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They want to tell the real history, celebrate vibrant people of the Coast Salish

Wilma Rimer collection
/
Wikicommons
Coast Salish people reef netting, a form of fishing that's still practiced today.

Robert Jago wants Northwesterners to learn the real history of this land. Jago says the places where we work, live and play today are also sites of religious significance or legendary battles for Indigenous peoples. But most of that history is buried and forgotten. 

That’s why Jago launched the Coast Salish History Project in July.

The project aims to create accessible histories of the Coast Salish people. Jago also wants to show non-Native people who their Indigenous neighbors are.

“They see the tragedies, but they don’t see our history. They don’t see our culture. So they don’t understand us as three-dimensional people,” he says.

KNKX’s Ed Ronco talked to Jago about what he hopes the project will change and heard some of the stories Jago is trying to revitalize.

Listen above.

Ed Ronco is a former KNKX producer and reporter and hosted All Things Considered for seven years.