Stories to shape our dreams for the Salish Sea

Draft - under review: please do not share or circulate without permission from Fiona Beaty

About

These days, there is much desire to spreading hope for a better future for the ocean and people who connect with it - #OceanOptimism

People are also talking a lot about the importance of strengthening relationships and collaboration across Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities as we build toward this better future

But what does hope look like?

What does genuine collaboration look like and how do we get there?

Sometimes it is helpful to bring together concrete examples of aspirational goals to guide further work. To this end, here we provide a collection of stories about projects that embody hope and genuine collaboration across Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities in the Salish Sea. We hope these stories will ground, inform, and inspire ongoing stewardship throughout the region

Projects

Átl'ka7tsem/Howe Sound Marine Stewardship Initiative

What is the project's stewardship goal?

Clam Garden Network

What is the project's stewardship goal?

Inspiring hope for the Salish Sea

In April 2023, the Salish Sea Institute (SSI) convened a workshop centered around the theme: ‘Inspiring hope for the Salish Sea’. The workshop was co-led by Salish Sea Fellow Elin Kelsey and Ginny Broadhurst (SSI Executive Director), with support from Mavis Underwood of Tsawout Community, WSANEC Nation. This workshop was designed to heal and strengthen the resilience of environmental leaders - and the Salish Sea itself - by bringing a greater focus on the links between individual and collective wellbeing, and evidence-based hope. Participants were encouraged to shift beyond pain stories they carry about their own lives and the health of the Salish Sea.

Cross-Pacific Indigenous Aquaculture Network

The Cross-Pacific Indigenous Aquaculture Network is a collaborative network comprising Elders, Indigenous leaders, restoration and Indigenous foods practitioners, Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers and educators working in long-term trusted partnerships. Their mission is to work collectively to share knowledge of, restore and heal customary Indigenous aquaculture systems, practices and lifeways that have been sustaining Pacific Ocean Peoples since time immemorial. The living vision of the Cross-Pacific network is to ensure resilient Indigenous Futures where communities are fed and nourished for the next seven generations and our cultural and spiritual connections to ancestors, languages, lands and waters are strong. They create community-to-community knowledge exchanges, support community systems, mentor Indigenous students, share experiences, participate in hands-on restoration work of Indigenous aquaculture systems, and tell stories to communicate their efforts more broadly.

Átl'ka7tsem/Howe Sound Marine Stewardship Initiative

What is the project's stewardship goal?

The Howe Sound/Átl’ka7tsem Marine Stewardship Initiative’s (MSI) mission is to foster ocean stewardship in Átl'ka7tsem/Howe Sound, and support regional planning by mobilizing tools, sharing knowledge, and building community. To achieve this vision, the MSI conducts research and community engagement in service of marine planning, education, and relationship building in Átl'ka7tsem/Howe Sound. The MSI provides tools for decision-makers, marine spatial planners, and marine sectors (e.g., industry, recreation, tourism, conservation, education) so that regional ocean health and sustainable economic and community development can flourish in a context of improving regional ocean health. The MSI also coordinates community-based stewardship programs, including Indigenous-youth led research and workshops.

Clam Garden Network

What is the project's stewardship goal?

The Clam Garden Network is a diverse community of First Nations, academics, researchers, and resource managers from coastal British Columbia, Washington State, and Alaska who are interested in the cultural and ecological importance of clam gardens and traditional clam management. We share ideas, research approaches, tools, and data to better inform our knowledge about how people used intertidal resources and ecosystems. We see clam gardens as a compelling focal point for a series of linked current social issues, such as food security, First Nations governance, and inter-generational knowledge sharing. We seek to deepen knowledge through collaborations that cross communities, disciplines and borders with a hope of stimulating conversation and action that intentionally shifts power dynamics and supports Indigenous community self-determination and resurgence.

Many members of the Clam Garden Network are located throughout the Salish Sea. We take inspiration from the ancestors and communities who have been stewarding traditional mariculture practices in the Salish Sea and beyond for thousands of years.

Inspiring hope for the Salish Sea

In April 2023, the Salish Sea Institute (SSI) convened a workshop centered around the theme: ‘Inspiring hope for the Salish Sea’. The workshop was co-led by Salish Sea Fellow Elin Kelsey and Ginny Broadhurst (SSI Executive Director), with support from Mavis Underwood of Tsawout Community, WSANEC Nation. This workshop was designed to heal and strengthen the resilience of environmental leaders - and the Salish Sea itself - by bringing a greater focus on the links between individual and collective wellbeing, and evidence-based hope. Participants were encouraged to shift beyond pain stories they carry about their own lives and the health of the Salish Sea.

The program built upon a growing body of research that demonstrates how gathering for healing; engaging in curated wellbeing experiences; building relationships across the border; and, identifying and sharing solutions in a culture of radical hospitality,  enables environmental leaders to become more resilient individuals who are better able to build stronger, more compassionate workplaces, and catalyze more fruitful partnerships that advance the contagious spread of effective solutions across the Salish Sea.

Cross-Pacific Indigenous Aquaculture Network

The Cross-Pacific Indigenous Aquaculture Network is a collaborative network comprising Elders, Indigenous leaders, restoration and Indigenous foods practitioners, Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers and educators working in long-term trusted partnerships. Their mission is to work collectively to share knowledge of, restore and heal customary Indigenous aquaculture systems, practices and lifeways that have been sustaining Pacific Ocean Peoples since time immemorial. The living vision of the Cross-Pacific network is to ensure resilient Indigenous Futures where communities are fed and nourished for the next seven generations and our cultural and spiritual connections to ancestors, languages, lands and waters are strong. They create community-to-community knowledge exchanges, support community systems, mentor Indigenous students, share experiences, participate in hands-on restoration work of Indigenous aquaculture systems, and tell stories to communicate their efforts more broadly.

At present, partnering collaborators include but are not limited to: the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, Lummi Nation, Suquamish Tribe, Squaxin Island Tribe, Jamestown S'klallam Tribe, Makah Tribe, the Haida Nation, Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Tribes of Alaska, Sitka Tribe of Alaska, Klawock Cooperative Association, Organized Villages of Kake, the Northwest Indian College, Western Washington University, Simon Fraser University, Kuaʻāina Ulu ʻAuamo (representing over 40 Native Hawaiian organizations), Puget Sound Restoration Fund, Ebiil Society, the Clam Garden Network, Alaska Sea Grant, Hawaiʻi Sea Grant, Guam Sea Grant, and Washington Sea Grant.

Ingredients for hope and collaboration

The following section provides short descriptions of how these five projects embodied hope and collaboration across Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities.

Cross-Pacific Indigenous Aquaculture Network

The following principles guide the Cross-Pacific Indigenous Aquaculture Network and enhance the hope and collaborative spirit of the initiative:

  • Growing and caring for diverse and resilient coastal people
  • Growing and caring for diverse and abundant coastal foods
  • Recognizing living Indigenous cultures and practices
  • Forming a hub of networks across the Pacific
  • Staying rooted in places, embedded in community
  • Upholding Indigenous sovereignty as a foundation
  • Speaking our languages and telling our stories
  • Showing-up with our whole selves
  • Trusting, generous teaching and sharing
  • Co-learning when apart, transcending space
  • Valuing each person’s unique contributions
  • Working collectively, in prayer and good intention
  • Supporting each other and standing with each other
  • Being good visitors, getting permission, giving thanks
  • Maintaining connections between healthy land, ocean and people
  • Being accountable to intergenerational relations, and all life forms

Resources

Credits

This story map was created by Fiona Beaty in June 2023 as a part of a Salish Sea Fellowship with the Salish Sea Institute, Western Washington University. All content was shared with permission by the organizations, initiatives, and individuals described in this story map. Art was contributed by Art by Di. Photo credits are linked within each image (click the 'i' in the top left).