Second Festival of the Steh-Chass to celebrate estuary restoration, salmon rights
This Saturday is the second Festival of the Steh-Chass Day, when the Squaxin Island Tribe will gather with the community at Heritage Park to celebrate the water, heritage and culture, and honor past, current and future generations.
This year’s festival marks anniversaries for two major events for Medicine Creek Treaty tribes, and it celebrates the City of Olympia’s plans to remove the Fifth Avenue dam that created Capitol Lake and restore the lake to an estuary from the Deschutes River into Budd Inlet.
The Olympia City Council officially made Aug. 17 Festival of the Steh-Chass Day during its meeting earlier this week. Squaxin Island Tribe chairman Kris Peters spoke during the meeting about the tribe’s connection to the water and the importance of the festival.
Steh-Chass refers to both the landscape and original inhabitants of the Deschutes Estuary, Budd Inlet and surrounding South Sound coves.
Peters said Squaxins have lived in the region for tens of thousands of years and have stewarded the lands and waters. This weekend’s festival is a chance to honor those ancestors.
“Squaxins don’t come from the island. We were put on the island,” Peters said. “That’s exactly right. We come from a large area, including the city of Olympia. And when I say we’re connected to this land, that’s not a cliche. It is real. It is true.”
Peters said honoring ancestors is a way of maintaining their beliefs, values and history.
“It’s all about honoring our past so that we can uplift today, so that we can carry on these for future generations,” he said.
Peters said the tribe is proud of the City of Olympia for embracing the festival and inviting the community to participate in celebrating the tribe’s culture and heritage.
This year’s festival commemorates the 70th anniversary of the Medicine Creek Treaty as well as the 50th anniversary of the Boldt Decision, which reaffirmed Washington tribal treaty rights to an equal share of salmon as well co-management of natural resources.
The festival will kick off at 10 a.m. Saturday at Heritage Park with an opening address by Peters, Sue Patnude, the founder of the Deschutes Estuary Restoration Team, and Charlene Krise, the director of the Squaxin Island Tribe’s museum.
That will be followed by an inter-tribal cultural exchange between Medicine Creek Treaty tribes. Following that will be speakers, storytellers, musicians, workshops and more.
The festival will end with the Healing of the Waters ceremony, the first in 30 years. It’s part of the tribe’s responsibility for protecting and sustaining the natural world. The ceremony symbolizes the connection between land, water and people.
Sue Patnude with DERT said the emotional ceremony will take place in front of the dam. Canoes will come in and Medicine Creek Treaty tribes will share the waters.
Olympia City Council member Lisa Parshley said she is excited to hear of the upcoming steps to restore the estuary, even though removal of the dam is a long way away.
“As Sue was talking and Kris, I was dreaming of what this festival will look like when we have the estuary back, and what a joy that will be,” Parshley said.
A full schedule of events and speakers can be found on the Deschutes Estuary Restoration Team’s website.
This story was originally published August 15, 2024 at 8:33 PM with the headline "Second Festival of the Steh-Chass to celebrate estuary restoration, salmon rights."
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