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A Letter of Support for Transfer to the Tribe

August 2, 2004

Dear Rex Derr,

I apologize for this long email, and I want to make sure you know that I am only speaking for myself here.

I believe it is a mistake to look at Old Man House Park as a site of dead, static history. This is the site of a living people whose history continues to unfold.

Any living culture needs spaces in which to unfold. For a place-based culture, that must include land, and for the Suquamish, that must include water. Old Man House Park, of course, is not just any site on the reservation - it is the center, the heart if you will, of what was once and may be again a great nation. 

It would be the most painful of ironies if the park commission's understanding of the historic importance of the park was to chock off the living culture - to in a sense put the Suquamish Tribe into a glass case.

The Parks staff agenda item references the option of leasing the land to the Suquamish Tribe. When I thought about that, I thought about the difference between raising a family in a rented house versus one you own. Or the difference between a sharecropper and an independent
farmer. Even the most benign of landlords in either case changes ones relationship to place and ones sense of the future--of what you are creating for future generations.

Moreover there is a very painful wound in Indian country. Since the signing of treaties, other entities have insisted that they could better manage tribal resources and make better decisions for the tribes than the tribes themselves. This has had terrible consequences,

• Land on the Port Madison Reservation was sold out from under people because they were deemed "incompetent" to manage it themselves (having failed English literacy exams) or for many other reasons.

• The BIA mismanagement of Indian land leases has resulted in billions of dollars owed to tribes being lost-this is still in litigation and negotiation.

• Tribal children were removed from their homes when others thought they knew better how to educate them and force them to assimilate.

• Tribal religion was made illegal, and a great deal was lost. 

The tragic list goes on and on - I'm sure you're familiar with it.

State Parks, to date, has been the good guy. It was Parks that preserved the land from development so we can even be having this discussion.

But if state parks now tells the Suquamish Tribe: "We still need to own the park, we still need to be in control" the old, damaging pattern is repeated. The tribe has been successful in recovering in large part because they have taken back authority over their own land, resources, and governance. No matter how skillful, none of us outside the tribe can do that for them, nor can healing move ahead.

The importance of self-determination does not mean that the tribe is excluding the greater community. To the contrary, I have been very impressed with the tribe's openness to community input, even though that meant opening themselves to insults and offensive comments from a segment of this community that makes this their practice. Despite the painful elements of this, their generosity has been unfailing. 

The tribe regularly invites the larger community to cultural events, they open their facilities and services to non-tribal members, and they contribute generously to community efforts. They have continued to be clear that this openness extends to Old Man House Park. As a regular park user, access is important to me, and I have no misgivings about the continuation of access to those of us who are not tribal members. Their generosity is one of the reasons I find it painful that their heartfelt pleas might be rejected.

I do know that there is an element within the tribe that is skeptical that non-Indians are trustworthy. If the hopes that have been raised on Old Man House are dashed by a decision not to transfer, the bitterness will expand and will be a major setback to this community.

Here's the bottom line, in my view: If the state keeps the park, the park will continue to reflect a poorly communicated and static history of a people, rather than the dynamic unfolding of a people with a present and a future.

If the park is transferred to the tribe, the park will become a living part of an unfolding culture.

If the state keeps the park, there will be a re-opening of wounds and deeper divides in the community that could well last generations.

If the park is transferred, this will become an historic milestones in the healing of a people. 

If the state keeps the park, there will be enormous cynicism about the value of inclusive community involvement processes. Our work at Suquamish Olalla Neighbors to open lines of communication and healing will be set back years if not decades.

If the park is transferred, the value of community communications will be reinforced, improving prospects for future work as a community.

If the state keeps the park, Old Man House Park will have to compete with a long list of other state parks priorities (given its very low rating on Centennial Vision criteria and the long list of high-priority projects already identified at other parks). 

If the park is transferred, Old Man House will become a top priority of the tribe, and park users will benefit from priority attention to maintenance, improvements, and interpretation. The Tribe has a clear track record in historic interpretation of the significance of Old Man House Park; the state does not.

If the state keeps the park, tribes statewide who have been carefully watching this process will remember this for years.

If the park is transferred, state parks will have established a foundation of trust for future partnerships. One thing I have learned in my few years living in Indian country is that relationships-trust-are essential, and not easily rebuilt once broken.

There are not too many opportunities to take a stand of such historic importance. Prolonging this process with leases and other actions short of transfer will only deepen divides and deepen wounds. The process has been comprehensive and fair. Now is the time to make a fair and appropriate decision. 


Sincerely,
Sarah van Gelder
Suquamish Olalla Neighbors
www.soneighbors.org