This show was a really big one-1500 people. So far the best action card response. Every college show has had more action cards turned in than our previous tours. It could be something as simple as college student's carry around writing supplies. Even the high school kids in Rosebud filled out their cards and sent 156 cards to their state senators. University of WA. It was so great that we ran out of cards!

Tonight we had a speaker from the Duwamish tribe. This is a Seattle area tribe that isn't recognized by our federal government. Clinton had given them recognition, but Bush took it away. So ridiculous. His speech was a perfect bridge to the non-Indians in the crowd. He talked about the need to be a recognized tribe, and also of cleaning up the river that runs through the town of Seattle. He ended his speech by asking the crowd to go outside and touch the earth, find nature and commune with it, because only this would encourage the preservation of it.

We had a virtuoso violinist, Swil Kanim open the show. Swil is from the Lummi tribe. He accompanied his pieces with stories and played to illustrate his words. It reminded me of Peter and the Wolf, he sounded like a one-man symphony.

Winona's speech at this show focused a lot on sacred site issues because we were near Snoqualmie Falls. We have been supporting the struggle to close the dam, and to preserve the falls. This is the best speech she has given so far on this tour - she hit her stride.

The questions were really good with a couple that stood out. One was about a proposed casino at Snoqualmie Falls. This would be a tribal project, so doesn't that interfere with the sacred site protection? Winona said she couldn't really comment on it except to say that Indians have been left with so few options and even when its not the best sometimes it's the only way for them to get out of their poverty. It's ironic that when tribes get rich, they are given a hard time for learning to live like the "white man".

The other one was not as much of a question but a testimony. A young man in a suit got up and said that he felt blood on his hands and also felt betrayed because he was not taught about this stuff earlier. He is from the Dakotas. He said he felt as if he had just been to Germany and discovered the Holocaust. He wanted to know how he could rid himself of his "white man's addiction" to consumption and power, and how he could ever make up for the legacy of his ancestors. Winona was real cool and said that he had already taken the first step of recognition and now the healing could begin.

Action Cards
Senator Cantwell Action Card (Microsoft Word Format)
Duwamish River Action Card (Microsoft Word Format)

Amy Ray's Tour Diary Continues:
April 16th, Central Oregon University, Bend, Oregon