Gasworks Park in Seattle is a great park for a lot of people. It’s also a historic Coast Salish fishing site, and the first stop on this audio tour that immerses us in the stories and languages of the Salish Sea area. 

What does it mean to live in a place for thousands of thousands of years? 

Did you know that there are geoduck clams older than Washington State? 

Indigenous Coast Salish peoples continue to steward this land and preserve its language, despite settler colonialism, industrialization and gentrification. Listen to connect to the Salish Sea area, as a step towards creating healthier human relationships with this changing ecosystem.  

“As young as I can remember, it has been the beach and the water that my existence has been drawn to.” 

“Treaties are guaranteed by the Constitution, yet they are broken every day by environmental degradation.” 

“I think I can feel where water is. I use it to orient myself. Once I feel where is water, I can then figure out where I am.”

“It's such a soft feeling.”

“You know the history of the Ship Canal, don’t you?”

“The river and salt water have been important to our people since the beginning of time.” 

Part story, part sound collage, this piece is scored entirely with the sounds of the waters and animals who live in and around the Salish Sea. 

Voices featured are: Ken Workman (Duwamish), Warren King George (Muckleshoot), Michelle Myles (Tulalip), Archie Cantrell (Puyallup), LaDean Johnson (Skokomish), Owen Oliver (Quinault / Isleta Pueblo), Lydia Sigo (Suquamish), Randi Purser (Suquamish), RYAN! Feddersen (FLOW artist, Confederated Tribes of the Colville - Okanogan / Arrow Lakes), and Eric Autry (Seattle Public Utilities), Joseph Sisneros (UW) and Jeanne Hyde (The Whale Museum). 

Created by audio artists Jenny Asarnow and Rachel Lam (Anigiduwagi enrolled Cherokee Nation), this audio experience is intended to be listened to on site or anywhere you listen to podcasts.

To listen on site, start at Gasworks Park. Follow the route along N Northlake Way and the Burke Gilman trail to the entrance of the Ship Canal at the Fremont Bridge; and then return the way you came.  

Commissioned with SPU 1% for Art Funds.

Administered by the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture.

City of Seattle, Bruce Harrell, Mayor.

Featuring Lydia Sigo (Suquamish), geoduck diver

Featuring Owen Oliver (Quinault / Isleta Pueblo) https://owenloliver.com/