Seattle Indian Health Board
Welcoming new owners of VCC building
In 1995, the “Christmas Miracle” happened when certain islanders pledged $10,000 either individually or in groups to guarantee the lease of the Island Manor Farm House Elder-Care Facility to the owners, Jim and Judy Alexander, who wished to sell it.
The lease had with it an option to purchase the property. The Alexanders required that the lease be guaranteed by 5 p.m. the day before Christmas Eve. Otherwise, they would sell it to an off-island group. By 4 p.m. we were still $10,000 short and did not see where the last amount would come from. Then shortly before 5 p.m., an anonymous donor pledged the last $10,000. I called the manager of the facility and asked her to gather all the residents because we had good news. I then told the residents about the Christmas Miracle that would allow them to stay at their Island Manor home.
The announcement in the April 6 Beachcomber that the Seattle Indian Health Board has purchased the property is cause for celebration. I hope all residents of Vashon and Maury welcome them with open arms. The island is part of the traditional homelands of the Puyallup Tribe and the Mukleshoots, so this use for the facility is very fitting.
Since the announcement came at the time of the Christian Last Supper, just prior to Easter Sunday, it seems proper to call it the Easter Miracle.
– Ted Clabaugh
Living our land acknowledgment
We welcome this wonderful opportunity for our island to step up and embrace the healing potential that Seattle Indian Health Board’s treatment center will offer.
Our community observes many statements of land acknowledgment — here we have a beautiful opportunity to take action beyond those statements.
White settlers of European origin came to Vashon in the 1800s and displaced the Native tribes from this land. The tribal patterns of hunting and gathering and living gently on these lands took the people to several locations during the year, depending upon the season and the availability of food. The idea that “it didn’t happen here because it was their summer fishing grounds” is false and misleading.
Alcohol, especially distilled alcohol, was introduced to Native Americans in large quantities by these white settlers, often to manipulate them. The boarding school experience, which stole children from their parents and abused them; the loss of culture, including language and ceremonial ways; and socioeconomic collapse due to being forced off their lands and into reservations, along with overt racism, are all risk factors for substance abuse in the Native community.
The Thunderbird is a powerful symbol seen on totem poles: a large eagle with outspread wings. It holds a special place in Native hearts: the symbol of their strength, resilience and the power to keep their culture alive despite centuries of colonization.
The proposed Thunderbird Treatment Center is a brilliant concept that aims to address all these factors. Look at the Health Board’s website: they take a holistic view and include Indian Medicine in their treatment protocol, as well as 12-step programs, nutrition, individual and family therapy and other modalities. In 43 years (Catherine Henderson) and 48 years (Annie Duggan, retired) as holistic practitioners, we have witnessed many people of European origin using such techniques to heal past traumas, including in their ancestral lineage.
Let us welcome our Native brothers and sisters as they do their trauma healing, supported in the sanctuary of this beautiful island our ancestors stole from their ancestors.
– Annie Duggan and Catherine Henderson
