10/12/2026
This Indigenous Peoples’ Day, October 12, we stand in the light of truth, sacred memory, and the enduring strength of the First Peoples of the Turtle 🐢 Island and the Lhaq’temish territory. ✨🐟🧡🪶🤲🏼
You cannot “discover” a homeland already thriving with sovereign nations, sophisticated governance, and profound spiritual philosophies. Christopher Columbus never set foot on what is now the United States. His arrival in the Caribbean in 1492 did not begin civilization in this hemisphere—it marked the arrival of colonization, violent conquest, and intentional erasure. 📜
Yet, true history cannot be erased when it is etched into the earth itself. 🌎🐟✨
On Lummi Island, looking out across the waters, rests s wat’ langet cho’—which translates in the Lummi language to “She who sees everyone.” Carved into stone centuries ago (about 400–1800 A.D.), she stands as an enduring petroglyph and a guardian of ancestral territory that sees everyone and everything. 🧜♀️🐟❤️🔥🤲🏼
This is the sacred homeland where Lhaq’temish ancestors resided and thrived, fishing with ancient, ingenious reef nets. Reef netting was never merely a harvest technique; it is a sacred technology given to us by the Creator—intertwined with spiritual understanding, environmental balance, and deep respect for the salmon. 🌎🌲🦅🐟🦌❤️🔥🌱🤲🏼
Our ancestors never forgot who they were, and neither did their children. Generation after generation carried the stories, the songs, the losses, and the perseverance. We remember everything that was done to our people, and despite every effort to silence that voice, we are still here—standing strong, rooted, and unearthed. ❤️🤎🖤🧜♀️🐟🌎❤️🔥🌱
We speak these truths because healing requires honesty. By bringing historical reality into the light, we honor the suffering and resilience of those who came before us, and we open the path toward real restoration and healing for future generations. 🖤🤎❤️🤍 🌱❤️🔥🌱🧡🌱❤️🔥🌱🧡🌱
