PORT ANGELES — The Lower Elwha Klallam tribe took 17 people representing government agencies and local banks on a journey Friday through its past and present challenges in hopes of attaining about $4 million to fund a handful of projects, including the construction of a curation facility to house its Tse-whit-zen artifacts.
The group left without promising any funding, but tribal Chairwoman Frances Charles said the tribe accomplished its goal for the day: to educate its guests on the obstacles it faces and how they tie into the tribe’s history.
“We wanted to show them the history, that we honor our past and what that means for the issues of today,” she said.
“Of course, the future is our children.”
The tribe painted that picture for its guests by taking them on a seven-hour trip that included presentations at the Elwha Heritage Center, a visit to its reservation west of Port Angeles and a tour of the Tse-whit-zen site on Marine Drive.
Before leaving, several attendees thanked the tribe for the trip and pledged to not forget their needs.
But whether their agencies have funding for any of the tribe’s projects — including construction of the curation facility and replacing its food bank and Head Start buildings — was not a question that some could easily answer.
That was partly because of significant budget cuts at all levels of government and the uncertainty over what will be included in the next federal budget.
“We don’t know,” Tracey Teter, a housing specialist with U.S. Department of Agriculture, said when asked if the agency has money the tribe could seek.
Judith Morris, a Port Angeles staff member of U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks, said appropriations are out of the question this session. Dicks, D-Belfair, represents the 6th Congressional District, which includes the North Olympic Peninsula.
“It’s getting tough,” Morris said.
Charles said the tribe is fully aware of those problems, which is why, she added, building relationships with those agencies is important.
“We all have challenges in front of us,” she said.
Not receiving additional funding wouldn’t necessarily be a deal-breaker for the projects, Charles said, but added that they would move much more slowly.
The tribe provided its guests with a 30-page document listing 11 projects and tribal information.
Topping the list is the construction of the curation facility needed to bring the tribal artifacts unearthed at the site of the Tse-whit-zen village in 2005 back into the tribe’s possession.
More than 67,000 artifacts were dug up during construction of the failed state Department of Transportation graving yard on Marine Drive in Port Angeles.
The tribe received $2.5 million from the state as part of a settlement for the unearthing of the artifacts and 335 burials.
To date, the tribe has spent $2.1 million reburying its ancestors, recovering artifacts left in large piles of dirt and rock on the site, and other work related to restoring the property.
The rest of the settlement money is slated for design of the building and structures and monuments that would accompany it.
The curation facility is estimated to cost $5.5 million.
Charles said the settlement requires the tribe to have the design finished by 2014 and the facility built by 2019.
Also included on the project list is construction of the Elwha Valley Road.
The tribe said it needs $1.3 million to complete construction of the road, now 75 percent complete.
Charles said the tribe lost that funding when Congress put a halt on appropriations.
The road would connect Statton Road with Kacee Way and is intended to reduce response times for emergency vehicles and provide a safer route for school buses.
The tribe also invited to Friday’s gathering representatives of U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Bothell, U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Mountlake Terrace, the federal departments of Commerce and Health and Human Services, the state Department of Transportation and the state Office of Indian Affairs, as well as representatives of Sterling Savings Bank and Union Bank, both of which have offices in Port Angeles, and Potlatch Fund, a Seattle nonprofit that funds Native American projects and relief efforts.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
