Jan. 22 is Treaty Day marking the anniversary of the signing of the Point Elliott Treaty of 1855 between Pacific Northwest sovereign Indigenous tribes, including the Lummi Nation, and the government of the United States.

Seventh graders in Bellingham Public Schools had a unique opportunity to preview several short films produced by Children of the Setting Sun Productions (CSSP) honoring the importance of this anniversary. Students from Fairhaven, Kulshan and Whatcom middle school traveled to the Pickford Film Center and watched several documentaries including Treaty Day and Our Sacred Obligation.

These same films will be shown during the Treaty Day Film Festival at the Pickford Film Center this Saturday, Jan. 21. For more information on this weekend’s film festival, visit the Pickford website.

Bellingham Public Schools staff partnered on this year’s Treaty Day Film Festival by co-creating a list of educator and family guiding questions with CSSP to follow along with the films. Treaties and sovereignty are critical concepts covered in Since Time Immemorial curriculum for fourth and seventh graders.

Essential questions and understandings from the Since Time Immemorial curriculum include:
What were the political, economic and cultural forces that led to the treaties?
What are the names and locations of local sovereign nations?
Why are Northwest tribal views of salmon as sacred paramount to cultural survival?

For more on the local historical context of Treaty Day and guiding questions that can be used as one watches the films, click here.

Kulshan social studies teacher Ashlea Rosinski Shepherd attended the films on Thursday morning with her students and shared that she saw the film festival “as an opportunity to continue to build an educational partnership with members of the Lummi Nation and learn from their perspective.”

“History is not a singular story,” Rosinki Shepherd continued. “It is a story that is embedded in multiple perspectives and experiences from a variety of stakeholders.”

“We all must practice listening to and learning from those who have a different worldview from our own. That is when we truly grow.  As well, the story of Washington is deeply embedded in indigenous knowledge.”

Thank you to the Lummi Nation and the Children of the Setting Sun Productions for partnering with Bellingham Public School on these important learning opportunities.