Indigenous Youth Tule Canoe Build- BAAITS 2S IndigeQueer Youth Contingent

Important Notes: This event will not be advertised via social media, and we ask you not to share the invitation, please. This event will prioritize IndigeQueer Youth (30 yrs/younger). All are invited to register and we will let you know if others will be able to attend. We will use your registration email address to send further information.**

Avi Tule Canoe Building Workshop on Tomales Bay/Tamal-liwa with Alliance for Felix Cove

BAAITS Two Spirit IndigeQueer Youth Contingent

Saturday, November 4, 2023, Arrive in Tomales Bay at 10am

Register for More Details

BAAITS invites IndigeQueer Youth to join our continent for a day long event Our friends at Alliance for Felix Cove have invited our organization to collaborate in this important community work and learn more about Tule and its role in these lands. ​Join us for this exciting in-person knowledge share at in Point Reyes Station at Tomales Bay. Get ready to learn the art of Avi tule canoe building led by Redbird Willie as we experience what being in relationship with Tamal-liwa, seasons, tides, and Tule means. We are excited to re-welcome Indigenous youth to the waters of the SF Bay.

​The Avi tule canoe build is being hosted on two separate days. Come for one day or participate in both!

​Saturday, November 4, 2023: 10am - 4pm

​Carpooling encouraged as parking is limited to 30 vehicles.

​We understand if folks need to arrive late or leave early. Your participation is appreciated!

​All participants must register, including youth, parents, and/or any chaperones so we have an accurate head count. Thank you!

For our BAAITS Contingent: Zamora (Program Manager)asks all participants to bring tobacco/medicine offering from your tradition, or an appropriate gifting for our teacher/master artist and culture bearer, as well as our host organization Alliance for Felix Cove. This is to help us honor each other and our ancestors. In this way BAAITS is offering our IndigeQueer community this teaching around how we will mark our greeting of each other in mutual understanding and respect, as we honor and develop our protocol of exchange and gifting in this way.

​In this knowledge share workshop we will learn:

• ​​Relationship building with land, waters, plants and resources
• ​​Cultural healing/connection to ancestors through TEK
• ​Sorting and bundling tule reed
• ​​Cordage making, lacing, and tying
• ​​Significance of water ways to Indigenous people of the Bay Area
• ​​Building a small 6 ft tule canoe and placing in Tamal-liwa for a brief paddle
• ​​Local efforts to rematriate, land back projects and the importance of traditional teachings
• ​​History of colonization of Point Reyes: the Felix Family story, efforts by the Coast Miwok Council and Graton Rancheria

​Additional Info:

• ​Please dress in layers for changing weather conditions. Feel free to bring a camp chair and water bottle.
• ​We will have a catered lunch with options for vegetarians and non-vegetarians alike as well as gluten free options. Please let us know if you have any other dietary needs, preferences or food allergies.
• ​Please bring reusable water bottles, cloth napkins, and non-one time use items. We will have water available to refill your bottles! Ample compost, recycling, and trash bins will be provided. Let's not spoil this beautiful land by creating or leaving debris!
• ​We are grateful for the amount of folks that are open to gather in person. Let's protect each other by keeping 6ft distance, wearing a mask, and sanitizing our hands. There will be masks and hand sanitizer available.

​Honoring the Coast Miwok/Tamal-ko Felix Family

• ​​This workshop is part of the Alliance's Indigenous Youth Kayak Program to Re-Indigenize Tama-liwa.
• ​We are commemorating the Coast Miwok/Tamal-ko Felix Family who lived at Felix Cove (Laird’s Landing) and Marshall Beach—and all the Tamal-ko families who lived at Tomales Bay as recent as the 1950s.
• ​This gathering is for invited relatives, friends, and close allies. Please do not circulate or invite folks without permission from the Alliance.

​About the Instructor:

​Redbird Willie, a true Native of California—Pomo, Wintu, Paiute, and Wailaki—is a native ecologist and Traditional Ecological Knowledge keeper in the realms of traditional skills, permaculture, basket weaving, herbalism, and regalia-making. After graduating from UC Berkeley with a degree in Native Studies, Redbird continued a self-education fueled by his desire to uncover and rekindle the cultural earth-based knowledge of California Indians. Also an artist—drawing, painting, and sculpture—Redbird has been a core organizer of the annual Buckeye Gathering, a gathering in support of ancestral arts held in Northern California.

~~

All BAAITS members must register to attend. We will be prioritizing IndigeQueer Youth, so we will confirm your spot via email and we will send further directions. Rides are limited so you will be asked if you are driving and if you can drive another person with you. With participants approval, parts of the day will be recorded and documented.

All BAAITS programming is created by and for Indigenous Two Spirit & Indigequeer TG/GNC LGBQIA+ peoples, and we ask everyone to be respectful of this focus.

Please follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Eventbrite to receive notices of our upcoming programming.

Bay Area American Indian Two-Spirits (BAAITS) exists to restore and recover the role of Two-Spirit people within the American Indian/First Nations community by creating a forum for the spiritual, cultural and artistic expression of Two-Spirit people.