We can date
back to the
last ice age
when our people were moving into this
area.
Modern technology
reveals these artifacts native roots.
Now Seattle City
Light is returning them to a local tribe.
It just looks like a stationary canvas.
When I had that thought,
it made me think
of, well, who would I paint?
And so I started a list.
This artist works
outside the box, painting,
eye catching images
on aging infrastructure.
People cared about one another,
and that was a really powerful message
to experience.
When the community works together
for a common good,
those in need will see a change.
These stories and more next on Citystream
Hello, I'm Connie Thompson.
Welcome to City Stream
from Fisher Pavilion
at the Seattle Center.
Next month,
hundreds of people in need of vision
care can come here to receive
free eye exams and prescription glasses.
It's a return of the Seattle King
County Health
Clinic canceled the past two years
due to COVID.
One change
only vision care will be provided
this year.
No medical or dental services.
Much more on this special clinic
just ahead.
From eye care to artifacts.
Seattle City Light has returned
nearly 400 artifacts
found at one of its worksites
to the Upper Skagit tribe.
It's a reconnection thousands of years
in the making.
Brian Callanan has our story
from Marblemount in the North Cascades.
Gate closed!
A tour of the Upper Skagit River
provides an impressive up close
look at how Seattle City Light
generates hydroelectric city.
But if you look more closely,
it's a trip back in time.
We can date it back to the last Ice Age
when our people were moving
into this area.
Scott Schuyler,
a cultural and natural resources
policy representative
for the Upper Skagit tribe,
and Andrea Wiser,
a senior archeologist for Seattle
City Light
are looking at clues
from a historical mystery
that surfaced in 2013
during a renovation of the Gorge
Inn, an Old City Light mess
hall in Newhalem,
archeological consultants were hired
to go out
and examine
the ground where the building work
was going to be done
and see if any
artifacts were in the ground
mixed in with some
utensils from the 1920s era structure
were nearly 400 artifacts
and animal bones,
indicating a Native American village
was once here.
Our people lived and died
at the site for literally 10,000 years.
City Light
talked with the Upper Skagit
Socks, Seattle and Swinomish tribes
to try to confirm
where these animal bones
and tools came from.
The speculating.
Now, that may have been a point.
That particular piece, their basketry
or clothing
that would help
identify tribal affiliation
more easily
had long
since eroded away to nothing
in the soggy ground.
It was only when scientists examined
this sharpened stone point,
likely once attached to a dart or spear
dating back
between four and 9000 years ago
that a breakthrough happened.
We had that particular artifact
analyzed for protein residue,
blood residue,
and they did find that it was goat blood.
And that was a great result
because we already knew
that the name Newhalam
is actually based off
of a native language name, Douala,
which was the village that was located
in that area
that villages name meaning goat snare.
Finally tied
the origin of the artifacts
to the upper Skagit tribe,
who hunted goats
for meat and wool clothing.
But that's just the start of the story.
This legislation transfers the ownership
and curation to the Upper Skagit tribe.
In March, the city of Seattle authorized
returning the artifacts
to the Upper Skagit tribe.
The city is paying to have them stored
at this curation facility
at the North Cascades
National Park Ranger
Station in Marble Mount.
It's the right thing to do.
I mean, that's really what it comes
down to.
State law says the owner of the land
where artifacts are found
is the owner of the artifacts, too.
But after a decade of research,
the city wanted to set
the record straight.
To me, that's what's important about it.
It's it's
a correcting inequity in the ownership
of the artifacts.
That correction
means a chance
for connection
for the Upper Skagit tribe,
which plans to bring younger members
of the tribe to Marble Mount
to see their family history.
Is important
that we lay a foundation
to preserve, protect
and enhance our culture.
Where we can ensure
that they have the opportunities
for learning
and to partake
in this culture
that has extended
for the last 10,000 years.
In the Skagit Valley
disturbing of our ancestral
sites is always bad
and we prefer not
to have that occur, of course.
But in this particular case,
you know, one of the great positives
is the fact
that we do have access to this
preserving the rich cultural history
of the Upper Skagit River
is something that local tribes
and Seattle
City Light
will be working on together
for many years to come.
But they say they need your help too.
People get really fascinated by items
that represent history,
but just picking things up
and taking them
home is not the right thing to do.
It's also a violation of state law.
But thankfully,
this message is already hitting home
as news of the new Salem
discovery spreads.
This Stone Fish Club
was returned to the tribe
a few months ago,
and so people have been
returning artifacts to us
since the first story came out.
So that's been a great positive thing.
These are sacred lands for
the upper Skagit people.
Central to their religious beliefs
and origin stories.
The tribe calls this an entry
to the valley of the Spirits.
Spirits that Scott
Schuyler says
have to be pleased
with a reunion that's long overdue.
It's a good day for the upper
Skagit people and our ancestors.
For now,
only tribal members are permitted
to view the artifacts.
The upper Skagit
tribe says it hopes
to build its own museum in the future
to display these
and other objects to the general public.
I just want to paint.
From centuries
old artifacts to spray painted creations.
How one artist is working
outside the box as city Stream continues
Maybe you've seen them around town.
Most are drab and dull,
but some catch your eye
and others can lift your mood.
I'm talking about the ubiquitous
signal boxes
positioned near intersections.
Some of these metal frames
have gone from mundane to magnificent
thanks to the spray
painting skills of artist Desmond Hanson.
Producer Pete Cassam takes a look.
When I was young
in the nineties and early 2000,
there was no exceptions for
art being produced with spray paint.
So now I get a lot of people
coming up saying, Wow, you're doing all
that with spray paint?
Woah, you know,
whereas before
it might have been call
the cops on that guy, he's
got to spray paint in his hand.
I'm Desmond Hansen.
I'm an artist from West Seattle, and I
paint murals
covering large
scale areas with spray paint.
I just want to paint.
I really like painting
portraits, aerosol art,
painting art with spray paint,
attempting photo realism.
In 2018,
I started painting signal box murals.
And over the course of the past
four years, painting about 65 of them,
it actually came to me in a dream
that I had painted
a couple of them on California Avenue
in West Seattle.
It just looks like a stationary canvas,
and that's why
there's graffiti on them all the time.
When I had that thought,
it made me think of,
Well, who would I paint?
And so I started the list
people who
I think deserve a spotlight.
That kind of influenced me as a kid.
This is J. More. This is
an old
friend of mine who was a deejay
and hosted a lot of hip hop battles.
The ones that I did here
in the Central District,
they were all chosen by the HCAACD
They commissioned me to do eight boxes.
I get my permits through the SDOT.
The art that I do on these boxes tends
to cut down on vandalism.
A lot of the boxes
that I've painted
are from grunge era rock and roll.
Eddie Vedder
and Chris Cornell and Layne Staley.
Kurt Cobain painted some others.
Mark Hubbard.
Bruce Lee.
Randy Hansen.
Prince Macklemore.
Jimi Hendrix.
Jimi Hendrix Blocks is my favorite.
I can say that confidently
because it was the first one that I did.
Art makes the world go around.
It's not graffiti.
It's beautiful.
He's talented.
Most of them are in West Seattle.
11 of them live in the Central District.
Four in Queen Anne.
There's some in Capitol Hill.
And Soto has a couple
a gym where
the good guy.
I painted quite a bit of them enough
now where they're getting some vandalism
and some weather and
now through spring and summer,
I'm touching all of them up.
Ultimately, what motivates me to paint is
I want to leave a piece of me
on the planet.
No one's guaranteed tomorrow.
When I add to the city's beauty
or people
being able to walk around
and experience art.
Yeah. Thank you, man.
I like your vision, man.
You're doing a wonderful job.
Thank you. Thanks.
Appreciate that.
You've got a gift.
If you got a gift and
it feels good
knowing that
it's in most intersections, maybe
brighten up somebody's day,
I hope it takes them away
from any boredom
and monotony that they're feeling in life
at that time, you know?
And hopefully,
you know, whoever I painted a portrait of
might take them into a
a thought process of
who is this person and what do they do?
I've had people
send me messages
saying that they're
listening on the radio
and they're at an intersection.
And a song came on and they were all,
you know, amazed by
that.
Incredible.
Wow.
You're so talented.
It's so beautiful.
Every day
I do something artistically
to try to further my path
in the art world.
Desmond Hansen takes
great pride in his work.
He regularly does needed maintenance,
touching up many of the boxes
he's painted.
And he does most of it on his own dime.
As we mentioned earlier, the Seattle King
County Health Clinic returns in October
after a two year absence.
Only vision care will be offered
no medical or dental.
Still, this free service will help many.
The true scope of the clinic
is revealed in an eye
opening documentary,
Stronger Than Medicine.
It shows the incredible power
of community
when people come together
for a common good.
Enrique Cerna explains.
Here is the story
of all these people and organizations
coming together
to help serve their community.
So we wanted to capture that.
You walk in the door,
you've got an abscess tooth
and you're experiencing
pain and infection
and it's affecting your whole life.
And we can fix that for you today.
That's too good to be true.
To get free
dental, free vision for medical,
there's got to be a catch
and they're skeptical about it.
Anybody is welcome to come in.
You don't need ID.
You don't need documentation of status.
I loved the idea of providing health
care with no barriers.
I loved the idea
that there'd be an army of interpreters.
The title of this documentary
is Stronger
Than Medicine,
reflects a common thread discovered
during its production.
Stronger
than the health care
piece was the fact that the community
was coming together,
that people cared about one another.
And that was a really powerful message
to experience.
And and beyond that,
it was amazing to see, well,
what are we capable of?
Imagine if we applied that energy
to other things.
At the end of the day,
we're all people
and we're all here
just taking care of each other.
People come together with a common theme,
a common desire to help.
All of the people
who are working their are there to serve.
They're there to do some good
in some people's lives.
And that good is intended
to help everyone in need,
including those you might not suspect
Who is in need
and what does indeed look like?
It's not
only people who are out of the job.
It's not only people
who are experiencing homelessness.
The majority of the people come
do have some form of health care,
but they can't afford to use it
because the co-pay is too large.
They out of pocket is unavailable.
Ethnicity, ethnicity and young and old.
it was the same story.
That was eye opening and humbling to me.
One of the things my husband said
when he came to volunteer
was WOW, these people look just like me.
And as hundreds of people arrive
in the middle of the night.
They wait their turn.
The stories
they share revealed
the troubling flaws in the system.
She needs glasses.
Her glasses are broken.
We don't have Medicaid or anything.
So she's getting glasses.
I am self-employed.
I have health insurance.
But it's sort of the minimum
mandated health insurance
and there's no dental on it.
I work for 30 years.
I have Medicare,
but I can't afford glasses.
Or I have to decide,
do I get my medicine
or do I get my teeth fixed?
I'm here today for my vision to also
check it out. You know?
Dental.
I just I just take the service for
for dental.
For documentarian Toni Grobe,
a sense of respect
and kindness prevailed among volunteers.
You're surrounded by people who are
setting a great example of
respect,
treating people with dignity, listening,
giving people
the time that they need
to express themselves.
There might be some problems
with the system,
but at least here
there's not a problem with the people.
The people all want to help.
So I think that says
a lot about our community.
No one exemplifies that compassion
and helpful attitude
more than retiree Frankie Manning.
All of these people
are volunteering their time
to make a difference, and they care.
And so when people think that, you know,
nobody cares. Just look around.
Its here.
I am an old person.
It gets me out of bed in the morning
and I feel so grateful
because I know these
people need this care
and they can't get it no place else.
So I feel like
this is important work.
This documentary proves goodwill combined
with the power of community
can work wonders.
I'm volunteering at the clinic this year.
I'm putting the camera down,
and I'm
just gonna roll up my sleeves and say,
How can I help?
To see this special documentary written
and directed by Tony Grobe,
go to the Seattle Channel on YouTube
and search for Stronger Than Medicine.
Joining us now is Julia Colson,
the project director of the Seattle
King County Health Clinic.
Julia, thank you for being with us.
Thank you.
You have got to be really happy
or even relieved that
the project is back,
even though it's limited services.
Absolutely.
Our last clinic was in February of 2020,
right before the pandemic hit.
So it's been two and a half years
that we haven't been able to operate
and that people have gone without care.
So we're delighted
that we're able to come back,
although it's
limited to only vision care, eye exams
and prescription eyeglasses.
We're still dealing
with the COVID pandemic.
So but we are just delighted to be able
to bring the service
back to the community.
So fill us in
with the rest of the details.
What services are being offered exactly
and how do we register?
So for patients,
we're offering the clinic October 20th
through the 23rd.
That's a Thursday through Sunday.
And they will be able to come down
starting at 6:00 in the morning
to Seattle Center
to this location, Fisher Pavilion,
where
we'll be handing out
free tickets for admission for that day.
We'll continue to hand out those tickets
as long as we have
some remaining for that day,
and then they will be escorted
over to the place.
We're actually holding the Vision Clinic
to be able
to get their free eye exams,
as well as prescription eyeglasses
during this clinic for four days.
How many people do you anticipate
you'll be serving
and what volunteers
are going to be working here?
Well, we hope to be able to serve over
a thousand patients
in the four days,
so about 250 people a day.
We might even be able to do more.
But in order to do that,
we have to have a number
of eyecare professionals.
We also have general support volunteers
who help with things
like patient
registration and escorting
and interpretation services.
Right now, the general support
volunteer registration
is going really well.
We still need a lot of eyecare
professionals though.
So if you know an eye care professional
or you are an eye care professional,
please help us to spread the word.
Because the more we have, the more people
we are going to be able to serve. Right.
And as we know, this really can't happen
without those volunteers.
They are the backbone of the clinic.
Do you anticipate,
Julia, that next year
you might possibly be able to come back
with all of the services
that you normally have offered?
That is what we're working towards.
There's a lot of variables
that that come into play,
but we're hoping
that in the spring of 2023,
we're able to come back
with all of the services.
Now we ask you that
this question every time we get together,
but can you share
at least a story, an example
of some of the lives that are touched
and what happens?
Because I know there are very,
very powerful stories
that happen during these clinics.
Well,
Vision Care is
one of the most under-resourced services
for people in need in our community.
And I remember vividly
one year
when there was a woman
who came very early
to pick up her eyeglasses,
she just couldn't wait to get them.
And after she picked them up
and was fitted for her glasses
by an optician,
I saw her out on the grounds
and she was reading
some of the wayfinding signs
and I thought she was needing
to figure out where to go.
So I went up to her and I said,
Can I help you find what you're needing?
And she said, No,
I just haven't been able to read in
so long.
I'm just reading everything that I can.
And that's the thing that we just don't
always think about
is how much vision affects
everybody's life.
If you can't see, you can't drive,
you can't read.
It's hard from education.
It's hard from a work perspective.
And it's debilitating for people's lives.
And so vision is really
a very important
part of us
being healthy and productive citizens
in this community.
That's so much taken for granted
until you don't have it.
Well, thank you so much again
for not only
bringing the project together,
but for being with us today.
Julia Colson, Project Director.
Seattle King County Health Clinic.
Ahead on City Stream.
For many homeless people, pets
mean everything.
One special program knows this
and is doing something to help.
When Seattle Animal
Control officers
roll up on scene,
they don't always get a warm welcome.
Many folks
see them as enforcement agents only.
But when these officers arrive
with pet food, toys and bedding,
the greeting is quickly change.
Producer
Chris Barnes has more
on a special outreach program.
The program
for Outreach
is our Seattle Animal Shelter
Foundation provided
a grant to the shelter
for us to go out and purchase
supplies like dog
jackets, toys, food, bedding and shelter.
We'll bring them out to our RV's tent
encampments, tiny homes
to try to bring supplies out to the pets
and people that need the most.
We have collars that we hand out.
We've got some toys
and other supplies
that we have over here,
some enrichment items.
We fill
these full of
kibble and the dogs can then
roam around and play
and the kibble falls out,
keeps them entertained,
as the guys are for the animal
shelter, the dog food,
we we give out supplies
from the animal shelter once
every couple of weeks.
Don't have a harness,
but give you a collar
and at least serves as a backup.
That'd be great. Thank you so much.
All right.
Where would you like to leave this?
So program
was started by us
recognizing a need out in the community
and working with our foundation
to go directly to individuals
that needed that support.
There is a back dog.
Our officers are out there
seeing individuals
in their RV's,
in their tents
that were lacking of food
and supplies and toys and
and enrichment items
and just wanting to go out there
and make sure that we had an impact
out in that community.
So the pet food comes from a donation
from our foundation,
so they will
grant the shelter dollars for resources
and so then we will purchase that food
to then give out to the community.
This is not kitten.
Do you want some dry kitten?
I mean, generally
people are very excited to see us,
especially since
I think a lot of times
when they see us as an enforcing role,
they have a preconceived notion
that we are there
to enforce something
or ask them for a violation.
Good.
All right. Thanks very much.
Yeah,
the people that
receive our services are very grateful
and very accommodating. They
spread
the word to their other friends
that are struggling out there.
And so
it's a great way for our officers
to meet and engage
with the community in a positive way.
That wraps up this episode of CityStream
from Seattle Center.
If you'd like to watch more outstanding
Seattle Channel programs,
visit our Web site
SeattleChannel.org
and click on feature shows.
I'm Connie Thompson.
Thank you for watching.