The Coast Salish peoples include the Lummi, the Cowichan, the Squamish, the Sto:lo, and dozens more different First Nations, and Tribes in Canada and the United States. Collectively we share a culture, a tradition, myths, gods, and a history.
Since the dawn of time, we have lived in this land - what is now called British Columbia (S'ólh Téméxw) and Washington State. This is our home, and every inch of it, is rich with our history.
There are the legends, of the birth of the world, the days when gods walked on earth and saw all in chaos. There are the words of the prophets, the commandments. And then there are the history of modern times from the centuries before the Europeans arrived, until the present day.
Some treat our histories as archeology and imagine what happened from a few flints and broken bowls. We know the real stories from our elders - histories that is increasingly proved to be fact by those same archeologists.
The battles, and intrigue, the great women and men that make up our world. There are also those histories after colonization, when no one cared about us enough to write it down. We remember, and we must put it in print before it's lost for good.
This project is a labour of love by people from across the Coast Salish world. We are creating an organization that will solicit these histories, curate them, and publish them in one place for all to see: www.coastsalish.org
In the places where we pray, every service begins with the command to tell others what we see there. This is our cultural imperative. To collect our stories, in our own words, and tell them to the world.
Your support will help us pay for operating our website, help us pay to register as a non-profit, and help us pay writers and contributors. While the board of this organization will work on a voluntary basis - it remains one of our most important laws, that we don't steal stories from people - we must pay for them - and that's where you come in.
Help us tell our stories in our own words. Even if you aren't Coast Salish, knowing our histories will help you see the depth and beauty, and power of history that is as long and exciting, and important as the histories of any country in the world.
