10/09/2026
In the West Seattle Greenbelt, a five-minute hike from our Longhouse with glimpses of the Duwamish River through the trees, we recently had land that our ancestors stewarded for thousands of years returned to our Tribe. Six years ago, the same space was used as a dumpsite, marked by stripped cars and piles of contaminated soils - the result of a colonial mindset and decades of industrial harms.
Thanks to KUOW for an inspired exploration of the Heron's Nest land back project, where local community restored and rematriated this land, now abundant with native plants, a greenhouse, fish and chickens, and the hum of volunteers committed to stopping this history of pollution.
When asked by KUOW's Seattle NOW podcast host Patricia Murphy how it feels to be supported by the City of Seattle, Duwamish Tribal Services Executive Director Kristina Pearson said she feels like "Seattleites have really wrapped their arms around us."
We thank Shared Space Foundation, the City of Seattle Equitable Development Initiative, and all our neighbors who followed through on this vision to honor the ways our Tribe cared for this land in the past, created a healthy and vibrant space today, and allows us to help preserve it for future generations.
KUOW Public Radio
In the West Seattle Greenbelt, the Duwamish Tribe and its community partners are thinking deeply about how to care for newly acquired land that was once declared toxic by the EPA. We'll learn more about this local land back effort turned urban sanctuary in a minute.
