The Voices Of The Duwamish Opens At Renton History Museum

“My son and I went fishing one morning in Alaska. After we took off he realized that he had forgotten the bait. He dropped me off on a beautiful little island to wait while he went back to get it. The sun was warm and there were eagles above. As I took a step I looked down and there on my foot was an eagle feather. When I picked it up I felt a bolt of heat travel up my arm. I believe then I heard the Creator speak to me, ‘Mary Lou, its O.K. that you are Indian, I made you who you are.”—Mary Lou Slaughter, a decendent of Chief Seattle

Imagine that you are a group of people whose heritage has never been acknowledged or recognized. Or, imagine that your very existence as a culture has been dismissed as “non-existent,” in the eyes of the federal government. That has been the plight of the Duwamish Tribe — and is the subject of the new exhibit “Voices of the Duwamish Tribe”  at the Renton History Museum.

The exhibit is a display of photographs by Joanne Petrina, who followed the Duwamish people during the peak of their campaign in early 2001 to achieve federal recognition as a tribe. They have yet to receive that recognition.

Director, Liz Stewart, said that the difficulty for the Duwamish has been that they never lived together in one place on an actual reservation. Because of that, it is difficult for them to meet federal guidelines for recognized tribe status.

The Duwamish call themselves “The People of Seattle” and take pride in their ancestral homeland, which includes cities all over this area — including Renton.

Duwamish, to translate to current language means “people of the inside.” They speak a language called Lushootsheed and share rich heritages, history, and culture surrounding family, food, and home.

Petrina, whose does work in documentary photography and narration, jumped at the project. The Voices of the Duwamish project, came on the heals of a project she did with Sound Transit photographing the indigenious people, immigrants and refugees of the Rainier Vallely.

Patrina spent two years on her journey with as many of the Duwamish people that she could find and photographed them and wrote down their stories.

The exhibit is based on several themes, Patrina said. The first is the fight for recognition. The second theme that emerged centers around "the kids, who are the future of the tribe," Patrina said, and their desire to preserve native language, music and dance. She was quick to point out that the younger generation don't always have any easy time, and experience some discrimination.

The third and fourth themes of the exhibit are centered around tribal identity, and a canoe journey with many Native Americans up and down the Salish coast.

"I was honored to spend time with them, and learning about their rich and fascinating history. It is an important story to tell," Patrina said.

For more information about the Duwamish people and to tour the Longhouse Cultural Center on W. Marginal Way, in Seattle, find information here.

Check the for exhibit hours.