An unusual and unaccustomed occurrence

 

By Kriska Obermiller

“That’s my name, that’s my family name,” Jongi Claplanhoo says as he realized his family is one of many mentioned throughout the “Usual and Accustomed Places” documentary shown at Maier Hall Nov. 12.

After making that connection during the video, Claplanhoo stayed for questions and talked with the film producer Sandra Sunrising Osawa, discovering they are cousins, as well. The producer asked for a picture of the two of them.

Peninsula College’s custodian Al Johnson was also reunited with Osawa after not seeing each after more than 55 years. They are cousins and grew up just a few blocks from each other, but had not seen each other since the 1960’s.

“Usual and Accustomed Places” was written and produced in 2000 by Osawa, a former Peninsula College student.

Osawa also reconnected with her former professor Dorothy Drain, the originator of Studium Generale.

The auditorium filled with students and community members who watched the 46-minute film covering the history of the local tribes’ fishing rights. The documentary covers tribal issues regarding land and broken treaties since the first treaty of 1854 in Washington.

The film interviews people share their memories of the way life was once lived on the Olympic Peninsula. The tribes once made abundant use of the oceans ability to feed their families, recognizing a way of life that supported many different tribes all throughout Washington’s coastal area.

“So often the story is not told by Native people,” said Leora Gansworth, PC multicultural services coordinator and educational planner, “generations of Native families that devoted their lives to enforcing the treaty rights were given an opportunity to speak and share their stories and thoughts through the film. It was great to hear the words and voices of Bill Frank, Sr., James Rasmussen and others, who’s legacies challenge us all to be better stewards.”