City of Olympia works to strengthen ties with Squaxin Island Tribe with new accord
In 2014, several dozen people attended an Olympia City Council meeting, pushing for a new — and equitable — type of celebration in the community.
Lucas Anderson joined in advocating for the city to celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day, which is intended to celebrate the culture, values and contributions of tribes that influence the city, including the Squaxin, Nisqually, Quinault, Puyallup, Chehalis, Suquamish and Duwamish tribes.
“I was feeling some way when I saw the words Columbus Day on the Olympia calendar,” he said. “It just got under my skin. I was like, how are we still doing this? How are we still celebrating this day and these times when we should know better?”
He said it seemed like a no-brainer that the holiday needed to be changed. It seemed possible, not too far-fetched.
“The root of all this is reconciliation,” Anderson said.
The city moved to recognize Indigenous Peoples’ Day the following year, and ever since it’s been celebrated on the second Monday of October.
Columbus Day, the federal holiday that honors Christopher Columbus, an explorer with a troublesome legacy of slavery and exploitation of Native Americans, isn’t officially recognized or celebrated by the City of Olympia.
And though this year’s Indigenous Peoples’ Day celebration on Oct. 11 was moved online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many still gathered to hear the stories of tribal elders and to recognize the relationship between the local tribes and the city.
“The Squaxin Island Tribe’s habitation of what is now Olympia spans thousands of years,” said Olivia Salazar de Breaux, equity and inclusion coordinator for the City of Olympia. “Today the Squaxin people continue stewardship of these ancestral lands, from the Deschutes watershed and what is now Budd Inlet.”
The virtual event included music and prayer, as well as speeches from notable people in the local indigenous community.
Eddie LittleCrow and Nancy Shippentower both shared stories of their lives, growing up surrounded by notable elders and leaders, facing tragedy and loss firsthand, the state of current relationships with cities and how things can be improved for the future.
“We have Indian schools that don’t really teach our history,” Shippentower said.
LittleCrow, a member of the American Indian Movement, talked about holding his mother in his arms after she was shot when he was 7 and about being jailed for running away from school. He talked about the issues indigenous communities face with alcoholism and how he has been sober for almost 70 years.
“We are the most disappeared people on the face of this earth,” LittleCrow said. “We make up 1% of the world population, and we don’t have a voice.”
Raven Redbone, who helped emcee, said he was grateful for how people opened up during the event but that there is plenty of work to be done still. He said he’d like for the responsibility of relationship building to be taken off the indigenous communities.
“My hope is that for once, the City of Olympia puts something on without it being grassroots,” Redbone said. “I want the relationship to be up to the city.”
Accord between councils
The Olympia City Council and the Squaxin Island Tribal Council signed a new accord between the two governments on Oct. 7 in hopes of strengthening the relationship between them. During the signing ceremony outside Olympia City Hall, Mayor Cheryl Selby and tribal council chairman Kris Peters took turns reading the accord.
The accord states that what is now Olympia has been occupied and stewarded by indigenous communities for thousands of years and how that is still true today. It also states how both governments will continue to honor the Treaty of Medicine Creek, work together on climate change and salmon recovery efforts and more.
“As I stand here, I can feel my ancestors here with me,” Peters said. “This helps reconnect us with our heritage, our people, our land and ancestors. It gives us a sense of pride and reminds us that we have land here and we still live here today. We’re still stewards.”
The accord is to be reviewed every five years in order to evaluate and update the language and goals accordingly. This year, Olympia City Council member Dani Madrone had some revisions to make.
“I took the previous accord signed in 2014 and updated it to reflect some current things that we’re working on and refine some of the commitments,” Madrone said.
Madrone said a land acknowledgment was added to the accord by the Squaxin Island Tribal council, and commitments to combating climate change and restoring the Deschutes estuary were included.
Upcoming projects
There are a few projects in the works between the two councils, including installing a land acknowledgment and a tribal art installation at Percival Landing.
Madrone said not much has been accomplished since the last accord signing in 2014, so an intergovernmental work group is being created within the two councils to keep projects moving forward.
She said the city has a good relationship with the Squaxin Island tribe and that she hopes people will continue to talk about the history of the indigenous communities who have been around for millennia, despite how dark some chapters may be.
“And it’s so important that we look to the future, so that we can be in unity with each other in healthy and loving ways,” Madrone said.
Near the end of the accord signing event, the Squaxin Island tribe flag was raised to hang above City Hall permanently alongside the City of Olympia, Washington and United States flags. A land acknowledgment plaque was also installed in the lobby of City Hall outside council chambers.
Redbone said Indigenous Peoples’ Day is the least people can do and that it should be a national holiday. He said he’d like to see all the area tribal flags flying from the governor’s office, and maybe even one day a Janet McCloud Boulevard, honoring the late Native American and indigenous rights activist and mother of Nancy Shippentower.
“Work is being done, but it can be better,” Redbone said. “It’s not about being Indian, it’s about doing what’s right.”
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