Sticking to the contention that the People's Lodge is actually just the land, the United Indians of all Tribes Foundation unveiled at an April 13 press conference a new People's Lodge site plan that doesn't include any new buildings.
A longtime dream of former United Indians director Bernie Whitebear, the penultimate plan for a People's Lodge called for a three-building $48 million complex in 2003.
The site plan, by contrast, contains three areas for sweat lodges, one area for "Sacred Ceremonies for Mother Earth" and two rope courses on the 20 acres of land United Indians leases from Seattle Parks and Recreation. The site plan also calls for setting up "educational village teepees" in the Great Circle during the summers.
Whitebear "walked a spiritual path with practical feet," said new United Indians CEO Phil Lane Jr., using the analogy to explain that the current economy won't support the development of the People's Lodge complex.
"The situation is not going to get better in the near future," Lane added. "So we are not, for instance, taking Bernie's vision of a building and saying it's not going to happen."
Of more immediate concern, however, was the Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center, which needs $1.6 million immediately for repairs and equipment upgrades, he said.
There was, however, some good news on that front. The state legislature earmarked $545,000 in its supplemental budget this year for the Daybreak Star Center, Lane announced.
It wasn't easy to get that money, according to 36th District State Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Wells and 36th District State Reps. Helen Sommers and Mary Lou Dickerson, all of whom spoke at the press conference at a table draped in greenery.
"We are very blessed to have the center in our legislative district," Kohl-Welles said. The Queen Anne senator added that she met with Lane and the United Indian board last fall about tapping the state's supplemental budget for funds.
Kohl-Welles also said Seattle officials were approached about including a request for state funds for needed work at the Daybreak Star Center. "Unfortunately, the city didn't request funds in their supplemental budget request."
That left it to the state legislature, and Lane made his case in testimony that was "the most compelling I have ever heard in my 15 years in the legislature," Kohl-Welles said.
There were requests for $18 million in the supplemental budget, but only $2.5 million was approved after senate negotiations, she said. Of that, about a fifth was earmarked for the Daybreak Star center, Kohl-Welles added. "There was no hesitation at all."
The Daybreak Star Center deserves the support, according to Sommers. "This is a wonderful center," she said. But the long-term legislator noted that both the Senate and the house have to agree on a budget before it is passed.
"Since I chair the (house) appropriations committee, it was relatively easy to tell staff that stays in," Sommers said of an appropriation first approved in the senate.
"We began with a prayer, and I shut my eyes and decided to let the spirit move me," said Dickerson, who added that she felt Whitebear's spirit in the room during the press conference.
Dickerson also said she thought Whitebear's spirit would approve of what the legislature was able to do for at least the Daybreak Star Center. "It's a changed dream, but a powerful dream."
The state money will be used for replacing the hazardous electrical system, but a budget summary notes that an additional $183,703 is needed on top of the state funds to take care of other expenses such as permits, design work and taxes.
The request to the city was for $483,290 for flood control and damage caused by the Nisqually earthquake in 2001, according to the United Indians budget summary. The summary also indicates King County will be approached to pay $488,705 to replace the building's heating system.
Those amounts of money are for only immediate needs of the Daybreak Star building, according to Lane. Between $5 million and $8 million is needed for "full actualization of the entire vision," he said of both the Daybreak Star and the scaled-back plans for the land.
Lane added that the United Indians foundation has submitted proposals for both federal and corporate grants, and he said he hopes tribes that generate casino funds can be counted on for continuing support.
There is also another potential source of funds. "The Washington legislature will be working with the United Indians of All Tribes Foundation to obtain funding in the 2007-2009 budget," Kohl-Welles said.
Staff reporter Russ Zabel can be reached at rzabel@nwlink.com or 461-1309.[[In-content Ad]]
