Imagine

When Lummi Nation defeated the coal export developers at Xwe'chi'eXen (Cherry Point), Lummi councilman Jeremiah Julius called Cherry Point their Jerusalem, a sacred place where their ancestors resided prior to being displaced by white settlers. Long before it was a toxic waste site occupied by petroleum refineries, Cherry Point was a place of significance in Lhaq'temish (Lummi) culture. As one of several prime reef netting locations, Xwe'chi'eXen was a community of unpolluted abundance.

Recently, the petroleum industry announced its intention to come after Washington state and all the "clean green" programs initiated by the Washington Legislature and Governor Inslee. While Washington develops the latest in electrical conversion of its ferries, the petroleum industry is preparing for war in 2024. 

Meanwhile, toxic discharge by the Cherry Point oil refineries into the Salish Sea continues. They can't even imagine a future without them. But I can. Imagine a restored Xwe'chi'eXen, exchanging the blight of petrochemical smokestacks for a Salish cultural center powered by renewable energy, overlooking the beach where Lhaq'temish families landed canoes, dried salmon and baked clams. 

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