The Journeys to Makah 2010 was an event designed to promote Indigenous cultural knowledge: acknowledging inter-tribal connections, honouring elders, and the combination of physical, spiritual, and mental well-being in all participants. The Makah Tribal Council, along with the Makah Canoe Society, hosted the 2010 Tribal Journeys and invited all participants to Makah Territory in Neah Bay, WA – the furthest northwest tip on the lower 48 United States.
Every tribe and canoe attending the 2010 Tribal Journey presented their own songs and dances, along with their own tribal words of wisdom and stories, including stories about how climate change is affecting them in their everyday lives. Here, Alaskan student Meghann Piscoya describes the reason she participated in the Tribal Journey to Makah.
By Meghann Piscoya
Today I flew all the way over here to Vancouver, Canada from Shishmaref, Alaska. One of the reasons I came on this trip was to get our voices out there about Shishmaref and climate change. How Shishmaref is eroding, has no running water, our dump is too small, and that it is a little island.
One of the ways global warming is ruining our village is with rising sea waters which hit out airport, making it shorter and dangerous. We had to build a new one and that means we well have less money to move the village.
Meghann’s video journal