VIDEO: Port of Seattle announces finalists in Duwamish River park-renaming contest, and what you can do next

In case you didn’t get to watch it live – starting at 3 minutes into the video, that’s the noontime event that announced 3 finalists for each of the six Port of Seattle Duwamish River parks that are up for renaming. After the map of the parks is the official announcement, with the finalists and what you can do next:

The Port of Seattle announced the top three names chosen for each of the six Port-owned parks and shoreline access sites along the Duwamish River to new names that reflect their cultural, historical and environmental significance. The Port partnered with Seattle Parks Foundation, a well-recognized public parks and greenspace non-profit, to design and implement the re-naming campaign with transparency, equity and community involvement. The names were announced on a press conference call joined by dozens of community members.

“Speaking on behalf of the Seattle Port Commission, we are delighted by the strong tribal and community participation in this effort,” said Fred Felleman, Port of Seattle Commission Vice President and tribal liaison. “It’s important these public parks have names that reflect their location and cultural significance.”
The top name nominations for the six parks are:

Terminal 105 Park [in West Seattle]
Hermoso Park & Habitat Area
(er-mo-so: Beautiful)
t̓uʔəlaltxʷ Village Park & Habitat Area
(Toolalt[w], t-oo-ah-lal-too-wx: Herring’s House / Name of an old village site on the west bank of the Duwamish River / A description of where herring live/spawn)
t̕uʔəlaltxʷ Memorial Park & Habitat Area
(Toolalt[w], t-oo-ah-lal-too-wx: Herring’s House / Name of an old village site on the west bank of the Duwamish River / A description of where herring live/spawn)

Terminal 107 Park [in West Seattle]
Duwamish Bend Park & Habitat Area
həʔapus Village Park & Habitat Area
(haapoos, ha-ah-poos: Name of a small stream draining across a flat on the west side of Duwamish River)
yilə’qʷud Park & Habitat Area
(yillaqwud, yil-a-qwud: Name of an old village site on the west bank of the Duwamish River)

Terminal 108 Park
c̓əqas Park & Habitat Area
(tsaqahs, ts-a-kahs: Muddy, a word used to describe a beach/shoreline)
sbəq̓waʔ Park & Habitat Area
(sbaqwah, s-bah-qwah: Great Blue Heron)
čəbčəbid Park & Habitat Area
(chabchabeed, chab-chab-eed: Drybark / Description of location on the east side of the Duwamish River for gathering fir bark for fires)

8th Avenue South Street End Park
Gear Park and Habitat Area
t̓ałt̓ałucid Park and Habitat Area
(tathtathootseed, t-ahth-t-ahth-oots-eed: Where there is something overhead, across the path / A description of logs or branches located above a path or trail)
De Colores Park & Habitat Area
(ko-lo-res: Colors)

Terminal 117
South Park Shores Park & Habitat Area
Duwamish River People’s Park & Habitat Area
qiyawa’lapsəb Park & Habitat Area
(qeeyahwahlapsub, ki-yah-wa-lap-sab: A descriptive word referencing the Duwamish River route to Elliott Bay / eel’s throat)

Turning Basin #3
Restoration Park & Habitat Area
Salmon Cove Park & Habitat Area
t̓at̓łqid Park & Habitat Area
(tatthkid, t-a-t-th-kid: A descriptive word referencing a short cut when traveling upstream during high tide at the mouth of the Duwamish River)

“There are great opportunities here for our communities to select names that honor the heritage of the Duwamish River and elevate the indigenous history and culture of the region of the land we occupy,” said Rosario-Maria Medina, a community member involved in the naming process.

Community members submitted more than 3,000 responses during the ‘Incredible Parks Want Incredible Names’ nomination phase. After an eligibility check, park name nominations went through multiple rounds of scoring and evaluation by a review committee.

The shortlisted names announced today represent the diversity of people and their experiences with each park – finalist names range from English, Spanish, and Lushootseed languages. A video of the press conference will be made available, here.

“The Seattle Parks Foundation would like to thank the Port of Seattle and the community members along the Duwamish River who have worked countless hours over the past several months to bring us one step closer to renaming these great public spaces that will provide great use for people to enjoy for generations to come,” said George Lee of the Seattle Parks Foundation.

Choose Your Favorite Park Names Now!
The public has until 11:59 p.m. on September 30 to rank each name nomination, here. After September 30, the review committee will review results and select the final park names. The final park names will be announced on October 27th at the Port’s Commission meeting.

One of the finalists for T-107 – həʔapus Village Park & Habitat Area – is the one the Duwamish Tribe is officially supporting, as we first reported here.

4 Replies to "VIDEO: Port of Seattle announces finalists in Duwamish River park-renaming contest, and what you can do next"

  • Raye September 16, 2020 (2:06 am)

    I like the Native names, and I especially appreciate that they are nature-oriented and evocative. My only concern was pronunciation. Who’s going to say, “Hey, let’s go tqiyawa’lapsəb Park”?  The good news is that it appears the signage will include:Name Formatting Guide:sbəq̓waʔ Park & Habitat Area (sbaqwahs-bah-qwah“Great Blue Heron”)1. Lushootseed in Lushootseed Character Style2. Lushootseed in Romanized Character Style3. English Phonetic of Lushootseed4. English translation of LushootseedPlus, it’s sort of fun to learn words in a different language. Now, what’s Lushootseed? Here’s what I learned from http://www.puyalluptriballanguage.org/about/ :”Lushootseed is the language spoken by tribes living and around the Puget Sound region…Elders said that each group had their own way of speaking. By the way someone spoke, you could identify where they were from, meaning dialect was part of identity. Regardless of how people spoke, the beloved elders were and still are very insistent that all dialects of Lushootseed were mutually intelligible and they were all part of the same language.”

  • Azimuth September 16, 2020 (9:17 am)

    Those are some great options. I’m all for the native/tribal words, it is a unique aspect about our corner of the world that I’ve always liked. Some are obviously a bit of a mouthful but that can be part of the fun of being a local and learning the right way and to teach visitors (after you let them struggle first!).

  • Raye September 16, 2020 (10:45 am)

    Exactly, Azimuth! I have to laugh when I remember how baffled I was by the pronunciation of “Puyallup” – and perplexed by the name “Humptulips.”From graysharbortalk.com:Mentioned in best-selling author’s books like Another Popular Roadside Attraction by Tom Robbins, as well as The Long World by Sir Terry Pratchett, the word “Humptulips” is known around the world – but not the meaning.“Outside of Grays Harbor, the name Humptulips isn’t quickly associated with salmon and native heritage. For the rest of the world, it is a name that invokes images of unspeakable actions done unto flowers. In reality…Humptulips is a Salish word, named as such by the Chehalis Tribe a few thousand years ago. The word and name Humptulips means “Hard to Pole.” This term refers to the difficulty in traveling the river by boat.”

  • LINDA L. BLACKINTON September 16, 2020 (3:23 pm)

    These locations were originally areas of the Duwamish Tribe.  The Duwamish Tribe should have the last say and name them as they were, with phonics alongside the Real names.   The Lushootseed and Salish Straits languages are not that hard to pronounce  once you get used to them.  They just look hard, because they are not in “english”.A Samish elder speaks!  Hy’eshka (thankyou in Straits)

Sorry, comment time is over.