Anne Hayden emailed me this week asking if I might write a story to celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day Monday October 14th, 3 PM at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Whidbey Island in Freeland. I told her of course! I love Anne’s work honoring the land of Whidbey Island, whose name among the Salish Sea people is Tscha-kole-chy.
The island is inhabited still by ancestors of Whidbey’s original people. On Oct. 12 I spoke with Cynthia Campbell, whose family are relations of Tscha-kole-chy’s first people. Cynthia’s art is on display in the UU foyer.
After reading the story linked above, Cynthia texted: “I would also like to add the settlers burned the potlatch houses because all of the sduhubs (Snohomish) living here did not go to the reservation, and that was one way of eradicating their home, their gathering places, to try to get rid of the “Indians.”
William Shelton’s photo is on display at the Island County Historical Museum. While looking at it, Cynthia saw a resemblance between them. William Shelton was born on July 4, 1868. “I looked over and saw we have the same bones. Our hands look the same. It was kinda nice. It’s nice people people want to know our heritage.”
Cynthia recalled her history in an email:
“I grew up on Whidbey as did my mother and grandfather, his mother and grandmother, her father and grandfather, which covers back to the time of settlers and treaty signers. My family stretches back to before when the Snohomish Tribe still had potlatch houses here and canoe journey was a way of life, so my roots run deep.”
Asked about her art, Cynthia added:
“I participate in many areas of art, including visual art, graphic design, 3D design, the performing arts and music. I have recently learned traditional sduhubs (Snohomish) style weaving and am enjoying that immensely.”
Her block prints honor something from her grandfather’s home:
“The reduction block prints on the dynamite box were mounted on that because I found it in my grandpa’s shed and wanted to incorporate him into what I was doing.”
Cynthia also honors a cedar tree from her property:
“I then mounted that on a cedar plank milled from a cedar on my property that was deteriorating, but still functional. I like incorporating things I find in nature into images I enjoy watching come into being on wood, stone, paper, or combinations of materials.”
In conversation, Cynthia told me that Dave Campbell, formerly of Island Recycling, is her brother.
“Dave Campbell started that recycling thing and made it into artwork. We have been protecting and giving back since I’ve been growing up. Sharing knowledge and stories has been a part of my family’s life.”
Contrary to the stories that the island’s indigenous people no longer live here, Cynthia said, “We haven’t left. Our family history has been passed down. Living on the land is part of that. The Snohomish tribe has been here forever. Sharing knowledge and stories has been a part of my family’s life.”
Growing up, Cynthia said, people thought she should look more like their concept of an Indian.
”The whole mocking of ‘Indian’ heritage started in elementary school, so I learned to be silent early on,” she said. “If you look at my bone structure, I look like a girl. It’s important to know we may not be as brown as people expect—like at high school—we were asked why don’t we wear feathers—those kind of things are not helpful to sort people out in that manner. We can all do better than making those kinds of judgments.”
When asked about a photo of her, Cynthia said she’d like to include one of her younger sister Diane, standing in a maple tree which guarded a traditional burial site. It has since blown down.
“My little sister absorbed the ancestors in that moment,” Cynthia said.
When asked what she would like to see in this story, Cynthia said, “I would like you to celebrate there are indigenous people here still living. We’re not a long lost thing. On this island there are people connected here before the settlers. Their stories and practices that have been told of the native culture go back to forever.
“Another thing when I was growing up here—I’m 69—we’ve always been the kids—my siblings and cousins. Now the elders are gone. I feel like the newcomer. Compared to my my mom and grandparents. Even in my childhood the abundance of wildlife we ate clams and cooked them the old way. I remember catching crabs with a stick—pick them up to be sure they weren’t female—male crabs had to be a dollar bill wide. You had to know what you could take and what you could leave. The changes in the sea life since then is dramatic.”
Cynthia emphasizes balancing our material lives with caring for Whidbey’s natural resources and not exploiting them. “If you do things, so the natural things aren’t left—it’s like burning down your house to keep warm,” she said. “It is important we work together.”
While Cynthia is unable to be present October 14, her art and love of her heritage will be.
In declaring Oct. 14 as Indigenous Day on Oct 11, 2021, President Joe Biden said: “On Indigenous Peoples’ Day, we honor America’s first inhabitants and the Tribal Nations that continue to thrive today. I encourage everyone to celebrate and recognize the many Indigenous communities and cultures that make up our great country.”
Here’s a link to the UU invitation.
2 Comments
Thank you so very much for this beautiful and helpful sharing
I never knew there were still indigenous peoples here on the Island.
So important to have this awareness 🙏
Maureen, I felt so honored to have a little conversation with Cynthia. I look forward to meeting her in the future. Thanks so much for your comment.