Olympia Parks and Rec advisory committee votes to rename Priest Point Park to Squaxin Park
After receiving only positive oral feedback during their meeting on Thursday night, the advisory committee to the city of Olympia’s Parks, Arts & Recreation Department voted unanimously in favor of renaming Priest Point Park to Squaxin Park.
The committee will send its recommendation along to the City Council, which has final say on the matter.
The name was chosen by and recognizes the Squaxin Island Tribe, whose people have occupied and stewarded what is now Olympia for thousands of years. The Tribal Council met last December and agreed on the name change, as well as the decision to possibly rename trails and landmarks within the park in the future.
In the resolution signed in December, the Tribal Council recommended that all signage with the name Squaxin Park also include a reference to the Steh-Chass and the People of the Water, written in Lushootseed.
Priest Point Park was originally named for a small group of Catholic missionaries called the Oblate Fathers, who came to the region in 1848, according to the city’s website. The missionaries cleared land, planted a garden, built a chapel and established the St. Joseph d’Olympia mission.
During this time, the Squaxin, Nisqually, Puyallup and Snoqualmie tribes all used the mission as a trading center. But they, along with the Quinault, Chehalis, Suquamish and Duwamish, had used the land since long before the missionaries arrived.
The mission closed in 1860 and 45 years later was sold to the City of Olympia. Today, it’s a 314-acre park with hiking trails, almost two miles of shoreline, a playground and more.
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