Native artists reclaim land in South Seattle

SEATTLE — A green oasis in South Seattle is now reclaimed. A native arts nonprofit purchased a stretch of land, then later, a neighboring house. It once again returns the properties to indigenous ownership.

It’s a 1.5-acre parcel that visitors frequently describe as a “secret garden” in the city – with good reason. Walk onto the land, and the noise of the city fades.

“You see the big, beautiful oak, you come through this little channel of the laurel hedge, and it sort of opens up into this mysterious fountain. This shady, dappled light comes through,” said Asia Tail. Tail describes herself as an urban native who grew up in Tacoma and is Cherokee.

On the property, you hear sounds of song sparrows and a gurgling creek. Old structures like an outdoor fireplace and a fountain evoke a sense of adventure and the long summer days of childhood.

One gets the sense that there is something precious here.

“We couldn’t believe that there was over an acre of green space just sitting in the middle of South Seattle,” Tail said.

The new owners of the land might surprise you. It’s a native arts nonprofit, the Yəhaw̓ Indigenous Creatives Collective. (“Yəhaw̓” is pronounced “ya-HOW’t.”)

“It is definitely unique to be an arts nonprofit stewarding land. I think that that’s an unusual thing in Seattle, and we’re excited to kind of break new ground,” Tail said. Tail is also the director of the Yəhaw̓ Indigenous Creatives Collective.

They’re breaking ground literally by planting veggies and weeding invasive blackberries, but also when it comes to reclaiming ancestral land once stewarded by native tribes.

Forced migration and forced assimilation stripped away 99 percent of Indigenous land, including from Coast Salish tribes. The practice separated families, suppressed language and culture.

Now there is a growing movement to right injustice and find ways to regain lands lost. In this South Seattle case, by and for Indigenous artists.

A banner lines the entire forward-facing fence that makes it clear, yəhaw̓ is here.

“Yəhaw̓ is a Lushootseed word,” Tail said. “It comes from a beautiful story of lifting up the sky together, of using that word to synchronize movements, and be able to achieve something that no single person could do alone,” she said.

The collective bought the land for $1.9 million in 2019 with help from several grants. It runs 100-feet wide and 600-feet deep.

Then in March 2024, the collective also purchased the adjacent brick house.

“I never thought I’d be so excited about trash and water and power,” Tail said.

“When we need shelter from the rain, we’re so happy to have this house to retreat into. And I know so many stories will be told in there,” said Owen Oliver, a writer. He’s the first artist officially showcased on the property.

When KIRO 7 visited the space in June, artists and volunteers were working the land. The goal for the space is starting to take shape – using the land as a native art center.

“I do visual art, kind of more sculpture,” said Mel Carter, the development lead for the collective.

“I am a graphic designer,” said Denise Emerson, a Skokomish and Navajo elder who grew up in Seattle.

Tail describes the land as a space to experiment. Artists might gather around the old fountain and do beadwork. Or build sculptures that are left to weather with the elements.

“One of the days I sat out here for 13 hours and just listened to the land,” Oliver said. He’s working on a lyrical essay, focusing on the passage of time, and connecting with the land.

What you won’t see at the native art center are sterile white walls.

“We are definitely breaking out of the standard gallery model,” Tail said.

But more than a place to create, she says this land is a second home.

“Being able to find a place in Seattle where native people can gather - experience, culture even if they’re far away from their cultural roots – I think it will be really important for healing for Indigenous peoples overall,” Tail said.

Emerson, the graphic artist, uses historic photographs to inspire her creations.

“My ancestors have been here for thousands and thousands and thousands of years. So knowing that I walk - anywhere I go in Seattle - it’s where my people were,” Emerson said.

Yet, she says being on land reclaimed -- undisputedly considered yours – that’s an experience unlike any other.

“It belongs to us. And that’s what I like about it. It’s a different kind of feeling,” Emerson said. “I’m a part of it and I belong here,” she said.

Volunteers who want to help plant and work the land can stop by on Fridays this summer. Find out more about volunteering here: https://yehawshow.com/events.

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