Land Acknowledgement
The Sacred Waters Center would like to acknowledge that our campus is standing on the unceded land of the first people of this area, the Twana-Skokomish Tribe, past and present. As a ministry of the Episcopal Church, we confess that our church has contributed to, or was complicit in, the process of colonization of the Indigenous peoples of the Western Hemisphere. While those of us alive today are not responsible for what our ancestors did in the past, we are responsible for what we do today, knowing that the colonization process is still in place, and the effects of it are still felt by Indigenous people.
What is now known as the Skokomish Tribe actually was primarily composed of Twana Indians, a Salishan people whose aboriginal territory encompassed the Hood Canal drainage basin in western Washington State. The tribe’s first recorded direct contact with European culture came in 1792 and resulted in a devastating smallpox epidemic that took the lives of many. There were nine Twana communities, the largest being known as the Skokomish, or “big river people.” The Twana subsisted on hunting, fishing and gathering activities, practicing a nomadic life-style during warmer weather and resettling at permanent sites during the winter. Twana descendants live on the Skokomish Reservation, and all have become known as the Skokomish Tribe.
Sacred Waters is specifically located on ancestral hunting & fishing land between "brush hanging over" cove and "view across the canal" in Twana dialect. We honor with gratitude Indigenous people for their resilience, faithfulness, wisdom, and respect for the Earth and all of creation, which we seek to emulate. We invite our guests to join us in nurturing a just relationship with Indigenous tribal people, particularly our neighbors, the Skokomish Indian Tribe, and are called to stand with them in their myriad struggles to recover from the effects of genocide and enforced assimilation into the dominant society.
Stories of Union
Dawn Hanson Smart (https://dawnsmartllc.weebly.com/) is the author of numerous books, including Untangled Intertwined, Crossing Time in Pine Creek, House of Solace, and Path to Portugal. She currently lives and writes on Hood Canal in Washington State, where she grew up, and is contributing local stories for Sacred Waters.
I thought it might be time to assure people that not everyone in Union is retired or has passed on. We do have young people among us. Let me introduce you to Violet Pearl Norrick, born here in 2014.
Her parents, Kymberly and Fred Norrick moved to Union fifteen years ago and were married at Alderbrook. I attended the ceremony and remember when Violet was born.
She’s a student at Olympia Waldorf School, a nonprofit preschool through 8th grade venue that talks about its approach as Educating the Whole Child, “head, heart and hands”. When I ask what she most enjoys about school she tells me of Main Lesson, the first 2-hour class of the day. It is taught in thematic blocks and she gives me an example that starts with the history and art of Ancient Rome, then goes on to Pi, Botany and Zoology. Each student creates a book during the year, starting on day one, writing notes about what they learn and making drawings in watercolor, pencil or charcoal to illustrate it. There also are blocks that include art, music and handwork, like needlepoint, quilting and embroidery, all of which she likes. Violet is involved as well in the acting class and its annual performance. Last year the presentation was a puppet show. Violet was its narrator. In previous years, she has been the lead in every play.
This past year she also played several parts in a production of Cinderella, a community-sponsored play presented at Faith Lutheran Church in Shelton. Can you tell that Violet loves acting and music? When I ask about her favorite thing, they are the first words out of her mouth. She plays piano, taught by her grandmother in person and on Zoom, violin and the recorder, learned at school. She listens to music as well, loving everything from jazz to rock to folk to house and admits that although she likes listening to string music, she doesn’t really care for playing it. Her favorite musicians are singer-songwriter Courtney Marie Andrews and Skyla Kate, a Union-based singer and guitar player.
To round out the activities that Violet pursues… there’s dance, with her participation in classes at the Johansen Olympia Dance Center—ballet, contemporary, acting and coming next year, music theater. She also likes to read and listen to audiobooks. And by the way, she is the co-creator and keeper of the Free Little Library for young people, located across the street from the Union Post Office and Union Deli. Swimming in Hood Canal and at the Alderbrook pool also makes the list, wearing dresses and lots of costumes, and playing with her friend, EverFree Rainbow. Now is that the name of a person you’d like to know? I would!
What else? Violet and I had a brief conversation about something she does that I share in. She calls it imaginative play, pretending you’re a fairy in the forest or that you live at the seashore and spend time collecting shells. She says the play gets very detailed, creating a story where she is the primary character. What do I share of this? I have written five novels. They all started with my imagining the plot and the characters as a way to put myself to sleep. It began when I was a teenager, although my writing did not start until I retired. Maybe many of us have this inventive inclination!
Violet just returned from a month-long visit to Iowa, seeing grandparents, aunts and uncles, and playing with her cousins. What’s next? School begins again right before Labor Day, dance classes and circus classes will continue, and there will be opportunities for more acting. She’s also taking part in the upcoming Washington County 4-H Fair in Elma, entering her Main Lesson Book and other artwork, and hoping to go on to the State Fair. So much to look forward to for this creative, imaginative, accomplished girl.
I want to thank Violet for letting me learn more about her!
And… please get in touch with me if you know other young people in Union who might be interested in telling their story through the Sacred Waters newsletter.
Read Previous Union Stories from Dawn
Our Calling
The Sacred Waters Center for Restoration and Retreat is an inclusive community rooted in rest and renewal, where every being is affirmed, all spiritual paths are honored, and the Earth herself is our healing teacher and guide.
Sacred Waters is an affirming interspiritual call to rest and human-ecological renewal. We are at home in our common union, honoring our inherent wholeness, and unfolding together within the practice of tenderness. Guided by the great love which holds us all, the soft pulse of tree roots, and the quiet tides that move through stillness and wild spaces, we offer inclusive welcome and a warm bowl of soup, remembering that when what is hard meets what is holy, healing flows outward into the world.
CORE VALUES:
Affirmation and Inclusion
– Embracing and affirming LGBTQIA2S+ identities and creating a space of radical belonging for all by making space for the vulnerable and essential work of cultivating healthy relationships, supporting greater mutual understanding between diverse peoples.
Interspirituality
– Honoring diverse spiritual paths and wisdom traditions rooted in shared sacredness beyond religious boundaries.
Rest and Renewal
– Valuing rest as a sacred, healing act, committing to both human and ecological renewal.
Wholeness and Interconnection
– Recognizing the inherent wholeness in each person by celebrating our interconnectedness with each other and the Earth.
Tenderness and Compassion
– Practicing tenderness as a spiritual and communal discipline by offering care, warmth, and nourishment.
Sacred Activism
– Trusting that healing flows when what is hard meets what is holy and committing to transformation through love, stillness, and presence.
Nature as Sacred Guide
– Listening to and learning from the wisdom of the natural and creaturely world, guided by the rhythms of trees, tides, and wild spaces.
Our Leadership
The Episcopal Diocese of Olympia stands at a transformative moment to expand our missional capacity and deepen our commitment to healing and wholeness, racial equity and creation care. The 13.5 acre property adjacent to St. Andrew's House Retreat and Conference Center, which has hosted the wellness center known as Harmony Hill for almost 40 years, has been acquired through a generous donation. This property offers the facilities and spaces to expand our mission of hospitality toward the cultivation of creative practices in racial and environmental justice, prayer and community. The existing ministries of the Circles of Color, Creation Care, St. Andrew's House and Harmony Retreats of Cancer Lifeline have come together to develop this new collaborative calling now named The Sacred Waters Center for Restoration and Retreat.
The Sacred Waters Leadership Council has contracted with Headwater People LLC to develop a strategic framework for building a sustainable foundation for a thriving new ministry of the Episcopal Diocese. Stay tuned for as we unveil plans in the coming months.
We Want to Hear From You
Get in touch so we can start working together.