‘We belong to the land’
Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation Business Council member Karen Condon speaks during the land acknowledgment ceremony in the auditorium of the Moses Lake Civic Center on Tuesday.
Charles H. Featherstone/Columbia Basin Herald
Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation Business Council member Karen Condon stands beind a driftwood sculpture of a heron made by former Moses Lake resident Mike Salazar for the land acknowledgment ceremony Tuesday.
Speakers at the land acknowledgment ceremony (L-R): Stephanie Massart, Regent of the Karneetsa Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution; Moses Lake Mayor Don Myers; Big Bend Community College Vice President for Learning and Success Bryce Humpherys; Moses Lake School District Superintendent Monty Sabin; Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation Business Council Member Karen Condon and tribal member John Sirois.
MOSES LAKE — At an hour-long ceremony on Tuesday, officials with the city of Moses Lake formally recognized the city sits on the homeland of the Moses-Columbia, or Škwáxčenex, people of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation.
“We acknowledge that the City of Moses Lake is encompassed by the historical homeland of the Škwáxčenex people (Moses-Columbia or Sinkiuse) of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation. These lands were once a major trading center for the tribes of the Columbia Plateau. The Moses-Columbia shared this place by welcoming other tribes through their relations, history, trade and ceremony,” the land acknowledgment reads.
“We also want to acknowledge that this land holds the spirit of the people, through its knowledge, culture, and landmarks since time immemorial,” the statement continues.
In the statement, released by Moses Lake Mayor Don Myers during the ceremony in the auditorium at the Moses Lake Civic Center, that the city commits to working more closely with the Colville to learn about Škwáxčenex culture, history and heritage, and to show them the respect due to a hardy and resilient people.
“I just want to say on behalf of the citizens that we are proud of this,” Myers said during the ceremony.
“I want to thank everybody for being here,” said Karen Condon, a member of the Business Council of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation. “I know that when we initially talked about changing the (Moses Lake High School) logo, and the names of the schools in the school district, that there were a lot of disappointed people. And that’s understandable.”
Condon, however, said the tribe, the city and the school district have crafted a good working relationship, including honoring Chief Moses with banners in Sinkiuse Square and the Tuesday land recognition ceremony, much of which was initially written by School Board Member Shannon Hintz.
Under a state law passed in 2020, school districts across the state that had mascots with Native American-themed names, or schools named after tribes or Native American figures, had to obtain permission from the local tribe or change the name. The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation refused to give their consent to the MLSD, so the district had to change mascots for the high school and two of the district’s three middle schools.
In addition, Chief Moses Middle School was renamed Columbia Middle School.
“I’m very grateful for your willingness and being so receptive to working with us. So thank you, because that was huge,” Condon said. “And I look forward to forming strong relationships with everybody here in Moses Lake.”
Tribal member John Sirois said that while Chief Moses — both the town’s and the lake’s namesake — was a great Colville leader, the land acknowledgment will also allow the Confederated Tribes to show how important the land is to the people.
“The great part of our teaching is that we are one with the land,” Sirois said. “In that land acknowledgment, it’s so important to remember and understand that we belong to the land.”
In addition, the local Karneetsa Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution was instrumental in organizing the land recognition ceremony.
“We recognize this land acknowledgment statement as a step toward establishing a bond with the Moses-Columbia Tribe,” said Stephanie Massart, regent of the DAR’s local chapter. “This ceremony aims to showcase responsibility in recognition of the traditional stewards of the land, reciprocity, acting in solidarity, to build trust, consistency and accountability and respect to understanding historical trauma.”
After the ceremony, Hintz said the land acknowledgment came out of the first meeting with Colville Business Council to talk about the school mascots.
“We took some time and tried to get some people to write the land acknowledgment,” Hintz said. “And it never happened. So I just sat down and wrote the land acknowledgment, not really knowing what I was doing. The tribe’s attorney did some wordsmithing on it, put some tribal wording in there, and there we have it.”
Charles H. Featherstone can be reached at cfeatherstone@columbiabasinherald.com.
