Story and photos by Torin Record-Sand
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

Six years after its inception (and nearly five since our first coverage of it), the Heron’s Nest project has seen its culmination in the official return of its West Seattle site to the Duwamish Tribe.

During the Saturday afternoon ceremony and celebration, the official legal deed and title to the land were presented to the tribe. The rights represent 3.56 acres of land in the West Duwamish Greenbelt, less than a mile away from the longhouse itself [map].

Though the symbolism and intent are sizable, the size of the site itself is small in the context of the tribe’s 54,000 or so acres of ancestral lands lost during the colonization of the Northwest by settlers in the 19th century. Today the tribe owns less than 5 acres of land in Seattle city limits, comprising the longhouse and adjacent space mostly used as parking lots; outside the city, they bought a 33-acre plot near Renton last year.

“A long time ago the Duwamish people lived here, and then they were told they were not allowed. But now we are back.” said Ken Workman, Duwamish Tribal Council member and descendant of Chief Seattle. “To the Shared Spaces Foundation, the Real Rent Duwamish Campaign, the Duwamish Solidarity Group, we say with raised hands – thank you my friends for your hearts, for your big work, and just for your life.” He, along with longtime Duwamish chair Cecile Hansen, served as the formal recipients for the presentation on Saturday.

The project began informally in 2019, after one of the founding members of the Shared Spaces Foundation (the parent nonprofit behind Heron’s Nest), Lee, began to look after the property for the previous owner in exchange for using it for storage. At that point, the property was up for sale, having gone through several failed development projects that eventually fizzled out. Upon realizing its proximity to the Duwamish longhouse, Lee began discussions with the tribe on how they could mutually purchase and revitalize the land. In the spring and summer of 2020, the work formally began as the larger Heron’s Nest project, with active stewardship and restoration beginning to take place.

The larger narrative that formed around the Heron’s Nest focused around the pain the Duwamish tribe has felt from some of the worst consequences of the rapid industrialization that came with the Northwestern settlers. The Duwamish River has long represented one of the most severe areas of pollution in the Seattle area, having been designated an EPA ‘Superfund’ site in 2001 due to extreme contamination from industrial runoff. The parcel of land served as a symbol of the larger environmental neglect near the home of the Duwamish, having sat vacant since the 1990s, largely used as a dumping ground, also suffering vandalism.

“We worked in partnership with Duwamish Tribal Services to acquire this land, and helped to take care of it and remediate the damage that has been done. There have been hundreds of years of injustices to indigenous peoples, and they continually happen to this day with the destruction of indigenous people and indigenous knowledge. This has been an incredible gift in itself, in the power of community coming together; doing what’s right, acknowledging the harm that’s been done, and doing things every day to heal that harm.” said Lee.

After the handing over of the deed, the Duwamish presented their own gift. The core members who were there representing the Heron’s Nest received blankets made by Eighth Generation, adorned with the image of an orca.

“We blanket our friends. To us, the blanket is a miracle – it is useful as a mattress, a cover, a tent,” said Workman, as he put the blankets on their shoulders. “When we blanket our friends, we are sharing with them the bounty of this land.”

The land ceremony closed with the Quileute Healing Song, gifted to both the Duwamish and Snohomish people by Vince Penn.

Quileute Healing Song which was gifted to the Duwamish and Snohomish people by Vince Penn.

Beyond the ceremony, the celebration represented many indigenous ways of life, as fellow Salish Sea tribes came to support the Duwamish and exchange their culture with one another. Members from the Coeur d’Alene tribe came to teach people how to play the stick game, and members of the Snohomish came to share stories of tribal folklore and mythology on the central stage after the ceremony concluded. Other activities offered included the making of traditional medicine (such as herbal salves), and printmaking.

Lunch was also a centerpiece for the celebration, featuring traditional Salish Sea cuisine, with the classic open-fire smoked salmon as the central dish. The Lummi Nation provided more than 350 pounds of King salmon, purchased by the Duwamish for the occasion. The Heron’s Nest contributed by building the fire pit during the past few weeks, as well as providing seasoning for the fish, composed of herbs and flowers that had been grown at the Heron’s Nest itself.

Despite what this momentous occasion represented, the work is not done for both the group behind the Shared Spaces Foundation, the Duwamish Tribe, and for the Heron’s Nest itself. The Shared Spaces Foundation’s next large project is the restoration of a 3-acre parcel on the island of Hawai’i, where they have been doing work since January of this year. The Heron’s Nest will still also receive assistance from members who have worked on the project, with Joselynn Tokashiki assisting the Duwamish in further work at and planning for the site. And the Duwamish will continue with various forms of activism in their pursuit of federal recognition.