This past year Pastor Charis has been participating in Leadership Skagit. Her cohort's final project was to install permanent signage at the Valley of our Spirits story pole in downtown Mount Vernon, and update the official website for the artwork. This project highlights the team's goal of "honoring and valuing Native voices," and provides needed narrative for this central piece of art in Mount Vernon's busiest pedestrian area. There were a number of published articles on this endeavor, including a press release, a post on the Skagit Valley College website, and the following article in the Skagit Valley Herald.
RACQUEL MUNCY Skagit Valley Herald Jun 11, 2024
MOUNT VERNON — A permanent sign for the Valley of Our Spirits story pole at Skagit Riverwalk Park has been installed as part of a Leadership Skagit group project.
Leadership Skagit is a leadership development program between the Economic Development Alliance of Skagit County and Skagit Valley College.
The group that installed the sign was made up of Charis Weathers, Frances Negranza, Haley Sebens, Kathryn Languille, Jennifer Dumas and Jamie Betz. Weathers said that early in the program the group spent the day in Concrete with Upper Skagit Indian Tribe elder Kay Knott (skʷalx̌ax̌alic̓əʔ).
"That was a large impetus for our group to take on the project of honoring Native voices," Weathers said.
Negranza agreed, saying the goal of the project was to honor and amplify Native voices but not speak for them.
Sebens said the group noticed there are a lack of public signs regarding Native art, such as the story pole at Skagit Riverwalk Park.
Weathers said the story pole was designed by Upper Skagit elder Jay Bowen (clakadəb) after the Mount Vernon Arts Commission put out a call for an art installation at Skagit Riverwalk Park.
"What the story pole is meant to do is bring people together for healing. We are all going to be in this community together, the Natives and the new people, and we only have one valley to take care of,” Bowen said in a news release.
At an event Monday to acknowledge the sign, Bowen said the pole is meant to be touched because it is was created for healing. Bowen told the group gathered that for several minutes while the pole was being created it was surrounded by lights. He said this was his ancestors approving the pole as a place of healing.
"This pole represents peace and unification," he said. "It represents healing and peace."
While the pole was designed by Bowen, the metalwork was done by Milo White and the glasswork by Lin McJunkin.
Upper Skagit elder Lora Pennington (tsi sq́ʷalʔalq́ʷal) said there is a difference between a totem pole and a story pole. She said totem poles are from the northern and coastal tribes, and are precise in what images are placed where. Story pole images are meant to flow. "This is the perfect example of a story pole," she said. "Here we love these shapes and we love them as our heart moves."
Weathers said once the pole was commissioned there was no funding left for a sign. "We just filled a niche that people knew needed to be filled, but nobody thought to work on it," she said.
HF Sinclair, owner of one of the two oil refineries on March Point, provided the funding for the sign.
Sebens said the group consulted the Upper Skagit elders to make sure the history and story behind the story pole was accurate and sensitive to Upper Skagit culture.
"My heart is so deeply touched," Knott said about the group reaching out about the project.
Negranza said when thinking about a project to do the group wanted to make sure whatever it did would last. "We really wanted to do something that was permanent and could stick around for years to come," she said.
In addition to the sign, Sebens said the city of Mount Vernon website was updated with information about the story pole. Sebens said the group is hoping to raise funds to put up signs at other story poles in the area. One example is the story pole at Skagit Valley College.
Weathers agreed. "We would really like for it not to end here," she said.
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