Human Rights

The Earth does not have a marketing department. The river does not have a logo. The salmon do not have a press secretary.

For decades, we have been told that "Big Green" institutions are the thin line protecting the wild. We have been coached to believe that their "standing," their donor tiers, and their curated "experts" are the only path to planetary health. But look closer you will see In the world of the "Grasstops," Form Follows Funding, not Action. These organizations have become visual colonizers.

They wait for Tribal elders to fight for generations; they wait for elite legal minds to win in court; and then they arrive at the eleventh hour to "brand" the victory.

Adeline Smith (Lower Elwha Klallam), Linguist (1996). “We were Just Indians” clip from “Unconquering the Last Frontier” (Robert Lundahl, 2000/2025 Remaster)

This Land is Sacred

As an elder and a member of the Lower Elwha Tribe, it is good to see, there are those who know how sacred the land and forest are to the planet. The river is life to all species and so are the trees, everything has a spirit and we are all connected through the spirit. I loved what Latrissa said " Instead of the DNR telling us what they are going to do , We the people need to tell the DNR what to do". When the DNR does their homework they would never cut down trees close to any river or stream because of the impact on the biodiversity,such as  the animal kingdom and the finned ones of the waters and the birds of the air and the four legged ones who live in the forest and all the elementals that live in the forest too.

We live in a very magical place and to destroy the magic that is here well.....everyone loses. Remember what happened on Easter Island? The people cut all the trees down and then they all starved to death. We as humans are the caretakers of our Mother Earth and if we do not start now there will be no future for our children to enjoy nature at her finest. I loved the video. It has a great message for humanity. It is time the children of earth protect their birthright.

-Linda Wiechman (Lower Elwha Klallam)

Ours is a culture that speaks of marriages between mountains and watershed, where animals and forests precede our existence so they have many stories to tell us for our health and wellness. Our culture tells us that the animals and plants tell each other stories, stories of times before the destruction came. As humans do, animals, plants, trees, and water have a genetic memory. Even your science understands that. This is why you continue to see Native Americans suffer every socio economic issue at higher rates in every category than any other nationality because we have a genetic memory of these spaces. These spaces are a part of us, and you are doing the same to these spaces, these Forests, that you have done and continue to do to us.

Maybe this is why it does not matter.

These Forests, what you call "Doc Holiday," are not just culturally significant, they are our culture, they established it, everything that we are exists in there, we were forced to move away, stay away, and watch as it continues to be destroyed. Everything that we are now was imposed by a violent system that disallowed us from practicing our culture within and of the forests through genocidal tactics. To destroy these forests is just a continuation of that.

-Anthony Fernandes (Lower Elwha Klallam)

"They wait for elite legal minds to win in court; then they arrive to claim the image. But the Earth is not an image. It is a Sacred Record."