-"'Do you know your heritage? Do you know all the cultures
that your family members come from?'"
-With multiracial families more common,
one woman is sharing her culture story,
hoping it helps children embrace their heritage.
Tlingit áyáxát. That means "I am Tlingit,"
and no one can take that away from me.
-Seattle's premier cancer-treatment
and research center
opens a new wing designed in a novel way.
-And it was just an open warehouse
and a whole lot of cardboard.
-New technology reveals these artifacts' Native roots.
Now Seattle City Light
has returned them to their rightful owner.
-It's a good day for the Upper Skagit people
and our ancestors.
-These stories and more next on "CityStream."
♪♪
Hi. I'm Tatevik Aprikyan. Welcome to "CityStream"
from MOHAI, the Museum of History & Industry.
We're here to learn more about the exhibit
"Roots of Wisdom: Native Knowledge. Shared Science."
It explores stories from four indigenous communities,
detailing how traditional knowledge
and cutting-edge science
can be combined to solve current problems.
More on that just ahead.
Indigenous families are one example
of multicultural or multiracial homes
that are now more common for children to grow up in.
In America, this family makeup
is the fastest-growing demographic.
Seattle's Alyssa London understands that.
She's from the Tlingit Haida tribe
and is a former Miss USA top-10 finalist.
She's also written a children's book
based on her own culture story
she hopes will inspire kids to be proud of their heritage.
-"'Your tribe? Come on, Freckles.
You aren't really part of a tribe,' one laughed."
-Storytime at Lockwood Elementary
brings characters off the page into real life.
-"...said Freckles with a cheeky grin."
-Today's tale, "Journey of the Freckled Indian,"
is about Freckles.
It's based on author Alyssa London's discovery
of her native heritage
when she was sitting right here as a student 25 years ago.
-In my Tlingit language...
[ Speaking Tlingit ]
So, in Tlingit, I just said that I'm from the Tlingit tribe,
that I'm Eagle Killer Whale,
and that my family is from the village of Angoon, Alaska.
"Angoon kwáan" is how I said that.
-Like most children who grow up in a multicultural home,
London's life in Seattle as a kid included Native events
like tribal picnics and powwows.
-I didn't realize it was something different
until, really, the memory that precedes the start of this book,
which was sharing about Tlingit culture with my parents
during a show-and-tell
where they showed a video of "Raven and the Box of Daylight,"
which is our creation story for Tlingit and Haida people.
And at recess then,
like we say in the book, the kids made fun of me.
-Through the book, Freckles becomes a relatable character
for mixed-race children,
reflecting the challenges London faced on the playground.
-"'Do you know your heritage? Do you know all the cultures
that your family members come from?'
Her classmates looked at each other, confused.
'Well, if you don't know where you come from,
it's hard to know where you're going.'"
-This theme in the book is London's theme in life.
She learned about where she came from through family,
spending time with her Tlingit grandfather in Alaska
to understand her roots.
-There's a grandness to Alaska that is hard to describe.
-That summer trip charted the course
for her life's work -- to advocate the importance
of honoring multicultural identities.
She's traveled to more than 30 countries
and earned a degree in race and ethnicity
from Stanford University.
-Just in your own language, tell that story,
and then it'll be a permanent record.
-In 2018, she founded her media company, Culture Story.
London says there's more that connects us than divides us
in the mixed-race world we live in.
Through Culture Story, she creates videos,
workshops, and books to showcase the beauty
and vitality of indigenous cultures all over the world.
-It is one of my favorite things
to talk to, really, anyone about.
I love to ask, "What's your culture story?"
And what I mean by that is,
"Tell me about the the core tenets
or the themes that really define your culture
and therefore define parts of how you live your life
as a -- as a person who identifies with that heritage."
-London says the core tenants are food, faith, family,
fashion, and the arts, which includes song and dance,
one of her favorite ways to teach kids about culture.
-[ Chanting in Tlingit ]
-Once the wiggles are out,
it's a quick lesson in linguistics.
-So, it kind of sounds like "cottage cheese,"
but repeat after me. "Gunalchéesh."
-Gunalchéesh.
-Oh, thank you! You did awesome!
-It's these cultural interactions
she hopes will help childhood be more inclusive.
-From a young age, be interested
in knowing about their own culture
and having a strong sense of personal identity
but then, almost even more important,
being open to people from other cultures.
You're German. Perfect.
See? We're already getting the thought patterns going
on what we can talk about in our classrooms later on, right?
-After excited commentary from kids
about their Native identities,
London leads them through affirmations
as a confidence booster...
-I am proud!
-...and hopes these phrases instill personal pride
of being multicultural,
something she says can be really tough growing up.
-I mean, I struggled with being a mixed-race Native girl,
basically until I went to Miss USA
and had this moment in front of millions of people
with the Tlingit gown,
where it was, like, a very strong, definitive moment
of "I am Tlingit, Tlingit áyáxát."
I got to say that on national television.
There are 229 different tribes.
Tlingit áyáxát. I am from the Tlingit tribe.
That was profound for me
because it -- it took that big of a moment, honestly,
to basically heal
from having to explain to so many people,
even through college, like, "Yes, I'm Native American.
That's why I'm helping out with Stanford Powwow,"
for example, or --
I didn't like having to explain my --
my connection to my culture over and over again.
-In 2017, London was a top-10 finalist
at Miss USA. -That name is "Alaska."
-Her evening-gown robe had her clan crest, the killer whale,
and was designed in the Tlingit red tribal color.
-It was the only time in the pageant
that I wasn't incredibly nervous
because I was just really proud and centered,
and I just felt like
I had my whole community on stage with me.
-Newspapers in Alaska proudly put her on the front page,
celebrating this achievement for indigenous people.
-That made people emotional, too,
because, I mean, the newspapers in Southeast Alaska
are written in English.
It hadn't been a Tlingit headline.
-London's national pageant platform
was to showcase the vitality of indigenous cultures
and mixed-race heritage.
-When I was Miss Alaska,
I got to go to, like, some hospitals
and I got to go do school visits,
and, at that time, you know, kids would listen to, like,
whatever I wanted to -- had to -- say
'cause I had a crown on my head.
It was fun times. [ Chuckles ]
But I didn't have my own book.
I was reading other books that I either found in the classroom
or I started to bring some along with me,
but I didn't find a story that helped land my message.
-Now with her own book to spread her message,
whether she's wearing a crown or native regalia,
just like Freckles says...
-"Tlingit áyáxát. That means I am Tlingit,
and no one can take that away from me."
-...she hopes through her story, Freckles inspires these kids
to proudly display their culture story
on the pages of life they write,
no matter where the journey takes them after school.
Alyssa recently hosted a special
called "The Culture Is: Indigenous Women."
You can stream it on MSNBC and Peacock.
She's also working with a publisher
to write more books and expand her Culture Story company
to continue sharing stories
that amplify conversations about identity.
♪♪
The identity of Fred Hutch is undeniable.
Seattle's premier cancer-treatment center
opens a new facility with an array of unique features.
That's next on "CityStream."
♪♪
-Each year, 1.6 million Americans
are diagnosed with cancer,
according to the CDC.
Fortunately, Seattle has incredible treatment facilities
to help people beat the disease
and also researchers working to find a cure.
The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
recently opened a new facility, and as Nicole Sanchez explains,
a lot of thought and care went into this building.
-Steve Lovell knew something was wrong
when he started running again after a knee injury.
-And I found I could only run for a block or two
and just got really fatigued,
and I thought, "Well, you know, you're getting older.
It's going to take some time. Just push through it."
-That was the first sign.
The second sign was when he went to donate blood
and they warned him something was off.
The technician couldn't see any red blood cells.
They recommended he see his doctor.
-The doctor herself called me at 8:00 a.m. the next morning
and said, "I need you in today, and be prepared.
You may need to go to the hospital tonight."
-Steve found out he had a type of blood cancer
called myelodysplasia, or MDS.
-It's something you really can't prepare for.
You know, you hear the "cancer" word,
and, immediately, you know, fear and apprehension and all that.
-Steve ended up needing a bone-marrow transplant,
which he had in 2010
at what was then Seattle Cancer Care Alliance.
SCCA and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center merged in 2022
and are now known as Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center.
The hardest part of having cancer?
The recovery period where he needed around-the-clock help.
-I lived by myself in downtown Seattle,
and they mentioned -- they said, "For about three months,
you're going to have to have someone with you 7x24."
And I thought, "Oh, my gosh.
I may not be able to do the treatment
because I don't have someone."
-Fortunately for Steve, his friends and coworkers
at Alaska Airlines stepped up in a big way.
-It was pretty amazing.
I had a group of probably about 10 different caregivers
who rotated around to make sure that I had the care I needed,
and, of course, the care at Fred Hutch is just phenomenal.
-Steve is cured of his cancer,
but he does suffer from some side effects from the treatment,
and he comes in once a year for checkups.
Because of the miracle Steve experienced here,
he is giving back.
He recently donated hundreds of volunteer hours
over more than two years
to help design a new six-story building at the center.
The goal of the expansion?
To help make sure other cancer patients
have the best possible experience
while they go through what is likely
the worst experience of their lives.
-When you go on a cancer journey,
you've never been that journey before.
You don't know what to expect,
and you can feel like you're losing a lot of control.
And I felt like there were some things
that we could do with the clinic building
to really give back that control to patients,
to make it a better journey for them.
-The team of around 45 people
spent more than two thoughtful years working to make sure
everyone's perspective was included in the plan,
from patients, caregivers, to staff.
-Integrated facility design really takes into account
the experience of the people
who are in the environment
and who are doing the work in the environment.
-We were hands on with the staff
to come up with what would work.
That's what I thought was unique up front, you know,
and it started with pieces of paper.
What's it going to look like?
And then it moved to little scale mock-ups,
you know, like little --
You know, we would put different things
and little furniture in and stuff like that,
just like you would maybe a dollhouse or something.
-But this dollhouse went full scale next.
They literally built an entire floor out of cardboard.
-We built out life-sized mock-ups of the floors
in a warehouse down in Des Moines.
-And it was just an open warehouse
and a whole lot of cardboard.
And that meant building the sinks,
building the tables, building the chairs, the walls.
-We literally ran scenarios
and, you know, what worked, what didn't work.
On a Monday, we'd build it. Tuesday, we'd run scenarios.
-And if we wanted to tweak something,
we just tore the cardboard out and redid it.
-Wednesday, we'd tweak things, and by Friday,
maybe we had the design baked.
-And we did that over and over for months and months.
-The work might sound tedious,
but when you see the 150,000 square feet of new space,
you know it was worth it.
-If you make things easier for staff,
they're able to spend the time they need
and focus on the patients.
If the patients are in an environment
that is less stressful,
it's going to benefit their healing.
-Good morning, Heather. How are you today?
-What you won't see here -- traditional waiting rooms.
Instead, the entire design is aimed at cutting wait times
and keeping patients in one space.
-By just making sure the room is big enough
to deliver all of that care to the patient,
it means that the patient comes. They can relax.
Their caregiver has a space with them.
We're bringing everything to them.
♪♪
-One of the other unique features of the new building
is an automated parking garage.
Patients pull up, and a valet takes the car
into an elevator system that parks it for them.
The idea here is to save patients time and stress.
-Then when the patients and families come out,
they request their car.
Their car is brought up for them, and they just drive off.
Make it very easy and low-stress.
-All of that time traveling, checking in, waiting --
that's all waste for the patient.
It's non-value-add time.
-There are also a lot of large windows
and soothing artwork to create a peaceful feeling.
-We really did want to make sure
that we brought light and hope
and an atmosphere that supported the patient experience
as well as the staff experience.
-When this came up, I felt like,
"This is -- This is what I need to do
'cause I need to give back."
Putting in that kind of an effort is --
it makes it even more rewarding, I think.
When I come over here,
I just get a warm feeling of all the work we did.
What's neat is it's here.
♪♪
-The new facility cost $320 million to build
and opened in phases starting in March of 2023.
All six floors are now open. We'll be right back.
♪♪
-Welcome back to "CityStream"
from the Museum of History & Industry.
We're here to learn more about this exhibit
"Roots of Wisdom: Native Knowledge. Shared Science."
Let's bring in Devorah Romanek. She's the chief of exhibits
and interpretive services here at MOHAI.
Thanks for being here. -Thank you.
-It sounds like this exhibit is a mix of the old and the new.
Can you give us a brief overview?
-Well, this exhibit, which was put together
by the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry,
the Indigenous Education Institute,
and the Smithsonian Institution,
National Museum of the American Indian,
and in collaboration with four indigenous groups
is really important and really interesting.
It's taking a look at the ways that indigenous groups
are using their traditional historic knowledge
and combining that with science to address
a lot of the problems that we all encounter today,
particularly challenges borne of climate change
and things like that,
and addressing how we can live in better harmony
and to greater effect with the land that we live on.
-You mentioned a little bit of how to adapt
and how to combat some of these issues
that we're facing globally.
Native indigenous people have harvested crops
like quinoa and potatoes and beans
and medicinal content from barks from trees.
Is that something that knowledge can be used for
to help countries that are struggling globally?
-Absolutely.
This exhibit offers a lot of great examples
about how indigenous groups are using,
again, their traditional knowledge,
married with scientific --
cutting-edge scientific -- knowledge
and working with the land
and with the water to bring back endangered crops,
endangered species, medicines that come from the land
and that we need to survive
and that have been endangered through pollution
and consumerism, et cetera.
And so it's really useful. It's really necessary.
I think it's the way forward.
And this exhibition makes this clear.
-Native history is significant to Pacific Northwest history.
Is that one of the reasons why this exhibit is so important?
-Absolutely. It really is a reason
that we brought this exhibition here as a local museum
and representing the history of Seattle
and the Puget Sound region.
We know it's so important to tell local stories
and a diversity of stories
but particularly of the first inhabitants here
who continue to be here
with the longest history of inhabitation.
And so we really want to continue connecting
with local indigenous groups and grow those relationships
and tell -- be a place where we can facilitate
the telling of their stories.
And so while this exhibition features indigenous groups
from around North America,
including the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla
and the Eastern Band of Cherokee and Native Hawaiians,
it also includes the Tulalip.
And in addition to the story
that's embedded within the original exhibition,
we worked with some local tribes
to bring out some of their stories,
including the Tulalip, again, but the Snoqualmie,
the Snohomish, the Muckleshoot, and the Duwamish.
And, of course, there are 29 tribes here regionally,
federally recognized, and many unrecognized.
And I would say their stories are implicit here.
-What do you hope visitors will take away
from this exhibit?
-I hope that visitors will take away a couple of things.
I think it's a really great way
to learn how to think critically
about some of these really challenging issues
that we have at hand, and, beyond that,
I hope they will get some notion of answers
about how we might go forward in a respectful way
to work with the land and the water
in ways that sustain all of us,
because we have a common history and we have a common future.
So, doing this together is really imperative,
and I think this exhibition underscores this.
And I also -- I like to think in the larger museum,
I think it's really interesting
to put this exhibition in contrast
with one of our parts of our permanent exhibitions,
"True Northwest," the Denny Regrade,
which is a really wonderful exhibition
that shows these feats of civil engineering
and the way that colonizers and settlers
changed the land and the waterways here
but not necessarily to the best effect.
And I think it's interesting to think about that,
that history, in conjunction
with the histories presented here
and the contemporary stories
about how we can go forward in a good way.
-And tell us how long this will be here
so people can come and take a look.
-This will be here for a little bit --
you know, for a while.
It'll be here through March 3, 2024.
So, there is plenty of time, and we hope people do come.
And there's a lot of great interactives here,
lots of fun for kids and families
and learners of all ages.
-Devorah Romanek, thank you so much for explaining all of this
and sharing all this insight.
This is going to be a really great exhibit
for families to come and take a look.
-Thank you. We're really excited,
and thank you for being here.
♪♪
-And from the roots of wisdom to returning artifacts,
next on "CityStream," Seattle City Light
returns ancient relics to a local tribe.
♪♪
[ Lively music playing ]
-Seattle City Light has returned nearly 400 artifacts
to the Upper Skagit tribe.
The items were found at one of City Light's work sites
in Skagit County.
It's a reconnection thousands of years in the making.
Brian Callanan has the story from Newhalem
in the North Cascades.
-Gate closed!
-A tour of the Upper Skagit River
provides an impressive up-close look
at how Seattle City Light generates hydroelectricity.
But if you look more closely, it's a trip back in time.
-We can date it back to the last ice age
when our people were moving into this area.
-Scott Schuyler,
a cultural and natural-resources policy representative
for the Upper Skagit tribe,
and Andrea Weiser,
a senior archeologist for Seattle City Light,
are looking at clues from a historical mystery
that surfaced in 2013
during a renovation of the Gorge Inn,
an old City Light mess hall in Newhalem.
-Archeological consultants were hired
to go out and examine the ground
where the building work was going to be done,
and see if any artifacts were in the ground.
-Mixed in with some utensils from the 1920s-era structure
were nearly 400 artifacts and animal bones,
indicating a Native American village was once here.
-Our people lived and died at this site
for literally 10,000 years.
-City Light talked with the Upper Skagit,
Sauk-Suiattle, and Swinomish tribes
to try to confirm
where these animal bones and tools came from.
-Just speculating now, that may have been a point --
that particular piece there.
-Basketry or clothing that would help
identify tribal affiliation more easily
had long since eroded away to nothing in the soggy ground.
It was only when scientists examined
this sharpened stone point,
likely once attached to a dart or spear,
dating back between 4,000 and 9,000 years ago,
that a breakthrough happened.
-We had that particular artifact analyzed
for protein residue, blood residue,
and they did find that it was goat blood.
And that was a great result,
because we already knew that the name "Newhalem"
is actually based off of a Native language name, Dawáylib,
which was the village that was located in that area.
-That village's name, meaning "goat snare,"
finally tied the origin of the artifacts
to the Upper Skagit tribe,
who hunted goats for meat and wool clothing.
But that's just the start of the story.
-This legislation transfers the ownership and curation
to the Upper Skagit tribe, where...
-In March, the City of Seattle
authorized returning the artifacts
to the Upper Skagit tribe.
The city is paying to have them stored at this curation facility
at the North Cascades National Park ranger station
in Marblemount.
-It's the right thing to do.
I mean, that's really what it comes down to.
-State law says the owner of the land
where artifacts are found is the owner of the artifacts, too.
But after a decade of research,
the city wanted to set the record straight.
-To me, that's what's important about it.
It's -- It's a correcting an inequity
in the ownership of the artifacts.
-That correction means a chance for connection
for the Upper Skagit tribe,
which plans to bring younger members of the tribe
to Marblemount to see their family history.
-It's important that we lay a foundation
to preserve, protect, enhance our culture where we can,
ensure that they have the opportunities for learning
and to partake in this culture
that has extended for the last 10,000 years
in the Skagit Valley.
♪♪
Disturbing of our ancestral sites is always bad,
and we prefer not to have that occur, of course.
But in this particular case, one of the great positives
is the fact that we do have access to this.
-Preserving the rich cultural history
of the Upper Skagit River
is something that local tribes and Seattle City Light
will be working on together
for many years to come,
but they say they need your help, too.
-People get really fascinated by items
that represent history,
but just picking things up and taking them home
is not the right thing to do.
-It's also a violation of state law,
but, thankfully, this message is already hitting home
as news of the Newhalem discovery spreads.
This stone fish club was returned to the tribe
a few months ago.
-And so people have been returning artifacts to us
since the first story came out,
so that's been a great, positive thing.
-These are sacred lands for the Upper Skagit people,
central to their religious beliefs and origin stories.
The tribe calls this an entry to the Valley of the Spirits,
spirits that Scott Schuyler says have to be pleased
with a reunion that's long overdue.
-It's a good day for the Upper Skagit people
and our ancestors.
♪♪
-For now, only tribal members
are permitted to view the artifacts,
but the Upper Skagit tribe
says it hopes to build a museum in the future
to display these objects to the public.
We'll be right back.
♪♪
-That wraps up this edition of "City Stream" from MOHAI.
If you'd like to see more
outstanding Seattle Channel programs,
go to our website, seattlechannel.org,
and search for future shows.
I'm Tatevik Aprikyan. Thank you for watching.
♪♪