Arrival at Daybreak Star: A Return to Sacred Ground

---

 As the Immigrant Justice Prayer Walk came to a close, we arrived at Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center — a place of deep spiritual and cultural significance for Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest. Our steps, prayers, and songs carried us to this sacred space, where the land welcomed us home and the circle was made whole.  At Daybreak Star, the air felt thick with presence — of ancestors, resistance, and belonging. We were met by the medicine of song, the warmth of food shared in community, and the comfort of being in a place where Indigenous people have gathered, healed, and organized for generations. 

 Here, we laid down the weight of our prayers — for the undocumented, for the water, for the land, and for each other. This was not the end, but a continuation. A reminder that the journey for justice and dignity doesn’t end with one walk, but lives on in our steps forward from this place. 

Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center stands on land reclaimed by Indigenous people through direct action. In 1970, a group of Native activists led by the United Indians of All Tribes Foundation occupied Fort Lawton — a decommissioned military base — asserting treaty rights and demanding land be returned to Native people. Their efforts succeeded, and part of the land was granted to the Native community.  Built in 1977, Daybreak Star has since become a central gathering place for Indigenous people in Seattle and beyond — a home for cultural preservation, spiritual practices, community support, and political organizing. It is sacred not only because of the land itself, but because of the struggle, prayer, and resilience it took to reclaim it.