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The Longhouse “House of Learning”

The Peninsula College Longhouse is the first traditional longhouse in the nation on a community college campus. It was built as a collaboration between the Peninsula College and six Tribes in our region, the Hoh, Quileute, Makah, Port Gamble S’Klallam, Jamestown S’Klallam and the Lower Elwah Klallam. The Longhouse is known as the Longhouse “House of Learning” and it functions as an art gallery featuring Native artists as well as hosting tribal ceremonies and and a variety of programs from film screenings and classes to study halls and summer camps.

The interior great room is warm and welcoming, styled with updated features that are reminiscent of a traditional longhouse, including long benches along the walls, a skylight to represent a traditional smoke hole and sunlight cast onto the floor to represent a fire pit.

Native art and carvings line the walls of the great room. There are masks which represent traditional mythological creatures, drums, a painting, and an eagle blanket that was created as a joint project by a student group.

This is a detail of one of two wolf masks carved by Quileute Tribal Member David Jackson and designed by Evinjames Ashue of the Hoh Tribe.

I have additional photos of Longhouse artwork that I plan to post from time to time. There is some beautiful art there.

Masterful carvings

The carvings of Dusty Humphries, Sr. were featured at the Peninsula College Longhouse for three months recently. I got there last week on the second to last day of the exhibit. I’m sorry I couldn’t publicize the beautiful show to locals before it closed.

Humphries is of the Jamestown S’Klallam and Makah Tribes and his work explores Native American themes. The detail above is part of a seabird paddle.

This is a Salmon spindle whorl. I’ve lightened the shot to show more of the detail. It’s a deeply colored red cedar piece, approximately 18 inches (approx. 1/2 meter) across.

Early versions of these contemporary combs have been found in local archaeological digs. Similar pieces from one dig were displayed by the Lower Elwah Tribe a couple of years ago but photos were not allowed. I was pleased to photograph these contemporary beautiful, functional pieces.

This piece was carved from yew with applied abalone shell. There were other works on display but these were some of my favorites.

Working wood

There was an exhibit of the beautiful wood carvings of Dusty Humphries, Sr. at the Longhouse of Peninsula College in Port Angeles recently.

Humphries’ work features traditional Native American themes. These handmade tools were part of the display.

Most tool users can appreciate the beauty of these pieces.

Can you make out the piles of wood chips in this old photograph? This is a massive tree trunk being worked into a traditional Native American boat, chip by chip. The Native woodworker here is using an adz, variations of which are shown in the top photos. The man was photographed around 1914-15 by Fannie Taylor, an early postmistress in Mora, an early white settlement on our coast that no longer exists. This photo was in an office in the Longhouse.

Come back tomorrow to have a look at some of the work of Dusty Humphries, Sr.

Theme Day: Purple

Today’s City Daily Photo Theme Day topic is “Purple.” And you don’t have to look far in Sequim (pronounced “Skwim”) to find it. Folks around here have declared it the Lavender Capital of North America and by mid-summer there’s plenty of purple to go around. This is Kitty B’s Lavender, one of our local farms.

Click here to see how other City Daily Photo participants have interpreted today’s “Purple” theme.

Just in time

One of our historic barns is getting a new lease on life, and not a moment too soon.

Before our heavier than usual snows in February this machinery arrived at the barn used by the Lavender Connection to support an obviously sagging roof. Failing shingles were removed. Then it snowed…a lot. The weight of snow would likely have caused collapse.

Bit by bit the roof is being repaired and replaced. It’s a big job, and no doubt a hit on a pocketbook of any size.

I took this shot in 2017. It was clear even then that its days were numbered. It’s very nice to see it brought back to useful life.

Chicks!

I introduced you to a trio of kildeer eggs here on March 30th. The chicks hatched last Wednesday, April 24th, and by afternoon all three were scrambling about on our neighbor’s driveway and lawn. They seem to have come into the world running.

This is one of many unsuitable shots and the best I could manage. One of the two attentive parents is on the left and two of the chicks are toward the center and right of the shot. They blend in well to the rocks and soil. We’ve continued to hear them but haven’t seen much of the family since The Big Day.