This Sunday’s Learning Right Relations Gathering (October 23, 1:00-4:00 pm) will host a presentation by Charlene Krise. Charlene will present the history of the Squaxin Island Tribe, including the many 1,000s of years of history here in the Budd Bay / Steh-Chass (Deschutes) River watershed. She’ll speak about their culture, traditional ecological knowledge, and the recent renaming of the City of Olympia “Squaxin Park.”
She will join us for a meal following her presentation and conversation. Please register here for the hybrid event. Bring a dish for the potluck, if you can make it in person. LRR passes all donations to the speaker as an honorarium.
Charlene is an enrolled tribal member of the Squaxin Island Tribe-Medicine Creek Nation, her cultural family lineage goes back several thousands of years. It is through her father’s ancestral lineage she has a cultural heritage with the Medicine Creek Nation of the Squaxin, Nisqually, and Puyallup Tribes. Her father was dual enrolled with the Squaxin and Puyallup and had ancestral lineage to several other NW Tribes too.
After the Judge Boldt historical ruling in 1974 affirming the reserved rights to harvest salmon for Squaxin Island Tribe, Charlene became a Tribal fisherperson navigating the ancestral marine waters of her people. Her brothers and family members taught her how to construct salmon gear, the importance of tidal flow and the science of all things connected. With years of experience of maritime, she focused on the importance of “People of the Water” resurgence. She was instrumental in the 1994 “Healing of the Waters” canoe journey. Since 1994 she has shown responsibility for the yearly canoe journeys and through her steadfast work, she was recognized as a cultural keeper. In 2001 she became the Executive Director of the Squaxin Tribe Museum Library Research Center.
Charlene has served her people in different capacities all the while sharing the cultural knowledge and history of the Squaxin Island people. She has been a volunteer on numerous boards, committees, and commissions and is the executive director for the Squaxin Island Tribe Museum Library Research Center and a Tribal Council member for 20 years.
The Gathering will be held at OUUC, 2315 Division St NW, Olympia, WA 98502.