Lummi Nation opposes BP plan to buy Cherry Point near Bellingham
The Lummi Nation has announced it is opposing a British Petroleum plan to buy Cherry Point.
Located near Bellingham, Cherry Point is known to the Lummi people as Xwe’chi’eXen, and is the first recognized archaeological site in Whatcom County.
It is the location of an ancient Lummi village and considered an ancestral burial site.
The Lummi Nation says that BP proposed buying the land for the first time earlier this month in hopes that the purchase would be completed by the end of the year.
“The 1,100-acre parcel has been under threat by corporations for decades,” said a spokesperson. In 2016, Lummi Nation won a nearly five-year battle against SSA Marine and its attempt to turn it into the largest coal port in North America.”
The landscape and seascape at Xwe’chi’eXen have since been recognized as a Tribal Cultural Property and burial ground by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
“For thousands of years, and continuing to this day, our people have lived here, fished here, gathered plants here, raised families here, and buried loved ones here,” said Lummi Nation Chairman Anthony Hillaire. “The connection the Lummi Nation has to this place is beyond archeological significance.”
“We have a sacred obligation to protect our lands and our ancestors, the ancient ones who rest here,” he continued.
