Commemorating Indigenous Peoples' Day
Artist Free Borsey shares about the Coast Salish Living Mural with elementary students.
Monday, October 13th is Indigenous Peoples’ Day, a holiday to commemorate and honor Indigenous peoples—past, present and future—and an occasion to celebrate our heritage and culture. It’s also a day to reflect on shared history and where we’re headed. Indigenous Peoples’ Day is rooted in protest. It serves as a powerful counter-celebration to Columbus Day, which glorifies the beginning of European colonization of the Americas—a campaign of exploitation, displacement and genocide that inflicted trauma on generations of Indigenous people and still reverberates today. On Indigenous Peoples’ Day we honor the sacrifices, strength and resilience of our people, and celebrate the cultural resurgence underway throughout Coast Salish people and across Indian Country.
It's important to remember that the struggle for Indigenous people to affirm their sovereignty, defend their treaty rights, and reclaim their own narratives is ongoing. Columbus Day is still a federal holiday and right now a federal government shutdown is limiting access to essential Tribal services. These are stark reminders of the work in front of us. At CSSP, we celebrate all of our Native friends and relatives, and re-affirm our commitment to amplifying Native voices and inspiring collective action to protect Mother Earth. Thank you for walking alongside us. Please consider participating in the following opportunities to celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day:
Monday, Oct. 13th | 5:30 PM - 2025 Indigenous Peoples’ Day Celebration at Lummi Nation School
More NW Washington events compiled here by Cascadia Daily News
Monday Oct. 13th | 7:30 PM - Town Hall Seattle, Indigenous Peoples’ Day: Turning Adversaries into Tribal Allies to Save Salmon
Puyallup Elder Ramona Bennett Bill (far left) shares about her new book Fighting for the Puyallup Tribe at the Setting Sun Circle in Bellingham.
An Evening with Ramona Bennett
On September 30th, we hosted a powerful conversation with Native activist Ramona Bennett Bill and Sasha LaPointe celebrating the publication of Ramona's memoir, Fighting for the Puyallup Tribe. Ramona made the evening about the children with a powerful testament to Truth & Reconcili-ACTION on Orange Shirt Day. The people left feeling inspired and hopeful. We raise our hands to you, Ramona! Her book is available for purchase at Village Books in Fairhaven and online with UW Press.
Senior Researcher Raven Borsey (Xwesultun) shares about the restoration process for the Lummi Youth Canoe with students from Alderwood and Happy Valley Elementary Schools.
Bellingham 3rd Graders visit Setting Sun Circle
We didn’t let a little rain stop us from sharing Coast Salish culture with eager children from Alderwood and Happy Valley elementary schools. CSSP team members and Coast Salish artists Free and Raven Borsey answered thoughtful questions from students about the Coast Salish Living Mural project (see more below), as well as a canoe that the brothers are in the process of restoring. Our hands go up to our friends at Bellingham Public Schools for making the field trip possible! Check out more photos from the visit.
Where We’ll Be
Netse Mot: One Heart | One Mind
Tues. Nov. 18 | 6:00 PM
Paramount Theatre, Seattle
Join us for the second annual Netse Mot: One Heart | One Mind, a one-of-a-kind, one-night-only celebration of Indigenous culture, solidarity and sovereignty. Buy your tickets online today before we sell out!
This year, we’re proudly partnering with the National Congress of American Indians to host Netse Mot in conjunction with the NCAI National Convention in Seattle. The event is open to all and is priced below cost to welcome as many people as possible. Join us for a momentous evening emceed by actor and activist Dallas Goldtooth. Hear from Academy Award-nominated filmmaker and author Julian Brave NoiseCat; storyteller Baratunde Thurston; musicians Fawn Wood, Isaac Tonasket, and Delbert Anderson, and many more!
Sunset Alley Mural Tour & Celebration
Wed. Oct. 15 | 4:00 PM
The Alley at 210 W. Holly St, Bellingham
You are invited to the grand unveiling of Sunset Alley, a new pedestrian corridor of vibrant art, brought to life by Paper Whale and Children of the Setting Sun through two City of Bellingham Downtown Activation & Beautification Grants. The exterior of Setting Sun Circle at the Holly Street corner of the alley features the Coast Salish Living Mural by Coast Salish artists Free Borsey, Raven Borsey, and Roy Nicol. The artists will be on hand to speak about their work. We’re grateful for the support of the City of Bellingham and Bellingham Tourism Commission for making this project possible!
Story Pole film to Air on PBS WORLD TV
We’re excited to share that our film Story Pole will air on the WORLD Channel, affiliated with PBS, starting with an airdate at 6:00 PM Pacific on November 17th. WORLD is a nationwide public television channel that specializes in documentary storytelling, and is carried by a number of PBS stations, including Cascade PBS, to reach 77% of audiences nationwide. These kinds of platform partnerships are critical to our mission to share our stories widely to inspire hearts and minds. You can learn about the Story Pole film on our website.
Seeds of Change
Opportunities to learn and grow together this Indigenous Peoples’ Day
Why Orange Shirt Day matters for Tribal and non-Tribal communities
Our COO daniseten Michael Vendiola penned an Op-Ed in La Conner Community News for Orange Shirt Day, a day commemorated every September 30th to remember Tribal students who did not return home from Canadian residential and U.S. boarding schools. In total, beginning in the early 1800s, over 210,000 Native children attended 367 schools across the country in 29 states. Read daniseten’s important message about remembering this history, and working through education to realize a vision of a healthy relationship between Tribal and non-Tribal communities.
Words to Inspire Change: The Water Remembers
Amy Bowers Cordalis, Yurok Tribe, is a mother, fisherwoman, attorney, and former general counsel. We had the honor of getting to know her and her work through the Salmon People Project, and she served as a prominent voice in Our Scared Obligation.
In her new book, The Water Remembers, Amy tells the story of her family’s generations-long struggle to protect the Klamath River and its salmon. From courtroom victories to acts of resistance, her ancestors paved the way for her to stand up against corporate power and defend her Nation’s rights. The book is a testament to the power of Indigenous knowledge, resilience, and legacy—and a reminder that when we fight for rivers, we fight for life itself. We encourage you to order your copy of The Water Remembers today!
This Indigenous Peoples’ Day, Support the Amplification of Native Voices
Children of the Setting Sun is a 501 (c)3 non-profit that relies on the graciousness of others. If you feel inspired, make a tax deductible donation today. Hy'shqe \o/