May Virtual Cathlapotle Plankhouse Second Sunday

Contemporary Matriarchy on Canoe Journey

Join us for an intimate conversation with women from the Chinook Indian Nation about skippering, leadership, and motherhood on the iyagatł imał (Columbia River) at 11am. Start the day with Fish & Wildlife Service Refuge Trail Tips and family activities at 10am!

Activity kits available for pickup in advance. Activity bags will be available to pick up ahead of time, First Saturdays of the month, at Seasons Coffee Shop in the Old Liberty Theater (while supplies last).

Seasons Coffee Shop at the Old Liberty Theater is located in Historic Downtown Ridgefield. Stop by to get your activity bags, and pick up a coffee, or pastries and gifts! Gifts for sale inside the coffee shop are all local artists and authors, shop and support within our area!

EVENT: Sunday, May 9th, 2021, @ 10 & 11 AM, online!

Second Sundays in 2021 will be virtual and can be viewed on and after the event dates on the Friends Facebook and Youtube Channels.

Family Activities

May Family Activity Kit includes:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Color-it-Yourself canvas tote bag with Salmon art, Activity Instructions, Handout “In Chinookan art and culture…”, charcoal, small screen, & red paper

• If you weren’t able to get a bag, or you want to download more copies:

Activity Instructions & “In Chinookan Art and Culture” Handout

Speakers

• Mechele Johnson- Mechele Johnson is a descendant of the Chinookan people from the mouth of the Columbia River. She is Clatsop and Lower Chinook, as well as, Tillamook and Lower Chehalis. She descends from the Salikie, Bobb, Telzan and Lane families. Her Clatsop relatives include Chief Wasilta and Chief Tostow who were the primary negotiators and signers of the 1851 Tansy Point Clatsop Treaty.
  Mechele and her husband, Chinook Nation Tribal Chairman Tony A. (naschio) Johnson, reside on Willapa Bay along with their five children Mary, Samuel, Tahoma, Ferrill and Maybelle. Mechele is an enrolled member of the Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe and is currently their Public Relations Director. She is also the Co-Founder of Pacific County Voices Uniting, a nonprofit organization working in integrated voter engagement to shift and develop a healthier civic health culture and reflective representation in Pacific County Washington. She is a founding member of the Chinook Indian Nation Canoe Family, as well as serves on her tribe’s Fish and Wildlife Commission and Pulling Together for Wellness team (an American Indian Health Commission project). She also has the pleasure of serving as the Secretary for the Board of Directors for the Northwest Health Foundation.
  In her spare time, Mechele enjoys foraging and gathering traditional foods, food preservation, traditional crafting, and being out on the land.

• Mary Johnson

 

 

 

 

• Rachel Cushman– Rachel Cushman is a direct descendant of Clatsop Chief Wasilta, a primary negotiator and signer of the 1851 Anson Dart Treaties. She is the elected Secretary/Treasurer of the Chinook Indian Nation. The focus of her tenure is restorative justice. Cushman is committed to ensuring that the Chinook Indian Nation exercises sovereignty, practises self-determination, and has autonomous control over its narrative. Cushman is also a dedicated leader of the Chinook Canoe family. She is a lead puller, singer, and dancer, and in 2019 became a skipper. All her work is grounded in the commitment to preserve and carry on Chinook’s cultural protocols. Cushman feels that her most important leadership role is being mother to sons Kanim (canoe) and Isik (paddle).

• Mildred Robinson

 

 

 

 

 

• Destany Reeves-Robinson

 

 

 

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Event hosted by Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge Complex and its partners, the Friends of Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is committed to providing access to this event for all participants. Please direct all requests for sign language interpreting services, closed captioning, or other accommodations needs to Josie Finley at Josie_Finley@FWS.gov , 360-887-4106.

TTY 800-877-8339 with your request, by close of business two weeks before the event.

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