An important chapter in Washington state history helped usher in Literacy Night activities at La Conner Schools on Wednesday.
Treaty Day ceremonies at La Conner Elementary were highlighted by passages read aloud from “First Salmon Ceremony,” an illustrated children’s book written by the late Ray Mitchell, who as a Swinomish Tribal Community leader served as the school’s principal in the early 1980s.
Mitchell’s son, Todd Mitchell, a Dartmouth College alum who is director of the Swinomish Department of Environmental Protection, read to students gathered at the campus gymnasium lessons from “First Salmon Ceremony” that spell out the importance of salmon to Coast Salish tribes.
“One of our most valuable resources is the salmon,” Mitchell said. “It’s very important to our tribal community.”
Mitchell shared with students the section in his dad’s book describing how the Mountain Giant added curves to the Skagit River to enhance salmon migration. Another passage read by Mitchell noted how salmon scouts from a longhouse at the bottom of the ocean deemed the Swinomish honorable people for their part in fostering healthy salmon runs.
The region’s natural salmon runs were a key component of the Point Elliott Treaty, signed Jan. 22, 1855, by tribal and territorial leaders, Jen Willup, an educator with the Swinomish Department of Environmental Protection, told La Conner students.
“Today is very important,” Willup stressed. “It’s about honoring the Point Elliott Treaty.
“A treaty,” Willup explained, “is when a government makes a promise with another government that they will play by a certain set of rules. The tribes gave up land for settlement and in return they were given access to education and health care and were allowed to hunt and fish in their accustomed places.”
La Conner Elementary Principal Heather Fakkema, who was costumed as “Miss Frizzle,” one of her favorite literary characters, said referencing Ray Mitchell’s book was an ideal way to link Treaty Day and Literacy Night.
Fakkema thanked Mitchell for providing all students copies of “First Salmon Ceremony” and thus connecting them to important tribal cultural traditions.
