Sequim dedicates new Civic Center as totem towers over ceremonies
SEQUIM — Sqwqway beamed with all his might on Scqwe?yen's dedication of its new Civic Center. When darkness fell, his younger sibling Ceqtlqayc was waiting to take his turn. The brothers of ancient S'Klallam legend — depicted on a 30-foot totem pole at the Sequim Civic Center plaza — easily upstaged all the dignitaries at the ceremonies Saturday.
The pole, which tribal master carver Dale Faulstich modestly admitted was his best work to date, captured the attention and admiration of the roughly 300 people who attended the dedication.
It depicts the brothers who became the Sun and Moon, plus the maidens they married, Skwesqq (robin) and Kwiskws (jay) , and the Chief Above they slew to deliver light to the land.
Jamestown S'Klallam tribal member Patrick Adams blessed the pole in Salish and English, and tribal chairman Ron Allen and Councilman Ken Hays told how it had come to the plaza.
Hays said city officials had hoped the tribe would contribute a piece or two of wall art to the $14.5 million center that houses city offices and its police department.
“We value the significance of their ancient history and being the first people of this place,” Hays said.
“The people who first occupy a place shape its character.”
Instead, the tribe opted to “make a statement,” Allen said after the ceremony, and he convinced the tribal council to commission the massive hand-hewn, multi-colored, three-story-tall pole.
Hays called it “one of the most extraordinary piece of artwork, or storytelling, that I've ever seen.”
The rest of the 45-minute-long ceremony, preceded by a concert by the Sequim City Band and followed by a performance by the Craig Buhler Trio, included:
? ? A welcome by Mayor Candace Pratt and remarks by City Manager Steve Burkett.
? ? Remarks by a representative of Shiso, Sequim's sister city in Japan.
? ? A color guard led by police Chief Bill Dickinson playing bagpipes.
? ? The National Anthem sung by the Sequim High School Select Choir.
? ? Dedication of a 9/11 memorial, a shard of metal from the collapsed World Trade Center twin towers brought back from New York by Dickinson and other police officers on their own time and stored since 2011.
It is mounted between twin flagpoles in front of the Civic Center.
Dickinson also recounted how the police station — now part of the 33,000-square-foot center — moved from its own tiny building nearly a century ago into a fire station, then into the old City Hall, and — for lack of funds to build a new station — into the Sequim Village Center shopping complex, where it remained the last 20 years.
? ? Comments by U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-Gig Harbor, who said he grew up in Port Angeles where his athletic teams often lost to teams from Sequim.
“What's special about Sequim is the values this community has: inclusion, civic engagement,” Kilmer said.
“This city and its residents deserve a city hall they can be proud of.”
Still, it was the pole that stole the show.
For the Jamestown S'Klallam's part, Allen said, “Our community is very honored to make a contribution to this centerpiece of Sequim.
“We are part of this community. We are part of its future.”