Jesintel: Living Wisdom from Coast Salish Elders

by Children of the Setting Sun Productions, Danita Washington (Afterword), Fay "Beau" Garreau Jr. (Photographer)

Dynamic and diverse, Coast Salish culture is bound together by shared values and relations that generate a resilient worldview. Jesintel―"to learn and grow together"―characterizes the spirit of this book, which brings the cultural teachings of nineteen elders to new generations.

Featuring interviews that share powerful experiences and stories, Jesintel illuminates the importance of ethical reciprocal relationships and the interconnectedness of places, land, water, and the spirit within all things. Elders offer their perspectives on language revitalization, Coast Salish family values and naming practices, salmon, sovereignty, canoe racing, and storytelling. They also share traumatic memories, including of their boarding school experiences and the epidemics that ravished their communities. Jesintel highlights the importance of maintaining relations and traditions in the face of ongoing struggles. Collaboration is at the heart of this work and informs how the editors and community came together to honor the boundless relations of Coast Salish people and their territories.

Elders
Tom Sampson (Tsartlip First Nation)
Virginia Cross (Muckleshoot Tribe)
Ernestine Gensaw (Lummi Nation)
Steve and Gwen Point (Stó:lō Nation)
Gene and Wendy Harry (Malahat Nation)
Claude Wilbur (Swinomish Tribe)
Richard Solomon (Lummi Nation)
Elaine Grinell (Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe)
Arvid Charlie (Cowichan Nation)
Amy George (Tsleil-Waututh Nation)
Nancy Shippentower (Nisqually Tribe)
Nolan Charles (Musqueam Indian Band)
Andy de los Angeles (Snoqualmie Tribe)
Jewell James (Lummi Nation)
Kenny Moses Sr. Family (Tulalip Tribal Nation)
Ramona Morris (Lummi Nation)

Genres: Indigenous

224 pages, Paperback

Published April 11, 2023

Reviews

[Christian · Rating 5 out of 5]

This recent book has been in the works for, well, thousands of years. Jesintel: Living Wisdom from Coast Salish Elders from Children of the Setting Sun Productions — a Native-owned production company based in Bellingham — collects the lived experiences, first-hand knowledge, tribal traditions and ecological insights of indigenous elders from all around the Salish Sea. It is an anthology of a localized worldview that has developed over eons of intimate contact with the natural and cultural world of this place we call home.

Jesintel is a profound gift from regional tribal communities that have lived with and stewarded the lands and waters around the Salish Sea since Time Immemorial, offering a rare and intimate glimpse in to the shared values of a people with the deepest roots here in the Fourth Corner.

Published by the University of Washington Press, it collects interviews, stories, and intimate photographs of 19 Coast Salish elders. It is edited by Darrell Hillaire and Natasha Frey, and contains contributions by Lynda Mapes of the Seattle Times, Nicole Brown of Western Washington University and an afterword by Danita Washington of the Lummi Nation.

In its pages, Tom Sampson of the Tsartlip First Nation reflects on the importance of native languages and shares his people's Creation Story. Arvid Charlie of the Cowichan Nation tells the history of Tribal Canoe Journeys. Ernestine Gensaw of the Lummi Nation shares what life was like growing up on Portage Island, while fellow Lummi Jewell James describes his role in the House of Tears Carvers and how "dreams and visions guide (our) lives and spiritual understandings."

Salmon swim through these pages as the stories wind back and forth across the international border, from Vancouver Island to Cherry Point to Burnaby Mountain to the Mukilteo Treaty Beach - all places accessible by canoe. Other groups represented include the Tulalip Tribal Nation, Nisqually, Swinomish and Muckleshoot Tribes, Tsartlip First Nation and others.

Jesintel — which means “to learn and grow together” — brings the cultural teachings of elders to a new generation, offering modern society a roadmap to a respectful and resilient worldview.

[Raven · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful and informative book about the lives, traditions, and thoughts of elders from several tribes in the Coast Salish area. Well worth reading for any locals hoping to learn more about the cultures of the area.

[Sage · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very powerful book. I really appreciated the wide range of perspectives / wisdoms voiced here.