their economy, and damage sacred lands.  The Northern Cheyenne people have never said they want coal to come to their reservation.  We are surrounded by coal mines and coal plants, and have seen only a worsened economy and destruction of our homeland.

For the record, I am submitting the resolution of the 57 Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians, a letter from the Lummi Nation to the Army Corps of Engineers requesting that the GPT not be constructed, and two guest editorials published in the Billings Gazette last Saturday, April 4, 2015.

"Origins" Film Showing - April 1st, part of Climate Justice Action Month

BUF’s 2015 UU Climate Justice Month!

BUF’s 2015 UU Climate Justice Month!

22 March – 22 April 2015 (and beyond!)

Commit 2Respond is a UUA/UUSC collaboration and has grown to include a number of UUA affiliated organizations.  Their efforts are to move and motivate UUs and other people of faith and conscience to act for climate justice.  From World Water Day to Earth Day, we will embark on a spiritual journey for climate justice.

Commit2Respond is a coalition of Unitarian Universalists and other people of faith and conscience working for climate justice.  Climate Justice is working with those who disproportionately bear the burdens of climate change, who are leaders in the search for solutions, and their rights and needs are the bedrock of our collective climate justice work.  This means working with and developing partnerships with communities of color, poor communities and other underrepresented groups who are already being impacted by climate change.

BUF’s Climate Justice Month Events so far are as follows:

March 22, 2014         Adult Sunday Forum:
“What’s So Important about Snow?” with Scott Pattee, Water Supply Specialist with the Washington Snow Survey Office. 
9:15 am, Conference Room

In keeping with the UN World Water Day and to kick off our “30 Days of Climate Justice Action – Climate Justice Month,” Scott will be describing the history of the Snow Survey and Water Supply Forecasting Program along with why snow is such a vital part of all of our lives, all the while demonstrating the uses and users of our data, information and products.

March 26, 2014        The Earth is our Mother:  An Evening of Dances of Universal Peace” with Marti Dimock
7:00 pm, Social Hall

We will explore our relationship to the planet, touching on gratitude, honoring our pain for the world, seeing with new eyes, and going forth, inspired by the Work That Reconnects of Joanna Macy, environmental activist and Buddhist scholar. The Dances of Universal Peace are simple, easy-to-learn movements and songs inspired by world spiritual traditions — heart-awakening circle dances dedicated to peace within and without. All dances taught; live music!

April 1, 2014            “Origins:  Our Roots. Our Planet. Our Future” film
Dinner & Film 6:15 pm • Library

Join us for the Community Night Dinner and the film “Origins:  Our Roots. Our Planet. Our Future.”  Grab your dinner plate and head into the library!

We are more isolated from our

natural environment than ever before,

and that dynamic has resulted in an

unparalleled number

of chronic health concerns,

a deteriorating planet,

and increasingly severe obstacles for

our children and grandchildren.


                                   Origins is a  documentary about the intrinsic connection between the human lifestyle, our health and the vitality of our planet.  Four years, 19 countries, and 24 experts in anthropology, medicine, ecology, and health have exposed the roots of our DNA and how to prevent the modern world from making you sick. 

                                    It demonstrates that the keys to survival for both the human race and the planet that surrounds us can only be understood by looking back on the origins of our species nearly 200,000 years ago and illustrates that the forces that compromise our potential to thrive are only outmatched by our capacity to provoke profound and positive change.

Click here for flyer and/or additional info

April 12, 2015         Grand Canyon Service
10:30 am, Sanctuary
BUFsters Carol McMillian and Bob Keller will be sharing and comparing their experiences of the Grand Canyon.    Carol will describe how sharing several weeks together on rafts bonded a group of total strangers.   Bob will reflect on what makes the Canyon personally uplifting and inspirational, having hiked it 29 times and rafted the river once.   Carol will also be reading some of her excellent Grand Canyon poetry.

April 15, 2015         RE Community Night Dinner and Film:  "Viva La Causa:  The Story of Cesar Chavez and A Great Movement For Social Justice
Dinner:  6:00 pm, Film:  6:40 pm

Join the RE Team as they prepare a delectable dinner of Posole with various toppings and condiments, tortilla chips, and green salad and an evening viewing "Viva La Causa:  The Story of Cesar Chavez and A Great Movement For Social Justice," a film on Cesar Chavez and the grape boycotts of the 1960s.  Local farmworkers will be joining us and sharing our meal, their stories and struggles, not so very different from the struggles of the grape farmworkers.  Come for an educational evening and support our youth and RE staff and volunteers as they venture into learning about farmworker struggles for justice and equity.
This event is designed to help prepare BUFsters, young and old, for the upcoming March For Dignity event on May 3rd, where we will march, as a congregation, in solidarity with our local farmworkers.

                                    Believe it or not, this is a piece of BUF's history as BUFsters participated and supported farmworkers in the grape boycotts that took place in the 1960s which the film describes.

"Viva La Causa" focuses on one of the seminal events in the march for human rights - the grape strike and boycott led by César Chávez and Dolores Huerta in the 1960s. Viva la Causa will show how thousands of people from across the nation joined in a struggle for justice for the most exploited people in our country - the workers who put food on our tables.

It tells the story of a dedicated coalition of people from diverse classes, races and religions who stood together for justice, proving that the mightiest walls of oppression can be toppled when people are united and their cause is just.

Click here for flyer and/or additional info

April 19, 2015         Adult Sunday Forum:  "Proposed Environmental Tax for Washington” with representatives of CarbonWA
9:15 am, Conference Room

Join us as CarbonWA, an NGO (non-governmental organization) promoting a carbon tax here in WA talks about what that tax would look like.  The proposed environmental tax reform will improve Washington’s economy and reduce Washington’s carbon pollution.  It is a win/win for those of us who want to help spur economic growth and improve air quality by reducing pollution.  Environmental tax reform would:

·      Improve air quality and reduce airborne toxins

·      Help slow ocean acidity and sea level rise

·      Reduce the state sales tax by a full percentage point

·      Fund the Working Families Sales Tax Rebate to help working families

·      Eliminate the Business and Occupation (B&O) tax for manufacturers

·      Pay for these tax reductions with a carbon tax of $25 per ton of CO2

April 19, 2015         BUF Earth Day Service:  A Celebration of Mother Earth and Environmental Justice
10:30 am, Sanctuary

                                    A Celebration of Mother Earth and Environmental Justice

Poets Matthew Brouwer, Kevin Murphy, Betty Scott,

singer, musician, JP Falcon Grady and the Women’s Ensemble

join Rev. Paul preaching, singing, and speaking up for Mother Earth.

Bios:

Matthew Brouwer has performed across the west and been featured in regional literary, performance, and visual arts showcases such as Phrasings, Cirque and Strands. He coordinates the Whatcom Juvenile Justice Creative Writing Project and has facilitated Kintsugi Writers Circle for People Living with Chronic Illness. 

He believes poetry can be a powerful agent for helping people find healing and meaning in their lives.

Kevin Murphy has been performing for over 30 years. He is the author of A Beautiful Chaos Demands Energy and also has a poetry CD, Between Onions and Oxygen. He regularly performs on the Chuckanut Radio Hour, has toured the Pacific Northwest and beyond as a member of the New Old Time Chautauqua, and teaches poetry through the Whatcom Juvenile Justice Creative Writing Project. Kevin’s poetry tends toward the comic and the surreal, and he often accompanies himself on guitar or drum.

JP Falcon Grady is a musician and songwriter who plays acoustic rock, reggae, blues, country, Jawaiian and original compositions.

Betty Scott is a poet, essayist and editor. She and JP Falcon Grady will explore the physical and emotional resonances of words and images on behalf of the health and well being of life-sustaining Mother Earth.

April 19, 2015         C2C/BUF Partnership Celebration:  A Look at the Past, A Glimpse of the Future . . .
After the service (about 12:00 pm), Social Hall

Come enjoy a delicious lunch prepared by our own Christopher Griffen-led team. Join us as we celebrate the C2C/BUF Partnership Team's tremendous accomplishments over the last two years and it's plans for the future.

Hear from C2C staff, farmworkers and BUF members about partnership activities. Ask questions and learn more about the partnership in preparation for the Partnership's renewal coming up for congregational vote in May.

                                    Activity table provided for our younger members.

Click here for flyer and/or additional info

April 20, 2015         Unist’ot’en Camp Fundraiser
With guest appearances from the film's Directors David Goldberg and Eli Hirtle
7:00 pm, Sanctuary

Join us as WWU students tell the story and their experiences with the Unist’ot’en Camp, a First Nations resistance community whose purpose is to protect sovereign Wet’suwet’en territory in British Columbia, Canada from several proposed pipelines from the Tar Sands Gigaproject and shale gas from Hydraulic Fracturing Projects in the Peace River Region.

RESIST: The Unist'oten's Call to the Land is a documentary  filmed in 2013 on unceded Wet'suwet'en territory, northern British Columbia, Canada.  The film is about the C'ihlts'ehkhyu (Big Frog Clan) and the Camp they established as a year-round resistance to exploitative industry, and what it represents in relation  to indigenous sovereignty and the environmental, legal, and social issues surrounding pipeline projects in British Columbia.

This fundraiser and educational event is presented by BUF and WWU Students as part of Commit2Repsond's Climate Justice Action Month (22 March - 22 April, 2015).  More info at:  http://www.commit2respond.org

Click here for flyer and/or additional info

May 3, 2015              3^rd Annual March for Dignity
After the service about (12:00 pm), Outside front doors

March to Maritime Heritage Park Sunday May 3rd immediately after the service

This is an annual event to demonstrate solidarity with farmworkers in demanding humane immigration reform, fair wages, fair employment practices, safe working conditions, and other immigration and labor issues. 

Please bring a potluck lunch dish that does not need heating (and can be unrefrigerated for a few hours) to drop off in the entryway before the service.  We will transport it for you to Maritime Heritage Park.  After the service, grab your coffee or tea to go, bring or pick up a sign, gather in front of BUF, and let’s march together!!!

Maritime Heritage Park is the end potluck & rally point for the 19-mile farmworker march that will have started that morning in north Lynden in the wee hours. 

We will meet those courageous marchers at the park to celebrate!!

Click here for flyer and/or additional info

Upcoming Fundraiser for the Unist'ot'en Camp

Global Divestment Day