County Council recognizes Native American cultural heritage

Stew­ard­ship Net­work of the San Juans shares news about a recent Coun­ty Coun­cil res­o­lu­tion pro­posed by the organization.

The San Juan Coun­ty Coun­cil declared the month of Novem­ber Native Amer­i­can Her­itage Month in recog­ni­tion of Native Amer­i­can con­tri­bu­tions to the San Juan Islands.

“The his­to­ry, econ­o­my, and cul­ture of San Juan Coun­ty has been sig­nif­i­cant­ly influ­enced by local Native Amer­i­cans and Tribes whose cus­toms and tra­di­tions are respect­ed and cel­e­brat­ed as part of the rich lega­cy through­out our area,” the Council’s res­o­lu­tion states.

The res­o­lu­tion goes on to say that “all res­i­dents are encour­aged to rec­og­nize the accom­plish­ments and con­tri­bu­tions Native Amer­i­can com­mu­ni­ties have made to our soci­ety, and to hon­or their inher­ent treaty and cul­tur­al rights.”

San Juan Coun­ty joins oth­er coun­ties across the state and nation in rec­og­niz­ing Native Amer­i­can Her­itage Month in Novem­ber, and declar­ing the fourth Fri­day of Novem­ber each year as Native Amer­i­can Her­itage Day.

San Juan Coun­ty is the ances­tral home­land of numer­ous Coast Sal­ish tribes who have inhab­it­ed, active­ly man­aged and stew­ard­ed this region since time immemo­r­i­al. The res­o­lu­tion fur­ther empha­sized the Coun­ties com­mit­ment to Coast Sal­ish peo­ple by say­ing, “San Juan Coun­ty has a com­mit­ment to strength­en our rela­tion­ship with Native Amer­i­can peo­ple and Tribes,” and that “San Juan Coun­ty hon­ors the unique her­itage of this continent’s First Peo­ple and reaf­firms its com­mit­ment to respect trib­al sov­er­eign­ty and cul­tur­al identity.”

The res­o­lu­tion was sug­gest­ed by the Stew­ard­ship Net­work of the San Juans, a coali­tion of twen­ty pri­vate and pub­lic con­ser­va­tion-based orga­ni­za­tions advo­cat­ing for a healthy, thriv­ing Sal­ish Sea ecosys­tem in the San Juan Islands. It was intro­duced by Cindy Wolf, San Juan Coun­ty Coun­cilmem­ber from Orcas Island.

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