Antelope Island State Park Visitors Center 4528 W 1700 S, Syracuse, UT 84075

 The Great Salt Lake (Shoshone: Ti'tsa-pa “Bad Water”^[1]) 

Great Salt Lake OfferingCeremony

September 30, 2023 | 10:00 am - 12:00 pm

Antelope Island State Park Visitors Center

4528 W 1700 S, Syracuse, UT 84075

This Sites & Insights will be a bit different. Instead of planning it ourselves, we are inviting you to join us for the Great Salt Lake Offering Ceremony that was organized by Emily Ostler and Darren Parry.

An offering ceremony to give back to the Great Salt Lake, which gives so much to us. In this ceremony, we will gather to recognize our shared dependence on Great Salt Lake. Great Salt Lake is the heart of the Salt Lake Valley and surrounding desert regions. The survival of life here depends on the survival of this lake. Humans have taken too much water from the Great Salt Lake. It is time to give back. By providing offerings of music, dance, art, words, and water, we will reestablish and deepen relationships of reciprocity with this life-giving lake, as well as with the animals, plants, ancestors, and others who call this place home. The ceremony will be led by Darren Parry, the former chairman of the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation. Utah's Native American communities have longstanding relationships with Great Salt Lake, and their leadership is crucial to ensuring sustainable, knowledgeable, and just use of these waters. All are welcome at this ceremony. We acknowledge that diverse migration paths have brought many people to call Utah home. This is a moment in which we must turn towards one another, acknowledge these shrinking waters, and commit to supporting one another through the waters that we share. Great Salt Lake sustains each of us and depends on each of our care to survive. The ceremony will be held on the morning of September 30, 2023, at 10 a.m., at the Visitors Center on Antelope Island. The first part of the ceremony will include dance and spoken word from performers. After this, Darren Parry will lead the offering ceremony. Agenda: - Darren Parry, to speak and lead the blessing ceremony - Carl Moore, to speak and to dance - Teri Harman, to speak - Corrina Bow, to speak and to sing - Thalia/Star Guerrero, to play the flute - Emily Ostler, to speak In preparation for the ceremony, we ask all attendees to go without water in some form for one day -- perhaps you do not shower, perhaps you do not water your lawn. Bring some tap water in a jar or another container to represent the water you gave up that day. We will each offer this water to the lake. Registration is required [as this event is not organized by UMA, registration will go through Eventbrite]. Attendees will be required to pay the $15/vehicle state park entrance fee or have a current state park pass. When you purchase a ticket, you will be requested to make a donation. This donation will support musical and dance contributions to the ceremony, as well as miscellaneous logistical costs. The remainder will support Native American communities in Utah, beginning with the Urban Indian Center and the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation, to use as they see fit.

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