Contentious Pike Place Market totem poles to be restored, returned
A totem pole stands in Victor Steinbrueck Park near Pike Place Market in this Aug. 8, 2018 file photo.
(Jovelle Tamayo for Cascade PBS)
~ by Eric Scigliano, Cascade PBS, November 12, 2024
The poles — which are not part of Coast Salish tradition — sparked a mini-culture war in Seattle around Indigenous representation and historic preservation.
Eight years ago, Colleen Echohawk, then executive director of the Chief Seattle Club and later a candidate for Seattle mayor, launched a crusade against the totem poles that had for more than 30 years crowned the Pike Place Market’s Victor Steinbrueck Park, aka “Native Park” — a popular gathering place for urban Indians. The campaign has sparked a mini-culture war that highlights many bigger issues, from intertribal rivalries and the relationship of historic preservation to cultural representation to City Hall’s efforts to clamp down on its advisory boards and commissions.
And it’s still playing out today, as the Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation belatedly starts its long-delayed restoration of the poles — and, it seems, missing an opportunity to involve a Native artist in the restoration. The Market’s defenders wonder whether this time the city will come through on its promises.
