West Seattle, Washington
22 Saturday
Story by Tracy Record
Photos/video by Patrick Sand
West Seattle Blog co-publishers
In light of 10,000+ years of history, the past 15 years were a blink for the Duwamish Tribe.
But it was a blink worth celebrating – and recalling – with more than 100 people filling the Duwamish Longhouse and Cultural Center in West Seattle on Saturday to celebrate its 15th anniversary.
The lineup of speakers was impressive – from the tribe’s longtime chair Cecile Hansen, to the longhouse’s architect, whose father got him involved by suggesting he could help “Seattle’s original homeless … find a home,” to its chief fundraiser, to its exhibit curator teaching the history of longhouses, to its historian discussing life in longhouses, to a lawyer updating the tribe’s longrunning fight to regain federal recognition, and more.
The four-hour by-invitation event was also an occasion to honor those and many others who worked with and for the tribe to bring the longhouse to life on a patch of land across from a historic site on the shore of the Duwamish River, more than a century after the last of the Duwamish’s previous longhouses was torched by settlers. After years of fundraising and planning, the groundbreaking happened in 2007, and the grand opening in January 2009. And this weekend, the milestone celebration.
“I raise my hands to you,” said Chair Hansen in her brief welcome, “It’s wonderful that our tribe has succeeded to come to this date.” She invited everyone to “have a good time,” and with that, the party was on – with speakers before lunch focused on history, those after lunch focused mostly on the present and future. Our first video clip features Duwamish Tribal Services board chair Kristina Pearson, chair Hansen, and pre-construction fundraising co-chair Chad Lewis:
Lewis said the fundraising campaign dated back to philanthropists who formed the Friends of the Duwamish in the late ’90s.
7:16 PM: We just received this announcement from the sister of the Chief Sealth International High School student who died of a gunshot wound last Tuesday at Southwest Pool/Teen Life Center:
Tomorrow we are planning to hold a protest against gun violence and to get justice for my younger brother.
This past Tuesday my little brother, 15 years old, was shot at the community center (SWAC) and he died shortly afterwards. This happened during his lunch break during school hours and the weapon hasn’t been found yet and the culprits have been released. The protest will be taking place in front of Chief Sealth International High School @12pm noon.
We hope to get as much support as possible in order to pressure the authorities and make a difference. So we would greatly appreciate it if you could share this flyer to spread awareness. For both the safety of our children and community.
Police have yet to say whether they believe this was an accidental or intentional shooting.
8:01 PM: We asked her what action protesters want to see happen. Here’s her reply:
Some changes we need to have implemented are; cameras into the community center (swac). This is a huge safety concern for us, as we were told none of their cameras have been functioning for years. This is concerning as this is place where parents bring their children for recreational activities and a site where students frequently visit.
By having an operating camera, the investigation would have been easier in understanding what truly happened and how people responded.
Another change we must see is more gun regulation. Kids should not have access to firearms under no circumstances. Having metal detectors would insure that students are not carrying weapons on to school campuses. We are also suggesting to have more security presence on campus to ensure safety for all students at CSIHS.
We are also requesting to have 9th graders to have separate lunches from the upperclassman, by having this ensures that underclassmen are not leaving campus unsupervised.
Also if anyone has any information on the situation please contact this number (206) 625-5011 or email justiceformobarak@gmail.com
That phone number is the SPD non-emergency number; SPD’s suggestion is its violent-crimes tip line at 206-233-5000.
6:08 PM: Thanks to Christopher Boffoli for the photo and info from a fire that drew a mid-size SFD response in the 3200 block of 44th SW. It’s out now but Christopher says a vehicle caught fire in a driveway and that it spread to trees over the driveway. (Added: Here’s video of the flames in the trees.) We’re headed that way to find out more.
6:30 PM: All SFD units had departed by the time we arrived, so we’re following up via email.
8 PM: SFD spokesperson David Cuerpo replied, “Crews extinguished a car fire near a detached garage. No injuries were reported, and the incident is under investigation.”
That’s a page from a slide deck presented earlier this month to the Levy to Move Seattle Oversight Committee in a briefing on levy-funded earthquake-resistance work for bridges around the city. We’ve already reported on two of the projects on the list, Admiral (listed twice because technically it’s two bridges) and Delridge. But the “silt removal” project for the low bridge was something we hadn’t previously heard about. We asked SDOT for more information – at the committee briefing, it was just a quick mention – and got this explanation:
This project will remove silt that has built up around the western bridge foundations and replace rusted steel collars that are secured around the piles that support the bridge pier.
The western pier is supported by several piles surrounded by a steel casing. There is a circular gap between the support piles and the steel casing which allows the bridge to freely move during an earthquake, reducing the force and stress on the pier foundations. There is a steel collar that fits around the top of each of the steel casings to prevent debris from entering the circular space. Over time, the collars have rusted and the gap has filled with silt. A contractor specializing in underwater construction will remove the silt and replace the collars so that the bridge can move as it was designed to do during an earthquake.
We expect to complete this work later this year, and we do not expect that this will have any effect on travelers or vessels. The estimated project cost is about $650,000. This is one of 16 bridge seismic reinforcement projects being funded by the Levy to Move Seattle.
The silt problem apparently goes back quite some time – we found a mention in this 2019 SDOT report.
Spring gets ever closer, and so do baseball and softball seasons. So West Seattle Little League has updates!
Thank you to the families that have already registered for the upcoming season. If you still need to secure a spot on the roster for your Little Leaguer, registration will remain open until Feb 11th. Registering early helps streamline our league operations – sign up today!
West Seattle Little League is excited to announce the third year of the Challenger Program! The Challenger program is Little League’s adaptive baseball program, which offers additional support for individuals with physical and intellectual challenges. The Challengers program is free to all participants and open to West Seattle residents between the ages of 4 and 18 or up to age 22 if still enrolled in school. Inclusion and opportunity are the cornerstones of Little League®, and it’s our passion to ensure everyone has an opportunity to play. Find more info HERE or email challenger@westseattlelittleleague.com with any questions.
Lastly, we have two exciting opportunities for our softball players!
February 4th – Softball skills clinic led by WSHS softball players! Your player will learn and practice the basics of softball.
February 11th – Softball pitching clinic led by Kalimar Pettit. Over one hour, your player will learn the fundamental softball pitching skills.
We look forward to seeing you on the field!
Again this year, the Kiwanis Club of West Seattle will offer free seeds to teachers and parents for working with kids to learn about growing food. Right now, though, they need your help deciding what kind of seeds – here’s the announcement and request frm Kiwanis president Denis Sapiro:
The Kiwanis Club of West Seattle gave out about 200 packs of seeds to people at the Sunday Farmers’ Market last year. Kiwanis will again offer vegetable seeds and flower seeds this year. Teachers and parents can help select the type of seeds and number of packages of seeds Kiwanis will order this year. This is not a commitment to use the seeds nor for Kiwanis to provide all that is requested.
Here’s the survey – please answer it by February 5.
Kiwanis offers the Seed Project to boost family fun and joy and to provide an educational experience with hands-on activity! As the plant grows, you can transplant it into your garden. In the survey, please add your contact info (particularly your email address), so that we can let you know when the seeds will be available at the Farmers Market in the spring.
Family and friends are remembering Susie Tennant and sharing this tribute with her community:
Susie Tennant, September 11, 1962 – January 18, 2024
Our beloved Susie Tennant passed away at her West Seattle home after several years living with frontotemporal dementia (FTD), a progressive neurological disorder.
Susan Marie Tennant was born in Stuttgart, Germany, the third child and second daughter to Charles Edward Tennant (1937-2023) and Mary Jo (Sigler) Tennant (1938-present). As an army brat, between 1962 and 1980 she lived in Germany, Laos, Alabama, Kentucky, California, Arizona, and Virginia. She graduated from Lake Braddock High School in Burke, Virginia, then moved to Seattle to attend the University of Washington like her grandmother “Sazzy” Sigler.
Susie and husband Chris settled in West Seattle in 1995, making their house (known as the Pirate Flag House) a home for their daughter Ella, son Eli, and many, many pets. The West Seattle community was held deeply in Susie’s heart. Susie popularized and branded the acronym WSHC (West Seattle Hardcore) as a beacon for community good. Susie championed all of the West Seattle schools where her children attended, and loved shopping at small businesses in the Junction, especially Husky Deli and Easy Street Cafe, where her children worked.
The most common words used next to Susie’s name — after mother and friend — are champion, advocate, and cheerleader. Many remembrances of her point out that people wouldn’t be who or where they are, and institutions wouldn’t exist, were it not for her support and generosity. She used her remarkable social skills not for self-gain, but to empower others and build community.
Her illustrious career encompassed, among others, Tower Records, Geffen/DGC Records (The David Geffen Company), Sub Pop, Experience Music Project (now MoPOP), KEXP, BMG, Town Hall Seattle, and The Vera Project. The last of those is an all-ages nonprofit space dedicated to community transformation through youth-driven engagement in music and art, which was a subject very close to Susie’s heart. When she was no longer able to work full time, Susie focused on improving her children’s schools. Her substantial community work and activism included Music for Marriage Equality, which played a pivotal role in legalizing same-sex marriage in Washington state, and co-founding the Ladies Who Lunch affinity group for hundreds of women professionals in the music and entertainment industry.
Some musical artists of whom Susie was an early champion, and whose careers she helped shepherd, include Nirvana, Weezer, Beck, Sonic Youth, Teenage Fanclub, Hole, and myriad others. With a steadfast belief that great art deserves exposure, Susie insisted that commercial success didn’t have to clash with integrity, something which had seismic implications in Seattle as well as globally.
Susie loved Indian and Thai food (five stars, extra hot sauce), Freaks and Geeks, Nick Drake, thrift shopping with her daughter Ella, gardening, Betsey Johnson, frozen Snickers, big boots, Big Star, independent retail, WSHC, and Halloween. She could go from frenzied hilarity to loving therapist in a heartbeat, never resorting to negativity to score points or land a joke. Deeply committed to fairness, equity, and justice, she never tore someone down to lift someone else up. Susie was often in rooms full of famous musicians, but it was always clear who was the rock star.
Susie is survived by her husband Christopher Swenson, daughter Ella, son Eli, and mother Mary Jo, as well as her cherished siblings and loving adversaries Stephen Victor Tennant (Marianne Adames Tennant), the older and more handsome brother; William Glenn Tennant (Heather Milkman Tennant), the younger and fitter brother; and sister Catherine Tennant McGuire (Lee A. McGuire Jr.). She enjoyed 12 nephews, four nieces, eight great nephews, four great nieces, and counted 15 surviving cousins.
The best memorial contribution is to pay it forward Susie-style by sharing your knowledge, relationships, and love with friends and colleagues. Monetary remembrances can be made in her name to Seattle Musicians Access to Sustainable Healthcare Susie Tennant Memorial Fund (smashseattle.org/susie-tennant), Seattle Musicians for Children’s Hospital (smoochforkids.com), MusiCares (musicares.org), The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration (theaftd.org) or the University of Washington’s Brain Aging and Dementia Research in the BRaIN Lab Fund (give.uwmedicine.org), where Susie made a legacy donation of her brain for research.
A public celebration of Susie’s life will be announced at a future date.
(WSB publishes West Seattle obituaries and memorial announcements by request, free of charge. Please email the text, and a photo if available, to westseattleblog@gmail.com)
(Saturday photo by James Tilley)
Here’s what’s happening today/tonight, mostly from our Event Calendar:
MOON ROOM SHOP AND WELLNESS SALE: In person (5902 1/2 California SW) and online, two-day 15% sale all weekend at Moon Room Shop and Wellness (open 11 am-5 pm, and 24/7 online; WSB sponsor).
WESTIES RUN CLUB: Meet at 9 am at rotating locations – today it’s Dough Joy Donuts (4310 SW Oregon).
OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE CATHOLIC SCHOOL OPEN HOUSE: 10 am-1 pm, prospective families are invited to visit Our Lady of Guadalupe School (34th/Myrtle; WSB sponsor), which serves preschoolers through 8th-graders. More info here.
WEST SEATTLE FARMERS’ MARKET: 10 am-2 pm, the market is open as usual between SW Alaska and SW Oregon on California, offering winter vegetables and fruit as well as cheese, fish, meat, baked goods, condiments, fresh-cooked food, beverages (from cider to kombucha to beer/wine), nuts, candy, more! Here’s today’s vendor list.
HOLY ROSARY ALUMNI DAY: 11:30 am-1:30 pm, all Holy Rosary School alums are invited to visit, sign a book, enjoy refreshments. (42nd/Genesee)
HOLY FAMILY BILINGUAL CATHOLIC SCHOOL OPEN HOUSE: The only 2-way English/Spanish immersion preschool-through-8th-grade school in Seattle welcomes prospective families to visit noon-3 pm today. (20th/Roxbury; WSB sponsor)
HOLY ROSARY CATHOLIC SCHOOL OPEN HOUSE: (updated) Noon-1:30 pm open house at this school, which also serves preschool through 8th grade. (42nd/Genesee)
TALK WITH YOUR NEW SCHOOL-BOARD REP: For the first time since her election to the Seattle Public Schools Board, representing District 6 (West Seattle and most of South Park), Gina Topp invites you to a community conversation, 1:30-2:30 pm at High Point Library (3411 SW Raymond, all welcome.
CLASSIC NOVELS (AND MOVIES) BOOK CLUB: Monthly meeting of the Classic Novels (and Movies) Book Club at C & P Coffee Company (5612 California SW; WSB sponsor), 3-4:30 pm. Our calendar listing has info on this month’s discussion topics.
LADIES’ SELF-DEFENSE WORKSHOP: 3-5 pm at Combat Arts Academy (5050 Delridge Way SW), for ages 13+. Fundraiser for West Seattle Food Bank, $30 – registration link is in our calendar listing.
LIVE MUSIC AT THE ALLEY: See and hear the Triangular Jazztet at The Alley (4509 California SW), 8-10 pm.
Something in the future for our calendar – one-time or recurring? Please email us the info – westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you!
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