PORT TOWNSEND — The opening reception for an exhibit celebrating the life and work of Blyn historian Mary Ann Lambert is set from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday.
The reception kicks off the month-long exhibit “To Shine a Light on Something” at the Northwind Arts Center, 701 Water St.
Lambert, who lived from 1879 to 1966, was the daughter of a S’Klallam girl and a Swedish mariner-turned-farmer.
As such, she grew up with two cultures, watching towns and cities take shape around ferry docks as Native American villages disappeared.
Recording shifts in the economic and social life of the Olympic Peninsula, Lambert advocated for history comprising more than one viewpoint, exhibit organizers said.
Eyewitness accounts
She wrote stories from eyewitness accounts that captured the Native American perspective on the half-century that followed the signing of the 1855 Point No Point Treaty.
In accordance with the treaty, Native American inhabitants of northern Kitsap Peninsula and Olympic Peninsula ceded ownership of their land in exchange for small reservations along Hood Canal and a payment of $60,000 from the federal government.
The exhibit also will debut the book Dungeness, written by Karen Polinsky and designed by Cara Thompson.
Inspired by Lambert’s most famous piece, Dungeness Massacre and Other Regional Tales, “the novel with intercalary historical essays speculates on one possible motive behind the 1868 ambush of 17 [Tsimshian] people by S’Klallam warriors on the 5-mile Dungeness sandspit,” according to the Northwind Arts Center.
Art and artifacts
Also on display will be the work of four contemporary S’Klallam artists and artifacts from the Jefferson County Historical Society.
Art includes a 9-foot salmon sculpture by master-carver Joe Ives; sculptures, prints and printed shirts by Ives’ apprentice Jimmy Price; traditional weaved items with a modern twist by Cathy MacGregor, Lambert’s great-niece; silver pendant earrings by Patrick Maher; and an interactive piece by Cara Thompson.
The exhibit will be in place from Feb. 4-28.
For more information, contact Michael D’Alessandro of the Northwind Arts Center at 360-379-1086 or info@northwindarts.org.
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Reporter Chris McDaniel can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or cmcdaniel@peninsuladailynews.com.
