Casino

The slots jingled,

the drinks flowed,

the cheers rang out at the craps table;

the night was long and fun with wonderful friends at Silver Reef Hotel Casino Spa.

Weekend Reflections: Faces in the Lake

Click here to see a short video on the Lummi tradition of canoe pulling with modern-day Lummi youth.

Lhaq'temish

A Lummi girl gets ready to help pull a war canoe.

The Lummi People, or Lhaq'temish, were the original occupants of northern Washington and southern British Columbia. The People of the Sea migrated seasonally between Point Roberts and many of the coastal islands until 1855, when they signed the Point Elliot Treaty and were forcibly moved to what is now the Lummi Reservation. Though their home shrank, they left their mark where they formerly wandered freely: a trail, a vineyard, and WWU's magazine are named "Klipsun," the Lummi word for "beautiful sunset;" "Kulshan," the Lummi name for Mount Baker, is also a school, a street, and numerous businesses and organizations; Mount Shuksan, or "high peak," is also a school among many other things; and Whatcom (County) itself is a Lummi word for "loud water."

Lummi War Canoe

The girls and I got a chance to paddle a Lummi
War Canoe down Lake Whatcom at the Bellingham Children's Festival yesterday. While paddling, our captain (in back) talked about the Lummi culture and sang two traditional Lummi songs that served to identify which family was in the canoe as it approached its destination. This canoe was built last year and was in the water for only the second time.