Mural mends fences

Ceremony celebrates completion of Chief Moses Mural

MOSES LAKE — For many of the members of the Colville Confederated Tribes on hand for the dedication ceremony held at the new Chief Moses Mural in Sinkiuse Square Saturday, the event was part of a healing process to mend wrongdoings of the past and remember Chief Moses "in a land that sometimes looks like it forgot him.

"This has been a three and a half year dream that we are proud to be a part of," said Wilma Bob, a tribal member who led the ceremony that cloudy afternoon. Bob called the mural a way of "mending the fences" between the community of Moses Lake and the descendants of its namesake, Chief Moses.

"We think it's about time that he was honored," Bob said.

The fulfillment of the long dream was commemorated with a nearly two-hour ceremony during which several members of the Moses Columbia Band of the Colville Confederated Tribes spoke, along with Mayor Ron Covey and Rep. Janea Holmquist. A handful of descendants of Chief Moses shared stories of what they remembered or had been told about the tribal leader.

It was also a time to celebrate the efforts and dedication of Colleen Trefz and artist Patty Jensen who strived to create the mural in a way that would correctly represent Chief Moses, his people and the land which was a special place for them to camp, fish and gather food. Both women met with tribal elders to learn more about the mural's subject.

"She has him looking exactly the way he did," Bob said of the mural Jensen has spent the past year perfecting. "I think that she did a beautiful job."

"This has been the hardest mural I've ever had to do in my life," Jensen said during the ceremony. "It's taken everything I've had to do it. These people had to be honored, I felt it in my heart."

Funding troubles fueled the challenge to complete the mural, though many donations have been made to the cause. The basalt columns were donated by Pamp and Barbara Maiers, owners of North Central Construction, who also supported the labor costs to install them. The mural space itself was donated by Jeff Foster.

Other monetary donations have been made by local sponsors who will be recognized as part of the mural itself. Their names will be permanently applied to the basalt rocks on and around the Chief Moses mural. A sponsorship of $250 will be memorialized with the donor's name painted on a small rock, those who give $500 to the project will have their name painted on a larger rock.

The Chief Moses Mural is just one of many planned for Moses Lake. Next on the schedule is one portraying Monte Holmes.

A nonprofit organization has been set up to receive funding for the Moses Lake Mural Project; donations can be made at American West Bank.

"Patty (Jensen)'s done such a wonderful job," said Tilly George, an elder of the Colville Confederated Tribes, as she surveyed the mural Saturday. "I look at it and I feel like I want to walk up that hill."