‘We’re Still Here’: Echoes of Senćoŧen returns to Lime Kiln

Published 1:30 am Monday, July 20, 2026

Community members, tribal leaders and visitors from across the border will gather at Lime Kiln Point State Park on San Juan Island on July 23, from 6 p.m. until sunset, for the third annual Echoes of Senćoŧen gathering — an evening organized by Josiah French, through his organization PKOLS pq̕áls, with support from the Friends of Lime Kiln Society and Protectors of the Salish Sea.

This year’s gathering will feature Wsáneć elders and family members sharing songs and stories, continuing a tradition French has built into the event over the past three years.

This year’s theme, French said, is simple: “We’re still here.”

“That’s our theme,” he said. “We could tell you all kinds of things, but what we’re gonna do is celebrate being together.”

The event has grown over three years into something French describes less as a public program than a family gathering — one built around storytelling, song and shared food rather than performance. There will be no formal land acknowledgment, French said. Instead, attendees will hear directly from people with personal ties to the island and its history.

Among this year’s guests is Don Tom (Kwul’thut’stun), who served as elected chief of the Tsartlip First Nation for more than a decade and has worked alongside groups including the Sierra Club and the British Columbia Wildlife Federation. Also attending are Virgil Sampson and Tiffany Joseph (ŚW̱, XELOSELWET), along with PENA and SELILIYE, both traveling from Canada — several, French noted, setting foot on San Juan Island for the first time despite the island falling within their ancestral territory.

Maka, a Hawaiian advocate, singer-songwriter, recording artist and accomplished performer on the island of Hawaii, will speak about her family’s experience with colonialism in Hawaii and the connections between Hawaiian and Coast Salish communities.

French said the gathering also carries deep personal meaning, tied to the story of his great-grandmother Cecilia and her sisters, Mary Olsen and Mary French, who remained on the island after being deserted. “We remember that we’re still here,” French said.

Music will be provided by Paul Chiyokten Wagner, a W̱SÁNEĆ (Saanich) tribal member from southern Vancouver Island. An award-winning Native flutist and storyteller, Wagner performs traditional Coast Salish songs and stories internationally, drawing on songs received through visions of healing for all beings. French said part of the evening’s purpose is also to support the artists and singers who travel to participate, including helping cover the cost of flights from Victoria.

French emphasized that attendees don’t need to agree with everything discussed to be welcome. “As long as they come and allow us the space,” he said, the event can serve as a space for honest exchange rather than confrontation. He compared the atmosphere to a family dinner: people are invited to sit down, share food and listen, with the understanding that the conversation may turn personal or serious.

Food will again be central to the gathering, as it has been in past years. French said his mother, who recently moved to the island, will be taking over much of the cooking this year.

The event remains free and community-funded, French said, with support from local donors described as central to making the gathering possible.

Echoes of Senćoŧen begins at 6 p.m. on July 23 at Lime Kiln Point State Park and will run until sunset.