Saltwater Soundwalk: Recent Episodes

Jenny Asarnow & Rachel Lam

Saltwater Soundwalk is about our relationships and responsibilities towards the Salish Sea and connecting waters, centering Indigenous Coast Salish voices and language. In this rhythmic, watery audio experience, streams of stories ebb and flow, intermixing English with Coast Salish languages.

Listen to learn where the traditional fishing ground “Hit the Water” is located in Seattle, to hear traditional Tulalip names of local places and to learn about the colonial history of Seattle and the construction of the Ship Canal. Indigenous rights, responsibilities and cultural preservation are essential to healing these waters, our relationship to them and to each other. As well, hear from a public artist and a Seattle Public Utilities manager about how we all impact these living waters.

This is an experience for all of us to connect to the Salish Sea area, and a step towards creating healthier human relationships with this changing ecosystem.

Voices featured are: Ken Workman (Duwamish), Warren King George (Muckleshoot), Michelle Myles (Tulalip), Archie Cantrell (Puyallup), LaDean Johnson (Skokomish), Owen Oliver (Quinault / Isleta Pueblo), Lydia Sigo (Suquamish), Randi Purser (Suquamish), RYAN! Feddersen (FLOW artist, Confederated Tribes of the Colville - Okanogan / Arrow Lakes), and Eric Autry (Seattle Public Utilities), Joseph Sisneros (UW) and Jeanne Hyde (The Whale Museum).

Created by audio artists Jenny Asarnow and Rachel Lam (Anigiduwagi enrolled Cherokee Nation), this audio experience is intended to be listened to on site or anywhere you listen to podcasts.

To listen on site, start at Gasworks Park. Follow the route along N Northlake Way and the Burke Gilman trail to the entrance of the Ship Canal at the Fremont Bridge; and then return the way you came.

Commissioned with SPU 1% for Art Funds. Administered by the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture. City of Seattle, Bruce Harrell, Mayor.

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Gasworks Park in Seattle is a great park for a lot of people. It’s also a historic Coast Salish fishing site, and the first stop on this audio tour that immerses us in the stories and languages of the Salish Sea area. 

What does it mean to live in a place for thousands of thousands of years? 

Did you know that there are geoduck clams older than Washington State? 

Indigenous Coast Salish peoples continue to steward this land and preserve its language, despite settler colonialism, industrialization and gentrification. Listen to connect to the Salish Sea area, as a step towards creating healthier human relationships with this changing ecosystem.  

“As young as I can remember, it has been the beach and the water that my existence has been drawn to.” 

“Treaties are guaranteed by the Constitution, yet they are broken every day by environmental degradation.” 

“I think I can feel where water is. I use it to orient myself. Once I feel where is water, I can then figure out where I am.”

“It's such a soft feeling.”

“You know the history of the Ship Canal, don’t you?”

“The river and salt water have been important to our people since the beginning of time.” 

Part story, part sound collage, this piece is scored entirely with the sounds of the waters and animals who live in and around the Salish Sea. 

Voices featured are: Ken Workman (Duwamish), Warren King George (Muckleshoot), Michelle Myles (Tulalip), Archie Cantrell (Puyallup), LaDean Johnson (Skokomish), Owen Oliver (Quinault / Isleta Pueblo), Lydia Sigo (Suquamish), Randi Purser (Suquamish), RYAN! Feddersen (FLOW artist, Confederated Tribes of the Colville - Okanogan / Arrow Lakes), and Eric Autry (Seattle Public Utilities), Joseph Sisneros (UW) and Jeanne Hyde (The Whale Museum). 

Created by audio artists Jenny Asarnow and Rachel Lam (Anigiduwagi enrolled Cherokee Nation), this audio experience is intended to be listened to on site or anywhere you listen to podcasts.

To listen on site, start at Gasworks Park. Follow the route along N Northlake Way and the Burke Gilman trail to the entrance of the Ship Canal at the Fremont Bridge; and then return the way you came.  

Commissioned with SPU 1% for Art Funds.

Administered by the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture.

City of Seattle, Bruce Harrell, Mayor.

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Featuring Lydia Sigo (Suquamish), geoduck diver

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Featuring Owen Oliver (Quinault / Isleta Pueblo) https://owenloliver.com/

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Featuring Warren King George (Muckleshoot), historian, Muckleshoot Indian Tribe

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Featuring Archie Cantrell (Puyallup), language teacher.

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Featuring: 

Ken Workman (Duwamish), 5th generation Great-Grandson of Chief Seattle.

Warren King George (Muckleshoot), historian, Muckleshoot Indian Tribe

Owen Oliver (Quinault / Isleta Pueblo) https://owenloliver.com/

Lydia Sigo (Suquamish), geoduck diver

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Featuring Randi Purser (Suquamish), tribal elder

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Featuring RYAN! Feddersen, FLOW artist (Confederated Tribes of the Colville - Okanogan / Arrow Lakes).

http://ryanfeddersen.com/ 

https://spushipcanal.participate.online/art

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Featuring Eric Autry, Sr. Environmental Compliance Inspector, Seattle Public Utilities’ Spill Response Program

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Featuring Michelle Myles (Snohomish from Tulalip), Lushootseed teacher.

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Featuring Ken Workman (Duwamish), 5th generation Great-Grandson of Chief Seattle.

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Featuring RYAN! Feddersen, FLOW artist (Confederated Tribes of the Colville - Okanogan / Arrow Lakes).

http://ryanfeddersen.com/

https://spushipcanal.participate.online/art

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The oldest geoduck clam ever confirmed was 168 years old. Washington has only been a state for 133 years. We want to see more protections for our plant and animal relatives

Featuring:

Archie Cantrell (Puyallup), language teacher

Jeanne Hyde, Orca Adoption Program Documentarian/Storykeeper, The Whale Museum

LaDean Johnson (Skokomish), tuwaduq language instructor

Warren King George (Muckleshoot), historian, Muckleshoot Indian Tribe

Michelle Myles (Snohomish from Tulalip), Lushootseed teacher.

Owen Oliver (Quinault / Isleta Pueblo) https://owenloliver.com/

Randi Purser (Suquamish), tribal elder

Lydia Sigo (Suquamish), geoduck diver

Joseph Sisneros, Professor of Psychology, Adjunct Professor of Biology, University of Washington

Ken Workman (Duwamish), 5th generation Great-Grandson of Chief Seattle

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Saltwater Soundwalk is an audio experience about our relationships and responsibilities towards the Salish Sea and connecting waters, centering Indigenous Coast Salish voices and language. Listen on site in Seattle’s Fremont, Wallingford and Ballard neighborhoods or anywhere you listen to podcasts. Coming August 25