Inaugural Native Student Graduation Celebration honors graduates

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The first-ever Native Student Graduation Celebration in Bellingham Public Schools honored graduates from all four high schools and Community Transitions in a ceremony on Friday, May 29 at the Western Washington University Lhaq’temish-ew’xw ets’e Xwlemi’ - House of Healing. 

The graduates represented diverse Indigenous tribal affiliations and traditions, which were represented by their families in various ways throughout the celebration.  

The program began with George Montero (Tlingit) sharing stories and playing a Native American flute. George was joined by his son, James Montero, whose drumming provided the heartbeat to the music shared with the community by his father.  

A procession introduced graduates to the audience. All were invited outside to witness the sharing of gifts by Dr. Will Makóyiisááminaa (Blackfeet) and Dr. Kristen French (Blackfeet/Gros Ventre), co-chair of the Bellingham Public Schools Native American Family Committee. Graduates circled up facing their families and guests, surrounded by educational gardens containing native plants and the natural scenery of the Sehome Arboretum.

Through a grant from the Bellingham Public Schools Foundation, the NAFC gifted each graduate a blanket to take with them to the next stage of their life. They were also presented with braided sweetgrass that was harvested from the WWU Healing Garden co-creating by the Native American Student Union (NASU) and the Beading, Reading, Eating, Weaving, and Healing Always (BREWHA) students. The sweetgrass was harvested and braided by Indigenous BPS students, families, and NAFC members.  

Skwetslatse’ mot Tammy Cooper-Woodrich (Nooksack), who has been a Tribal Storyteller since 1985, addressed the students and families with stories and inspirational notes of futures thinking while honoring the gifts of the past. Throughout the evening, graduates were commended for their accomplishments by several elders and received valuable advice and encouragement. 

During dinner, which was catered by Cesarita and John Ballew (Lummi) of Seawolf Surf n’ Turf, family members shared stories, memories, and hopes for their graduates’ futures. The catered meal of salmon and frybread was accompanied by an array of dishes provided by families, including some that were prepared in the traditional ways of their tribes.  

"Being the very first graduation celebration held in the WWU Lhaq’temish-ew’xw ets’e Xwlemi’ - House of Healing, it is not surprising that the BPS Native Student Graduation Celebration felt like a healing experience," Dr. French said. "Surrounded with love from family, community, and educators, this event signaled a new beginning for these extraordinary Native graduates. It also heralded a new era for Bellingham Public Schools' commitment to honoring Native children, their families, and Indigenous futurities."

Funded and programmed by the Native American Family Committee, the celebration also connected district families with the Lhaq’temish-ew’xw ets’e Xwlemi’ - House of Healing at WWU. The Coast Salish style longhouse honors “...the historic importance of place that it occupies in acknowledgement of the University’s responsibility to promote education opportunities for Native and all other students,” according to the WWU website. The building was constructed in partnership and collaboration with Coast Salish tribal nations and the WWU Native American Student Union.