On June 29, I had the privilege of attending the dedication ceremony for the opening of the Chetzemoka Trail, an interpretive path celebrating the life and important places of Chief Cicmehan, leader of the S’Klallam people. My utmost thanks extend to everyone who worked so hard to make this trail possible. They have, among other accomplishments, reminded me of Cicmehan’s life and his legacy of peace and cooperation. There have been critics of the chief, who claim he gave in too easily to the non-indigenous arrivals that insisted on taking the S’Klallam people’s ancestral lands by brutal force. The 19th century was a great time of uncertainty and fear for native Americans, but Cicmehan believed the path of peace spelled the best hope for his people. He couldn’t have known how things would turn out and he must have worried as all good leaders do. The story is not over of course, but Saturday’s ceremony began a new chapter of acknowledgment of the past and hope for the future. We are now also living in a time of great uncertainty and fear, and hope isn’t always easy to find. The values of equality and freedom of the United States didn’t extend to the S’Klallam people in the 19th century and they aren’t assured for any of us in the 21st century.

With a person in Washington D.C. who is openly hostile to the democratic institutions of this country, and who this week joked on the international stage about a foreign country meddling in our electoral system, which is key to this democracy, the times are very uncertain and worrisome. Cicmehan is an inspiration, however. He was a person who cared for his people above all else, and now the trail is here to remind us of that.

Betsy Howell
Port Townsend