Seattle churches help raise funds for Duwamish cultural center

By Cara Solomon
Seattle Times staff reporter

TOM REESE / THE SEATTLE TIMES Cheyenne Shelafoe performs an honor song yesterday for Seattle church members, including Sandra Jones, left, of Seattle First Baptist Church. The historic churches helped with fund-raising efforts to build a longhouse and cultural center near the river that bears the tribe's name.

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"I just feel proud of myself," said Broadway, a 15-year-old from Kent and a member of the Duwamish Tribe youth dancing group, Singing Feet. "It's actually a privilege to be in this group."

He danced, sang and played percussion yesterday afternoon at the edge of the Duwamish River, where his tribe's village once stood more than 150 years ago. The performance was part of a fund-raiser organized by local churches, whose ties to the Duwamish Tribe date back to the mid-19th century, when the tribe welcomed so many white settlers into the area.

For decades now, the federal government has denied the Duwamish the recognition needed to claim benefits other tribes have received. Its people have spread across the state and nation, with no gathering place to call their own.

Now the tribe is trying to raise money for a longhouse and cultural center near the river that bears its name. The Allen Foundation has promised a matching grant if the Duwamish can raise $79,000 more by the end of September. Yesterday's event raised about $4,000.

	TOM REESE / THE SEATTLE TIMES Cecile Hansen raises her hand in welcome as she and fellow Duwamish Tribe members greet a group arriving by canoe.

The day drew about 150 people, many of them members of Seattle First Baptist Church, Seattle First United Methodist Church, Plymouth Congregational Church and Immanuel Lutheran Church. These historic churches count their founders as friends of the Duwamish Tribe.

In a clearing by the river, church leaders rose one by one to deliver a formal apology to the members of the tribe. They signed a "justice statement" acknowledging their part in the "injustice, oppression, broken promises and the marginalization" of the tribe's people.

And they pledged to help heal the wounds by supporting the effort to build the longhouse and cultural center, helping the tribe push for federal recognition and urging church members to find ways to be closer allies of the Duwamish and other tribes.

"I feel really moved that they all came together today," said tribal Chairwoman Cecile Hansen.

For some, there was a strong sense of personal obligation. Louise Jones-Brown of Des Moines came to support the Duwamish, whom she credits with her family's success. Her ancestors first met the tribe in 1851 as the settlers worked their way down the river — six people, with 20 head of cattle, trying to row a heavy raft to the shore.

"They were pretty exhausted," Jones-Brown said, reciting a story handed down through the generations. "The Duwamish hooked up lines, used their dug-out canoes and pulled the raft in."

The longhouse and cultural center would sit on land near the river. The hope is that it would draw tourists and Seattle residents, educating them about the history of the tribe. The center also would help a younger generation of Duwamish understand their culture and find the pride they need to keep it alive.

The Suquamish Tribe showed its support by sending salmon lunches for the event. Rob Purser, who cooked the fish, said the cultural center would be a crucial tool for educating young Duwamish about their heritage.

"The homeland's here," he said.

Seattle was named after the leader of the Duwamish, Chief Sealth, who was known for the warm welcome he gave to settlers. In return, the Treaty of Point Elliot in 1855 promised the tribe fishing rights and land. But that promise never was carried out.

The tribe has been struggling for federal recognition for more than 30 years. On his final night in office, President Clinton gave the tribe official recognition. But President Bush later overturned many of those 11th-hour orders, including recognition of the 572-member tribe.

Sitting in the sun yesterday with fellow congregates, Charles Z. Smith said it is hard to fathom how the situation came to pass.

"It's sort of like the federal government saying, 'You're not who you are,' " said Smith, a retired state Supreme Court justice who is a member of First Baptist Church. "It's unimaginable."

But Vi Hilbert, an elder of the Upper Skagit Tribe, said she has no room for bitterness. Sooner or later, she said, the recognition will come. She pointed to the Smithsonian's new National Museum of the American Indian, which is to open in Washington, D.C., next month.

"It takes time. It takes money. It takes energy," said Hilbert, 86, an author of several books. "But you wear them down eventually."

Cara Solomon: 206-464-2024 or csolomon@seattletimes.com

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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