giving_the_gift_of_hope__12-21_-2023.docx.pdf |
December 21, 2023
Dear Friends,
Whiteswan Environmental (WE) want to thank you! Your allied support helps our Native-led 501(c)(3) nonprofit transform the educational system to support thriving cultures and environment for all here in the Salish Sea!
This year, WE are highlighting a few of our project contributions as co-founders of Whatcom Intergenerational High School (WIHS). WE and WIHS aim to balance Indigenous and Western ways of knowing by honoring all peoples’ history, culture, governance, and language. WE are grateful to know WIHS is a place our local tribal youth enjoy attending.
WE’s motto - One Mind for the Purpose of the Work
Last April: WE team members introduced the NXT Gen Cohort of Community Engagement Fellows to WIHS. This group focuses on learning, relationship-building, and exploring collaboration opportunities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous members of our communities and region.
Last May: WE and WIHS met on our ancestral village sites with our transboundary (US and Canada) tribal youth, community members, and partners for the Learning from the Homeland Language Camps and 13 Moons Food Sovereignty Field Trips. Our place-based programming strengthens relationships between bioregional land managers, academic institutions, non-government organizations, and our Spirit of the Sxwo’le (reef-net) kinship systems to support cultural preservation and restoration through traditional practice.
Last August: WE invited WIHS and the public to A Transboundary Gathering: Digital Ecocultural Mapping in the Salish Sea to witness and honor the true history of people and place at our ancestral village sites that are now stewarded by the City of Bellingham (Xwotqwem), San Juan Island National Historical Parks (Pe’pi’ow’elh), and San Juan County Land Bank (Lhe lhin q’elh).
Last October: WE and WIHS presented at Indigenous Peoples’ Day and the Bellingham SeaFeast Festival. WE shared our collective efforts to prevent the genocide of knowledge systems through the vision of a future House of Healing, House of Learning, Longhouse at our ancestral village site of Whatcom Creek
This November: WE, WIHS, and Associated University Incorporated held our hands up in gratitude for youth and allied support, including the Simons Foundation who are helping us weave community together through learning. WE are excited for the day when the youth get to use this new equipment and exhibit their ecocultural content with the community!
In the future, WIHS will join us in several transboundary train-the-trainer social learning and environmental justice activities. You can help us invest in the next generation of leaders as they give back to their communities by creating culturally safe spaces where everyone can succeed.
Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to Whiteswan Environmental. Whether it is $5, $500, or more, your gift will have an immediate impact for this diverse group of rural and tribal leaders, adults, and youth, who are creating positive changes in their communities.
Here’s how you can support our mission and vision today:
●Give a gift through PayPal or credit card by scanning the QR Code, or visit www.whiteswanenvironmental.org/donate-here.html and tap on the donate symbol.
●Give a gift with a check at 2348 Lummi View Drive, Bellingham, WA 98226. A tax deductible letter is available upon requests for all contributions.
Thank you for Giving the Gift of Hope!
Sincerely,
Kusemaat - Shirley Williams, BSN
WE Executive Director
Dear Friends,
Whiteswan Environmental (WE) want to thank you! Your allied support helps our Native-led 501(c)(3) nonprofit transform the educational system to support thriving cultures and environment for all here in the Salish Sea!
This year, WE are highlighting a few of our project contributions as co-founders of Whatcom Intergenerational High School (WIHS). WE and WIHS aim to balance Indigenous and Western ways of knowing by honoring all peoples’ history, culture, governance, and language. WE are grateful to know WIHS is a place our local tribal youth enjoy attending.
WE’s motto - One Mind for the Purpose of the Work
Last April: WE team members introduced the NXT Gen Cohort of Community Engagement Fellows to WIHS. This group focuses on learning, relationship-building, and exploring collaboration opportunities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous members of our communities and region.
Last May: WE and WIHS met on our ancestral village sites with our transboundary (US and Canada) tribal youth, community members, and partners for the Learning from the Homeland Language Camps and 13 Moons Food Sovereignty Field Trips. Our place-based programming strengthens relationships between bioregional land managers, academic institutions, non-government organizations, and our Spirit of the Sxwo’le (reef-net) kinship systems to support cultural preservation and restoration through traditional practice.
Last August: WE invited WIHS and the public to A Transboundary Gathering: Digital Ecocultural Mapping in the Salish Sea to witness and honor the true history of people and place at our ancestral village sites that are now stewarded by the City of Bellingham (Xwotqwem), San Juan Island National Historical Parks (Pe’pi’ow’elh), and San Juan County Land Bank (Lhe lhin q’elh).
Last October: WE and WIHS presented at Indigenous Peoples’ Day and the Bellingham SeaFeast Festival. WE shared our collective efforts to prevent the genocide of knowledge systems through the vision of a future House of Healing, House of Learning, Longhouse at our ancestral village site of Whatcom Creek
This November: WE, WIHS, and Associated University Incorporated held our hands up in gratitude for youth and allied support, including the Simons Foundation who are helping us weave community together through learning. WE are excited for the day when the youth get to use this new equipment and exhibit their ecocultural content with the community!
In the future, WIHS will join us in several transboundary train-the-trainer social learning and environmental justice activities. You can help us invest in the next generation of leaders as they give back to their communities by creating culturally safe spaces where everyone can succeed.
Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to Whiteswan Environmental. Whether it is $5, $500, or more, your gift will have an immediate impact for this diverse group of rural and tribal leaders, adults, and youth, who are creating positive changes in their communities.
Here’s how you can support our mission and vision today:
●Give a gift through PayPal or credit card by scanning the QR Code, or visit www.whiteswanenvironmental.org/donate-here.html and tap on the donate symbol.
●Give a gift with a check at 2348 Lummi View Drive, Bellingham, WA 98226. A tax deductible letter is available upon requests for all contributions.
- Contact Us to learn more about our plans in 2024; advocate, volunteer.
- Commit to truth, healing, reconciliation, and reconcili-ACTION every day.
Thank you for Giving the Gift of Hope!
Sincerely,
Kusemaat - Shirley Williams, BSN
WE Executive Director