by Mel Keller

 

This October, QuEST Fellows were invited to the Indigenous Peoples’ Day Celebration at Daybreak Star Cultural Center. Mel Keller, a QuEST Fellow, works at United Indians of All Tribes Foundation at Daybreak and helped plan the event. Read Mel’s blog post detailing the history of Indigenous Peoples’ Day in Seattle and its importance to the Native community.

 

United Indians of All Tribes has been honored to host Seattle’s Indigenous Peoples’ Day evening celebration since 2014, when the Seattle City Council voted unanimously to celebrate indigenous people on the second Monday in October. The theme of this year’s Indigenous Peoples’ Day celebration was “Honoring Indigenous Womxn” for their activism and all they do for Native communities. United Indians was proud to welcome Dr. Luana Ross and Jeri Moomaw as honorees during the event, gifting them with blankets. Dr. Ross, an Associate Professor at the University of Washington, focuses her research on Native women, Indigenous feminisms, mass incarceration, and Indigenous methodologies. Of her award, Dr. Ross said, “For those of us who do this kind of work, it is grueling, and it has a tendency to take your spirit away. These are things that fill you up again, so you 

[can] continue doing your work.” The second honoree was Jeri Moomaw, executive director of Innovations Human Trafficking Collaborative. Ms. Moomaw stirred attendees to action, asserting: “We can do this. We need to lock arms together and say ‘no more;’ [and] that we believe survivors. And we need systems to be able to not only support this generation, but generations to come.”

After a delicious salmon dinner thanks to Chef Omar Upham, we were treated to dances from a number of Native groups from around the world. The Taíno Dancers from Puerto Rico wowed attendees with their drumming and singing. As the descendants of the first Indigenous peoples Columbus would have encountered, it was especially moving to have them at this event. Indigenous Sisters Resistance lifted up the voices of Indigenous Womxn and Tloke Nahuake, traditional Aztec dancers, performed intricate dances which energized the crowd! We wrapped up the evening with performances by Haida Heritage, in beautiful harmony, and the Powwow Squad, a group of kids against bullying who ended the event on a positive note.

The QuEST Fellows thoroughly enjoyed their time at the Indigenous Peoples’ Day Celebration, learning more about Native activism in the Pacific Northwest and experiencing traditional dancing and an American Indian Movement (AIM) Honoring Song, which Fellows mentioned as a particularly moving moment. QuEST Fellow Lucy said, “It impacted me to be in a room with so many people celebrating the strength, resilience, and lives of Indigenous people. Watching the Aztec dance among many others provided meaningful insight into the rituals and traditions that enrich Native cultures, and it was especially cool to see Native youth as active participants in the event!” This event was a highlight of the QuEST Fellows’ time so far, and they will continue to learn about the history of Indigenous People in the Seattle Area throughout the year.

 

Pictured in the slideshow above are (1) Haida Heritage, (2) Powwow Squad, and (3) Tloke Nahuake Traditional Aztec Dancers.