By Kelton Sears for the Seattle Weekly

(Editor’s note: The Seattle Weekly is owned by the Sounder’s parent company Sound Publishing.)

“Nəc̓aʔmat (Nawt-sa-maat) is a powerful Lushootseed word,” Ramer said, citing its rough English translation as: One house. One heart. One prayer. United in Power to Protect the Sacred.

“Given that the alliance represents all of us coming together in unprecedented unified action to protect the Salish Sea, it seems like the perfect name for a new vessel. The symbolism of the new vessel is similar to the idea that we paddle in one canoe to protect and restore the Sacredness of the Salish Sea. Especially if this is the year that we abolish Columbus Day and honor indigenous peoples, what a beautiful way to recognize the deep roots, important wisdom and understanding about our waters and lands.”

Gretchen Krampf, a member of the Alliance, lead the charge to get “Nawt-sa-maat” on the Washington Transportation Commission’s radar as a potential name after being inspired on her ferry ride home to Orcas Island from an organizing meeting in Seattle with Ramer.

“There was an article in my local paper, The Islands’ Sounder, inviting proposed names for the new 144-car ferry, and ‘Nawt-sa-maat’ rang clear and true for me and this important work we are doing together to protect and restore the Salish Sea,” Krampf said. “Jumping into action and activating the Alliance Network, we began a grassroots initiative to gather signatures a week before the September 12th deadline.”

“It would be an honor to the Alliance, recognition of the committed leadership across the bioregion and all that is coming together to protect our Sacred Salish Sea, to have the Washington State Ferry Commission choose Nawt-sa-maat as the new ferry’s name.”

One of the Nawt-sa-maat’s pressing goals is to stop the proposed Kinder Morgan pipeline—a massive $5.4 billion project that would pump oil from the Alberta tar sands to a port in Burnaby, B.C., where potential spills would leak directly into the Salish Sea. The company’s safety and accident record is less than stellar.

This weekend begins the Alliance’s first major campaign, “4 Days of Action” which will begin in Seattle with a salmon welcoming ceremony and end in Vancouver B.C. with a treaty signing that will ratify the Nawt-sa-maat.