Land Back: Support the 7 Waters Canoe Family

Fundraiser benefiting the life affirming work the 7 Waters Canoe Family does to support the Indigenous community of Portland Or, building connection and self empowerment through the act of connecting and healing with the sacred waters and land.

 

 

 

Our firm belief is that to have a strong healthy future for all

peoples, we must turn to Indigenous values and ways for meaningful solutions that heal

the people, the land, and has the power and medicine to sustain and thrive life and

mother earth. This is possible through pathways and actions that restore human

relationship to the land and water; and we are dedicated and ready for these next steps.

 

 

We are seeking to raise money to sustain our ability to store our beautiful new canoe and have access to be on the river as much as possible. We have a house to store our many canoes and kayaks, however, since the house was not lived in during the transition over to us, it was damaged and is unsafe to occupy. Raised funds will go to restoring the electricity and plumbing that was damaged, to pay for the utility bills and purchasing some items to create a safe environment. Other funds will go to restoring electricity and updating the dock. The last of the funds will go towards supporting the houseless community nearby who we seek to build a relationship of care with.

 

 

The 7 Waters Canoe Family’s primary mission is to advance collective healing from the

lasting impacts of colonization and ongoing settler colonialism. We achieve this worthy

and ambitious goal by reclaiming and revitalizing our cultural connection as Indigenous

peoples to the sacred waters. As one of two Canoe Families in the Portland, we learn

the teachings and practices offered at the intersection of the canoe and water by

preparing for canoe journey – an annual event in which Pacific Northwest Tribes travel

the ancestral highways of their cultures - by using our Indigenous knowledge and ways

to build our own canoes, paddles, regalia, learn and share the songs of the water, and

engage in ceremony. In these ways we are active on the water, live our Indigenous

values, fulfill the dreams inspired into us by our ancestors and we build community

power for good futures.

Another important way we reclaim, revitalize and heal is through our relationship with

food. We hold traditional Indigenous food in high regard and since the early stages of

the COVID-19 pandemic we implemented the 7 Waters Food Sovereignty Project. Food

trauma and food scarcity is a common experience for many Native people and families;

COVID-19 amped that stress. The Indigenous Food Sovereignty Project mitigates those

challenges through the vital work of rebuilding Native food systems and connecting with

the land, each other, and ourselves, through decolonized food spaces and practices,

including in hunting, fishing, gathering, tanning hides and farming crops.

 

 

An already existing network of cultural practitioners and planners naturally came

together, assessed our strengths, determined what we needed and began the solution-oriented work of providing food for families and the community. One of the first things

we did was begin to look for funding opportunities, find and secure land to grow food,

and put action into food production and disbursement. We relied on our Indigenous

values and it got us through to where we are today: we have a farm on Metro property

on Sauvies Island, we produce food, we created a new food economy to support power

building in our community. We consider food to be an integral part of our cultural

revitalization and health of our community and are committed to strengthening

our relationship with food just as we do with the sacred water.

 

 

To better position ourselves to meet the needs of our community we seek to strengthen

our access to land through land acquisition. In this way we directly contribute to building

community power for Indigenous equity, and we promote decolonizing strategies for

sustainable solutions that remove system- and institutional-barriers that view land as a

“thing to own” and always make Indigenous people’s relationship with land conditional

to the benefit of dominant western logics. Therefore, to address this vision we propose

the following specific aims to support year-long planning to situate the 7 Waters Canoe

Family to acquire land to advance community-level revitalization of traditional cultural

food knowledge and practices, that centers on Indigenous values and healing-justice

frames. We are one hundred percent Native led, with majority of the vision and leadership guided by strong Native women, and together we are one hundred percent

committed in our work to serve the urban Indigenous population in Portland, Oregon,

and local Northwest Tribes.

 

 

Our firm belief is that to have a strong healthy future for all

peoples, we must turn to Indigenous values and ways for meaningful solutions that heal

the people, the land, and has the power and medicine to sustain and thrive life and

mother earth. This is possible through pathways and actions that restore human

relationship to the land and water; and we are dedicated and ready for these next steps.

Members of the Canoe Family:
Our loving Elders: Frank and Rose Albey, Ruth Jensen and Elaine St Martin 
Angus Family: Lukas Angus, Erin Angus, Eva, Jett, Peggy Sue and Ramona Angus, Lopez Family: Monique and Andre, Enrique, Apache, Julian,  Elijah, Zariah, Melanie and Rose Charley, Shalaya Williams, Amber Brown and family, Vince Rheinhart and kids Edelio and Benicia, Ryan Sealy and daughter Precilla, Kelly Gonzales and kids Wren and Caleb, Brenda Robby and Kaimani Tumbaga, Alberta Qamar and kids River and Kinta, Jenny Rose Serna and family, Mick Rose and family, Michaila Taylor.