By Megan Walsh
Sierra Service Project’s Director of Programs
SSP will be hosting its first program in the state of Washington this summer, and we could not be more excited about it!
Last week I had the pleasure of traveling to Spokane in eastern Washington (Inland Northwest) for the very first time. The landscape ranges from rolling hills of the Palouse to Ponderosa Pine forests. Rev. Alissa Bertsch Johnson, former SSP Board Member and pastor of Cheney United Methodist Church, accompanied me to meet with the Spokane Tribe of Indians’ Housing Authority.
The tribal headquarters are in Wellpinit, about 50 miles northwest of Spokane, where SSP’s operations we will be based out of next summer. With the warmest of welcomes, we spent over six hours driving around the reservation meeting everyone from the Vice-Chair, Carol Evans, to the board of the Housing Authority with whom we will be working closely with. Highlights from our day:
- The People. Each person we met was so friendly. They were excited to hear about SSP’s teenage volunteers who will be coming to the area next summer. Our guide for the day, Terry Payne of the Housing Authority, knew each person we came across and was sure to let them know about our newly formed partnership.
- The Wildlife. Moose, elk, deer, kokanee salmon, rainbow trout, and my favorite, the wild turkey, can all be found on the reservation. The Tribal Hatchery was an impressive stop. The hatchery was created to partially mitigate the loss of salmon habitat caused by the hydroelectric power development along the Columbia River. Our volunteers will be able to visit and potentially work at the hatchery.
- The Landscape. The confluence of the Spokane and Columbia Rivers is a site to see! Come experience it for yourself, photographs cannot do it justice.
- The Pow Wow Grounds. We have the great honor to be based out of the tribe’s Pow Wow Grounds. The circular building with a tree trunk in the center is used for their annual Labor Day Pow Wow (video).
- The Community. The Spokane Indian Reservation feels peaceful and remote at the same time as being less than an hour from Spokane. From Wellpinit we drove for thirty miles along the Spokane River, through the forest, past lakes, before arriving at a community of homes, with a new playground and community center! It is clear that the tribe is focused on making strong communities for their members, from affordable housing to economic opportunities through the creation of over 5,000 jobs through the Spokane Tribe Economic Project (STEP).
After researching and visiting, I believe that this site offers a great experience for our teenage volunteers both in service and culturally learning about the Spokane Tribe of Indians’ history, present and future.
The invitation to work with the Spokane Tribe from Tim Horan, Executive Director of the Housing Authority, at first seemed like a stretch. Tim has worked with SSP before with Round Valley Indian Tribes in Covelo, CA and in Coarsegold, CA with the Picayune Tribe. He believes strongly in the high-quality, impactful work that SSP youth complete; SSP can be an extension of the Housing Authority to reach those that their office is not able to assist. After researching and visiting, I believe that this site offers a great experience for our teenage volunteers both in service and culturally learning about the Spokane Tribe of Indians’ history, present and future. Learn more about high school youth serving in Spokane during the 2016 summer.
Editor’s Note: This is Sierra Service Project’s first time hosting a site in Washington. Stay up to date on the details of the Spokane site and register your group to attend!