On a crisp November evening, under the incandescent glow of Seattle’s Paramount Theatre marquee, a crowd of thousands formed for a one-night event - Netse Mot: One Heart, One Mind.
The Bellingham-based, Indigenous-led nonprofit Children of the Setting Sun Productions created the show to honor their elders and celebrate the beauty and resilience of their people.
“Indigenous month isn't just a month. It's my existence. It's my identity. It's my everyday life. But it's really an opportunity for the outside world to honor us, honor our culture. And it's a chance for us to share with them as well,” said Qa:lqemot Santana Rabang, the Setting Sun Institute Project Manager.
For this year’s event, CSSP partnered with the National Congress of American Indians, the oldest and largest body of native leaders in the United States.
The group says the show nearly sold out, totaling more than 2,000 people from across different native communities and the greater Seattle area. It was the second year they held the show at the historic venue.
“I think this is a chance for us to showcase who we are, where we come from. We have people coming from all different backgrounds, and this really is for the people. This is it for us. Of course, we're here, and we get to enjoy it. But the best part is being able to see the reactions from the audience, being able to see the emotion, the vulnerability, the strength, the resiliency,” Rabang said.
“It means everything to me to be able to be a part of this, but to be able to experience it through other people's eyes.”
Among the featured performers: host, comedian and activist, Dallas Goldtooth; the Delbert Anderson Quartet, the host of PBS’s America Outdoors Baratunde Thurston and many others.
This year marks CSSP’s 10th year as an organization. Central to their work is telling Coast Salish stories through film and education.
“Our story really goes back further in family, generations, where we started. One of our ancestors started a dance group called Children of the Setting Sun, and so we gain inspiration from our ancestor, who took care of our culture and our traditions, and our songs and dances ... And at a time where our culture was, you know, outlawed and taken away from us. So we're really fortunate that, you know, we were able to bring that story forward and continue to be storytellers for our community,” said daniseten Michael Vendiola, Chief Operating Officer of Children of the Setting Sun Productions.
Vendiola says they're working to redevelop a new Bellingham headquarters thanks to the generosity of another organization, Mindport Exhibits, that closed its former museum.
“We were really fortunate to be gifted a building in downtown Bellingham, and what that means for us is so much of our work has been in film and ... productions that are outside of our, you know, our home. And so this will give us an opportunity to really ... we like to say it's a return to our ancestral home and being able to tell our stories from our home base. And our home that will bring people from all over, you know, to learn about Coast Salish ways of life,” Vendiola said.
Vendiola says they also purchased the building next door to their headquarters. The work is well underway.
“We'll be doing over the next year: the renovation and putting in all of the features that will be there inside and outside. Some of that work has begun already,” he said.
