I was feeling like I wanted to do something "crafty". With one hour of free time, I decided to make some Bottle Cap Magnets. {Shhh, don't tell anyone but I still need to buy the magnets!} My toddler even helped put all the 1 inch photo circles in the bottle caps for me. Here is what they look like: I saved candy bar wrappers for possible crafts, and punch 4 of those too! I love to re-purpose pretty garbage. Materials: 1. Bottle Caps. A couple years ago, I ordered 100 silver … [Read more...]
Coast Salish Day
You know from my 100 Things page that I am Native American. I am Coast Salish from Swinomish, Lummi and Tulalip. It is always nice to be home in the summer for events like Stommish, Coast Salish Day and the Canoe Journey.This weekend we went to the annual Coast Salish Day. With 73 degree weather, it was a beautiful day to be out at the park celebrating and honoring a great culture. The view from Bellingham Bay at Boulevard Park was gorgeous!{Coast Salish Day events feature Native American … [Read more...]
Life on a Reservation
On our reservation we have a very large totem pole on the main road, and we are currently building a cedar hat park down by the beach. The cedar hat pavilion is being built just in time for our tribe to host the Canoe Journey.I am blessed to live in such beauty and rich culture. {Do you know how excited my Princess is to pick out her own clothes and button her sweaters? Very excited!} "Treat the earth well: it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. … [Read more...]
Family Food Tradition: Salmon and Cola
Growing up on an Indian reservation, we had a large extended family within two miles of our home. Family get-togethers and dinners were not only common, at least once per month, but also very loved. So, when my husband and I moved away in 2000 for about 10 years, I felt a deep sense of longing for that life. Imagine my own feelings of happiness when we moved back and bought our first home in 2009. When we lived in California, I had no family but now I again have a large extended family to … [Read more...]
Funeral Moment
This week we had a funeral to attend for a family friend. He was an older man who had been sick for quite some time. A WWII vet (he was at Normandy and Battle of the Bulge), tribal leader, grandfather, and genuinely kind man. The funeral was truly a celebration of his great life. So when my Princess asked to pay her respects (she didn’t say that, she actually said, “I want to see the man who died.”) and view his body, I was hesitant. But I don’t want her to be afraid of something natural like … [Read more...]
Canoe Journey 2010: Extended Camping?
Extended camping with a toddler for ten days? Am I crazy? Okay, we have arrived at our destination on Monday – the Makah Indian Reservation. Whew! What a long week. I was definitely ready to be done camping. If you know me you will know that I am not a big camping kind of girl. A weekend camping trip is about all that I can handle, usually. So ten days of camping was getting old! But what a trip. You get such a sense of awe and humility when you watch all the canoes land with hundreds and … [Read more...]
Canoe Journey 2010: Paddle to Makah
Can you imagine paddling a canoe for a week, maybe even more? Well, at least 100 canoes are going to be doing it this week. And I am on the ground crew for my family’s canoe, The Salmon Dancer. The Princess and I will be helping Nana set up camp, cook, and clean. I am not sure if I will like it or not. But I am sure that the Princess is going to LOVE camping all week. One more thing I know: I will have lots of stories and photos to share with you when I get back next week. … [Read more...]