The season of gratitude and giving is upon us. The exciting news is that we are able to continue our traditional Giving Tree supporting 5 local agencies. These agencies need our help more than ever and families need our support as they struggle to make life “normal” and survive.
Our Giving Tree decorated with tags is coming back to the foyer of our church! The tree will be up starting November 18. Elves will be on site to help you with questions and selection!
Our 5 chosen agencies are: Friends of Youth, Hopelink, The Sophia Way, Sound Health, and Youth Care. These agencies support youth, families, seniors, and others in need.
You have the option of shopping at a store or shop in the comfort of your home! There are four ways to give. In either case: Step 1: Visit the Giving Tree in the foyer of the church and select a tag. All tags and “gifts” to be returned by December 14. Tags vary in amount of value but are generally $25-$50.
Please stop by the Giving Tree November 18-December 14 and pick up a tag!
Select a tag from the tree, purchase the gift, attach the tag, and return to ESUC by December 14.
If you prefer to purchase a Gift Card: Select a tag from the tree that requests a gift card. Return the tag with Gift Card attached to ESUC. The Giving Tree Ministry will sort and deliver to the appropriate agencies.
If you prefer to donate money: You can give to East Shore online or mail in a check. In both instances, please put “Giving Tree” in the memo line. The money will be distributed evenly between the five agencies. Please note, all donations go to the East Shore Operating Fund to support programs like Giving Tree and more.
This is a great opportunity for family giving! We thank you in advance for your generosity to these people in need.
The Giving Tree Ministry team is comprised of Janis Pock (chair), Linda Brown, Stephanie Chelbowski, Sharon Cooper, Paula Doe, Mitra Khubcher, Kathi Moritis, Milly Mullarky, Marty Wilhelm, Peggy Phillips. Thank you also to Amanda Uluhan and the RE Community. Do you want to join our team? Contact Janis Pock
The East Shore Meaningful Movies Bellevue team invites you to participate in our monthly screenings!
We show social justice documentaries on the fourth Tuesday of the month, starting at 7:00 p.m.
We started off our fall screenings with Single Use Planet, This film looks at a number of economic and political realities that underscore the increase in single-use plastics pollution. In October, we screened Fish War, a 2024 documentary about a series of civil disobedience protests by Coast Salish tribes during the 1960s and 1970s. In November, we will show Rid-All Green Partnership about the transformation of an illegal dumping ground into an urban farm promoting community pride and wellness. These films address many of our UU values as they highlight the inherent dignity of everyone and inspire us to act on many social justice issues in our region.
Another way to participate in Meaningful Movies Bellevue is to join the team. We’re a mighty group of people who have a lot of fun together as we select films and plan every monthly event. Each person on the team handles a specific task, and every summer we have a potluck at which we select films and plan for the next year. If you’re interested in joining the team or would like more information about Meaningful Movies Bellevue, please contact Lynn Roesch – [email protected] – and she’ll be in touch with you. Hope to see you at the movies!
During the first week in August, Tribal Canoe Families from as far away as Oregon and Southeast Alaska converged on the land of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, just west of what we call Port Angeles.
The annual tribal canoe journey began in 1989, reviving cultural and spiritual practices outlawed by colonial governments. East Shore members may remember the Paddle to Muckleshoot Canoe Journey in 2023, when the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe hosted the final landing at Alki Beach in West Seattle. Several East Shore members gathered at the beach to welcome the canoes ashore that summer.
This year, two members of the Indigenous Connections Team travelled to the land of the Lower Elwha Klallam people. Marilyn Mayers worked in the kitchen, helping prepare meals for thousands of canoe family members and friends who attended the five-day gathering. Carrie Bowman supported a camp for members of the Kingfisher Canoe Family, led by Phreddie Lane of Lummi Nation.
After generations of advocacy, the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe and their guests celebrated the removal of two hydroelectric dams (completed in 2014), as well as the safe passage of over 100 canoes. Youth welcomed canoes in the Klallam language and invited them ashore to rest and share food, stories, and dances.
This year, due to fierce winds and rough seas, many canoes were trailered or towed by boat to the final landing. The effected canoe families asked permission to come ashore during Protocol.
“Protocol” begins the day after the landing, with each canoe family allotted 90 minutes to share songs, drumming, dancing, and teachings on the main floor of a large arena. Participants wear regalia with intricate beadwork and weaving, often handmade or inherited. With over 100 canoe families this year, Protocol started at 8am and continued until after midnight, each day for five days. The term “protocol” refers to the ancient practices tribal members honor during canoe family landings, celebrations, and ceremony.
For example,
During the landing:
Canoes cannot come ashore until a paddler in the canoe asks permission from the hosting tribe (the tribe whose land includes the beach).
Canoes come ashore one at a time. Other canoes either wait offshore, or a member of the host nation holds the canoe slightly off the beach.
After coming ashore, a canoe is carried higher on the beach away from the tide zone. (At the Port Townsend landing, volunteers gathered to carry some canoes all the way into the campground because of the tsunami warning.)
During Protocol in the arena:
Members of the host tribe (usually youth) invite canoe families to the floor.
No one crosses the main floor when a Canoe Family has the floor; protocol says to walk around the edges.
The seats closest to the floor are for elders.
Before leaving the floor, a tribe asks permission from the host to leave their lands and waters and return home.
Gift giving is part of a tribe’s presentation.
The host tribe concludes Protocol on the final day, with a joyous potlatch celebration of song, dance, and gift giving.
People who are not native are welcome to attend landings and are usually (but not always) welcome to attend Protocol. Sometimes the practice is to wait for an invitation. Tips for visitors include
Ask permission before touching or photographing canoes.
Avoid walking or standing between the canoes and tribal members greeting them.
Listen, observe, and avoid interrupting ceremony or speakers to ask questions or make comments.
When asked not to record songs and dances (audio and/or video), honor the request. When taking photographs, be aware of what is allowed – sometimes asking permission is appropriate.
Always remember that this is about the Indigenous people, not about the visitors.
The experience of welcoming canoes ashore is thrilling for visitors, volunteers, and support teams. For Indigenous people, the canoe journey is healing. For members of a Swinomish canoe family, the journey this year was profound: as paddles moved through the water and songs filled the air, killer whales arrived to swim alongside their canoe. “Our paddles and our canoes didn’t hit the water for a long, long time,” Joe Williams said. “These songs hadn’t been sung, these prayers haven’t been said in generations.”….. ”The whales held that memory.”….. “We know that everything that we need is in our environment, and being a piece of the environment, not controlling your environment, is the lesson.” (from Seattle Times, Isabella Breda, August 2, 2025)
We had a great turn out for the Seattle Pride Parade on Sunday, June 29! Thank you to all who came and to the Welcoming Congregations Team for organizing. This is the second year we have marched in the parade in recent history. We marched under the banner of Unitarian Universalists of the PNW and were joined with our friends from Westside UUC, University UC and other UUs from the area. We plan to march again next year, so mark your calendars for the last Sunday in June for this great community building event that continues our commitment to being a Welcoming Congregation!
by Nicole Duff, Director of Membership Development
Members of East Shore’s Indigenous Connections Team contributed to a pre-recorded webinar that was offered at General Assembly (GA) in June. The Indigenous Connections Team represents one of many UU congregations in the Pacific Northwest that has established connections with Tribal individuals, organizations and communities, supporting environmental, cultural, legislative, and spiritual efforts and activities. In the webinar, you hear on-the-ground stories of how PNW UUs reach out, engage and support indigenous communities locally, regionally, nationally and internationally.
The webinar was created through JUUstice Washington, a regional group of UUs working on ways to address challenges brought on by social and environmental injustice. Members of East Shore’s Indigenous Connections Team focus on work with advocates for individuals and communities affected by the trauma of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW). Many of you participated in the Faceless Doll project highlighted in our presentation. The dolls created during the project honor missing and murdered women and were featured in our Gallery and at King County Libraries.
If you’re interested in UU action and outreach focused on our PNW indigenous neighbors, check out the recording:
If you want to jump right into the East Shore section, it starts about 37 minutes in.
On May 23 and 24, members of the Indigenous Connections Team and other East Shore members showed up to volunteer at Lummi Nation for the 5th annual potlatch for the Gathering of the Eagles canoe journey. After a week paddling through the ancestral waters of the Lummi people, the canoe families celebrated with a final night of dancing, drumming, singing, and feasting on the Stommish Grounds at Lummi. At the last minute, we learned that the Longhouse was no longer available, so we set up an indoor-outdoor kitchen (without a refrigerator) and prepared a meal for about 60-80 people. We moved around a lot of coolers! Lynn Roesch and son Andrew; Erika Jackson Kirkendall and family members Jason and Damian; and Carrie Bowman and Mike Radow worked with other UUs from Kirkland, Woodinville, and Olympia to create a mighty team. The paddlers and ground support crews were grateful. Protocol and gift-giving on May 23 lasted until 2:30 am on May 24.
The next day, the canoes launched from Lummi Nation and landed at the mouth of Whatcom Creek in Bellingham, a place where tribal members traditionally fished more than a century ago. Now the site of two parks, the canoes came ashore at Waypoint Park and were carried up to Maritime Heritage Park. Our kitchen crew had hot chowder, salmon, and sandwiches to share with anyone who came by – elders and canoe families were offered food first.
East Shore folks experienced the canoe landings as profoundly moving. Everyone noticed the deep sense of community, the faith that things will come together, and the openness to everyone who wanted a meal, including unhoused folks.
We hope you can join us on July 18 at East Shore when we welcome a totem pole carved by the Lummi House of Tears Carvers as a gift to the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe. The totem pole will be presented to the Tribe as hosts of the 2025 Paddle to Elwha intertribal canoe journey, and in recognition of their decades-long effort to remove the dam on the Elwha River.
