The Northwest Folklife Festival, Seattle’s free four-day party, is a celebration of cultures where people can listen to music, try out dances and hear stories from all around the world.
Whether you are into the sounds of Bollywood, Celtic traditions, Asian music or hip-hop, you can listen, experience and learn during this 42nd annual festival at Seattle Center, 305 Harrison St., which runs from 11 a.m. Friday until 9 p.m. Monday.
This year, Folklife focuses on the workplace with stories and personal histories shown in a multimedia program, “Washington Works.”
But let’s get back to the party.
Folklife features hundreds of performers, a Monday night reggae show, an urban square dance and music across all the stages. A complete schedule of entertainment can be found at www.nwfolklife.org.
The bands, just to name a few, include The Shed Players, who help kick off the festival action Friday. This folk group has performed at festivals and farmers markets throughout Snohomish County and are known for roots music and a jug band style.
Also Friday, you might want to check out The Terrible Lizards whose press material has them performing Celtic tunes and songs for 65 million years.
Also Friday, the LoveBomb Go-Go Marching Band of Portland play Indie-Balkan-funk-punk.
On Saturday the entertainment continues with Ancora, an a cappella women’s choir, among many other performers.
On Sunday you can check out the Northwest Junior Pipe Band, a traditional Scottish bagpipe band comprised entirely of kids from elementary through high school. There’s also Komplex Kai, a Native American rapper from Tulalip who performs hip-hop.
On Monday, you can hear the Everett Norwegian Male Chorus, which upholds Nordic culture through song.
The festival’s closeout band Monday night is the Fabulous Downey Brothers, who are reminiscent of The B-52s, a little more weird but definitely poppy.
Family activities are part of the party and are centrally located this year on the Fisher Terrace. The activities include the Seattle Family Dance Tent, open Friday and Saturday where the youngest visitors can dance, listen to stories and sing songs from many cultures.
There’s also toy boat building and knot tying Friday through Monday put on by the Center for Wooden Boats, which will supply traditional hand tools and show knot-tying skills and help kids make traditional rope sailor bracelets. There’s a $2 materials fee.
Another family activity is creating mosaic art with recycled glass Friday through Monday. Visitors can make and take home trivets, coasters and mirrors. There’s a $4 to $7 materials fee.
In addition to a complete schedule of events, the Folklife website provides a list of special attractions and a category called 28 Things to See This Year.
The website also offers tips on where to stay and where to eat and offers the best ways to get around the festival along with a Frequently Asked Questions section. The website is www.nwfolklife.org.
Ken Paul performs the Eagle Dance at the unveiling ceremony of the Nevada Indian exhibit on May 3
Source: travelnevada.com
A new exhibit showcasing Nevada’s American Indians at Reno-Tahoe International Airport will be seen by the approximately 3.8 million travelers passing through the facility.
The display, on the airport’s second floor and accessible to the public, was unveiled at a ceremony May 3.
“This project will showcase and raise awareness of Nevada’s indigenous people,” Gov. Brian Sandoval said.
It consists of a wall of photographs on a background resembling a traditional American Indian basket, a tule duck decoy created by Mike Williams of the Fallon Paiute Shoshone Tribe, a cradleboard created by Bernita Tetin from the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe and a flat screen projecting videos about Nevada’s Indian culture. For a look at one of the videos, developed by Nevada Indian Territory, a nonprofit organization that promotes tribal tourism in Nevada, click here.
Sandoval added that he had talked to Krys Bart, president and CEO of the Reno Tahoe Airport Authority, and Sherry Rupert, executive director of the Nevada Indian Commission, about developing an Nevada Indian exhibit after seeing American Indian displays in other airports. An earlier, temporary Nevada Indian exhibit was on display at the airport from November 2011 to January 2012. The current exhibit will be permanent.
“It lets people know that we’re still here,” Rupert said.
Some daredevils are setting the Internet abuzz with breathtaking and death-defying photos taken from the top of some of Seattle’s tallest landmarks.
The most recent one shows a climber perched in the rafters of Safeco Field’s retractable roof, 21 stories above the playing surface. While the photo has just started making the rounds, it was actually posted about 10 months ago on the Reddit account of a user who goes by the handle “shuttersubversive.”
The guy is absolutely fearless, if not nuts. His other accomplishments include scaling the top of Century Link Field, the Space Needle, and the Columbia Tower. He’s also likely the same climber who scaled Seattle’s Great Wheel before it opened last summer.
There’s no confirmation of his identity, but links lead to a blog called “No Promise of Safety,” that identifies him as Joseph Carnavale, a sculptor, photographer and adventurer.
The blog has even more insane pictures of death-defying climbs up various buildings, construction cranes, and other ridiculously tall structures.
It’s clear he’s not the only one making the risky (and highly illegal) climbs. Somebody has to take the pictures. One conquest shows a pair of climbers sitting atop the Tacoma Narrows Bridge.
On his Reddit page, the guy says he no longer lives in Seattle, but a lot of people around here sure would like to talk to him.
An unidentified climber sits atop the roof of the Space Needle in Seattle. Photo by Reddit/ShuttersubversiveAn unidentified climber sits atop the roof of Seattle’s Century Link Field Photo by Reddit/Shuttersubversive
An unidentified climber scales Seattle’s Great Wheel. Photo by Reddit/ShuttersubversiveDaredevils sit atop the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in this undated photo posted on Reddit Photo by Reddit/Shuttersubversive
Memorial Day is the day set aside to honor men and women who have died while serving in the U.S. military.
Its origins date back to the Civil War, when it was known as Decoration Day. The solemn holiday has been observed on the last Monday in May since 1971.
Here are some of the events occurring in Snohomish County in honor of the holiday:
Edmonds: The Edmonds Memorial Cemetery is hosting a Memorial Day Observance at 11 a.m. Monday between 100th Avenue W. and 15th Street SW. The one-hour event is set to feature a presentation by Tom Hallums, member of the VFW Post No. 8870 and a Korean War veteran. Program includes refreshments, a rifle salute and guided tours of the cemetery. Seating is limited and people are encouraged to bring their own folding chairs. For more information, contact Dale Hoggins, Cemetery Board member at 425-776-1543.
Everett: Flowers will be placed at gravesites by the Snohomish County Central Memorial Committee at 11 a.m. Monday at Evergreen Cemetery, 4504 Broadway, Everett. This year’s service is dedicated to Vietnam veterans. A luncheon is planned from 12:30 to 2 p.m. at Fleet Reserve Association Branch 170, 6802 Beverly Blvd., Everett. Meatloaf is on the menu. Cost $5.
Everett: Pearl Harbor survivor Ray Wans plans to give a speech about his experience at 11 a.m. Sunday at the Grace Lutheran Church, 8401 Holly Drive. The event serves as a Memorial Day remembrance and a barbecue follows the service.
Everett: The Flying Heritage Collection plans to host its second annual Tankfest Northwest at 10 a.m. Monday at Paine Field, 3407 109th St. SW. There will be tanks, artillery, treats and activities for children. Cost is $12 for adults and $8 for youth. Veterans enter free.
Lynnwood: 11 a.m. Monday, Lynnwood Veterans Park at 44th Avenue W. and 194th Street SW. There will be bagpipe music and a flag ceremony. Event organized by the VFW Post No. 1040. More information at 425-774-7416
Marysville: American Legion Post 178 of Marysville hosts its annual Memorial Day Ceremony at 11 a.m. Monday, Marysville cemetery, 8801 State Ave. with speakers and honor guard. After the service, the legion hosts an open house with a light lunch from noon to 2 p.m. at 119 Cedar Ave, in Marysville. Both events are free. There will also be a display of 230 veteran’s burial flags by Legion members, cemetery staff and community partners all weekend. For more information, call the cemetery at 360-659-5762, 360-722-7825 or go to americanlegion178wa.cfsites.org.
Stanwood: Frank H. Hancock American Legion Post 92 plans to hold its Memorial Day Observance at 11 a.m. Monday at Anderson Cemetery, 7370-7816 Pioneer Highway, Stanwood.
Photo courtesy Diane Janes Bob and Johanna Sheldon are shown in a wedding photo from around 1885-1890. The two were Diane Janes’ great-grandparents on her father’s side.
By Bill Sheets, The Herald
TULALIP — Often when people on the Tulalip Indian Reservation have old photos of family members they can’t identify, they call Diane Janes.
If she doesn’t know who they are, often she can find someone who does.
She’s been collecting tribal photographs for close to 50 years. For more than a decade, she’s been preserving history by compiling the photos into self-published books.
Countless tribal members, their ancestors and many events on the reservation are chronicled in a dozen volumes, each an inch thick or more. About 10,000 photos are shown in 2,000 pages.
Photo courtesy Diane Janes Thomas Adams, a non-tribal member, laid the first telegraph lines across the Tulalip reservation, in the 1860s. His wife, standing, was S’Klallam tribal member Ellen Giddings. The couple lived at Warm Beach. The photo is from the late 19th century.
Though many tribal members know of Janes, 70, and her books, a lot of others don’t, she believes.
“I’m hoping as more people see these, they’ll say, ‘That’s my relative,'” she said.
When Janes was about 20, she started getting photos reproduced for her parents so they could have multiple copies — piquing her curiosity about her family in the process.
Later, Janes began taking photos at Tulalip events. She compiled tribal photos for the Everett centennial celebration in 1993.
“It just sort of grew from there,” she said. “I thought it was going to be simple.”
Janes is not a certified genealogist but, through her work, has helped many tribal members learn more about their ancestry — starting with her own family.
Stan Jones Sr., a longtime tribal leader and board member, is Janes’ uncle. Jones and his sister, Gloria, Janes’ mother, for a long time wanted to find the grave of their mother, who had died at a young age. They heard it was at the I.O.O.F. Cemetery in Monroe, but didn’t have an exact location.
Several times over the years, they looked through the cemetery but couldn’t find the grave.
Later, in the early 1990s, they were discussing the matter with Janes and she produced an extended-family photo that included a half-brother, Mickey Malone.
He was contacted and knew exactly where the grave was located, in the same cemetery.
“They were looking in the wrong place,” Janes said.
Stan Jones’ wife, JoAnn, said Janes’ photo collections have meant a lot to their family.
Having the photos helps put faces to names when relating family history to young people, she said.
“We really appreciate them, she’s done so much work on those and done such a good job,” JoAnn Jones said.
Tribal Chairman Mel Sheldon Jr. is a cousin of Janes’ on her father’s side.
“It was really good looking at the pictures to know how far my family went back,” he said.
“She’s done a great job of compiling the pictures that many of us might not have had access to or didn’t know existed. What a great service not only to our families but to our whole community.”
As Janes began to collect more images, she felt the need to get them organized and documented.
“I thought, ‘This could go on forever, and I’m getting older,'” she said.
She began typing up captions and pasting them along with the photos on 8½-by-11 inch pieces of paper. She took them to a printer and had the pages reproduced and bound into a paperback.
Photo courtesy Diane Janes Tulalip tribal member George Jones is shown in ceremonial regalia at the opening of the tribal longhouse in 1914. Jones was the maternal grandfather of Diane Janes, who has compiled a series of books of tribal photos.
The first book, “The Children of the Owl Clan,” was devoted to photos of the Jones side of her family. Two more volumes of photos on the Owl Clan and closely related families were to follow. She then produced three volumes focused on her Sheldon side.
After that, she broadened her scope into other families, tribes and different aspects of reservation life.
“Tulalips and Friends” and “The Mountain, River and Sound People” include photos of members of neighboring tribes, such as Lummi, Sauk-Suiattle, Swinomish, Upper Skagit and others, as well as Tulalips.
One photo shows well-known Upper Skagit tribal member Vi Hilbert at age 4 or 5, taken in the early 1920s. Hilbert played a key role in preserving tribal culture through her storytelling and work on reviving Lushootseed, the native language of the area. She died in 2008 at the age of 90.
Another of Janes’ books, “The Children of the Longhouse,” shows photos of Tulalip ceremonial events from the early 1900s to the present day.
“Paddle to Tulalip” features photos of the intertribal canoe journey and ceremony hosted by the Tulalips in 2003. “Tulalip Salmon Ceremony” spotlights the annual tribal ceremony honoring the summertime return of salmon to streams. Janes took many of her own photos for this ceremony and some of the others.
Another book is devoted to the history of education on the reservation, including photos and narrative about the white boarding schools where young tribal children were sent in the early 1900s.
In borrowing photos from tribal members to reproduce, at first she’d take them to photo stores and pay to have them copied. She then tried to learn how to use scanning equipment, but that didn’t go well, she said.
Then someone told her she could take photos of photos, and that made her work much easier, she said.
Janes cares for a disabled daughter, Julie, 51, who was hit by a drunken driver at age 19. Janes doesn’t have to work at a regular job, which gives her time for her work. And it does take time, she said. In visiting a family to borrow photos, “You don’t just go in there, you sit and talk,” she said.
Diane Janes
She doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon. The next book will be titled “Images of our Ancestors.” She’s also planning a book about her daughter.
“All I want to do is record history as it comes, for whoever decides to share their photos,” Janes said.
“There are so many tribal members who are historians. They don’t realize it, but they carry our history.
“I try to make my books so the next generation will take over.”
Where to buy
Diane Janes’ books of photos about tribal life are available for $30 at the Hibulb Cultural Center and Natural History Preserve, 6410 23rd Ave. W., Tulalip.
An 80s & 90s Themed Recovery Celebration held at the Don Penoke Hatch Gym, Friday, June 7. Doors open 5:30 p.m., Dinner served at 6, Dances ends at 11 p.m.
Jennifer Buchanan / The Herald Artist Linda Beaumont is reflected in part of her mosaic installation at the new Wetmore Theater Plaza in downtown Everett.
By Theresa Goffredo, The Herald
Wetmore Theater Plaza, the new community space in downtown Everett, is getting its first official event — a summer concert series.
The Sets in the West concerts kick off July 10 with 10 weeks of live music from some top shelf, emerging bands from Seattle, Bellingham and Everett.
The free shows start right after work at 5 p.m. There’s a wine and beer garden and food for anyone who wants to buy a drink or a snack.
Bands include Hot Bodies in Motion, a soul-bluesy band from Seattle, and River Giant, whose lead singer is from Lake Stevens and who play folk Americana stuff, which has been compared to Neil Young.
The city of Everett wanted to have a concert series at the plaza this summer but didn’t have the staff to devote to such an event. So the city asked the Everett Music Initiative to make the series happen.
The Everett Music Initiative started out in 2012 and has successfully brought new bands to downtown Everett. The group’s goal was to bring the local pool of musical talent here because music is a critical cultural element to a thriving downtown, said Ryan Crowther, founder of Everett Music Initiative.
The music initiative has partnered with Experience Everett, the city’s new tourism initiative, and together with support from the city’s cultural arts department, the experiment to bring new music to downtown Everett has been a success.
“They saw a need, took the initiative and brought some very new music to Everett and started gaining really good crowds,” said Carol Thomas, the city’s cultural arts manager. “We asked them to bring their talents to a concert series that would feature new and emerging artists, a genre they know and love.”
The city already sponsors Music at the Marina concert series that kicks off June 27 and those concerts start a little later Thursday evenings. But the new plaza concert series happens right after work for a more “appropriate urban feel so people can get off work and enjoy the music,” Thomas said.
The city also provides a children’s concert series Thursday mornings at Thornton A Sullivan Park at Silver Lake. which kicks off July 11.
In addition to the concert series, Village Theatre’s Kidstage program will be presenting six live theater performances at noon Fridays at the Wetmore Plaza. That series kicks off June 28 with “A Year with Frog and Toad.”
The plaza, situated between the Everett Performing Arts Center and Village Theatre’s Second Stage kids’ theater, can accommodate more than 400 people and, with a packed crowd, can give the downtown that kind of needed energy that comes from community events such as concerts and theater performances, Thomas said.
“The next step after making the plaza is activating it,” Thomas said. “And we are working hard for that.”
The plaza isn’t officially complete. Whidbey Island artist Linda Beaumont continues work on the undulating mosaic wall that anchors the plaza and frames the area into a seated amphitheater.
Beaumont is expected to be working on that mosaic into next year. The piece is handmade and completely original, Thomas said.
“Art takes time,” Thomas said.
But the public doesn’t have to wait to use the plaza. In fact, the city wants people to use the plaza now. And the concert series is a good starting point, said Steve Graham, a member of Everett Music Initiative.
“This is going to be a great chance to showcase some great music, how beautiful downtown Everett and our new Wetmore Plaza (are),” Graham said.
The new Sets in the West series kicks off July 10 and runs through Sept. 11 at Wetmore Theatre Plaza, 2710 Wetmore Ave., Everett. For a complete schedule of bands, go to www.everettmusicinitiative.org.
The Oklahoma House Joint Committee on Appropriations and Budget voted 13-10 to use tax revenue from Internet and out-of-state purchases to provide $40 million to help complete the American Indian Cultural Center and Museum. The measure still needs approval from the full House and Senate.
Passage of a measure that would provide funding to help complete the American Indian Cultural Center and Museum in downtown Oklahoma City would be the last state assistance sought for construction costs, a state official overseeing the project pledged Monday to a special budget committee.
“There’ll never be another dime asked from here on the construction of the American Indian Cultural Center,” said Blake Wade, executive director of the Native American Cultural and Educational Authority, which would oversee the museum.
The House Joint Committee on Appropriations and Budget voted 13-10 to use tax revenue from Internet and out-of-state purchases to provide $40 million to help complete the project. The state funds will match $40 million in pledges from individuals, businesses, American Indian tribes and the city of Oklahoma City, Wade said.
The measure, Senate Bill 1132, now goes to the House Calendar Committee, which will determine whether it gets a hearing in the House. The measure must pass the House of Representatives and the Senate. A Senate special budget committee passed the measure Thursday, the first time information about the proposal became public.
Rep. Jason Nelson, a committee member, said legislators and taxpayers could be skeptical about Wade’s assurance. The idea for the center started 19 years ago. The project has benefited from three previous state bond issues totaling $63 million, as well as $14.5 million in federal funding and $4.9 million and 250 acres of land from Oklahoma City.
“It could be a tough sell,” said Nelson, R-Oklahoma City.
Wade, who started work on the project two years ago, said the agency has a new director, and the agency’s governing board is getting new members.
All 39 federally recognized tribes in Oklahoma now are behind the project, he said.
Wade, who led efforts to raise money for the state Capitol dome more than 10 years ago, said he heard similar skepticism about that project.
“No one liked the Capitol dome, but once we got it up and got it on, it is the greatest thing that I think has happened as far as our morale,” he said. “The same will be true of the American Indian Cultural Center … I promise you if you like the dome, you’re going to love the American Indian Cultural Center.”
SB 1132 would provide $40 million to help finish the center, which has been mothballed since last year when lawmakers failed to approve additional bond funds to help complete it. Under the measure, $15 million from use taxes would be diverted from gross revenue in the 2015 fiscal year, which begins July 1, 2014, followed by $15 million in the 2016 fiscal year. A final apportionment of $10 million would be made in the 2017 fiscal year.
Use taxes are paid on out-of-state purchases and online purchases in lieu of sales taxes. Projections for the upcoming fiscal year indicate the use tax will raise about $244 million, said Rep. Tom Newell, R-Seminole, the committee’s vice chairman. Most of the money raised by the tax goes for education and tourism expenses.
Wade said those making the $40 million in pledges will stand behind their offer if the state provides a matching amount. He told committee members the donors see SB 1132 as a commitment from the state, even though it will be more than a year before state money actually is available for the project.
House Democratic leadership issued a statement that pay raises for correctional officers, state troopers and state employees should come before the American Indian Cultural Center and Museum and the Oklahoma Museum of Popular Culture, which is planned in Tulsa. Rep. Joe Dorman, D-Rush Springs, was the only Democrat on the committee to vote for the measure.
