OLYMPIA – A ceremony on Friday saluted a landmark being built at Neah Bay.
Lt. Gov. Brad Owen was the master of ceremonies at a Capitol ceremony honoring both the building going up on the site of the region’s first non-Native American settlement and Neah Bay area veterans.
The Fort Núñez Gaona – Diah Veterans Park in Neah Bay is expected to be completed in August.
The structure on the Makah reservation is on the site of a Spanish fort constructed in 1792.
It will also serve as a memorial for nearly 300 area veterans who served in the U.S. military.
“This is one of those rare projects that are altogether indigenous, national and international in scope,” Owen said.
“It marks the location of the first acts of international trade within the lands of Washington state, which of course would grow to become what it is today – the most trade-dependent state in the nation.”
The memorial, which will overlook Wadah Island in Neah Bay, will consist of six large cedar columns and resemble a traditional Makah longhouse.
It will bear the flags of the United States, Spain, the Makah, Washington state, the Nuu-chah-nulth tribe of Canada and each branch of the United States military.
A stone monument bearing the names will honor Neah Bay area veterans.
Owen gave two people “the highest credit for having the vision to make Fort Nunez Gaona – Diah Veterans Park a reality.”
Ed Claplanhoo, the owner of the property on which the memorial is being built, had dreamed of seeing it known for its historical importance, Owen said.
Luis Fernando Esteban, Spain’s honorary vice consul for Washington state, “also for many years held the vision of doing something in Neah Bay to commemorate the first Spanish settlement in 1792, almost 215 years ago to this day,” Owen said.
Owen mentioned several others involved in the project, including members of the Hawley and Youngblood families, the Makah Tribal Council, construction manager Bill Sperry and his wife Kitty and Jorge Sobredo, the cultural consul for the Embassy of Spain in Washington D.C., among others.
The project is being built with $58,000 in state funds, $40,000 from the Spanish Embassy, donated labor and equipment from the Sperrys of Forks, $15,000 in graphics services donated by Orca Creative Group Inc. of Vancouver, British Columbia, a $2,000 donation from Neah Bay Veterans and the donation of land from the Hawley, Youngblood and Claplanhoo families of Neah Bay.
A formal dedication ceremony is expected to take place in Neah Bay upon the park’s scheduled completion in August.
For more information about the project, contact Antonio Sanchez, director of economic development and international relations in the Office of Lieutenant Governor at 360-786-7786.
