​​WHO WE ARE TODAY
 
We are the host tribe for Seattle, our area’s only indigenous tribe. Many of our enrolled members still live on Duwamish aboriginal territory, which includes Seattle, Burien, Tukwila, Renton, and Redmond. 

​Our tribe is governed by a 1925 constitution and its bylaws.  The six-members* tribal council, headed by Cecile Hansen since 1975, meets monthly, and tribal gatherings are held at least annually. Tribal leadership has been very stable with fewer than six changes in leadership in the last 85 years.

Duwamish Tribal Services, is a 501[c]3 organization established in 1983 by the Duwamish Tribal Council to promote the social, cultural, and economic survival of the Duwamish Tribe.  We brought suit against the government in 1925 and received a positive judgement for our claims in 1934, each of our members receiving payment from the government in 1964. We filed our first petition for recognition in 1978 and have been working for that acknowledgment ever since in the face of great odds.

We regularly provide Duwamish representatives and speakers for public engagements in the community, schools, universities, and heritage and service organizations. Consistent with native protocol, the Duwamish routinely greet visiting foreign and tribal leaders when they visit our area.  Our tribal board members sit on the boards of key community and governmental organizations concerning environmental, heritage, tourism, and neighborhood issues.

Since the 1980s, DTS has administered the Emergency Food Assistance Program funded by the Washington State’s Office of Community, Trade, and Economic Development.  The program provides on average 72 native people and their families with monthly food vouchers and other support services.
 
We are the host tribe for Seattle.

. . . as I walked into the Main Ceremony Hall of Duwamish Longhouse, I was warmed with the golden Cedars, elevated by the lofty whole cedar logs – lifting my gaze and awareness upward.  I felt the welcome and goodness in my heart – to return to a place and People whose purpose is to live life “in a good and right way.”
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• The direct descendants of Chief Sealth – the Duwamish People. 
  
  
• Chief Sealth’s mother --- a Duwamish.
  
  
• The Duwamish River and the 54,000 acres spreading out from her that Chief Sealth offered to share with us – the place where Chief Seattle spent his days and life . . . .
  
  
• The Chief Seattle Oratory he gave - so much a part of the Spiritual Guidance of the People of Seattle and the People of this Earth . . . is in the soil under our feet . . . is in the molecules of air that derived from his living time and live now in the 12 Great Tides of the Air – and give us life.

Surely THIS is the Original Beloved Community of Seattle.
Nominate you?
That would be a blind omission.  We Proclaim You!

We ACKNOWLEDGE YOU!  WE SUPPORT YOU! 
WE CARE FOR YOU IN SACRED FRIENDSHIP.
WE LOVE YOU!

You ARE . . . The Original - and the enduring Community. We stand with you at this moment, who offered to share your land, your food, your ways.
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May we continue to acknowledge and listen to you - learn from you – move forward in a “good and right way” - receiving your land, your cultural food, and your ways - with Gratitude and Reciprocity – WITH YOU!

THANK YOU . . . Community of the Duwamish People!
You are indeed Beloved!

Norma Jean Young,
Grandmother-Healer

Peacetrees Vietnam builds beloved community that spans the globe.  For twenty years, this Seattle-based organization has brought teams of Americans and Vietnamese together to repair the wounds of war.  These teams restore the ecology that was obliterated in Quang Tri Province, where the United States blasted a twenty mile wide swath from Laos to the sea, in order to interdict the North Vietnamese army.   They also have built a village for 100 families, schools, libraries, and have assisted many landmine victims in receiving treatment and repairing their lives.
 
As they have restored the land, American veterans and their kin have met with their Vietnamese counterparts to reconcile put to rest the wounds of body and spirit that the war brought about,  truly exemplifying the essential spirit of beloved community.

Peacetrees Vietnam
509 Olive Way  Suite 1226, Seattle WA 98101

By: Anne Stadler

A stair winds up from the street level past a sculpture that welcomes you into the peace of the garden.

In a relatively small area, flowering trees bloom, native plants catch your eye. There is a P‐Patch garden on the level surface midway up the hill where volunteers and local neighbors till the soil. And chickens share space with humans in a place that has enviable views of Seattle and the surrounding area.

Danny Woo Garden is a place of beloved community that honors all its inhabitants.

Danny Woo Community Garden
620 S. Main Street, Seattle, WA 98104

By; John Hale

My family moved back into Seattle, we didn’t expect that we would still be as close to nature as we had been in the country, but how we were surprised.  Only blocks from our new home we discovered the Union Bay Natural Area, owned by the University of Washington and consisting of the Yesler Swamp, Botanic Gardens and the Center for Urban Horticulture.  Here we experience Beloved Community with every visit in our own neighborhood!
 
Walking the paths through this 90 acre tract brings to my heart and mind the Guiding Principles that move us to live in ways that sustain and enhance human life and the lives of all who dwell on Mother Earth:  Starting from within, working in a circle, in a sacred manner, we heal ourselves, our relationships and our world.  It is peaceful to be alone with your own pulse in such a natural setting, and the pathways are loops that form the circles of sacred practices.  Yet the environment is people-friendly and it has been easy to engage with neighbors and build new relationships.  Also, being in the city, there is also the connection to the hustle of daily life as evidenced by the view of Hwy 520 across the Bay, and the sight of Husky Stadium suggests the difficult conversations that are necessary to create a culture of compassion.  And that brings me to the Urban Horticultural Center which has meeting facilities open to the public and available to Compassionate Northwest at no charge due to our relationships with the University.  It is here that I envision holding our key planning sessions with community partners as Compassionate Northwest moves forward to achieve our mission:   To inspire, promote, connect and build community around collective action to address the challenges in the community that are the root causes of suffering.
 
This area became a marsh in 1916 when Lake Washington was lowered to create the Lake Washington Ship Canal.  For 50 years the area was used by the City of Seattle for residential and industrial solid waste.  In 1971 the State enlisted the University of Washington to protect and support this 90 acre tract and they have undertaken the restoration of the area to its original habitat.   The Union Bay Natural Area is now a public wildlife area and outdoor natural restoration laboratory for research, teaching and public service.   It is an important habitat and with 4 miles of shoreline, it is the second largest natural system left on Lake Washington. It is considered one of the best bird-watching sites in the city of Seattle, with over 200 species of birds having been sighted here.
 
Union Bay Natural Area, in my experience, is a gem for the city and reflects authentically the spirit and substance of “Beloved Community”.
 
The Center for Urban Horticulture is located at 3501 Ne 41st St, Seattle, WA 98105