-Thank you all for joining us today.
My name is Angie Brady,
I am the director of the city's
Office of the Waterfront and Civic Projects.
We are very excited
and honored to be here to celebrate Oscar Tuazon's
artwork titled To Our Teachers
and the installation of two Indigenous cedar carvings.
One by Randi Purser of the Suquamish Tribe,
titled Looking At All Tomorrows.
And the other by Tyson Simmons and Keith Stevenson
of the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe,
titled Honoring Our Muckleshoot Warriors.
Along with the fabulous artists we are joined by Gulgun Kayim,
director of The Office of Arts and Culture.
Poet Cedar Sigo, the Suquamish Tribe chairman Forsman
and Muckleshoot Indian tribe council member Stevenson.
Arts and culture play a central role here in Waterfront Park.
As we have worked to transform Seattle's Waterfront,
it has been important to us
that we honor its long history and move forward with intention.
These artworks join other permanent artworks in the park
that reflect the culture,
environment and the stories of our waterfront.
We want visitors to remember
that we are standing on the lands
and shared waters of the Coast Salish people,
whose ancestors have resided here since time in memorial.
In total there will be nine permanent public artworks
on the waterfront, each,
of which were specifically designed
for their respective locations here.
And two historic fountains as well.
Three more Waterfront Park artworks are expected
to be installed later this year.
These artworks are funded with 1% of art funds
and administered by the Office of Arts and Culture
and the Office of the Waterfront for Civic Projects.
Thank you to the entire Waterfront Seattle team,
but especially to Ruri Yampolsky,
our Waterfront Public Art Manager for her work.
And the selection of, yes,
thank you Ruri, and the selection of
and the coordination with all of our artists
and for remaining flexible
despite an ever-changing and dynamic construction schedule.
Special thanks also to Barbara Lee our
Waterfront Main Quarter Project Manager
for all the logistical support.
it takes a team of talented people
to get all of this work constructed and built.
And, it's a tough job.
And also thank you to Jason Huff
from the Office of Arts and Culture
for his early work on the project.
And thanks so much to Friends of Waterfront Park
for providing refreshments for today's dedication.
Today we celebrate the beautiful artwork behind us.
Oscar Tuazon's artwork spans from Columbia Street
to Spring Street.
And includes indigenous carvings at either end.
The collaborative project with the carvers Randy Purser,
Tyson Simmons and Keith Stevenson
invite visitors to learn from the Longhouse
and envision indigenous futures on the Salish Sea.
I hope these artworks encourage visitors to reflect on
how we as a city and a region,
hold space for indigenous communities.
Not just in our past, but in our future.
The artists will be sharing more about their work shortly
and thank you so very much for coming and sharing space
with this incredible group of artists today.
I'd now like to welcome Oscar Tuazon to speak
about this artwork.
Thank you.
[ Applause ]
-Good morning everyone, thanks for being here.
My name is Oscar Tuazon,
I was born and raised on unseated Suquamish territory.
Oh, sorry, do I have a mic?
Get closer maybe, let me try this.
I'm a novice public speaker.
My name is Oscar Tuazon,
I was born and raised on unseated Suquamish territory,
just across the water from here.
My father was John Hansen.
My mother is Anna Lindzer.
I thank my family for the love that has inspired this work.
My wife Dorothee, my children Niage, Tacoma, and Rain.
Richard, and Eli, and Julian.
And I want to thank -- thank you, my community,
oh that's better, okay, all right should I start over?
Okay. All right, sorry. Me again.
My name is Oscar Tuazon.
I was born and raised on unseated Suquamish territory
just across the water from here.
My father was John Hansen.
My mother is Anna Lindzer.
I thank my family for the love that has inspired this work.
My wife Dorothee.
My children Niage, Rain, and Tacoma.
Richard, and Eli, and Julian.
And I want to thank my community for teaching me to listen
and preparing me for this work.
Thank you to Eric Frederickson, Jason Huff and Ruri Yampolsky.
The Office of the Waterfront.
Thank you Mike Coline and Barbara Lee.
Thanks to engineer Sean Valdovinos and
to Paul Mahan at Mahan Lumber.
And Spencer West for carefully sourcing,
forming and crafting this beautiful wood structure.
Thank you to Cedar Sigo.
For giving me an envelope of photos of Salish architecture
at a critical moment
in my process of thinking about this project.
And for revealing the Longhouse that exists eternally in poetry.
Thank you to Lydia Sigo,
who welcomed me to the Suquamish Museum
to learn from the artifacts of her ancestors.
Thank you to Robin Sigo for creating the community energy
that has sustained this work over the past decade.
And which will extend it beyond today.
Thank you to Leonard Forsman and the Suquamish Tribal Council
for your guidance.
Thank you to Warren King George
and the Muckleshoot Tribe of Indians
for sharing your knowledge.
This structure has always been here,
though for more than a century
it has been invisible to all but a few.
The poets, the Lushootseed speakers, our teachers.
I'm praising grateful to our teachers
who entrusted us with their vision,
who encouraged us to listen.
in memory of Thom Hess,
the co-author with Vi Hilbert of the Lushootseed Dictionary,
who taught me to read Lushootseed texts,
Lushootseed stories.
When I was a 15-year-old boy, Lawrence Webster,
Suquamish elder gifted me his copy of Vi Hilbert's
Lushootseed text, inscribed to me with the words,
I want you to learn every word in this book.
This project is dedicated to the memory of web
and of the great teacher Taq Seblu Vi Hilbert
who so generously gave us the gifts of Lushootseed.
Finally, I want to dedicate the future of this project
to our beloved teacher Salmai Zeke Zahir
and the teachers of the Puyallup Language Program.
As you can see, this structure is not finished yet.
Today is only the beginning.
Together we'll build a space for learning and for language.
The great privilege of my life
and of this project has been learning from other artists
and I want to sincerely thank Randi Purser,
Suquamish, Tyson Simmons and Keith Stevenson, Muckleshoot.
For entrusting me with your powerful work
and for the gift you're giving all of us.
[ Speaking native language ]
[ Applause ]
And now I'd like to introduce, oops, what have I done now?
Cedar Sigo.
With no mic, sorry.
-We're always having technical problems together, I love it.
It's me, yeah will you make it.
There, okay, don't touch anything, okay, okay.
Don't touch the mute button, got it.
Okay.
I tried to wear
the least traditional clothing I could today.
I'm going to read two poems and it'll take about five minutes.
I won't hold you captive.
This first poem is called Things To Do in Suquamish.
And it was published in 2014.
And I dedicate the reading today to my cousin
Stephanie Alexander.
Does it still work, okay. Things to do in Suquamish.
Smoke salmon, call San Francisco, like totally.
Get driven to the terminal, escape.
Come back after dark and feed the horses.
Alfalfa, Timothy oats, pick their hooves.
Visit the Suquamish Museum.
The eyes of Chief Seattle are shut, his spirit to himself.
Sepia tones, baskets, white hot rocks, cobalt trade beads.
Say hi to all my cousins. Cul de sac.
Hi Josh, hi Jeremy, drink Rainier beer.
A ribbon out up and over the peak.
I confuse it with Mount Fuji.
Walk back to dad's room, he talks when he wants
and smokes linger over his bookshelf.
Moby Dick, Starling Street, all of Kurt Vonnegut.
Try and write the serial killer light at night.
See through green and black.
Give up, try pros.
[ Applause ]
Oh, sorry.
That poem always reminds me of David Lynch a little bit.
Rest in peace.
And this one is in this very mainstream anthology,
forgive me.
Poetry in the natural world edited by the poet laureate
of the United States Ada Limon.
It's supposed to be a book of nature poetry, we'll see.
It's called...
Can you fix it again?
I think I hit mute.
Where's the guy?
Okay, wait maybe, I know, okay, wait, okay, that's good.
Okay. Close knit flower sack.
Seedless golden tears, ferns bound to flesh at off angles.
Busted out res towns, hemming us in with a cloak of mosses.
The orchestration needs tucks of black shadow,
incidental notes to weigh it down.
The blanket depicts a field and loon.
I said we once formed kingdoms at the foot
of a vanishing stone.
What was it I said that they said?
Vividness is self-selecting.
Several points flowing together in stone work.
I only use words like stones because we are far away.
We corrupt the landscape through the planting of foreign flowers.
Borders are often theorized as division.
Wending along with a spot of sunlight,
the bone frame was made for.
No such shock knit within terror,
yet the skeleton stood up to it.
They are not artifacts but fit to our hand, our daily voice.
The short mouth line erase.
The marsh revels in its glitter and occasional cranberry.
The subject is left purposely unstable.
We will not be robbed of continuum.
The shells fly out from the dress on strings
according to demands left in the music.
Certain stories are told in full frog regalia.
The music is allowed its wet set of wings and room to lie down.
Words arranged for prayer are in fact
geometric forms or portraits of poets themselves.
Uncovering the dictates of a graven line.
Orlando are we even allowing ourselves
the present moment anymore?
There are still two blankets that sit on either side.
Reimagining can take place at the root of time.
Out of all necessity we convert the elements
as a matter of course.
Thank you.
[ Applause ]
And the next speaker is the Carver Randi Purser.
[ Applause ]
-Randi Purser seed stop,
XWibulica seed stop.
Robert Purser to stop.
Lois Purser to [speaking native language]
Lena Purser Maloney [speaking native language]
Leander Purser.
Yeah, my name is Randi Purser. I'm from Suquamish.
My parents were Robert Purser and Lois Purser.
I worked on this post with my sister Lena Purser Maloney
and my nephew Ty Leander Purser.
Completed the portion at the bottom on his own.
It represents a woman named Sholeetsa.
And she was the father of Chief Seattle.
And so this would be Chief Seattle as a baby,
she's holding.
And the bottom is a spindle whirl with some mountain goats,
which she was from the Blackwater Duwamish people.
And she would have been a weaver of the mountain goat wool.
And then on her dress is a design of the unfolding fern
which represents new life.
And then on the top,
on the, is the moon surrounded by frog heads,
and the frogs represent a new season
where they sing the winter away in the spring in
and also a time of change.
And this young family stood on the cusp of change.
They would have been about that age
when Vancouver sailed into the sound.
And it also represents the people of today
standing on a cusp of change.
And we always are in our life journeys that way.
And across the water in,
on Bainbridge is another pole that accompanies this one,
it's Shweabe, which was Chief Seattle's father.
And he was from Suquamish.
And so, they were, they came about separately
but it was just serendipity that I was able to carve them both
at the same time in my shed and have them speak with each other.
I would say.
I'd like to thank my sister for her help
and Ty Leander for his help.
And my daughter Casha Smith did some carving on there
and my granddaughters who's four and two,
Rose and Kylie also had knives on this post
and did some learning themselves and how to move wood.
And is it, I'd like to thank Paul Mayhan for the log.
And all his help.
And Philipe who came
and put the copper on yesterday, it was exciting.
And Spencer, who's been around for years in the carving way.
I worked with him years ago making a feting over
with Dwayne Pasco.
And finally I'd like to dedicate this to Dwayne Pasco,
my mentor and teacher.
And to my mother Lois Purser.
And to my cousin Stephanie Alexander.
And to my Smokehouse mom, Jerry Lane.
They all four left me in the last few months.
And I just want to dedicate my work to them.
Thank you.
[ Applause ]
-Your work's not done yet.
-I'd like to introduce our tribal chairman Leonard Forsman.
-All right, thank you Randi.
All right.
I'm Leonard Forsman and chairman of the Suquamish Tribe.
Homage to Seattle.
And I'm also president affiliate tribes of Northwest Indians
and member
of the Board of Regents University of Washington.
So I take the ferry a lot.
That was supposed to be funny I guess.
But, I just like to say thank you to everybody
who's worked so hard on this project.
I really believe that this is a product
of love and collaboration.
And the people that worked on this project,
many of them grew up together on a reservation.
Some from the tribe and some not.
And they were able to sort
through some complex relationships
and come back together
as adults to really make a great presentation
of our culture and history here on the waterfront.
And, of course the artwork is connected to Bainbridge Island.
And represents our strong maritime Traditions here
in Central Puget Sound, Central Salish Sea.
As our people ventured far and wide
in their marine tradition
to gather enough salmon and shellfish
and other important goods. And also maintain those trade
and social relationships with other tribes
that made Chief Seattle such an influence here in the city.
And as Randi said,
he's represented here as a young man before this,
just before the great amount of contact that came in.
And his life as Cedar said, one of our prized treasures,
poets of the Suquamish Tribe, about the eyes of Chief Seattle
that exhibit was about his eyes. And what he saw in his life.
He was born before contact lived
to see the first Contact is a young boy,
paddling out the see Vancouver.
And then the missionaries and the traders
and then the treaties and the reservation
and the boarding school, beginnings of that,
started when he, before he passed on in 1866.
So, just like to thank the city of Seattle,
we've been to many dedications this year and last year.
And it's just an example of
how the work's getting done through the work of Angela
and the whole team at the city. As know the multiple mayors
that have supported this and city councils
that supported this.
And also Friends of the Waterfront.
Like to acknowledge
that we dedicated the Chief Seattle's father's pole
over in Bainbridge Island not too long ago.
And we have representatives of Bainbridge City Council here,
we have mayor Ashley Matthews here.
Councilman Joe Deets and councilman Jon Quitslund.
I'm going to call, I might call you JQ from here on out,
but I thank you for coming as well.
And I just like to finish by saying that,
this is transforming the Waterfront
in a lot of different ways
and making it more people friendly, more diverse.
Trying to get people down to the Waterfront
that maybe didn't feel welcome here before.
Working with the businesses
and all the other people here on the waterfront
to make this a welcoming place.
And also recognize the values and traditions
that we all share about preserving our natural world
and also our collective spirituality.
So with that I'll just say [speaking native language]
Okay, Angela you gonna go ahead and wrap it up?
Okay. -Thanks Leonard. Okay.
So at this time we would like to transition to Colombia Street
just a few blocks to the South to hear from our friends
at the Muckleshoot Indian tribe.
And for you to be able to see their amazing carving
at the south end of this beautiful project.
So, if you would join us and just kind of take a slow walk,
we've got cameras that need to set up again.
So it might take us a few minutes to get set up down there
but please, please stay with us
and join us for the Muckleshoot carving.
-I don't think we will fully know the land we stand on.
So I just want to acknowledge
and appreciate the work of artists,
obviously, I'm the director of arts and culture
and that is what I ground myself in.
But that is the grounding we all need to acknowledge as well.
So I also want to appreciate the relationship
that we've had with the Office of the Waterfront, Angela Brady.
And Ruri Yampolsky who is a member of our office,
who's worked really closely to make this happen.
It has been an 11-year process, which is actually quite long.
And it is a process that will continue,
because you heard that the artwork is not finished.
Art carvings will continue to be added over time.
And that's actually something
that I think is really beautiful about this piece.
That over time we will have more artists contribute,
more storytelling happening and it will grow and develop.
And that is something really beautiful about this world.
Finally, I also want to acknowledge
that we have other people here
who've represented the infrastructure of our city.
So Council Member Kettle is here,
who has supported our office and our resources.
Thank you very much council member.
And Joy Shigaki from the Waterfront,
Friends of the Waterfront.
Who is again a collaborating agency with us,
a nonprofit that ensures arts and culture
lives on the waterfront.
Finally, I'm going to now hand this over
to artists Tyson Simmons and Keith Stevenson.
Who are members of the Muckleshoot Indian tribe.
And their carving here behind me
is called Honoring our Muckleshoot Warriors.
And I would like to introduce them
and invite them up to speak about their work.
[ Cheers and applause ]
-I'm gonna have my beautiful wife come up here
and open us with a prayer.
[ Praying in native language ]
-Hello. [ Speaking native language ]
-Tyson Simmons.
You want to talk about it bro?
-No go for it. -All right. Hello.
Oh yeah, thank you guys for coming.
Thank City of Seattle and Waterfront, Paul, Oscar
and Muckleshoot Indian tribe for giving us opportunity
to do a little artwork for you guys.
And it's an honor to have artwork here on the Waterfront
for everybody to see. And me and Keith
and our shop did this pole to honor our warriors.
And it's pretty important pole for us.
And it just showcases a couple of our stories that we have.
And it was a pleasure making it, honor to be,
to be here at the Waterfront.
And, yeah, just appreciate it being here.
Got anything else bro? Yeah thank Ruri too.
[ Applause ]
Now we'll let Donny come up.
-Thank you.
[ Applause ]
-[ Speaking native language ]
Donny Stevenson [speaks native language]
Welcome, welcome. Good morning to you all.
My name is Donny Stevenson and I am Muckleshoot.
I'm a elected member of the Muckleshoot Tribal Council.
I also serve as a member of the City of Seattle's
Indigenous Advisory Council.
I also act as a board member
for the Central Waterfront oversight committee here
in the city of Seattle.
That all comes together in a very unique way.
Where I've had contact with this beautiful project
from multiple perspectives.
The one thing that I forgot to share
is that Keith Stevenson is my younger brother.
And Tyson Simmons is my first cousin.
Both younger.
So, a very unique opportunity to engage
with this beautiful installation over,
the more than decade that it's taken from the idea
and thought,
to us being here today to come together in celebration,
to raise our hands in thanks
for this beautiful part of the Waterfront of our city.
It's such a honor and a privilege
to be able to play a role like that.
I think, especially as I was speaking with one
of our tribal elders and leaders this morning,
it's been a difficult
and challenging week for many people,
for a lot of different reasons.
Particularly as it relates to human rights and understanding
of who we each are within the context of this greater nation.
Tribal people are included in that discussion
as well as many other groups of what you
would traditionally think of as at risk or underserved folks.
So, to be able to come today and to acknowledge our place
as the original peoples
who lay the foundation for what is today
the city of Seattle is fundamentally important.
As you look behind me at the stretch of road,
which has, I was just drawing attention to the fast bike.
As you pay attention to the road signs denoting where we are,
Alaskan Way or Elliot Way,
but a couple of years back we had the opportunity
to come together again with the Suquamish nation
and to talk about the traditional name of this place.
And to formally put up signs that reflect that.
So this is [speaking native language]
And that's what our people have known this land as
and this area as for hundreds of generations
and thousands of years.
It's important to talk a little bit about that
and give some context to the history of this city.
So that means the crossing over place,
or the little crossing over place
and it's ironic where we stand,
because it refers almost specifically
to right where we're at.
That you could look up along these streets
and you could see an area of dry land
where you had the ability to cross from here to the park.
Or, up this way from here to the shores of Lake Washington.
So, the translation of [speaking native language]
is very literal.
It was the places which you could cross dry land
to get to other areas.
I think it's also important to acknowledge today, January 25th.
So in 1865, on January 26th,
was when the Battle of Seattle took place.
So those of you who don't know that history,
that's when the tribal people ultimately took
up arms against the four-year-old settlement
that had recently been named Seattle.
After the Suquamish and Duwamish, leader Chief Si'ahl,
whom the city is named after.
And fought an active resistance.
Governor Isaac Stevens had spent the last couple of years,
1864 and 1865, actively forming treaties
with the tribal nations of this region.
And then went about not living up to any of those treaties.
So the land that was supposed to be set aside
via the treaty making process wasn't.
So our tribe was directly impacted by that.
And we took up active armed resistance
against the people here in order to win that right.
So we had people who literally fought
and died for their right to continue to exist
as they had for, since time in memorial.
And to retain the lands which we hold in trust to this day.
When, it's funny how our creator has a way
of making things take place exactly when they're supposed
to, exactly how they're supposed to.
And having an opportunity to come to the city of Seattle,
which has been regarded as our people's homeland,
for as long as the waters have been here,
and to talk a little bit about the context
of this beautiful project and what it means.
Especially set against the backdrop of the citizenship
of people being questioned in this nation,
is a really important thing.
As tribal leaders we have the opportunity
to use our voice to serve those folks
who we are elected to serve.
But also those who don't have a voice to protect themselves.
And so, to be here, to be able to draw attention to that,
as well as honor the proud cultural tradition
of who we are,
where we come from,
to raise my hands to the artists who put together this work
that acknowledge that history.
To raise my hands to the people
who continue to hold that fight today.
And to raise my hands to our future generations.
And to do that with all of you,
in a way that's shared and collaborative and
in a unified voice
that we will come together regardless of circumstance.
That we will come together as people to make sure
that we're acknowledging the things that are important to us.
That we're living out the values of who we are as a people.
And that we're doing that for the young ones who are watching.
We're doing that for our elders who are watching.
And we're doing that for our ancestors
who are always watching.
I raise my hands to each and every one of you for being here.
I thank you for the opportunity to honor this beautiful tribute,
living tribute to our shared history and our people.
I thank you for the opportunity to share these words.
And I ask of you, I ask of you,
to be the best reflections of the creed
of what this nation is supposed to be.
We each have the ability to impact what
this country looks like.
And who we are to one another.
Carry that with you, not only this day, but every day.
We're a shared community, we're a shared people
and I thank you for the opportunity to be a voice
to that end today.
Thank you very much my hands are raised in prayer and thanks.
[ Cheers and applause ]