Aid Sweetwater in Honoring Her Mother and Healing Her Heart

Our Elder Needs Our Help

On behalf of our dear friend and aunty Sweetwater Nannauck (Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian), we are extending an important ask to you all today.

Sweetwater Nannauck, founder of Idle No More Washington, is an activist who advocates to protect the fragile environment of the Northwest Coast, for tribal sovereignty rights, and for the traditional ways of life of Native people. Since January 2013, Sweetwater has led Idle No More Washington in over 150 events and nonviolent direct actions that address local and global issues. She conducts ‘Decolonizing Our Activism’ workshops in a respectful way that is both healing and empowering. We met Sweetwater by participating in her workshops and highly recommend them.

Sweetwater has spent much of her life organizing in the Native community, in Seattle, and at large, and now she needs your support so she can continue her work. Could you please support her by contributing and sharing this GoFundMe? Your generous contribution will help her continue her work in an online format. Her projects she’s working on include Fire is Sacred; Healing the Wounded Healer - Beyond Self Care for Social Workers; and Keeping our Communities Safe (from sexual perpetrators).

For more information about Sweetwater, please visit this link from the

https://www.idlenomorewashington.com/home website.

Sweetwater Recently Lost Her Mother

On July 10th Sweetwater’s mom, Mary Allen, fell down and broke her hip. She was 85 years old, and the doctor said she was too old and frail for surgery. Sweetwater’s mom walked into the forest (passed on) on July 19, 2024. We are asking for support to help get Sweetwater’s sister, Karla Lemus-Perez, from Maui to Washington for their mother’s service, and financial support for Sweetwater and Karla to stay in a hotel and meals as they send their mother on her final journey home.

“A lot of emotions are coming up at this time, my mom is the last elder in my family. Even before she fell, memories and feelings came up in my heart in the last few weeks. I think my son and I probably had the best years of her life when we lived in Ketchikan near her and spent a lot of time with her, for which I am forever grateful. She was a loving grandmother, she was funny, kind, and generous. She loved my son so much, he was the only grandchild, and she loved to spoil him. It broke her heart when my son died in 1998.

During my morning meditation/prayers I called my son, my grandparents, and ancestors to comfort and help her. My son said to me, "Don't worry mom, I'll bring Granny home when it's her time. We're all waiting for her''. Then I could see my son, my grandparents, and a house full of ancestors waiting for my mom. They seemed happy, and glad she's coming home. That gave me some healing and comfort too, and I'm feeling a little better about letting her go.” - Sweetwater Nannauck

Sweetwater’s Healing Heart

Some of you may know Sweetwater's PCP told her she had had a heart attack after experiencing heart problems in March 2024. One of her heart valves wasn’t working. She could barely do simple chores, she couldn’t walk a half block, or her heart would start pounding, her blood pressure would go up, and she would be short of breath. She felt extremely weak and tired all the time.

Her heart problems have been emotionally hard on Sweetwater. It felt like her broken heart was leaking all her past trauma and historical trauma out. She has been overwhelmed, emotional, and depressed, and is seeing a therapist.

Several tests revealed good news: her heart valve is working again, and it turns out she didn’t have a heart attack after all. While her arteries look good, the right side of her heart is very enlarged. The doctor said she has a hole on the left side of her heart between the left and right chambers.

The next procedure will take place on August 9, 2024, when her doctor will send a scope through her trachea to get a better look at the hole in her heart to determine next steps.

Sweetwater's Workshops

Sweetwater hasn’t been able to get back to work, and if surgery is the next step, she will need a couple of months of recovery to get through that too.

Sweetwater was going to start giving workshops to Native organizations that advocate for sexual assault survivors. She would share with them how she held a sexual perpetrator accountable and got a 10-year Sexual Assault Protection Order against him. She submitted a proposal to give two workshops for the Minnesota Indian Women's Sexual Assault Coalition. They accepted her proposal to their MIWSAC 2024 Restoring the Sacred Trails of our Grandmothers Annual Conference in Hinckley, MN, April 23-25. But, as it turned out, it was the same day she had her first appointment with the cardiologist, so she had to cancel. Sweetwater has continued to work on developing this work so that when she’s back to work can do in-person and online workshops.

Thank you so much for your love, support, and donations.

With so much gratitude,

Karen and Evan

students, friends, and volunteer supporters of Sweetwater Nannauck