The Snoqualmie Tribe asks for support to protect their most sacred site

[TexasTowelie]

An astonishing 1.5 to over 2 million people visit Snoqualmie Falls a year. With the increase in recreation and growing allure of Snoqualmie Falls, the tribe that considers this area sacred says the land is being “loved to death.”

The increase in recreation has resulted in the degradation of their ancestral lands, but one particularly loud intrusion – helicopter tours flying close to the falls – is a consistent disruption to their spiritual connection to the falls.

The falls are considered the Snoqualmie Tribe’s place of creation. It is where they gather to connect in ceremony and prayer to their ancestors and their creator. The noise of the helicopter tours make prayer incredibly difficult.

Billows of water stream down Snoqualmie Falls and erupt into a cloudy mist as it reaches the bottom of the 268 foot drop into the Snoqualmie river. The hiss of the falls is a soothing invitation to replenish mind, body and spirit in prayer and to convene with the generations of Snoqualmie people that came before.

Read more: https://crosscut.com/news/2022/01/snoqualmie-tribe-asks-support-protect-their-most-sacred-site

[secondwind]

1. We were in Australia several years ago......

Amazing people, amazing country. We took a bus tour to go to The Outback and see Ayers Rock (Uluru).

It’s hard to describe the vast stretches of nothing……and then all of a sudden, there it is……Uluru (Ayers Rock). We were in awe. The bus driver gave us a short lecture about the area, and then said they could get off the bus and climb the rock, BUT THE NATIVES PREFERRED IF WE DID NOT.

My husband and I and another couple were shocked as the bus unloaded and folks walked to Uluru and began to climb.

The bus driver said most people do not abstain, even after hearing about the history and customs of the locals. This saddened me deeply.