a longhouse for the breathless
in the shadow of logging empires
treaties broken for railroad gold
a house is being built
not to conquer
not to profit
but to remember
in partnership with coast salish peoples
is building a longhouse
a real one
not a metaphor
not a token
a gathering place for native students
a ceremonial hearth
a restoration of architecture, memory, and belonging
this is not a reparation
this is not a handout
this is mercy
the university asked for $4.9 million in the state’s capital budget
to build this structure —
not for legacy donors
not for white comfort
but for songs that were almost silenced
the longhouse will include:
🔹 indoor and outdoor kitchens
🔹 a gathering hall
🔹 rooms for students, elders, and ceremony
🔹 a design shaped by native voices
for generations, greed torched these sacred structures
paved the earth with parking lots and plastic chairs
and now — slowly — the land exhales
justice is not a trend
it’s a return
and every beam they raise is a prayer
every nail is repentance
every footstep across the threshold is the breath of ancestors sighing
this is restoration
this is the kingdom
not yet
but near
how to follow and support
this is the official site:
👉 https://www.wwu.edu/tribal-relations/longhouse
no middleman. no cut. just sacred ground.
share it. speak of it. breathe it back to life.
you don’t need to give money to honor this.
you just need to remember.
this is a step toward a world reborn.
let this longhouse be the first of many