Coast Salish Partnership Programs
Co-creating new facilities and programs that offer increased access to the land for regional Native peoples.
For over five years, Pacific Rim Institute has partnered with the Coast Salish Youth Coalition for an inter-tribal Camas dig and bake event in the spring. PRI is well suited for this inter-tribal harvest event, as it is one hour or less of travel time from six different tribes. In 2024, over 130 people participated in the event, nearly half of them being youth, with 11 tribes represented. For some participants of this event, this is the first Camas bake in their family for the last 3 generations or more.
In order to expand this event, and support new events, PRI and the CSYC are working together for the Tribal Shelter Project. This project focuses on the restoration of 3 coops, 2 of them double-wide coops, for Tirbal use and access to PRI. In addition to using these coops during the Spring camas dig and bake, these coops will be utilized throughout the year for educational visits, retreats, and trips to tribal Sovereign Food Garden at Pacific Rim Institute. PRI already has one restored coop for short-term stays equipped with 2 large cots, which was utilized by elders who could not participate in tent-camping during the 2024 camas event. The restoration of 3 additional coops specifically for Tribal use increases PRI ability to host tribal events.
The Coast Salish Partnership Projects support PRI's mission of engaging science, CULTURE, and COMMUNITY for ecological restoration. We believe that environments are shaped by culture, and that culture itself is impacted by environments in turn. All places, then, are imbued with a diversity of stories.
At PRI we seek to listen deeply to the stories of the forest, savannah, and prairie spaces under our care—and to let those stories shape our stewardship of the land. We believe that healing of the land often involves the healing of broken relationships—between people and the land, and between people groups.
For that reason, PRI actively attends to the wisdom of regional Indigenous peoples and welcomes their active presence on the land we care for.
The first $3,000 will be used to create a short promotional video about the project and expand our ability to reach a lot of potential supporters and used in-person and online.
Project Gallery
