PORT ANGELES — Fliers urging a boycott of the Elwha Fish Co. over the abandonment of the Hood Canal Bridge graving yard project will be referred to the FBI for investigation of possible violations of federal law.
The Port Angeles Community Multicultural Task Force condemned the fliers at its Monday afternoon meeting and called an emergency meeting for 3 p.m. next Tuesday, Jan. 18, to further discuss issues surrounding it.
The task force also endorsed a “healing ceremony” set for noon to 4 p.m. Saturday at the site of the ancient Klallam village of Tse-whit-zen.
The fliers, left on vehicles parked downtown, urge a boycott of the Elwha Fish Co., owned by the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe.
They cited the tribe’s role in shutting down the state Department of Transportation’s graving yard project at 1501 Marine Drive.
The 22.4-acre site was where Transportation planned to build concrete anchors and pontoons for the Hood Canal Bridge.
The project was projected to provide more than 100 high-paying jobs and millions of dollars worth of current and future economic impact to Clallam County.
But the site also is where the Klallam village of Tse-whit-zen stood for as long as 1,700 years.
Archaeologists have uncovered the full remains of at least 265 Klallam ancestors along with almost 800 isolated skeletal parts and more than 5,000 artifacts.
State Transportation Secretary Doug MacDonald shut down the project Dec. 21 following a Dec. 10 letter from Lower Elwha Tribal Chairwoman Frances Charles saying the tribe wanted all digging at the site to stop.
Lower Elwha Vice Chairman Dennis “Sully” Sullivan, a member of the multicultural task force, said in public discussions of the issue since then, tribal members are being referred to as “those people” and “a special group,” not as part of the community.
Angry telephone calls
Besides the fliers urging a boycott, there have been anonymous angry telephone calls directly to Charles, Sullivan said.
The community needs education on these incidents — as well as on the shutdown of the graving yard project, he said.
Sullivan said the most important element to focus on is education.
Education created support for removal of the two Elwha River dams despite initial opposition, he said.
Similar racial tensions have been diffused in the past through events such as the annual potlatch in the school district, Sullivan said.
Charles said she has been the target of racism, including telephone calls, adding she’s heard of similar fliers besides the Elwha Fish Co. flier shown at the meeting.
Charles said the Lower Elwha have a rich heritage that tribal members can teach to the community.
“You need to ask questions because we are here to educate. We need to be unified, we need to work as one,” she said, to applause from the more than 50 people in attendance at Port Angeles City Hall on Monday afternoon.
