Seattle Embassy - Meeting Notes - December 5, 2019

Date: 12.5.2019

Attendees: Trevor, Brandon, Jay, Alex (Remote), Wesley, Matthew

Meeting Opener/Land Recognition: Trevor

Recap: Dougsgiving was awesome! Nice to do something outdoors and unstructured, and that was accessible to friends and new faces in an un-intimidating way. Thanks for bringing new people, delicious food, and celebrating together!

New Project (Trevor): Cascadian Solstice Survival Guide (holiday survival guide) - about having a warm winter together and how to maintain your communities in Cascadia when faced with the usual headaches of the holidays (cost, time, capitalism).

  • Includes things like how to consume responsibility, bioregional gift giving, Cascadian cookie-making, repurposed materials/upcycling (including junk mail as wrapping paper!)

  • Occupying a positive space that addresses seasonal blues or struggles

  • Delivery: out into the world next Friday (13th)

    • Cookie-making next Wednesday, hosted by Diplomat Claire!

    • Re-purposed wrapping paper next Thursday (at Diplomat meeting at Wallingford House), organized by Trevor

We Need: Basic infrastructure resources, such as how to define Cascadia, run a meeting, what it means to be a Diplomat. Online versions as well as in-print versions that can be accessed by people who

Wouldn’t It Be Skookum If….? (2020 version!)

  • Trevor: We built meaningful relationships with outside groups (like-minded folks), that those groups would start participating in our meetings and events - bioregionally focused in terms of groups (“Collaborate with us”) - regular communication or blog posts. Note: don’t reinvent the wheel if you don’t have to.

    • Diplomat field trips/outings?

    • Goal: getting new voices/from different groups on their issues from a Cascadian perspective or towards independence

  • Alex: We had a Cascadian Voter Pamphlet (“How to Vote as a Cascadian - Core Values”)

    • What are the implications for Cascadia, initiative-by-initiative

    • How to evaluate politics from a Cascadian perspective

    • I voted Cascadian (stickers) with the flag

  • Wesley: We could record, transcribe, print, and mass-produce “Indigenous Voices of Cascadia” and use it as an organizing tool within the bioregion

    • 4-5 solid interviews that can be transcribed and published in a small booklet or pamphlet

    • Producing them and giving them to the tribes as a resource

    • Different stories of colonization in order to address and bring to light traumas, show differences even within our own region

    • The importance of human-to-human connection

  • Brandon: We had entire resource kits available for new organizers: a simple and straight forward way for them to connect in, report back/log into the website, and to engage with our mission - an empowerment kit

  • Brandon 2: Gathered a petition with signatures demanding independence, and had a small group that hand delivers the petition on a selected day to their local capital (per state/province)

  • Brandon 3: Active groups with point people, with some kind of regional body that decides on campaigns that go to all groups

  • Matthew: We had an organic organizer in each of the 75 ecoregions/9 regions within Cascadia! Each running their own meeting!

    • A diplomat in each region that acts as someone who outreaches with groups and like-minds in their local area

  • Jay: We could get some politicians to wear the Cascadian flag on their lapels (publicly!)

Tonight’s Project(s):

  • How to Vote Cascadian (Jay, Alex)

  • Indigenous Voices of Cascadia (Wesley, Trevor)

  • Infrastructure: How to Host a Meeting (Brandon, Matthew)