Native culture honored, studied & remembered

February 15, 2018 PC Buccaneer Online Editor Arts & Entertainment, Campus Life, Features, February 14, General, News, Sports Comments Off on Native culture honored, studied & remembered
Photo by Ryan Fournier. Native American drums and voices filled the gym with music. Basketball fans at Peninsula College heard traditional songs of the area, performed by a Lower Elwha Klallam group during halftime of the women’s game versus Skagit Valley on Jan. 24.

Story by  Ryan Fournier.

Every year, a PC home-game night is chosen to honor Native culture.

This year’s games, against Skagit Valley on Jan. 24, were positioned alongside an exhibit of Jamestown S’Klallam artifacts at Peninsula College’s Longhouse of

Learning, accompanied by a Studium Generale presentation by David Brownell, Jamestown cultural resources specialist.

Photo by Ryan Fournier. At halftime of the men’s game that came after, the Elwha Youth Basketball program took the court. Tribal athletes between the ages of nine and twelve played for a College audience as a counterpart to the earlier

Brownell talked about the life and decline of Sxʷčkʷíyəŋ, a S’Klallam hunting village formerly located at present day Washington Harbor in Sequim.

Largely as a result of smallpox brought by white settlers, its population dropped into the ‘40s by 1880. The village is estimated to have been home to 2-300 people in 1840.

By the 1890’s, the remaining villagers were being relocated to Jamestown.

In the early 1980s, archaeologists unearthed thousands of artifacts from Sxʷčkʷíyəŋ. Some of these, including tools made from stone and antler, are on display in the Longhouse. They will be there through April.

Photo courtesy of Jocelyn Moore. Four individuals were honored in the Klallam way of being ceremonially wrapped in a blanket in front of the crowd. (Top) Jocelyn Moore, PC freshman, was recognized as a tribal representative on the court. She is a member of the Colville Confederated Tribes. On the Skagit team, Adiya Jones-Smith of the Tulalip Tribe, and Kiah Charlie of the Yupik Tribe were blanketed. (Below) Rick Ross, associate dean of athletics and student services at PC was recognized as the evening’s host. “That was a surprise to me. I was very honored,” said Ross. PC basketball alumnus Lola Moses, a Klallam member, welcomed those present in the PC gym as guests on Klallam land.

 

Photo by Ryan Fournier.

Sadie Crowe, Longhouse coordinator, said featuring the artifacts was a “great opportunity.” The Longhouse, home to classes and gatherings of many kinds, often showcases art in the gallery space near its entrance.

The building, nestled in woods at the southwest end of PC’s campus, is intended as a safe space for the expression of all cultures, as well as personal traits, Crowe said.

This school year marks the Longhouse’s 10th anniversary. Envisioned by tribal leaders and school administration as a place of learning and relationship building, it was the first longhouse built on an American community college campus.