My school teachers used to insist that “the only stupid question is the question that you do not ask.”  I sure hope they were right!  It pains me to admit that I am unclear on the names of native groups in my area. Yet this lack of awareness is widespread among ‘white folks’ like me . . . and the best time to get informed is NOW. According to various web sites, the Puget Sound region that I call ‘home’ is also ‘home’ to the Salish cluster of people groups. These include the Skagit, Swinomish, Snohomish/Tulalip, Sauk-Suiattle, Duwamish, Muckleshoot, Nisqually, Puyallup,…

Thankfully I am not the only one asking “whose feet” walked the Pacific Northwest of North America before the Europeans arrived. Next month’s winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada will be co-hosted by the Lil’wat, Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations. BBC: Aboriginal Canadians divided over Vancouver Olympics If the BBC has got it right, opinion in the aboriginal community is mixed, revealing both optimism and pain. Some see the Olympics as a great opportunity to educate the world about native culture. Others say that this massive celebration wastes resources and sugarcoats the history of a stolen land.  It’s not my…