Transforming the
Suquamish Basket Marsh
A deep connection to the past guides the development of an outdoor
environmental learning classroom for the students of
Suquamish Elementary School
By Melinda West
T
here is a Salish legend passed down by the First Peoples of the Pacific North-
west that explains the origin of the cedar tree and why it has been referred to
as: “Long-Life Maker”. For over four-thousand years this slow-growing, shade-
and-water-loving evergreen has resided amongst the fir, yew and hemlock trees, in
forests along the edges of Puget Sound. The legend explains that the cedar trees were
once generous people who looked to the welfare of others in their community and re-
sponded to their needs. I’d like to tell you a story that makes me believe the spirit of
this legend is alive and flourish-
ing today.
Traditional teachings are imbued with
My relationship with
lessons for sustainable living and are
Suquamish Elementary School
was rekindled in the spring
intrinsically linked to place. Relationships
of 2000. This was the public
-- with people, plants, animals, and all the
school my own two, now adult
elements, are emphatically important.
sons had attended. For over a
decade, I had spent many hours
volunteering in each of their classrooms. On this occasion I was invited as a consul-
tant because of my work as a natural fiber weaving specialist. This visit was to hear
about an innovative idea for a project that would combine science, social studies and
art education. The proposed project would involve converting a barren, fenced-off
drainage catchment area on school grounds into a pond and native plant garden.
Pulling into the auxiliary park-
ing lot, I glanced straight ahead at this
desolate space, off limits to students, yet
taking away up to one third of the play
area. These depressions in the landscape
surrounded by locked chain-link fences
are commonly seen throughout the
Kitsap Peninsula, in Washington State,
where I’ve resided for over a quarter
century. They are required for surface
water purification. I tend to look away
from these sites and search for alterna-
tive focuses which hold some beauty
-- the chirping sounds of children at play,
verdant leaves unfurling, even the bright
yellow of dandelion weeds.
Six years later, as I drive into that
same parking lot at Suquamish Elemen-
tary, my eyes are drawn to cattail leaves
dancing over a shimmering pond. I see
delicate, green stalks of the Northwest
sweetgrass sedge growing in the bog.
Both plants have been used for centu-
Page 34 http://www.clearingmagazine.org Clearing - 2009 Compendium Edition
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