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Young adults learn legacy of nuclear weapons

The 11-day Fierce Nonviolence Pilgrimage: A Journey of the Heart in Washington from July 28 to Aug. 7 drew 12 young adults to build relationships with people affected by racism, violence and the nuclear age and to train them as community organizers.

Bombing survivor Norimitsu Tosu, organizer Fumi Tosu and Deb Abrahamson, top; Doresty and Laurel Daniel, left second row, and the pilgrims on a two-day Peace Walk to Ground Zero.

Eighty years after atomic bombs were dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the young people began by learning of the impact of mining, testing and storing nuclear weapons

“Until we are friends, nothing changes, so they established personal connections,” said Michael Ellick, a pastor at University Congregational UCC in Seattle and one of the coordinators.

The church co-sponsored the project with Dandelion House, The Hearth and the Austin Story Project.

Lead facilitator Fumi Tosu of Dandelion House in Portland said the immersion explored spiritual roots and nonviolent social change practices.

“We did inner soul work  that fuels outer work of justice, in the lineage of Jesus of Nazareth, Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr.,” he said. 

The pilgrimage culminated Aug. 3 to 7 with presentations, peace walks and anti-nuclear rallies in Greater Seattle.

“In a world facing threats of authoritarianism, climate crisis and war, we explored spirituality and strategies of nonviolent social change, asking how we create the beautiful world we so deeply desire?” said Fumi.

Participants heard from tribal leaders, Marshallese leaders and others impacted by the U.S. nuclear weapons program, including Fumi’s 83-year-old fatber, Norimitsu Tosu, a survivor of Hiroshima— hibakusha.

Training in nonviolent social change was woven through activities, introducing participants to the history, strategies and spirituality of nonviolence, so they gained tools to apply in their own communities.

It included ritual, storytelling. reflection, contemplative practice and nonviolent action at the Trident submarine base, .

Participants heard from communities impacted.

Twa-le Abrahamson, an environmental educator and cultural restorer from the Spokane Tribe of Indians, told of contamination from the Midnite Mine that employed tribal members to mine uranium from an open pit on the reservation, and transport it through town  to Hanford. Her mother, other relatives and tribal members have died of cancer and other illnesses. She now works to bring healing by restoring cultural traditions with canoe trips and Salish language.

“The same story played out from big companies across the world in indigenous communities,” said Twa-le. “They mine, pollute and leave. We went from grief to healing by restoringour  traditions and sovereignty as we are on the waters, gathering food and being together.

Then the pilgrims met Doresty Daniel, a Marshallese woman who lives in Spokane with other Marshallese, who can no longer live in the Marshall Islands after the U.S. “tested” 67 nuclear bombs, contaminating the islands and ocean, separating them from their homeland and culture.

Doresty’s daughter, Laura Daniel, wants to advocate for the elders to go back home and to have what they had.

“We can move forward and be resilient. We can survive. We are a strong people,” said Doresty, noting that Spokane has one of the largest communities of displaced Marshallese in the U.S. as compensation for the destruction of their islands.

The Yakama Nation invited the young adults to visit the Hanford nuclear reactor site, one of the three original Manhattan Project sites that created bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and tested in the Marshall Island.

On a Columbia River boat tour of the site, Rose Ferri, the Yakama historic preservation officer, pointed to the B reactor where they made weapons grade plutonium for bombs.

Irene Contreras of the Yakama environmental restoration and waste management, told of songs and prayers specific to White Bluff, a sacred site contaminated by downwind releases.

They also heard from Norimitsu Tosu, who was three when the bomb dropped.

“Spiritual grounding was important for my journey, said Fumi, who beging each morning with a song and poetry. “Silence was integrated in the afternoon and the days close with an evening ritual and stories.”

With nonviolence training woven into each day for the peace pilgrims, they reflected on the region’s desecration by nuclear weapons, and considered Fumi’s question? “How we can chart a different course towards peace and healing?”

The group’s nonviolence training included storytelling.

On Aug. 3, they arrived to Seattle. On Aug. 4 began a two-day Peace Walk from Bainbridge Island to Chief Seattle’s grave on the Suquamish Reservation to Ground Zero. Aug. 5 they did a “Day Before Destruction” action at Trident Nuclear Submarine Base in Bangor. Aug. 6 was a Peace Walk from Lake Forest Park to Green Lake and the “From Hiroshima to Hope Lantern Event.” Aug. 7 was the closing ceremony.

Fumi, who founded the Dandelion House Catholic Worker community in Portland, is a long-time nonviolent activist, storyteller, community-builder and peacemaker.

Norimitsu who was born in April 1942 in Hiroshima, and was at his home on the morning of Aug. 6, 1945, 1.3 kilometers from the epicenter of the atomic bomb. He lost two siblings, but he, his twin brother and their parents survived.

He earned a doctoral degree in linguistics from Yale University and now a retired professor. He lives in Tokyo. His story is at ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/interview-survivor-hiroshima-bombing.

Michael, who has served at UCUCC for three years, promoted events in Seattle and co-designed the pilgrimage.

After visiting sites used to produce the first atomic bombs, the pilgrims presented their findings at several public events, he said.

“The Peace Walk was a contemplative experience for the next generation to gain the skils of meditating, teaching and engaging in social justice ministry and action,” he said.

“We used the truth and reconciliation model to create contact with local Indigenous, Marshallese, Japanese and African American communities,” he said.

“This work is not just teaching us academically but engaging us in meaningful relationships with people impacted. Social change is built from relationships,” said Michael.

The Fierce Nonviolent Pilgrimage exposed the young people to facts about the impact on communities as a way for them to learn how to make meaningful change.

Two participants who live in Olympia hosted as”Teach-In” on the pilgrimage and nuchear weapons on Oct. 27.

For information, email fumi@dandelionhouse.org or mellick@universityucc.org or visit fiercenonviolence.org/2025-pilgrimage or universityucc.org. A video is available it https://youtu.be/hVvmQ3FLg_Y.

 

Pacific Northwest Conference UCC News © copyright Fall 2025

 

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