Tag Archives: Native American Heritage Month

The Emerald Roundup of Native American Heritage Month Events in the Seattle Area

by Jas Keimig


November is Native American Heritage Month and a time to celebrate and uplift the diverse Indigenous communities both here, and across the continent. In Washington State, there are over 30 tribes, including Colville Confederated Tribes, The Confederated Tribes Of The Chehalis Reservation, Confederated Tribes Of The Yakama Nation, Duwamish, Jamestown S’Klallam, Hoh, Cowlitz, Lower Elwha Klallam, Kalispel, Lummi, Nisqually, Makah Nation, Muckleshoot, Puyallup, Nooksack, Port Gamble S’Klallam, Quileute, Quinault Nation, Samish Nation, Sauk-Suiattle, Skokomish, Shoalwater Bay, Spokane, Squaxin Island, Snoqualmie, Stillaguamish, Swinomish, Suquamish, Tulalip, and Upper Skagit.

As we work to tear down the colonial narratives and structures around Thanksgiving, November is also an opportunity to give back, learn from, and listen to Native peoples in the Seattle area. With Native American Heritage Day falling on Nov. 24, there are lots of opportunities throughout the entire month to eat Indigenous foods, buy gifts from Indigenous craft markets, and watch Indigenous films. We assembled a list of events in the Seattle area to mark down on your (rapidly filling!) November calendar.

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Reciprocity Project Highlights Indigenous Storytelling and Values

by Victor Simoes


Reciprocity Project, a series of seven Indigenous-made documentary short films, combines Native American storytelling with climate awareness and other intersectional movements rooted in Indigenous guardianship, social justice, and human rights. The first season of the project debuted on Oct. 10, and it’s already available to stream. 

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A Guide to Native Art Markets This Winter

by Amanda Ong


This November is Native American Heritage Month, and while the Thanksgiving holiday is rooted in colonizer narratives, Native American Heritage Day (Nov. 25) celebrates diverse Native cultures. As we turn to gift-giving season, a wonderful way to support our Indigenous communities and honor Native American heritage is by buying from Native makers and artists. Read on for a list of Native art markets, both seasonal and ongoing, throughout the Seattle area. 

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‘There Should Be Native American Restaurants Everywhere’

Chef Sean Sherman Talks Indigenous Foods and Culinary Revitalization at SPL

by Amanda Ong


This Friday, Nov. 4, Chef Sean Sherman will speak at the Seattle Central Library and online about his work highlighting Indigenous food systems in a modern culinary context. Author of The Sioux Chef’s Indigenous Kitchen, Sherman is CEO and founder of The Sioux Chef and North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems (NATIFS). Raised in Pine Ridge, South Dakota, Sherman is Oglala Lakota Sioux. The event will take place from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

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Seedcast: We Are the Future Elders

by Clear Sky Native Youth Leadership Council interns Kayla Harstad, Lailani Norman, Tim Shay, and Akichita Taken Alive

Since time immemorial, Indigenous people have celebrated storytelling as a way to connect the present to past lessons and future dreaming. Narrative sovereignty is a form of land guardianship, and Nia Tero supports this work through its storytelling initiatives, including the Seedcast podcast, as well as in this column for media partner the South Seattle Emerald.


During Native American Heritage Month, we have a unique opportunity as Native teens to reflect on what the world expects from us and hopes for us. It can be overwhelming and exciting to think about what the future holds and the responsibilities we might take on, but one way we’ve each been able to gain clarity is through our involvement with the Seattle Clear Sky Native Youth Council, a youth-focused and directed program of the Urban Native Education Alliance (UNEA). Clear Sky provides opportunities for deepening our connections with our intertribal community, while also affirming our cultural values, worldview, and traditional knowledge systems as well as empowering us to navigate racist colonial systems through advocacy, activism, and action. As individuals, we are teenagers, students, siblings, daughters and sons, and grandchildren as well as neighbors and friends to all in our community. But together, we have joined with our peers to take advantage of lessons in order to build the knowledge we need to stand in our truths as future elders.

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OPINION: Becoming a Good Ancestor

by Colleen Echohawk 


The elders always have something to teach us. Sometimes I am so busy, worried, and stressed that I miss it. I miss their quiet and unassuming teaching steeped in hard years of experience that gently guides us.  Recently, I stood outside of the Chief Seattle Club at a table, watching the line of relatives who have been experiencing homelessness; they were waiting for us to open the food line. The line was expansive, reaching all the way down the block. This population already struggles with food insecurity, but the pandemic has worsened an already tragic situation. Hundreds of our homeless relatives were hungry, waiting for our staff at the Chief Seattle Club to bring out nutritious and delicious meals to quell their hunger and offer kind words of support and comfort in an unsupportive and incredibly uncomfortable situation.

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The Morning Update Show — 11/24/20

The Morning Update Show — hosted by Trae Holiday and The Big O (Omari Salisbury) — is the only weekday news and information livestream that delivers culturally relevant content to the Pacific Northwest’s urban audience. Omari and Trae analyze the day’s local and national headlines as well as melanin magic in our community. Watch live every weekday at 11 a.m. on any of the following channels, hosted by Converge Media: YouTube, Twitch, Facebook, Periscope, and whereweconverge.com.

We’ll also post the Morning Update Show here on the Emerald each day after it airs, so you can catch up any time of day while you peruse our latest posts.

Morning Update Show — Tuesday, Nov. 24

Today on the show:

The City Budget Is in the Books; Kevin Schofield of SCC Insight | LIVE; Colleen Echohawk of Cheif Seattle Club | LIVE; Native American Heritage Month; Cannabis Equity With Aaron Bossett; and Coronavirus Updates with Nikki Barron.

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