By Hailey Palmer, Puyallup Tribal News
A blessing and open house was held Nov. 15 for the Tribe’s new administration building where Tribal Members and employees had the chance to tour the building.
Heritage Division Manager Connie McCloud delivered the blessing and Language Director Amber Hayward shared a prayer in Lushootseed before each member of Tribal Council shared their thoughts on the historic day.
The Culture Department drummed and sang, as well, welcoming Membership to the new building. Everyone also gathered for a group photo in front of the building.
Here is an excerpt from what each Tribal Council Member said.
Chairman Bill Sterud
“There’s been a lot of emotional turmoil that has taken place here and it’s coming back in a good, healing way. That’s what this is all about: healing from what’s happened to us in the past. … We had to fight to get our property back. … The state didn’t want to give it back, the feds didn’t want to give it back, but we knew we could do something special here, and that’s what’s happening now. This is a place of healing. … Here we are today. This is a really historic day for us on this property, this sacred property.”
Vice Chairwoman Sylvia Miller
“I, like Bill (Sterud), have been here a long, long time and witnessed a lot of things that happened here. … It’s amazing to look around us and know what we’ve accomplished. … That casino right there has literally given us great opportunity to grow with the growth of our membership. … There will be so much more development here that every single one of us will be proud of. I don’t understand how anyone could not be proud of what we’ve accomplished, all of us. We didn’t do this ourselves, it wasn’t just us up here, all of us did this.”
Annette Bryan
“Today, I’m a very proud Puyallup and I think all the Puyallups can be very proud of what we’re accomplishing right now. … We are here and we are strong. … I wanted to give thanks to all the warriors, fighters and ancestors who fought specifically for the land we’re standing on. If you can’t feel the ancestors here today, think about it really hard – they are here with us – and this is such a beautiful day, and I’m glad you all got to witness it. I look forward to all the staff being able to serve our Membership in this beautiful building.”
James Rideout
“I’m thankful to all of you because our Tribe is resilient and brilliant today. … We accomplished something that has never happened before, but, with that being said, there are so many leaders that came before me to be allowed this opportunity. … Our Tribe is growing exponentially and we have to keep up with that growth. I’m here to tell you (this building) is a part of that. In the last seven years we’ve been able to economically diversify our Tribe and keep up with the growth, but also expand our revenues, and also be completely transparent about all the things we do as a Council. That’s amazing because you, the people, voted that in.”
Anna Bean
“It’s been a long, long walk, sometimes, for some of us, a run. … I’m proud to stand in front of you. … It’s really important to mention when you see the fourth floor today, the new area of your Puyallup Tribal Council. When you see those chambers, I want to acknowledge Sam Stiltner and Katie Stiltner’s mother, for she used to hold those meetings in her home. We’ve come a long way. What I just described to you is a massive homecoming. We left this space and we’ve come back stronger. We’re so much bigger than we were and that is on the backs of our ancestors and all of those who came before us.”
Monica Miller
“I have worked for this Tribe too many years. I started back in the mid-70s along with all my sisters. We started here at the admin building that was up at the cemetery. … That was our first admin that we built, and we’ve come a long way. There’s so much history here. … We have fought so much for everything. … I want to say, today, look at us. We have become something. This is our empire. We have built this and we built this not just for our Tribe, but our community, our members, our employees. We appreciate each and every one of you guys. Without you guys, we would not be here. We need all of you.”
Fred Dillon
“This is medicine, this is healing to me. It’s coming back home. We are coming back home. For some us, I grew up here. I shed some tears when Cascadia was coming back. Some of us were here when it was our junior high and high school. … This is amazing. We are all witnesses to something beautiful that’s happening. We were always growing up being told we have to preserve, protect and leave something for the future. … This is something we’re leaving for the future. Our kids and grandkids are going to be sitting here working, leading, sitting up in those Council chambers running business here.”
