On Saturday, March 19, the Puyallup School District will partner with local Native American tribes to present A Gathering of Families: A Celebration of Indigenous Culture and Art.
Beginning at 10:00 am, the doors of the Karshner Museum and Center for Culture & Arts will open, and the Great Hall will be filled with indigenous artists specially invited to show and sell their artwork. Talented and award winning artists will include Roger Fernandes, Peter Boome, Vickie Era Pankretz, Robert Upham, and “Shaa Eitl” M.J. Morris.
An opening ceremony will begin at 11:00 am with greetings from Chief Leschi SchoolsSuperintendent, Dr. Amy Eveskcige.
Students will then be featured from the Chief Leschi Drum & Dance Group led by Culture Teacher Teresa Harvey.
A Gathering of Families is a special festival intended to honor Native American culture, promote indigenous arts, enhance cultural awareness, and promote cultural competency. A primary goal of the Karshner Center is to build a culturally responsive learning community through creative educational programs offered for learners of all ages.
To that end, the day will be filled with special performances and culturally rich experiences designed to help visitors make connections between themselves and the world in which we live.
After the opening ceremony, storytelling will begin and include well-known regional storytellers Roger Fernandes,
Lois Landgrebe, Harvest Moon, and Eddie Edmo. Representing Jamestown-S’Kallum, Nooksack, Quinault, and Shoshone Bannuck Nez Perce respectively, these talented artists will share simple legends and oral history which provide some of the teachings of Native American culture. A special performance by Paul Cheoketen Wagner will feature Native American flute and teachings.
Alternating with the storytellers will be performances from the Chief Leschi Drum and Dance Group, the Quileute Wolf Clan group, and Paul Cheoketen Wagner, a flutist and teacher. Friends from the Samish Indian Nation will conduct the closing ceremony with drum and song.
This will all take place in the Great Hall of the recently restored Karshner Museum and Center for Culture & Arts. The Great Hall was specially designed to include the elements of a longhouse with a west-facing orientation, natural finishes such as maple flooring and fir paneling, and large skylights which allow natural light to flood the space.
Recently, the Great Hall was enhanced with a new art installation and the gifting of many new artifacts which represent the culture and handiwork of Samish Indians. Baskets, boxes, oars, and four large decorative panels are on display, and will provide a beautiful backdrop to each performing group. The Puyallup School District is honored to display these gifts from the Beaver Lodge Carving Club of the Samish Indian Nation.
The walls of the Great Hall currently feature the Legacy Washington exhibit, 
We’re Still Here: The Survival of Washington Indians which is on loan from Secretary of State Kim Wyman. This exhibit acknowledges the early and continuing story of Native Americans in four major themes: the relationship with earth and the struggle over land; assimilation practices and the conflict over Native identity; the century-long battle for treaty fishing rights; and the cultural revival of Indian customs and language in our world today. The exhibit is supported and was vetted by many Washington Indians.
Complimenting We’re Still Here is a Karshner Museum exhibit featuring many artifacts originally collected by Dr. Warner Karshner in the 1920s. From the Salish Sea to Mount Tacobet: Culture and Artifacts of the Native People was researched and designed as a culminating experience for 1,600 third-grade students in Puyallup schools who visit the museum for a three-hour field trip each winter.
Specially designed for families, the festival will feature five crafts for children to create and take home. Each craft will be led by teachers at different times during the day. Crafts will include a natural weaving, a paddle necklace, scratch board art, ceramic panel rubbings, and cedar weaving led by Puyallup School District Indian Education Program Specialist Michelle Marcoe.
Throughout the day on March 19 visitors will smell the delicious food coming from theFry Bread Factory, an authentic Native American Food Eatery on wheels. Owner John Miles will be selling Indian tacos, fry burgers, and other fry bread specialties. At 4:00 pm Dr. Tim Yeomans will introduce members of The
Samish Indian Nation, who will carry out the closing ceremony with song and drum.
A Gathering of Families: A Celebration of Indigenous Culture and Art is proving to be a special event where wonderful experiences will take place. Doors will be open from 10:00 am until 5:00 pm. The final performance will begin at 4:00 pm. Craft supplies are limited, but the memories made are endless.
The Karshner Museum and Center for Culture & Arts is located at 309 – 4 th Street NE in Puyallup (253-841-8748).
From Under The Cupola 