We are grateful to come together on the shores of the Salish Sea (Puget Sound), in connection with the "Mother of the Waters," Mt. Tahoma (Rainier). We honor the winged ones, the finned ones and the four-legged beings who reside here, where we are embraced by the elemental harmony of this sacred, healing land and space.

With deep gratitude, we gather in this beautiful space, which resides on the ancestral homelands of the Steh-chass people of the Squaxin Island Tribe. I honor the many Coast Salish peoples, including the Squaxin, Sq̓ʷaliʼabš (Nisqually), Chehalis, and other nations, for their sacred relationship with the land and their stewardship since time immemorial.