Preservation Profile: Dennis Lewarch

Dennis Lewarch at the University of Washington Arboretum, September 20, 2020.

NPS

Since the late 1960s the Suquamish Tribe of Washington State has organized to demand their legal and civil rights in a path toward self-determination. During their journey, non-Indian partners have played important roles as allies. Dennis Lewarch is one such ally.

This past summer, the Park Cultural Landscapes Program sat down with Dennis in Seattle, Washington to learn about his work with the Tribe and the recent completion of a Traditional Cultural Place (TCP) nomination for the National Register of Historic Places. In working with the Suquamish since the 1990s as a consulting archaeologist and as their first Tribal Historic Preservation Officer (THPO), Dennis has served the interests of the Suquamish when documenting their heritage and preserving their cultural landscapes.

The Suquamish Tribe of Port Madison Indian Reservation

Located on the shores of the Salish Sea west of the city of Seattle, the Suquamish people have lived on the lands of the Kitsap Peninsula since time immemorial. The Suquamish are known as Chief Seattle’s people, the nineteenth-century leader for whom the city was named. Chief Seattle (siʔał in Lushootseed) pursued a path of accommodation to white settlers and was a negotiator of the Point Elliott Treaty of 1855 that led to the establishment of the Port Madison Indian Reservation for the Suquamish Tribe.

During the second half of the 1900s the Suquamish have been recognized as a sovereign nation with their own constitution and governing body. Despite the deleterious effects of federal land reform policies enacted on American Indian reservations under the Dawes Act, the Suquamish have made progress in reclaiming some of their lands that were lost to non-Indians. Today, the Tribe operates a museum, a casino, commercial fishing enterprises, public parks, and a host of community social services. Greater economic opportunities and effective tribal governance have drawn more Suquamish people back to the land of their ancestors in recent years.

Biographical Sketch: Dennis Lewarch

Dennis grew up in Seattle at mid-century and studied anthropology at the University of Washington. He was part of a pioneering generation of anthropologists that used ethnographic research­‑‑using interviews and observation--to learn about traditional cultures. In his early career as an archaeologist, Dennis saw a disconnect between his academic training and the reality of cultural resource management on federal lands, and a need to learn about history and culture directly from traditional people.

Following the 1970s and 80s, when Pacific Northwest tribes grappled with federal lawmakers over rights guaranteed in the Point Elliot Treaty of 1855, Dennis honed his skills in working with American Indians as a consulting archeologist for the Suquamish Tribe. After several years of working on fishing rights, Tribal Chairman Leonard Forsman asked Dennis to prepare the application to the National Park Service to fund the Tribe’s first Tribal Historic Preservation Officer. To Dennis’s surprise, after more than 13 years of collaboration, he became the first Suquamish THPO in 2007.

Cultural Resources in Focus: Old Man House and Doe-Kag-Wats

During his work as the Suquamish THPO, Dennis spent time researching two important cultural sites: Old Man House and Doe-Kag-Wats. Old Man House (dx^wsǝq^wǝb in Lushootseed, meaning “place of clear salt water”) is a long-house that sheltered numerous families and served as the center of Suquamish life. It supported a village of considerable size from the late 1700s until it was deliberately burned down by U.S. authorities in 1870. After it was razed, the Suquamish people continued to occupy the site. By the end of the nineteenth-century, Indian Agents overseeing allotment policies on the Port Madison Reservation encouraged the Suquamish people to disband from the Old Man House site, take up agricultural practices, and forget their traditional lifeways. Often under the watchful eye of the Indian Agent, many Suquamish people sought refuge at another nearby shoreline site, a place where they could continue their cultural practices without scrutiny from outsiders: Doe-Kag-Wats.

Doe-Kag-Wats (dxʷqigʷəc in Lushootseed), “the place of the deer”, is located at the confluence of fresh and salt water beside the Salish Sea. This landscape, with a convergence of upland forest, marsh and shoreline, has always provided an abundance of foods, materials, and spaces for living. This tranquil place overlooking the sea with a view of Mount Rainier continues to serve as a magnet for gathering, recreating and spiritual sustenance. In the care of the Suquamish Tribe, Doe-Kag-Wats has escaped the alteration manifest in the region’s other coastal wetlands caused by European American settlement.

View looking south over Doe-Kag-Wats landscape, 2000.

Washington State Coastal Atlas

Doe-Kag-Wats TCP Nomination Process: A Different Way of Viewing and Documenting the Landscape

With oversight from the Tribal Council, Dennis applied for, and received, funding from the Underrepresented Communities (URC) grant program to complete a TCP nomination for Doe-Kag-Wats. The URC grant program, administered by the National Park Service State, Tribal, Local Plans & Grants Division, seeks to provide financial assistance to projects that aim to diversify properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). TCP nominations are different from other nominations to the NRHP because the significance and integrity of a place is largely defined from the perspective of the traditional communities associated with the site’s continued use. National Register Bulletin 38: Guidelines for Evaluating and Documenting Traditional Cultural Properties, first provided guidance on how to document TCPs in 1990. Since then, cultural resource managers have adopted new ways of consulting with tribal communities.

Dennis noted, “There’s been a lot of interest in Indian country to have tribes protect their culture and have their view of the significance of things more than say archeologists or people interested in built structures.” The process for completing the Doe-Kag-Wats TCP nomination took 13 months. In addition to the written nomination, the process incorporated a public outreach campaign with the tribal community, oral history interviews, archival research, and regular reporting to the Tribal Council.

Lessons from Indian Country: Cultural Resource Management on Suquamish Lands

Telling Stories from a Tribal Perspective

The nomination of Doe-Kag-Wats to the National Register stems from its cultural significance to the Suquamish people, but it was Dennis’ familiarity with a 1990 National Register nomination for the Old Man House archeological site that prompted a more inclusive perspective. The 1990 archeological nomination was noteworthy for its lack of tribal input and absence of association with important people in Suquamish history. One such person was Chief Seattle, the Suquamish leader responsible for the creation of the Port Madison Indian Reservation. “That really got me thinking, we need to tell the tribal story of this place,” in addition to the archaeological record, Dennis said. “And so I thought if we could do that, we’d have this kind of basic information that we can go forward with for Doe-Kag-Wats and we can do some really important research and pull things together…there were bits of information that were tucked away that had never been compiled and synthesized into a whole.”

During his research into the tribal archives, Dennis found oral histories conducted by two young tribal members, Marilyn Jones and Leonard Forsman. Their work in the 1980s with tribal Elders documented stories about Doe-Kag-Wats and its cultural significance to the Suquamish community. However, these pieces of the past had been hidden in technical reports and out of view of the general community. These oral histories served as the basis for Dennis’ TCP nomination in 2018. Not only did these oral histories highlight the continuity of use and significance of Doe-Kag-Wats from the Suquamish perspective, they also became part of an important educational tool for disseminating tribal history to the broader community.

Capturing and Sharing Knowledge for the Benefit of the Tribal Community

Dennis was humble when reflecting on the year-long TCP nomination process to piece together a fractured tribal history. Much Suquamish history is known, but it was not documented in an accessible manner. According to Dennis, “we were able to pull that together and make it a more coherent whole.” Dennis speculated that the Suquamish people had been overlooked in the early 1900s by anthropologists that wrote ethnographies of the region’s other Indigenous peoples, because the Suquamish were local and readily acculturated in the Seattle metropolitan area. As a familiar part of city life, the Suquamish were easily passed over by researchers. Dennis’ new research helps recognize the rich cultural identity of the Suquamish people and highlights their unique contributions to the region’s history.

Documenting a substantial amount of tribal history in one place, as the TCP for Doe-Kag-Wats does, also supports the Tribal Council in fostering the transfer of cultural knowledge across generations. One aspect of the nomination involved a new round of oral histories with tribal Elders. According to Dennis, assuring Elders they had something to share was surprisingly challenging. The Suquamish people of 70 years or older had missed out on cultural exposure. They were forced to spend their young lives away at boarding schools where traditional cultural practices were forbidden. The Elders had not learned the Lushootseed language, and generally regarded themselves as uninformed. Dennis and his team used the term “Culture Bearer” during the interview to emphasize the unique value of the Elders’ recollections and perspectives. He also found that conducting the interviews in the presence of children was key to unlocking the Elders’ reluctance. Contrary to traditional ethnographic research methods that emphasized interviewing informants singularly so their testimony could be corroborated by others later, Dennis found the presence of children help set Elders at ease. The oral history interview became an opportunity for Elders to share stories with children, a familiar cultural practice.

The TCP nomination of Doe-Kag-Wats also empowers the Suquamish Tribe in their efforts to exercise control over their lands. By demonstrating the continuity of spiritual, educational, recreational, and subsistence use by the Suquamish people, Doe-Kag-Wats is more likely to be stewarded by the Suquamish for the long term. Upon completion of the TCP nomination, Dennis and his team presented the findings to the General Council. To his delight, the effort was received with great pride. As youth continue to ask questions and prompt the Elders, Dennis expects more traditional knowledge to be revealed. Post-nomination, the Suquamish people have given closer attention to Doe-Kag-Wats. Dennis reported that visits by Elders have become more frequent, as have collecting and weaving activities. The Tribe’s Chief Kitsap Academy now holds Biology and Plant Identification classes at Doe-Kag-Wats, and a Tribal Traditional Plant Specialist hosts traditional food plant gatherings there. Fishing, shellfish collecting, picnicking and recreating continue as they always have.

Seeking Resources and Funding for Underrepresented Communities

In 2019, Doe-Kag-Wats became just the fourth listed TCP in Washington State. When asked about a catalyst for the nomination, Dennis pointed to the leadership of Tribal Chairman Forsman, who was appointed by President Obama to the Advisory Council for Historic Preservation (ACHP) in 2013. Forsman has served the Tribe for more than two decades, inspiring tribal members to take advantage of training sessions on TCPs offered by the ACHP and the National Association of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers (NATHPO).

Dennis would not have been able to serve the Suquamish people in the preservation of their heritage without grants to fund staffing positions and complete resource studies. In 2007, Stephanie Trudel was hired as a review specialist followed by the hiring of Marilyn Jones, the former Suquamish Museum Director, as Tribal Heritage Specialist. One early project was to help build a Geographic Information System (GIS) of places of cultural sensitivity. The GIS informed Dennis’ review of building permits in concert with local municipalities. Before forming a THPO the Tribe had little capacity to shape the direction of regional development plans, yet they were frequently asked to review and comment. After forming a THPO, the Tribe now participates in more planning efforts and benefits from additional staff when documenting heritage resources.

When asked about takeaway lessons, Dennis emphasized honoraria for Elders to compensate them for their time and knowledge in sharing oral histories. Dennis and the TCP team sent hundreds of questionnaires to tribal members to seek information, however, engaging a large pool of respondents was a challenge. To get the word out, the TCP team posted notices in the local newspaper, and held discussions at the Tribe’s daily lunches and Elder meetings. In the end the team interviewed more than ten tribal members to learn what makes Doe-Kag-Wats special.

Nineteenth-century survey used in the TCP nomination to illustrate the continuity of landscape features at Doe-Kag-Wats.

United States Coast Survey, 1868, Map of Port Madison Wash. Ter., Register No. 1087, Jas. Lawson, Asst. USCS. Historical Map & Chart Collection, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Accessed September 1, 2018. Reprinted in National Register.

Maintaining Cultural Continuity

"The future of archaeology is going to be by and for the tribes."

Regardless of the passage of time and the effects of European American settlement on Suquamish culture, Doe-Kag-Wats remains a place of education, spirituality, recreation, and gathering for the Suquamish people. It is a place of refuge from the pressures of modern development and cultural homogenization. Thanks, in part, to Dennis Lewarch’s commitment to supporting tribal values, the cultural history of Doe-Kag-Wats is now documented and the Suquamish people retain a strong connection to this landscape.

When asked about the long-term preservation work that Dennis has been engaged in, he said, “It’s been a real honor and a treat to work with the Suquamish Tribe”. When looking ahead to the future of Suquamish cultural preservation he pointed to the critical role of tribal programs: “Part of my job is to try to find somebody and train them so that they can…take over my job…that’s really the mandate of the Archaeology and Historic Preservation Program….The future of archaeology is going to be by and for the tribes.”

Additional Resources

For funding and technical guidance related to cultural resource management on tribal lands, including national register nominations for Traditional Cultural Places, please consult the following online resources:

• NATHPO. “About.” Accessed November 20, 2021.
• National Park Service. “Working with Native Americans.” Accessed November 20, 2021.
• National Trust for Historic Preservation. “Preserving Native American Places.” Preservation Leadership Forum, Resource Library. Accessed November 20, 2020.
• Parker, Patricia L., and King, Thomas F. “Guidelines for Evaluating and Documenting Traditional Cultural Properties.” National Register Bulletin 38. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 1990. Accessed November 19, 2020.

For general information on the Suquamish Tribe’s history and government, please consult the following resources:

• “Elementary Level: Chief Seattle.” HistoryLink, March 2, 2014. Accessed November 20, 2020.
• The National Museum of the American Indian. “Meet Native America: Chairman Leonard Forsman, Suquamish Tribe.” The National Museum of the American Indian Blog: Meet Native America, May, 2015.
• Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission. “Treaties.” Accessed November 20, 2020.
• Suquamish Tribe. “The Home of the Suquamish People.” Accessed November 20, 2020.
• Sam Skolnik. “State decides to turn Old Man House State Park over to tribe.” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, August 12, 2004. Accessed November 20, 2020.