SEATTLE — Native American tribes on the North Olympic and Kitsap peninsulas have received $22,500 for cultural projects ranging from forest-products crafting in Neah Bay to a summer program for children in Port Gamble.
The nonprofit Potlatch Fund announced grants totaling $50,000 to 23 Native programs throughout the Northwest. Included were tribes, groups, and individuals in Washington, Oregon and Idaho.
“In the true spirit of honoring through giving, the Potlatch Fund achieved a major milestone promoting Native philanthropy,”‘ said its operations director, Elizabeth Whitford.
Among North Olympic Peninsula recipients, the largest grant — $5,000 — went to the Quileute Tribal Council in LaPush.
The money will support Kwa-wi-ya, a project in which the tribe will implement ongoing exhibition carving at the Quileute Visitors and Information Center on Highway 101.
Kwa-wi-ya is the Quileute name for steelhead, the fish that goes out and then returns, representing a positive life model and an inspiration for this project, Whitford said.
The Quileute will develop carvings both for retail sales at the visitors center gift shop and for ongoing community potlatches. They also will educate future generations about the cedar tree, Northwest Natives’ “Tree of Life.”
Other recipients included:
* Makah Tribal Council, $2,500 to underwrite the Makah Community-Based Forestry Initiative.
The money will support wild crafting workshops using non-timber forest products gathered from the Makah Reservation, with kindergarten through sixth grade students in the Neah Bay Elementary School.
Workshops will teach children about the indigenous renewable forestry resources through creative activities and about the gathering processes, cultural significance, and creation of marketable value-added products from these renewable forest products.
* Port Gamble S’Klallam Foundation, $2,500 for the Port Gamble S’Klallam Kwoo Chun-i-ee project.
Kwoo chun-i-ee, which means “summer club” in the Klallam language, is a six-week program for youths 5 to 13 years old. They will participate in recreational and practical lessons in environmental protection, health, physical activity, and tribal culture.
* Lower Elwha Klallam, $3,500 to host the Tribal Canoe Journey on Aug. 1 through 6, during which tribal elders will teach Native youth about their culture, natural resources of the Northwest, and environmental protection.
* Tribal Canoe Journey, $1,000 to each of nine canoe families making the journey to Port Angeles: Hoh tribe, Long House Association (Lower Elwha Klallam), Makah Canoe Society, Nisqually tribe, Qhileqw-sen Healing Center of Bellingham, Samish Canoe Family, Sprit of the Raven Canoe Family (Suquamish Tribe), Ta?alunau W: May-ee (Quinault Nation), and Queets Canoe Club.
