18th Annual Chiniki Lecture: Flourishing in the Seasonal Rounds

Rena's lyric essay, “Flourishing in the Seasonal Rounds,” reflects on how the Lhaq'temish people of the Salish Sea flourished for millennia through a reciprocal, seasonal relationship with the land and sea. The author weaves together personal narrative, poetry, and traditional ecological knowledge to map a cosmology of connection, gratitude, and resilience. This event invites listeners to reconsider what it means to truly flourish and to understand the deep, enduring bonds between people and place. Join us for a reading, talk, and conversation on the enduring hope for a new cycle of regeneration.

The event on March 27 will take place in Gallery Hall at Nickle Galleries, located on the University of Calgary campus. The event on March 28 will be held at Lake Louise in the Lakeshore Room at the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise.

Rena Priest is a citizen of the Lhaq’temish [Lummi] Nation. In a historic appointment, Priest was named Washington State’s sixth Poet Laureate (2021-2023), becoming the first Indigenous person to hold the position. In this role, she championed poetry that celebrated the ecological gifts of her ancestral homelands, the bioregion. She is an Academy of American Poets Fellow, a Maxine Cushing Gray Distinguished Writer, and a winner of a Washington State Book Award for poetry. Her new essay collection, Positively Uncivilized, was published as the winner of the 2025 Keepers of the Fire Award from Raven Chronicles Press. She is also honored to be a Seattle City of Literature grantee, selected to participate in an international literary exchange co-sponsored by the Melbourne City of Literature and the UNESCO City of Literature Network. Learn more at renapriest.com

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Host or Publisher The History and Greek & Roman Studies Departmental Graduate Association and The Stoney Tribal Administration