[ Cheers and applause ]
[ Drumming ]
-♪ Cedar tree, cedar tree ♪
♪ Won't you come and dance with me? ♪
♪ Hey, ah, hey ♪
♪ Hey, ah, hey, ah, hey, ah, hey ♪
♪ Cedar tree, cedar tree ♪
♪ Won't you come and dance with me? ♪
♪ Hey, ah, hey ♪
♪ Hey, ah, hey, ah, hey, ah, hey ♪
[ Cheers and applause ]
-"Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star," ready?
-♪ Twinkle, twinkle, little star ♪
♪ How I wonder what you are ♪
♪ Up above the world so high ♪
♪ Like a diamond in the sky ♪
♪ Twinkle, twinkle, little star ♪
♪ How I wonder what you are ♪
[ Cheers and applause ]
-ABC's. Here we go.
-♪ A, B, C, D, E, F, G ♪
♪ H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P ♪
♪ Q, R, S, T, U, V ♪
♪ W, X, Y, and Z ♪
♪ Now I know my ABC's ♪
♪ Next time, won't you sing with me? ♪
[ Cheers and applause ]
-Sticks up, sticks up!
Drums up!
[ Cheers and applause ]
[ Drumming ]
-Okay. Hi, everybody.
Thank you so much for being here.
My name is Nicole Suyama.
I'm the artistic director
of Red Eagle Soaring Native Youth Theatre Program.
You've been seeing our youth
emcee the event earlier at Waterfront,
and we also actually have our very own theater here
at King Street Station right inside.
You're welcome to check out the Red Eagle Soaring Theatre.
It's our very own space for the first time
since we've been a thing for the last 30 years.
So that's really, really exciting.
But I am super-excited to introduce you to the rest
of Red Eagle Soaring for this next performance.
We've been working on some songs and storytelling for you all,
so right now, can I have the Red Eagle Soaring Youth come on up?
[ Drumming ]
-[ Singing in native language ]
♪♪
[ Cheers and applause ]
[ Drumming ]
♪♪
[ Singing in native language ]
♪♪
-All right. Thank you so much. Those first two songs you heard,
the first one is our Red Eagle Soaring song.
That was written by Red Eagle Soaring alumni
Audrey Remle in her language.
Whoo, sorry. I was -- I ran over here.
Can't breathe.
It was written in her Lakota language,
and she wrote it when she was a student,
and now she's an alumni,
and we still perform that song every year
with most performances.
And then the second song you heard was the welcome song
that was taught to us by Roger Fernandes,
who is -- yes, Roger Fernandes, who is Lower Elwha Klallam.
He taught that --
he taught us that welcome song a long time ago
when I was a student in the program
and we still use that to open up most of our performances.
Speaking of Roger Fernandes,
we're now going to move into some storytelling.
This is a story that you may have heard before from him.
I know most of these youth heard this way
before we even started learning it for this performance today.
So I'd like to introduce the Red Eagle Soaring Youth
doing a reading of "The Little Rabbit."
-In a village not far from here,
the animals had a big problem.
The animals had a really big problem.
It was a terrible problem that affected each
and every one of them and they didn't know what to do about it.
They all thought about it.
They all talked about it. They all wondered about it.
But nobody could solve the problem.
Well, the animals know, as we should know,
if you have a big problem that one person cannot solve,
what you do is you go to the big house,
maybe about the size of this plaza right here.
The big house in the middle of the village.
In the middle of the big house, there's always a fire.
And everyone goes to the big house.
They sit around the fire in a circle
and they start talking about the problem.
It's called a talking circle.
Everyone has a chance to stand up and talk.
Everyone has a chance to talk about the problem.
It takes a long time.
This here is about the size of the village.
Right now, with all these people,
if we all had a chance to speak, it could take days to do it.
But this is how you solve a big problem.
Every idea has to be heard. Every idea has to be considered.
So the animals know this. They go to the big house.
They start talking about the problem.
From when outside, they hear...
-[ Singing in native language ]
-What's up?
Who's making all that noise outside the house?
-And the animals go outside,
and sitting outside the house is Little Rabbit,
and he has his drum and he's singing
and playing it really loud.
-[ Singing in native language ]
-Little Rabbit, we're having a big meeting inside the house.
It's really important.
Little Rabbit, you're making too much noise.
You've got to be quiet until the meeting is over.
-[ Singing in native language ]
-So the animals go back into the house.
They sit around the fire in the big circle.
They start talking about the problem,
when outside they hear...
-[ Singing in native language ]
-What's up with that Little Rabbit?
He's still outside making noise? -[ Drumming ]
-Ugh, someone make him be quiet!
-I'll deal with Little Rabbit.
-[ Singing in native language ]
-Little Rabbit -- -So Bear goes outside.
-Little Rabbit, you need to be quiet,
and we told you to be quiet.
So we want you to stop singing until the meeting is over.
-[ Singing in native language ]
-So Bear reaches over, grab one of the Little Rabbit's arms,
and pulls it off.
-I took one of Little Rabbit's arms.
He should be dealt with.
He only has one arm, two legs, and one drum.
-So the animals start the meeting again.
From when outside, they hear...
-[ Singing in native language ]
-Little Rabbit is holding the drum between his legs.
He is still playing and singing really loud.
The animals are getting upset.
-He's still out there doing it.
Somebody make him stop.
-I'll take care of Rabbit. -And Wolf goes outside.
-Little Rabbit, you're still making all this noise.
-So Wolf reaches over and grabs his other arm
and pulls it off.
-You'll get this arm back when the meeting's over.
Now you be quiet, Little Rabbit.
I took care of Little Rabbit.
He has no arms and can't play his drum.
He can't bother us now.
-So the animals start the meeting again,
and from outside the house, they hear...
-[ Singing in native language ]
-Little Rabbit is stomping his foot to make noise.
Now the animals are getting angry.
-He's still out there making noise.
Somebody do something. Somebody make him quiet.
-I'll take care of that rabbit.
Little Rabbit, you are still making noise.
You've got to be quiet.
-So Coyote reaches over, grabs one of Little Rabbit's legs,
and pulls it off.
-You'll get -- you will get this -- I can't read it.
You will get your leg back when the meeting is over.
Now, you be quiet, Little Rabbit.
-So they start the meeting again.
-I took care of the rabbit.
He's got -- he has no -- he has one leg, no arms.
He can't bother us now.
-So they start the meeting again.
-[ Singing in native language ]
-Little Rabbit is hopping on one leg, singing really loud.
Now the animals are very angry.
-Somebody make Little Rabbit be quiet.
-I will take care of the rabbit once and for all.
-[ Singing in native language ]
-Eagle reaches over... -Little Rabbit.
-...grabs Rabbit's head and pulls it off.
-You'll get your head back when the meeting's over.
Now you be quiet, Little Rabbit.
-[ Singing in native language ]
-So the animals start the meeting again.
From outside the house, they hear this little noise.
-[ Singing in native language ]
-And then the animals realize something.
-That song was coming from Rabbit's heart.
-That was a song in his heart to sing,
so the animals realized
everything they did to that little rabbit was wrong.
Because if something comes from someone's heart,
there is nothing you can do to stop it.
In fact, if you are their friend,
you should be helping them.
So the animals felt really bad.
Everything they did was wrong.
-Give me my stuff back.
-It's almost lunch time. Can I keep the leg?
-No!
-You have to give it back.
That back, too.
-So there Little Rabbit was, all put back together.
He got his drum, and he taught the animals a song,
and they sang it with him.
It's a gambling song,
because Little Rabbit is obviously a gambler.
-[ Singing in native language ]
♪♪
-And that is all.
[ Cheers and applause ]
-All right. We're going to do one more song.
-All right. [ Cheers and applause ]
-One more song. All right, thank you all.
That was a story of the Little Rabbit.
Now, to close it, we're going to do one more song.
This song was taught to us by another alumni
of Red Eagle Soaring, Washie Squetimkin, who is Kiowa.
And he gave us this song
to use as a healing song for one of our shows
and we're going to do it for you today.
And that'll be all for us,
so thank you so much, again,
and we look forward to seeing you soon here
at King Street Station.
[ Cheers and applause ]
[ Drumming ]
♪♪
-[ Singing in native language ]
♪♪
[ Cheers and applause ]
-Thank you for supporting us at Red Eagle Soaring.
We hope to see you at one of our upcoming events
at our King Street Station space.
Up next,
we will have a reading of
Indigenous Peoples' Day proclamation by Jenifer Chao
of the Department of Neighborhoods.
As director of the Department of Neighborhoods,
Jenifer builds authentic relations
between city government and neighborhoods across Seattle
to foster belonging and inclusion for all.
Jenifer has built a reputation as a community collaborator
and a strong voice for equity and opportunity
for youth and historically underserved communities.
Please join me in welcoming Director Jenifer Chao.
-Thank you so much.
That was such a warm introduction.
I appreciate it.
It is always an honor to be in community,
and especially today,
to be in community for Indigenous Peoples' Day.
It is long overdue. My name is Jenifer Chao.
I'm the director of the Department of Neighborhoods
and I am here on behalf of the Mayor
to present the proclamation.
It is a deep honor to be with you today
as we gather to celebrate
and recognize Indigenous Peoples' Day here in Seattle.
This day holds immense significance not just
for the indigenous communities but for all of us
as we acknowledge the rich history, culture,
and contributions of our American Indian,
Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian communities.
[ Cheers and applause ]
And we need to celebrate community, so please.
As director of the Department of Neighborhoods,
I am proud to be a department committed
to building bridges between city government and all communities,
including our vibrant indigenous communities.
We ensure that voices of all people are heard,
and respected, and included in decisions that shape our city.
Today, we celebrate the tenth anniversary
of Indigenous Peoples' Day in Seattle,
a landmark moment made possible by the dedicated efforts
of dozens of community advocates, tribes,
and organizations.
Through their advocacy and leadership,
this day was first recognized by the city in 2014.
That year, Mayor Bruce Harrell, then a city council member,
cosponsored the resolution
alongside former Councilmember Sawant,
ensuring that Seattle would officially celebrate
Indigenous Peoples' Day.
Since that time,
Mayor Harrell has been instrumental
in advancing these efforts by signing an ordinance in 2022
that made Indigenous Peoples' Day an official city holiday.
His ongoing commitment to building authentic partnerships
with tribal nations and indigenous communities
is one of the reasons we continue to make progress.
Toward a more inclusive and equitable city.
That doesn't go without challenge,
but we are progressing, and that is what matters.
Over the past decade,
the city of Seattle has taken important steps
to acknowledge and uplift indigenous leadership
and contributions.
In collaboration with former Council President Juarez,
Mayor Harrell hosted the city's first Tribal Nations Summit,
fostering dialogue and partnership
between our city and tribal leaders.
He has also been a steadfast supporter
of the Indigenous Advisory Council,
which helps guide our work to ensure the needs and priorities
of Native communities are centered
in our policies and programs.
The city also invests in strong partnerships
with dozens of urban community organizations
to serve our nearly 17,000 Native residents.
From housing, to healthcare, to youth development,
to arts and culture services, and beyond.
Native groups and organizations
are on the forefront of creating belonging and inclusion
that is essential to a thriving community.
These strong partnerships go beyond
a land acknowledgement and centers relationships.
In closing,
I want to acknowledge that many wonderful performances
we've seen today from the Daybreak Star preschoolers
to Red Eagle Soaring Youth.
These performances and the involvement of young people
truly embody our shared vision of a community
that nurtures and uplifts our next generation of leaders.
Can we give them another round of applause and love?
[ Cheers and applause ]
We are nothing without our young people,
and we are nothing without our elders.
As we celebrate this important day,
we look forward to continuing to strengthen the bonds
between the city of Seattle and indigenous communities.
Together, we can build a future
that honors the legacy of those who come before us and of this,
the generations to come.
It is now my pleasure to present the 2024
Indigenous Peoples' Day Proclamation
to C.A.N.O.E.S. and community members.
So I'm going to hand this over to the Kanus,
and community members, and to Marta,
and I'm going to read a little bit of it
so that you all can celebrate what is being proclaimed today.
The city of Seattle recognizes
that the indigenous peoples of the lands that would
later be known as the Americas have occupied these lands
since time memorial -- time immemorial.
Seattle is built upon the homelands and villages
of indigenous peoples of this region
without whom the building of the city
would not have been possible.
The city values the many contributions made
to our community through indigenous people's knowledge,
labor, technology, science, philosophy, arts.
And the deep cultural contributions
that has shaped the character of the city of Seattle.
The city of Seattle has a responsibility
to oppose the systemic racism toward indigenous people
of the United States
which perpetuates high rates of poverty and income inequality.
Disproportionate health, education, and social crisis.
2024 marks the tenth anniversary that the city of Seattle
officially proclaimed the second Monday in October
as Indigenous Peoples' Day.
On March 29, 2022,
the city council unanimously passed an ordinance
establishing Indigenous Peoples' Day as a legal holiday.
The city of Seattle recognizes and values the great cultural,
historical, and social,
and economic contributions of indigenous peoples.
Furthering our One Seattle vision to build a thriving,
innovative, and equitable city
where we are all proud to call home.
Now, therefore, I, Bruce H. Harrell, Mayor of Seattle,
do hereby proclaim October 14, 2024
to be Indigenous Peoples' Day.
-Yes! Thank you.
[ Cheers and applause ]
-Hey, everyone.
Is it a great day to be indigenous?
When I say "We are," you say, "Indigenous."
We are...
-Indigenous!
-We are...
-Indigenous!
-Louder! We are...
-Indigenous!
-We are...
-Indigenous!
-[ Speaking native language ]
So Francesca asked if I can come up here and talk about our story
and how we went about going,
obtaining Indigenous Peoples' Day in Seattle ten years ago,
October 13, 2014.
So I'm going to tell our story.
[ Speaking native language ]
Greetings, indigenous people, greetings.
My name is Millie Kennedy.
I am Tsimshian.
I am Ganhada, and I belong to the Raven Clan.
It's a great day to be indigenous!
[ Cheers and applause ]
Anyway, I'm here to tell our story.
Matt's over there getting interviewed by KING5,
so I'm staying away.
Before I get started, I would like disclaim,
my words reflect my own opinions
and I value my First Amendment rights of freedom of speech
and freedom of expression.
This is a free speech rally and march.
All right, here's our story. Listen up.
On one very hot July afternoon in 2014,
I was at home by my computer and an e-mail
popped up from Matt Remle.
This was way before everybody was all texting.
Matt had e-mailed a bunch of us Natives,
and he was inquiring on what we thought about pushing forth
for a resolution to declare Columbus Day
as Indigenous Peoples' Day in Seattle.
Matt believed that the timing was right,
citing to the city of St. Paul, Minnesota,
that had just passed a similar resolution in April of 2014.
And I responded to Matt and I said, "Just do it."
A couple of weeks went by, never heard from Matt.
Thought, "Oh, well, nice try."
And then Matt e-mailed us again.
He said that he convinced a city council member
by the name Kshama Sawant to sponsor
that Indigenous Peoples' Day resolution.
I was very excited about this
and I wanted to have a really big celebration.
So I reached out to Phaedra Alfred about seeing
if we could get Daybreak Star to have a big celebration.
She did some digging around up there
and she reached out to Pam Nason,
who was a long-time employee at Daybreak Star,
and I believe she's still up there.
Next thing I knew,
we were forming a planning committee and Matt was
on the planning committee.
And so we started planning
the Indigenous Peoples' Day celebration even
though we had no resolution from the city of Seattle
and we had no money.
Go figure.
So Matt then wanted us to attend a city council meeting
on September 2nd to testify.
So several of us urban Indians got together
and we all dressed up indigenously.
So we're all excited to have a big celebration
and have our resolution passed.
So we were up there expecting to have a big celebration
and celebrate up at City Hall.
Instead, the resolution failed.
The resolution failed
because the city wanted to hear from an opposed group
that was an organized Italian group.
So we realized we had an uphill battle
and the city scheduled us to testify against the Italians
on October 6th,
and that's really cutting it short
because Indigenous Peoples' Day was only a week away.
We had not resolution and we had not money for a big celebration.
Over the next month,
the local media heavily covered this issue.
They started pitting us against indigenous folks,
against the Italians.
Even I got my five seconds of fame
that Matt's getting right now with KING5,
and I was interviewed by a guy named Chris Daniels.
That night, they showed me on TV.
I looked really sleepy
and they made it look like I was arguing with an Italian.
Can you believe that, the media would do something like that?
I was getting a bit nervous at that time
because we had a Facebook invite circulating.
And it was a week before our big celebration,
yet we still didn't have a resolution
and we didn't have any money.
And plus, our Facebook invite had 300 people
as going to our event.
On October 3rd,
as if we didn't have enough going on,
the city called me and they go, "Hey, Millie.
Can you please seek some tribal leaders
to testify on October 6th?"
And I'm like what? This is Friday afternoon.
But fortunately,
I happened to be at the fundraiser
at the Chief Seattle Club and two tribal leaders were there
so I approached them.
I approached Mel Sheldon from the Tulalip Tribes
and David Bean from Puyallup Tribes.
And I said, "Hey, can you guys testify on Monday?
We're trying to get this Indigenous Peoples' Day
resolution passed."
They quickly jumped onboard and they agreed.
So who knew?
Still needed to grab a couple more -- Sorry.
I covered up the rest of my speech.
So Matt helped me gather a couple more tribal leaders.
I think we had Theresa Sheldon also testify from Tulalips.
And then on October 6th,
all of us indigenous people, urban Indians and tribal,
all dressed up indigenously, again, like you all look today.
We went to City Hall to adjure the opposing group
and also the tribal leaders to testify.
And on that day, October 6, 2014,
we made history in the city of Seattle.
We were the second major city in the country
to pass an Indigenous Peoples' Day resolution!
Not only that, we were the very first city
to make Indigenous Peoples' Day a holiday.
[ Cheers and applause ]
And so we took over City Hall.
We sang the American Indian Movement song.
We were all happy.
We left there and there were brown happy faces everywhere.
After this celebration on October 6th,
I started getting really anxious because I realized, oh, dang.
We've got a big celebration.
We still don't have any money.
So I got panicky.
I called up David Bean at the Puyallup Tribes.
I explained our situation.
David said, "Let me see what I could do."
So David came up with $2,500 from the Puyallups.
Let's hear it for the Puyallups!
Whoo!
I also called up Brian Cladoosby from the Swinomish Tribe.
He agreed to donate some salmon.
Pam Nason called up the Colville Tribe and the Lummi Tribe
and they agreed to donate some more salmon.
So we had about 1,000 pounds of salmon.
So the planning committee was relieved
that we could now feed everybody.
Don't worry, I'm almost done with my story.
We then had our first Indigenous Peoples' Day celebration
at Daybreak Star.
We were planning for about 350 people to show up.
Instead, we ended up with 750 people.
We even ran out of food. Can you believe that?
Thank goodness that Kay Fiddler showed up.
Kay Fiddler showed up with a huge, big box of fry bread,
and my friend, Patty,
grabbed me a little piece of fry bread,
and she handed it to me.
So if it weren't for Kay and Patty,
I wouldn't have ate that day. That was about 8:00 at night.
Being indigenous, we love to have fun.
Us Tsimshians, we love to give people nicknames.
I've had a couple of nicknames for Matt Remle over the years.
One of the nicknames I have for Matt is "Just Do It" Matt Remle.
Nowadays, people probably say, "Do this, Matt Remle."
So through Indigenous Peoples' Day,
working with Matt, Christy Harris, Phaedra,
Pam Nason, and others.
And including all our beautiful allies out there,
Pam Keeley, 350 Seattle, and several other people,
we have continued to do grassroots organizing.
Developed a great relationship with all
of these people and Matt always comes up with big ideas.
And so we have worked on indigenous causes
including Idle No More, No DAPL, Divest DAPL,
Land Back, Every Child Matters, Orange Shirt Day,
Indigenous Peoples' Day!
MMIW, MMIP,
and some of us have been participating
throughout the year in the Palestinian solidarity movement.
[ Cheers and applause ]
Peace.
We're calling out for world peace today.
Things aren't going well for our siblings in the Middle East.
So I'll talk more about that later,
but I would like to end my story by saying...
[ Speaking native language ]
I want to give a shout out to Francesca,
and I want to give a shout out to the city of Seattle
Indigenous Advisory Council,
the city's Department of Neighborhood,
and the city of Seattle's Kanus
for allowing us to be here today
and tell our story about the creation
of Indigenous Peoples' Day in Seattle.
Happy Indigenous Peoples' Day!
[ Cheers and applause ]
One more time.
We are...
-Indigenous!
-Louder. We are...
-Indigenous!
-Stand up. We are...
-Indigenous!
-We are...
-Indigenous!
-We are...
-Indigenous!
-And we are still here!
[ Cheers and applause ]
-[ Speaking native language ]
Well, good afternoon, everybody.
My Lakota name is Wakínyan Waánatan,
English name is Matt Remle.
Happy Indigenous Peoples' Day!
Good to see everybody.
I think we can get a little louder than that
because Seattle, ten years ago,
you all helped launch a nationwide movement
to really impact a change.
So let's hear that, again.
Happy Indigenous Peoples' Day.
[ Cheers and applause ]
Love being out here in the streets with everybody.
It's good to see faces that have been out here on the streets
for not only the past ten years but for years before that.
The Sacred Water Crew.
Love being in the streets with them.
A lot of people have --
nobody has kind of ownership of the fight
against abolishing Columbus Day because our ancestors,
our relatives in the '60s and '70s,
were fighting to abolish Columbus Day.
So we just basically carrying on that work.
So I'd like to give acknowledgement to the AIMsters
and all the others who were active in fighting
to abolish this day.
What's up, bro? Good to see you.
We're going to take to these streets here in a minute
and one of the things that we are very cautious about
was that Indigenous Peoples' Day wasn't going to be a --
just a one-off, one-day celebration thing.
But we're going to use this day
when the kind of cameras and spotlight
is turned to our communities, which it typically doesn't,
to highlight other issues that have impacted our communities.
Not only historically or but to this day.
So folks might have remembered the 2015,
and the next year, we celebrated Indigenous Peoples' Day,
we brought forth the issue
of the boarding school era policies.
I'd been working with
the National Boarding School Healing Coalition
and wanted to get a nongovernmental government
to sign on to calling on the federal government,
basically to task for their sins of what they've done.
And so in 2015,
we got the city of Seattle to become the first city government
to call on the federal government
to engage in a process of reconciliation
with tribes over boarding school era policies.
And we've done that years since and a lot of you
have been out there, 2016, 2017, and a lot of energy and effort
went into that fight against the Dakota access pipeline.
And Mark over here, very good to see you,
Human Rights Commission.
You were very active involved with all this
since the beginning and to this day.
We're very honored to be out here in these streets
today with our Palestinian relatives.
We see a very similar history of what they're experiencing now
with what we have experienced.
So we're going to be marching in these streets
with our Palestinian relatives
and drawing attention to the atrocities that they're facing.
To share not only in that history,
but to share in some culture, too, down at Westlake.
So at this time, I call up the relatives.
We're going to -- I've always preferred kind of
sharing some songs, so we'll jam out a little bit.
[ Drumming ]
-[ Singing in native language ]
♪♪
[ Cheers and applause ]