“Are you blind to the sacred teachings?” he said to them. “Have you not read this: ‘the tree the lodge builders threw away has become the Chief Lodgepole. This is what the Great spirit has done, and it will fill us with wonder?’” (Matthew 21:33-46 (First Nations Version)
My wife and I had the great pleasure of attending Sunday service at Burlington Lutheran Church yesterday. Although we’ve worshipped with this congregation many times in the past, this particular Sunday, October 8, 2023, was especially significant. The service was devoted to the celebration of Indigenous People’s Day, and the Burlington Lutheran congregation was joined by Upper Skagit Tribal elders Jay Bowen, his sister Kay Knott, and their cousin Lora Pennington.
Lora gave a sermon inspired by the gospel reading from Matthew, during which she provided a cogent and compelling history of “treaty time” as experienced by not only her tribe, but all the Coast Salish people who were part of the January 22, 1855 Treaty of Point Elliot. In the space of barely ten minutes, Lora provided an insight into the nature of the treaty and the relationships between First People and New People that it set in motion nearly 170 years ago. It’s a history we should all bear in mind on Indigenous Peoples’ Day.
