Since time immemorial, Northwest Native tribes have acted as stewards of the lands and waters of the Pacific Northwest. Unfortunately, the Christian Church played a prominent role in colonization and suppression of Indigenous peoples and cultures. Earth Ministry encourages our community to reflect upon this historical reality and its ongoing implications as we attempt to reconcile and take action today as better allies to Native nations.
In 1987 and again in 1997, bishops and denominational executives of Christian churches in the Northwest offered letters of apology to the Indigenous peoples of the region. These letters, linked below, acknowledge the terrible damage done by the Church to Native families, spirituality, and identity. Organized by the Church Council of Greater Seattle, the letters also included a promise to help protect tribal treaty rights as well as rights under the American Religious Freedom Act.
A new threat to Northwest Native nations arose in 2010 – a series of proposed coal export and oil transport facilities planned for the Oregon and Washington coasts.
One of these fossil fuel megaprojects was a coal export terminal proposed at Xwe’chi’eXen (Cherry Point), site of a Lummi Nation ancestral village. In 2012, Lummi leaders approached Earth Ministry with the 1987 and 1997 letters of apologies. They asked us to engage faith communities in keeping the promise of the letters by standing with Northwest Native tribes in defense of their sacred sites, treaty rights, and salmon runs threatened by fossil fuel facilities.
At the request of the Lummi, Earth Ministry circulated a new letter of support for Northwest tribes that was specific to resisting fossil fuels. The letter was signed in 2014 by 15 regional bishops and Christian denominational leaders supporting tribal-run efforts to stop the proposed terminal at Xwe’chi’eXen and other coal, oil, and fracked gas projects threatening the health, well-being, and culture of Northwest tribes.
These letters continue to inform our work of reconciliation and hold us accountable to our promises. All three faith community letters are linked below.
It has been a great honor for people of faith to be asked to support the powerful, strategic, and moral leadership of Northwest tribes. Through the work of Earth Ministry, religious communities have joined Native nations and environmental partners to attend hearings, submit thousands of public comments, host events, and advocate in defense of tribal treaty rights.
This vibrant partnership between Native communities and people of faith has led to a series of astonishing victories, none as powerful as the protection of Xwe’chi’eXen. Earth Ministry is committed to continuing our support of NW Native tribes as they lead the way in ensuring the well-being of our common home.
