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National Day of Remembrance

September 30, 2022 All day

On 9/22, Todd Mitchell of Swinomish Indian Tribal Community reminded the SWS VET Class that September 30 is National Day of Remembrance for Indian Boarding Schools, the children who died, and the families who are impacted to this day as a result of the violence. In Canada it is called Orange Shirt Day or National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

During the 9/20 Field Trip at Cama Beach State Park, Tina Dinzl-Pederson talked about this sign at Pioneer Cemetary at Terry’s Corner on Camano Island which talks about the Kikiallus people who were living at Utsalady in 1850’s.  (If you click the image, then zoom in, you may be able to read the sign, or go here.)

Pioneer Cemetary - sign
Pioneer Cemetary – Cemetaries Tell Stories, Terry’s Corner, Camano Island

Subsequently during the 9/26 field trip to Long Point on Penn Cove, participants looked eastward across the water toward the mouth of the South Fork of the Skagit River and wondered about Swinomish Channel and the Swinomish people who left Penn Cove to live at Swinomish reservation … Here is an explanation of what happened at Swinomish Channel that further cut off indigenous people from their primary food, salmon.

Below is the sign outside Island County Historical Society Museum showing the traditional indigenous villages in Penn Cove.

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