North West Washington

We are working our way along the North West coast of Washington after staying at the Escapees park at Chimacum.

Too many people too little land

It is rather sobering to keep coming across evidence of the damage that has been done to this area since the coming of the white man. The Olympic National Park shows up on a satellite image as an oasis of green surrounded by large brown patches left by clear cut logging. The rivers are empty of salmon and the elk are down to a few remnant herds. The shellfish in many areas are poisonous and finding ways to get shore access to dig them up on the seashore is getting harder as any patch of land with a view over the Puget sound is snapped up and built on. This allows the owner to control access to the shore.

These pics show the grave of Chief Seattle or Sealth.
He made such an impression on the settlers here that they named the major town after him.
Here is a version of his statement to those present when he signed the treaty passing the land in this area to the settlers but keeping hunting and fishing rights for his people.

"Every part of this land is sacred to my people. How can you buy and sell the sky, the warmth of the land? The idea is strange to us. If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them? The perfumed flowers are our sisters, the deer, the horse, the great eagle, these are our brothers.

The rolling crests, the juice of the meadow, the body heat of the pony and man. All belongs to the same family.

What is man without the beasts? If all beasts were gone man would die from a great loneliness of spirit. For whatever happens to the beasts, soon happens to man. All things are connected. Whatever befalls the earth, befalls the sons of the earth.

Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the earth he does to himself. Where is the thicket gone? Where is the eagle gone? And what is it to say goodbye to the swift pony and the hunt? The end of living and the beginning of survival."

Still it is not all gloom and doom, the hydro electric dam next to our camp site at Port Angeles is to be removed. This should allow the return of salmon and seatrout to the river. There are fish hatcheries all around the coast and elk, although still hunted, are increasing. However the last wolf was shot in 1920 and there are no plans to reintroduce them.

Art Outside at Port Angeles

This is a walk in the woods with sculpture.
We had intended to push Charro round it but the paths were too narrow and too steep
for comfort. Still it was interesting with lots of challenging art but if I have nightmares tonight it will be because of one or two of the exhibits. The marching jackets
were particularly disturbing.