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Duwamish Tribe 41 results

YOUTH WRITING CONTEST: Southwest Seattle Historical Society’s middle-school-student winner
April 6, 2021 7:06 pm
|      4 COMMENTS
 |   Duwamish Tribe | West Seattle history | West Seattle news

This week we’re publishing the winning entries in the Southwest Seattle Historical Society‘s youth-writing contest, for essays on “Women History Makers of the Duwamish Peninsula.” Tonight, the middle-school winner:

“We’re Still Here”
By Elliott Neves

Cecile Hansen, chairwoman of the Duwamish Tribal Council and descendant of Chief Si’ahl (also known as Chief Seattle), has made a significant impact on women and the Duwamish Tribe. Over the years she has accomplished many of her goals through hard work and determination, and the positive outcomes have pushed the Duwamish closer to recognition. As a woman in a leadership position who isn’t afraid to fight for what she wants, she is an inspiration to many.

When Cecile was a young woman, she started attending the Duwamish council meetings after hearing about them from her brother. During those meetings Cecile learned about the Treaty of Point Elliott, which was an agreement saying the tribe would get fishing rights on the Duwamish River. Unfortunately, those rights were not being recognized and Cecile had to witness the outcome as her brother got citation after citation for fishing.

One thing that Cecile fought very hard for was getting the Duwamish to be federally recognized. That means they could get benefits like health care, grants, social services, and the rights to their fishing and hunting grounds. If tribes are not recognized it is very hard (if not impossible) to get these rights and was the reason why Cecile’s brother kept getting those fishing citations. On top of the physical benefits, there is also a mental benefit that comes along with being recognized. Everyone wants to feel like they are valued and a part of things. When a whole community is denied that inclusivity it is very disheartening.

In 1975 Cecile Hansen was elected chairwoman of the Duwamish Tribal Council. She led the charge to establish the Duwamish’s first tribal headquarters. This was a big step because it is important in every community to have a place where you know you can get help, and where everyone is working towards the goal of making the group better. A few years later, Cecile took on the role of Protocol officer at the Seattle Burke Museum. This position enabled her to become a liaison to other Northwest tribes. In working towards her goal of gaining recognition, she joined a group of other unrecognized tribes and testified before the U.S Senate Committee on Indian Affairs about the Federal acknowledgment process.

Through thick and thin, Cecile Hansen has been there for the Duwamish Tribe. She has been a role model to women of all ages with her perseverance, and everyone should strive to have her dedication. In addition to all her other accomplishments, she also helped secure enough land to build the Duwamish Longhouse and Cultural center. This center can help members of the tribe feel more connected to their heritage and ancestors. With a memorable motto of “We’re still here,” Cecile works very hard to make those words true for the Duwamish Tribe.

Tomorrow night, we’ll publish the high-school winner’s essay; if you missed it last night, here’s the elementary winner.

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Duwamish Longhouse plans first Native art market since pre-pandemic
March 31, 2021 8:04 pm
|    Comments Off on Duwamish Longhouse plans first Native art market since pre-pandemic
 |   Duwamish Tribe | West Seattle news | WS culture/arts

(WSB file photo)

The Duwamish Longhouse and Cultural Center is planning its first Native art market in more than a year. April 10-11, 11 am-7 pm each day, the Longhouse (4705 W. Marginal Way SW) will open for the Spring Fling Pop-Up Art Market, promising “deals and treasures from Native artists.” COVID safety precautions are planned – masks will be required, and temperatures will be checked. Admission is free.

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Duwamish Tribe launches petition drive in continuing campaign for federal recognition
March 6, 2021 10:57 am
|      5 COMMENTS
 |   Duwamish Tribe | West Seattle news

The Duwamish Tribe has a new bid for public support in its far-from-new fight for federal recognition. They’re seeking signatures on an online petition, with this request via email:

We need 150,000 signatures to get the attention of our Washington State legislators and Senators

Please share and send this email to all your friends, family and colleagues.

Our goal is to affect positive results to rectify this injustice once and for all in 2021.

For you the citizens, residents of Washington State, the City of Seattle, King County and the United States that believe a ‘Treaty” Tribe should not have to be put on hold for 45 years to prove that they are the original Duwamish Tribe that signed the Treaty of Point Elliott.

The Duwamish deserve justice now!

Here’s background on the treaty – and the denial of rights that goes back more than a century and a half.

More recently, the Clinton Administration moved to grant recognition in its final days in early 2001; the incoming Bush Administration canceled it. But having a Democratic president now is no guarantee of change – the Obama Administration kept the status quo for its two terms. Six years ago, we were there as Duwamish Tribe chair Cecile Hansen and supporters confronted then-Interior Secretary Sally Jewell outside Jewell’s North Admiral home; two months earlier, Interior had denied federal recognition to the Duwamish, again.

(2015 WSB photo)

Some of what’s at stake was discussed during this 2017 event at the Duwamish Longhouse. Meantime, in addition to the online petition drive, the tribe also is asking for support in a letter-writing campaign – here’s the list.

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For Duwamish Tribe, 2 words in proposed State Senate bill could ‘erase us from the history books’
January 26, 2021 10:30 am
|      11 COMMENTS
 |   Duwamish Tribe | West Seattle news | West Seattle politics

(Duwamish Tribe Longhouse, WSB file photo)

By Jason Grotelueschen
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

A proposed State Legislature bill encouraging students in our state to learn more about Native history contains 2 words that could spell trouble for the Duwamish Tribe.

The bill SB-5161 (“Teaching Washington’s tribal history, culture, and government”) is scheduled to be reviewed tomorrow (Wednesday, January 27th) in executive session of the Senate Committee on Early Learning and K-12 Education.

At issue, according to Duwamish Longhouse director Jolene Haas (also the daughter of tribal chair Cecile Hansen) is the phrase “federally recognized,” which describes the tribes that are included in the scope of the bill.

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FOLLOWUP: Here are the new names for Port of Seattle’s 6 Duwamish River parks
October 27, 2020 1:22 pm
|      4 COMMENTS
 |   Duwamish Tribe | Port of Seattle | West Seattle news


(Spotted sandpiper, photographed in 2017 by Mark Wangerin at what was then T-107 Park)

Just announced at the Seattle Port Commission meeting – the six new names for Port of Seattle parks on the Duwamish River. Four are in the Lushootseed language, two are in English. From the meeting-agenda document:

The former T-105 and T-107 parks, now tuʔəlaltxʷ Village Park & Shoreline Habitat and həʔapus Village Park & Shoreline Habitat, are in West Seattle. ha?apus is the name supported by the Duwamish Tribe, whose Longhouse and Cultural Center is across the street; we reported on their advocacy when the renaming process began in July. At today’s meeting, chair Cecile Hansen and longhouse director Jolene Haas expressed their thanks to community participants in the process, saying of the renaming, “We pray it will create an opportunity to heal our relationship with one another as Indian people and citizens of Seattle.”

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HALLOWEEN: Duwamish Longhouse plans drive-up trick-or-treating
October 17, 2020 7:18 pm
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 |   Duwamish Tribe | Holidays | West Seattle news

Halloween is two weeks from tonight. The Duwamish Tribe Longhouse has just announced that it’ll welcome trick-or-treaters in pandemic-era style, with drive-up trick-or-treating. 2-5 pm on Halloween (Saturday, October 31st), you’re welcome to drive/ride into the Longhouse’s parking lot at 4705 West Marginal Way SW to get a “Halloween goodie bag.” Just one thing the Longhouse asks in return: “It’s critical that we keep our communities safe this holiday season, so please wear a mask in accordance with COVID-19 guidelines.”

P.S. We’re still collecting decoration locations – westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you!

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Duwamish Tribe now offering ‘ecotours’
October 12, 2020 11:34 am
|      4 COMMENTS
 |   Duwamish Tribe | Environment | West Seattle news

(Duwamish Tribe Longhouse, WSB file photo)

On this Indigenous Peoples’ Day, you might wonder about ways to support the Duwamish Tribe. They’ve recently announced a new offering through the Duwamish Longhouse and Cultural Center in West Seattle: Ecotours:

The Duwamish Longhouse and Cultural Center is continuing our education programs, and keeping safe protocols in place to protect our communities from COVID-19. Masks are required, and we stay outdoors physically distanced at all times during the tour. Group size is limited to four people to keep with CDC guidelines suggesting groups be no larger than five people.

Visit us to learn about and walk through Hah-ah-poos Duwamish Village right on the river across the street from the Longhouse. We can talk about the history of the village site, the history of colonization in the general area of King County, some traditional food sources, and traditional ecological/land stewardship practices.

Email: tours@duwamishtribe.org to schedule a tour, or fill out the form at www.duwamishtribe.org/ecotours.

Let us know in your email, or in the website form, if you have accessibility needs. We will do our best to accommodate, but there are some limitations to the trails and paths at Hah-ah-poos (T-107 park).

It is the mission that of all the programs at the Duwamish Longhouse be self-sustaining. We recommend that our tour participants donate $10-25 per person, but know that we will not turn anyone away for financial reasons so long as we have availability.

P.S. Wondering whether the Port of Seattle will change the name of the park to honor its history as the Hah-ah-poos village site, as supported by the tribe? The port says its park-naming announcements will happen October 27th.

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First day of Duwamish Longhouse’s 2019 Native Gift Fair and Art Market
November 29, 2019 12:54 pm
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 |   Duwamish Tribe | Holidays | West Seattle news



12:54 PM: Today is Native American Heritage Day, and the Duwamish Tribe Longhouse and Cultural Center in West Seattle (4705 West Marginal Way SW) is the perfect place to honor that. While you can visit year-round, today (and five more days this holiday season) brings an extra reason – the Holiday Native Gift Fair and Art Market. Participating artists and other vendors are lining both main public areas.

Art, apparel, jewelry, drums, carvings, teas, and body-care items are among the merchandise. The fair is on until 5 pm today, 10 am-5 pm again tomorrow and Sunday, and then a second 3-day run December 13-14-15. There’s overflow parking in the former bus lot across West Marginal, and a crossing guard.

ADDED FRIDAY NIGHT: More photos:

The art above is by Terrance Guardipee; the drums below, by Sharon Byerly of Drums and Dreams:

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VIDEO: Duwamish Tribe, community advocates back West Marginal Way SW safety project at City Council’s budget hearing
October 23, 2019 2:31 pm
|      2 COMMENTS
 |   Duwamish Tribe | Safety | West Seattle news | West Seattle politics

(Photo courtesy Tamsen Spengler)

It wasn’t in the mayor’s plan, but – as reported here last week – City Councilmember Lisa Herbold has proposed adding the West Marginal Way SW safety project to next year’s city budget. In hopes of convincing her colleagues to support it, Duwamish Tribe leaders and West Seattle community advocates spoke at the council’s budget hearing last night at City Hall downtown. They’re the first group you’ll see in the Seattle Channel video, about 5 minutes in:

As Longhouse director Jolene Haas explained, the building’s site was chosen in part because of its proximity to the culturally significant sites across the street, but crossing is risky at best. In addition, the west side of the street, where the Longhouse has been for a decade, is without sidewalks. SDOT recently narrowed that side of the road for a short distance as a stopgap measure.

WHAT’S NEXT: The council’s budget review continues. If you have an opinion on this or anything else they’re considering, council@seattle.gov is the email address reaching them all.

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FOLLOWUP: SDOT tries ‘low-cost revision’ to address safety by Duwamish Longhouse
October 9, 2019 3:05 pm
|      13 COMMENTS
 |   Duwamish Tribe | Safety | West Seattle news

Thanks to Andy for the tip. As our video shows, SDOT has blocked off part of the outside southbound lane of West Marginal Way SW by the Duwamish Tribe Longhouse and Cultural Center, in an attempt to address some of the tribe’s ongoing safety concerns. We’ve been reporting all year on the tribe’s efforts to get help with improving safe access to the longhouse and between it and the Duwamish River shore, including cultural/natural sites, across the busy street. The possibility of lane removal was mentioned to the West Seattle Transportation Coalition two weeks ago by SDOT director Sam Zimbabwe; he mentioned a signal was a possibility too, but that isn’t in the current plan, SDOT spokesperson Ethan Bergerson tells WSB:

While SDOT did not have the funding for a larger signal project to connect the longhouse to the river and park, we were able to use existing funding to implement this low-cost revision to address safety concerns and provide some parking on the western side of the street in front of the Duwamish Tribe Longhouse.

We don’t have plans for further changes. Of course, like every project, we will observe traffic performance and could potentially make some minor revisions if we see any issues that need to be addressed.

Though the city has previously rejected the tribe’s grant application for pedestrian-safety work, it has granted $575,000 that will cover part of the cost of expanding longhouse parking, as we reported last month.

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Duwamish Tribe gets city grant for part of safety project
September 15, 2019 5:32 pm
|      3 COMMENTS
 |   Duwamish Tribe | West Seattle news

(WSB file photo)

The Duwamish Tribe is a step closer to buying a site adjacent to its West Seattle Longhouse for parking expansion, thanks to a city grant. An announcement Friday of grants from the Equitable Development Initiative included $575,000 for the tribe “to purchase property adjacent to the existing Longhouse to support the continued viability of the cultural space (to) help visitors safely access the Longhouse.” As we reported earlier this year, including in this January report on the Longhouse’s 10-year anniversary, the tribe has been trying to get city help for a safe crossing on West Marginal Way. They’re still working toward that, Longhouse director Jolene Haas told WSB when we asked her about the new grant after last night’s candidate debate. She also says that while this city grant will enable them to buy the property to the south that currently holds an old house, it’s only part of the $800,000+ they applied for, so they will need to fundraise to cover the rest of the cost of converting the site.

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West Seattle weekend scene: ‘Walking Native Land’ on National Trails Day
June 2, 2019 11:45 am
|    Comments Off on West Seattle weekend scene: ‘Walking Native Land’ on National Trails Day
 |   Duwamish Tribe | Puget Ridge | West Seattle history | West Seattle news

Thanks to Judy Bentley for sending the photos and report on another of Saturday’s remarkable West Seattle events:

More than 90 people of all ages walked native land yesterday from ridge to river on National Trails Day in the West Duwamish Greenbelt.

Ken Workman, a descendant of Chief Seattle, described his personal experience growing up on Puget Ridge and the Duwamish experience of the land on the ridge and along the Duwamish River.

The hike left South Seattle College and followed an unimproved trail down to the Duwamish Longhouse on West Marginal Way and back up. In the last few blocks, hikers had to walk the parking strip along the busy truck-way because sidewalks are intermittent.

The hike, sponsored by the West Duwamish Greenbelt Trails group, highlighted the vision of a ridge to river trail, connecting landscapes nurturing human life for thousands of years.

For more information about the Duwamish Greenbelt Trails group, consult our website at www.wdgtrails.com

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NEXT SATURDAY: ‘Walk Native Land’ in West Seattle
May 26, 2019 2:49 pm
|    Comments Off on NEXT SATURDAY: ‘Walk Native Land’ in West Seattle
 |   Duwamish Tribe | Puget Ridge | West Seattle news

Midway through this three-day weekend, here’s something coming up next weekend that you might want to plan ahead to be part of: The monthly West Duwamish Greenbelt Trails guided hike on June 1st offers the chance to “Walk Native Land” with someone who knows all about it. The announcement:

Celebrate National Trails Day in our West Duwamish Greenbelt!

“Walk Native Land” with Ken Workman, a descendant of Chief Seattle and a member of the Duwamish Tribe. Ken will talk about his personal experience growing up in the greenbelt and his tribe’s use of the land and nearby Duwamish River.

The hike begins at 10 a.m. near the Seattle Chinese Garden at South Seattle College. We’ll walk down Puget Ridge to the Duwamish Longhouse and Cultural Center and return. This hike is on unimproved trail with aspirations to be a connector between ridge and river, about two miles round-trip with 200 feet of elevation gain coming back. Wear good shoes or boots and be prepared for small obstacles like logs, brush, and walking near the edge of West Marginal Way.

South Seattle College is at 6000 16th Ave. SW (bus route 125). Enter at the north entrance and we will meet near the first building on your left. Parking is on 16th Ave. SW or at the arboretum and garden center at the college.

This walk is sponsored by West Duwamish Greenbelt Trails. Please join us for greenbelt walks scheduled on the first Saturday of each month until October!

Those are also featured in the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar.

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AT THE LONGHOUSE: Apology gathering tomorrow; Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition party next Friday
March 29, 2019 7:31 pm
|    Comments Off on AT THE LONGHOUSE: Apology gathering tomorrow; Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition party next Friday
 |   Duwamish Tribe | West Seattle news

(Duwamish Longhouse, WSB file photo)

If you haven’t yet seen them in our calendar, two upcoming events of note at the Duwamish Tribe Longhouse in West Seattle (4705 W. Marginal Way SW):

APOLOGY TOMORROW: This first-of-its-kind event is set for 1-5 pm Saturday (March 30th), co-presented by the Grandmothers Global Healing Movement, starting with a 1 pm ceremony and continuing through a 3 pm meal: “The Apology will be focused on the Duwamish people, and all Native American tribes. Featured speakers include H.E. Dagmola Kusho Sakya of the Tibetan Buddhist lineage; Rev. Kelly Brown, lead pastor of Plymouth Church Seattle; Pastor Pat Wright of Total Experience Gospel Choir fame; and others. Everyone is encouraged to bring food and gifting to the Indigenous, whether dollars, services, or goods.

Read more in our calendar listing.

DRCC NEXT FRIDAY: One week from tonight, the Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition invites you to the Longhouse for the fourth annual Beer and Chocolate Fest. It’s not only a fundraiser for the nonprofit, it’s also a chance to thank longtime coordinator James Rasmussen and welcome new executive director Paulina Lopez – well known for her years of community work in the area, but new in this role. Tickets are available here for the 5:30 pm April 5th event.

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10th anniversary, and centuries of history, for the Duwamish Tribe Longhouse in West Seattle
January 27, 2019 8:05 pm
|      2 COMMENTS
 |   Duwamish Tribe | West Seattle news

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Though the Duwamish Tribe Longhouse in West Seattle is celebrating its 10th anniversary this month, its origins go back decades.

Joleen Haas, the Longhouse’s director, observes that it “really started 30 or 40 years ago … the purpose was to have a home for the Duwamish but also a place to share our history with, and educate, everyone. We surveyed the membership and asked, what more do you want besides (federal) recognition? They said, they wanted a longhouse.” It would be the first since in more than a century, since settlers burned almost 100 Duwamish longhouses in the 1800s and early 1900s.

The search for a site was not easy. The search ranged far and wide, “until the Friends of the Duwamish found this property,” recalled Haas, daughter of Duwamish chair Cecile Hansen, during a recent interview with us at the Longhouse. Finally a site was found in West Seattle, a former dumpsite as Haas recounts. “As soon as we got the land we started planning.” More of the history is recounted on the tribe’s website:

The Duwamish Longhouse and Cultural Center is located on the west side of West Marginal Way in West Seattle overlooking the Duwamish River valley near a village site where the young Chief Seattle grew up. Our Center is across the street from a major archeological site, Duwamish Site No. 1 (45-KI-23), a designated site in the National Register of Historic Places. Archeologists have uncovered a major village dated back to 600 A.D. It was occupied during the fall, winter and early spring and was known for a gathering place for shellfish from the tide flats of the original Duwamish River. Shell middens along the riverbanks are still visible: This is the only remaining stretch of the original Duwamish River.

Tribal Elders in 1927 called the village Ha-AH-poos, had its own shaman (healer), several longhouses, and hundreds of inhabitants that lived there in the 1800’s. Directly north of Ha AH-poos is another major former village, Tul a’lt, or Herrings House, now Herrings House Park. This large village consisted of four medium-sized longhouses (100 ft x 50 ft) and a larger potlatch house more than 300 feet long.

The 6,000-square-foot Duwamish Longhouse’s groundbreaking ceremony was held in June 2007:

(WSB photo, June 2007)

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VIDEO: New president, same treaty-rights fight for Duwamish Tribe
January 22, 2017 10:50 am
|      3 COMMENTS
 |   Duwamish Tribe | West Seattle news | West Seattle people | WS culture/arts

On Saturday, while tens of thousands of people were marching downtown out of concern over the newly inaugurated administration, the White House transition was also a topic of discussion at the Duwamish Longhouse. The day was in part a celebration of the longhouse itself – completed and dedicated eight years ago – but it began with a focus on the Duwamish Tribe‘s continued quest for its treaty rights. Our video above is from a Q/A session that followed the Longhouse’s first screening of the new documentary “Promised Land,” which is about the Duwamish and Chinook Tribes’ struggle to get the federal government to honor those rights.

In our video, after lauding the filmmakers for their work, Duwamish chair Cecile Hansen answered questions (others were fielded by James Rasmussen and Ken Workman, also of the tribe). Hansen said she is “not too encouraged about the new administration, but you never know what could happen.” Rasmussen said they also are dealing with a change in who represents Seattle in the U.S. House of Representatives. U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott, who just retired, was a longtime champion of the Duwamish pursuit of federal recognition; his newly elected successor, U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, hasn’t been to the Longhouse, Rasmussen noted, and they don’t know whether she is supportive or not. He also explained, when asked for details of what would be different if they had treaty rights, that Duwamish youth are not recognized as Native Americans when enrolling in college – they have been offered the chance to do so if they enroll with a recognized tribe, but, Rasmussen said, usually decline.

Other tribes in the area have opposed Duwamish treaty rights, Rasmussen went on to say, because of concerns over casino competition. The Duwamish have “no plan to build a casino – never has been a plan,” he said, but he also said that when once offered the chance at recognition if they permanently renounced that option, they put the question to their membership and they said no, “we’re not giving up anything.”

Hansen, by the way, says she’s writing a book. She’s been fighting for the treaty rights for more than 40 years; the tribe briefly gained recognition in the final days of the Clinton Administration, saw it subsequently canceled by the Bush Administration, and then came another denial, from the Obama Administration, in summer 2015.

(August 2015 WSB photo)

As you will also hear her say in the video – and as we reported here a year and a half ago – she took the Duwamish’s case directly to now-former Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, a West Seattle resident (photo above). While Jewell touted the department’s work with tribes in her farewell, that didn’t include any progress for the Duwamish, Hansen noted. “If she had brought the tribes together, we would not be suffering with this non-status. … She should have done more for the Duwamish people.”

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Indigenous Peoples’ Day: New film chronicles the Duwamish Tribe’s recognition fight
October 10, 2016 4:19 pm
|      6 COMMENTS
 |   Duwamish Tribe | West Seattle news | WS culture/arts

On this Indigenous Peoples’ Day, the Duwamish Tribe remains without federal recognition.

The tribe hasn’t given up the fight, and recently circulated a March 2016 document that is interpreted as giving them the right to appeal last year’s decision rejecting their longstanding bid for recognition (a challenge that Duwamish chair Cecile Hansen took directly to Interior Secretary Sally Jewell in West Seattle a few months later).

The Duwamish also are getting new attention via a documentary chronicling both their campaign for recognition and that of another Washington state tribe, the Chinook. It’s called “Promised Land,” and its second Seattle-area screening is coming up one week from tonight. The trailer is above; the screening is at 8 pm Monday, October 17th, as part of the Social Justice Film Festival, at the University of Washington – details here, including how to get tickets.

Closer to home, you can learn more about our area’s First People by visiting the Duwamish Longhouse and Cultural Center (4705 W. Marginal Way SW) Mondays-Saturdays, 10 am-5 pm, free admission, donations accepted.

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VIDEO: Duwamish Tribe chair face-to-face with U.S. Interior Secretary in West Seattle, report #2
August 31, 2015 5:31 am
|      11 COMMENTS
 |   Duwamish Tribe | West Seattle news | West Seattle people

Story, photos, and video by Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Listening to Alaska Natives is the first thing on President Obama‘s schedule when he arrives in Alaska later today.

Listening to a Puget Sound Native leader is something his Interior Secretary probably didn’t expect to find herself doing in her West Seattle driveway while preparing to head north herself.

As first reported here on Saturday, Duwamish Tribe chair Cecile Hansen went to Secretary Sally Jewell‘s North Admiral neighborhood with local activists hoping to deliver a letter seeking a meeting about Jewell’s department denying the tribe federal recognition two months ago. “Ruined my Fourth of July,” Hansen said about that July 2nd decision by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

After gathering a few houses away on Saturday morning, Hansen and the group trouped up the front steps of where they thought Jewell lived (when not in DC).

A man answering the door told them that wasn’t the house they were looking for but wouldn’t say which house that would be. So they then semi-rallied on the sidewalk, reading statements, until one group member spotted Jewell – loading items into a car trunk in a driveway across the street. Over went everyone – including Hansen, surprised. Here’s what happened in the ensuing four and a half minutes:

Though the short encounter was more cheery than confrontational, as you heard, Jewell made no commitment – referring repeatedly to the “complexity” of the recognition issue and mentioning other tribes’ “difference of opinion.” Hansen, asked afterward what she thought, pronounced what she heard to have been “political runaround.” Days after the July denial of recognition, she told media at the tribe’s West Seattle longhouse that she felt especially let down by Jewell.

At the time, there also were suggestions of a grass-roots citizen lobbying effort. That might hold promise, if what happened on Jewell’s street a few minutes later is any indication. A neighbor emerged from a garage a few houses east – one still decorated for what apparently had been a luau the night before – to ask what was going on. Within a blink, Hansen and the activists were gathered outside the garage, making their case to the neighbor and several others sitting inside.

Petitions were circulated. Right after that, we took our leave – the windstorm was kicking up (as you can hear in our video) and people were starting to text about tree trouble. Hansen had said her council would be meeting this week, and that a conversation was due to happen with the lawyer representing them in an ongoing court attempt to force the recognition issue. Seattle’s U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott has tried to push recognition via legislation, but it has idled.

Hansen also hopes to hear from Jewell, who told her she would be back in D.C. after Labor Day, and said she at least would convey the message to Kevin Washburn, her assistant secretary for Indian Affairs, during the Alaska trip, which she noted would be followed by a visit to Eastern Washington tribes. Meantime, since the Saturday encounter, Jewell has made headlines with a gesture to Alaska Natives, announcing that Mount McKinley would be renamed Denali, the name by which it is known to them. The matter of recognizing a tribe – in, as she noted on Saturday, the face of opposition by others – is not as simple.

Chair Hansen reiterated that the Duwamish are determined. Even before the short chat with Jewell, she mused that maybe if the feds remain reluctant, she could take her case to Pope Francis, who is headed to the U.S. in three weeks.

AHEAD: THE LETTER – Read on to see the letter that the activists brought to Jewell’s neighborhood on behalf of Hansen and the Duwamish people:

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