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Transcript

Waterfront Clam Garden · Street Smart Naturalist

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Greetings.
• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: This is David B.
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: Williams and the podcast of my newsletter,
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: The Street Smart Naturalist,
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: Explorations of the Urban Kind.
• 0:09
  Every week I share my observations and adventures with the
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  human and natural world
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  SPEAKER_00: around Seattle,
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  SPEAKER_00: Puget Sound,
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  SPEAKER_00: and the Pacific Northwest.
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  SPEAKER_00: Today's episode focuses on a tour of Seattle's new waterfront park.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: To learn more about my work, please go to my website, geologywriter.com.
• 0:26
  You will also find a link to my Substack newsletter and my
• 0:29
  previous four years of newsletters,
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: as well as images tied to this week's episode.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks again for joining me on this adventure,
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  SPEAKER_00: and welcome to Podcast 10 of the Street Smart Naturalist,
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: the Waterfront Clam Garden,
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  SPEAKER_00: February 6,
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  SPEAKER_00: 2025.
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  SPEAKER_00: Last week,
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  I had the privilege of touring Seattle's new waterfront park
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  with my friend,
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  SPEAKER_00: Owen Oliver,
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  SPEAKER_00: a writer and artist.
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  He has been a key consultant to park designers highlighting
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  Coast Salish priorities.
• 1:01
  We first met several years ago when he reached out to me about
• 1:04
  my book,
• 1:04
  Home Waters.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: I was deeply honored when he wrote,
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: quote,
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  I appreciated everything you did to give justice to the
• 1:11
  landscape learned knowledge
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  SPEAKER_00: of the indigenous people,
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  SPEAKER_00: unquote.
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  SPEAKER_00: Since then, we have had many fine conversations.
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  SPEAKER_00: I always learn from Owen.
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  SPEAKER_00: Our tour began in the north at Pike Place Market.
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  SPEAKER_00: Owen emphasized the place-based design by pointing out the Overlook Walk,
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  SPEAKER_00: which leads down to the waterfront.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: Quote,
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  SPEAKER_00: designed by Valerie Segrist of the Muckleshoot people,
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  SPEAKER_00: it's a small-scale trip from the mountains to the sea,
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  SPEAKER_00: with many plants central to Indigenous communities.
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  The goal is to illustrate the connections linking land and water,
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  unquote.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: As we descended the walkway,
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  SPEAKER_00: Owen pointed out western red cedars,
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  SPEAKER_00: Douglas firs,
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  SPEAKER_00: salmonberry slal,
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  SPEAKER_00: and other local plants,
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  each carefully chosen to emphasize the ecological and human
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  communities embracing
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  SPEAKER_00: this place.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: As the walkway opened up, Owen encouraged us to look down.
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  SPEAKER_00: We were now atop the aquarium.
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  SPEAKER_00: Sandblasted into the concrete are images created by Owen of butter clams,
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  SPEAKER_00: geoducks,
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  SPEAKER_00: Olympia oysters,
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  SPEAKER_00: and moon snails.
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  SPEAKER_00: One person in our group described it as a modern mitten.
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  SPEAKER_00: Quote,
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  SPEAKER_00: I love the idea that you are walking on clams,
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: further connecting you to the water,
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: said Owen.
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  He also told us that he purposely didn't want a sign telling
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  visitors about the clams.
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  I wanted people to notice them and wander and perhaps make the
• 2:32
  connections themselves,
• 2:33
  unquote.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: Running alongside Owen's clam garden were beautiful wood benches.
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  All are made of Alaskan red cedar,
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  a lesser known tree native to the upper Cascades.
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  Owen told us that the builders have worked closely with local
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  tribes to source as
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  SPEAKER_00: much local material as possible.
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  SPEAKER_00: When we reached the south end of the overlook,
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  SPEAKER_00: Owen had to stand on a slight rise and look again at the ground.
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  SPEAKER_00: Below us was another pattern sandblasted into the concrete.
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  SPEAKER_00: More abstract than the clams,
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  SPEAKER_00: it consisted of geometric shapes that formed a sort of open triangle.
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  SPEAKER_00: If the sky had been clear,
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  SPEAKER_00: we might have clued in quicker that we were seeing Tahoma,
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  SPEAKER_00: which rises directly to the south.
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  SPEAKER_00: Quote, I based this on a basket design.
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  I wanted people to think about how art comes from the land and
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  about how land and
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  SPEAKER_00: water are woven into art,
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  SPEAKER_00: unquote,
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  SPEAKER_00: said Owen.
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  SPEAKER_00: In addition,
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  SPEAKER_00: he pointed out the nearby interpretive sign,
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  SPEAKER_00: which labels the mountain as Tahoma and not as Mount Rainier.
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  SPEAKER_00: One of the great things working on this project,
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  SPEAKER_00: said Owen,
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  SPEAKER_00: is that the aquarium no longer uses Rainier as a name.
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  SPEAKER_00: Quote,
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  it's clear that working with Native people has changed the way
• 3:44
  non-Native people
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  SPEAKER_00: think about and react to place.
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  SPEAKER_00: Unquote.
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  SPEAKER_00: Continuing on, Owen showed us his basket series, also sandblasted.
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  As you walk along,
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  you will see all these resources,
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  such as clams and huckleberries.
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  SPEAKER_00: Here they have been gathered and filled.
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  SPEAKER_00: The plants and animals and the people cannot be seen separately,
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  SPEAKER_00: like the relationship between landscape and art.
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  SPEAKER_00: The natural and cultural worlds of Native people are interwoven.
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  SPEAKER_00: You cannot tell the story of one without telling the story of the other.
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  SPEAKER_00: At the entrance to the new aquarium,
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  we looked up to the oculus into a massive shark tank down at an
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  etching of a
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  SPEAKER_00: massive spindle whirl and inside at glass fish.
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  SPEAKER_00: Lummi artist Dan Friday made the fish and designed the spindle.
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  Owen told us that Dan's art is meant to show a larger
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  connection between us,
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  SPEAKER_00: inviting us into the wider Pacific Ocean,
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  SPEAKER_00: guided by salmon and inspired by grandmother Rock,
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  SPEAKER_00: who holds knowledge,
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  SPEAKER_00: unquote.
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  SPEAKER_00: We ended the tour in front of the ferry terminal.
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  SPEAKER_00: We were also at the south end of the largest artwork.
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  Working with Suquamish artists Randy Purser and Muckleshoot
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  artists Tyson Simmons
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  SPEAKER_00: and Keith Stevenson,
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  SPEAKER_00: Oscar Toisan created a three-block-long homage to indigenous longhouses.
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  It consists of 22 pairs of Douglas fir post and beam structures
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  adorned at either
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  SPEAKER_00: end with carvings.
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  SPEAKER_00: Randy Pursers depicts a baby Chief Seattle,
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  SPEAKER_00: a mountain goat adorned spindle whorl,
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  SPEAKER_00: and a frog-covered cedar hat.
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  At the south end,
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  the carving by Tyson Simmons and Keith Stevenson is in the form
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  of a warrior.
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  SPEAKER_00: The longhouse and carvings are stunning and beautiful.
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  I have to admit that when I first heard of the plans for the
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  post viaduct waterfront,
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  SPEAKER_00: I was skeptical.
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  SPEAKER_00: I knew the water viaduct was problematic on many levels,
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  SPEAKER_00: but I liked the view and was somewhat partial to its gritty ugliness.
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  I thought of it as a sort of concrete thumb in the face of what
• 5:50
  can sometimes be
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  SPEAKER_00: the preciousness of Seattle.
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  Not until I saw the more completed waterfront did I realize the
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  error of my viewpoint.
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  The designers did a stunning job of creating a new kind of
• 6:01
  place in Seattle.
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  SPEAKER_00: With big views and wide open spaces oriented towards pedestrians,
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  the Waterfront Park is an invitation for people to begin
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  strengthening their own
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  SPEAKER_00: connections between the land and sea.
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  I didn't fully grasp,
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  though,
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  what makes this place so special until I walked with Owen.
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  Seeing the waterfront through his eyes was an amazing anecdote
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  to the news of the world.
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  By so thoroughly incorporating the long-running story of
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  Indigenous people,
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  the park is,
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  I hope,
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  A turning point toward more respectful relationships between
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  all who live in this
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  SPEAKER_00: magnificent place we call home.
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  SPEAKER_00: We can learn from each other.
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  SPEAKER_00: We can learn from the land.
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  SPEAKER_00: We can listen to each other.
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  SPEAKER_00: We can listen to the land.
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  SPEAKER_00: We can be inspired by each other.
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  SPEAKER_00: We can be inspired by the land.
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  Like the weft and weave of a basket,
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  we are made stronger by working together.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: Once again,
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: this is David B.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: Williams,
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  SPEAKER_00: author and voice of the Seattle Street Smart Naturalist,
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: Explorations of the Urban Kind,
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  a weekly newsletter and podcast focusing on the human and
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  natural world around Seattle,
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: Puget Sound,
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  SPEAKER_00: and the Pacific Northwest.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_00: For more information about my books,
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: walks,
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: and talks,
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_00: and a link to sign up for my newsletter and podcast,
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: check out my website,
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: geologywriter.com.
• 7:20
  And don't forget to slow down,
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  pay attention,
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  and enjoy the world around you.