Story by Ryan Fournier.
Every year, a PC home-game night is chosen to honor Native culture.
This year’s games, against Skagit Valley on Jan. 24, were positioned alongside an exhibit of Jamestown S’Klallam artifacts at Peninsula College’s Longhouse of
Learning, accompanied by a Studium Generale presentation by David Brownell, Jamestown cultural resources specialist.
Brownell talked about the life and decline of Sxʷčkʷíyəŋ, a S’Klallam hunting village formerly located at present day Washington Harbor in Sequim.
Largely as a result of smallpox brought by white settlers, its population dropped into the ‘40s by 1880. The village is estimated to have been home to 2-300 people in 1840.
By the 1890’s, the remaining villagers were being relocated to Jamestown.
In the early 1980s, archaeologists unearthed thousands of artifacts from Sxʷčkʷíyəŋ. Some of these, including tools made from stone and antler, are on display in the Longhouse. They will be there through April.
Sadie Crowe, Longhouse coordinator, said featuring the artifacts was a “great opportunity.” The Longhouse, home to classes and gatherings of many kinds, often showcases art in the gallery space near its entrance.
The building, nestled in woods at the southwest end of PC’s campus, is intended as a safe space for the expression of all cultures, as well as personal traits, Crowe said.
This school year marks the Longhouse’s 10th anniversary. Envisioned by tribal leaders and school administration as a place of learning and relationship building, it was the first longhouse built on an American community college campus.