"In southwest Washington, urban sprawl from Portland and Seattle-Tacoma merges in Cowlitz country. This is where Jon Shellenberger (enrolled Yakama, Cowlitz and Wintu descent) is trying to protect the site of his great-great-grandmother's village from development off the I-5 corridor. Shellenberger, an archaeologist who directs the Cowlitz Indian Tribe's cultural resources department, said the development is incompatible with the site. But the state's permitting system favors development."
"To Shellenberger, the permitting system is a way of "erasing a part of our footprint on the landscape." "You can go in and hire an archaeologist to complete the permit for you to remove that archaeology and take it to a museum or give it back to the tribe," he said. "But what that does not capture is the blood, sweat and tears in the soil.""
"Washington's Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation (DAHP) has the authority to permit developers, private landowners or other state agencies to disturb artifacts - under certain conditions, which DAHP sets - or encourage them to avoid archaeological resources during construction. One of DAHP's conditions might be tribal consultation if the land is known to hold Indigenous artifacts. And DAHP has a reputation for taking tribal concerns seriously."
In southwest Washington, urban sprawl from Portland and Seattle-Tacoma converges in Cowlitz country. Jon Shellenberger (enrolled Yakama, Cowlitz and Wintu descent) is working to protect the site of his great-great-grandmother's village from development near the I-5 corridor. Shellenberger directs the Cowlitz Indian Tribe's cultural resources department and identifies the proposed development as incompatible with the site. Washington's Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation can permit disturbance of artifacts under conditions it sets and may require tribal consultation when Indigenous artifacts are known. The department maintains a reputation for taking tribal concerns seriously while the permitting system still often favors development.
Read at High Country News
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]