Belltown soccer celebration introduces World Cup fans to Native customs
Shaadootlaa Iyall, a Tlingit artist, stood before her loom on Thursday, following a detailed sketch. She explained the meanings behind a zig zag pattern, a design representing Alaska's Lituya Bay and another symbolizing the spirit of the land.
At Kickin' It Indi-City: An Indigenous Soccer Celebration" - a free two-day festival hosted by Seattle-based nonprofit Native Action Network at the Bell Harbor Patio and 55 Bell St. in Belltown - Iyall demonstrated Raven's Tail and Chilkat weaving to the curious.
It's a chance to introduce visitors in Seattle for the FIFA Men's World Cup to Indigeneity on Turtle Island, the Native term for the North American continent.
"Sports in Indigenous communities brought community together," Iyall said, "and it resolved issues. If we could just have sports resolve all our issues, we'd be such a better world."
Washington's tribes have welcomed tourists to their homelands throughout the soccer tournament with events of their own, sharing Coast Salish customs in the process. The Puyallup Tribe of Indians led the charge as the first Native American tribe to serve as an "official legacy supporter" of Seattle as a World Cup host city.
"Kickin' It Indi-City: An Indigenous Soccer Celebration," which continues Friday, centers Indigeneity among the global fanfare. Sports undoubtedly has its place at the event, with the Native Youth Olympics and a World Cup watch party included on the agenda.
"We really wanted to showcase Native culture to a global audience, and this was a way to do it," Iris Friday, president and co-founder of Native Action Network who identifies as Tlingit, said at Thursday's event.
"People have stereotypical views of Native people and don't realize that we're here, we're now, we're doing amazing things."
The Native Action Network celebration followed Wednesday's match between Senegal and Belgium. It precedes the final Seattle-based game set for Monday, when the U.S. will face Belgium.
'Seattle welcomes the world'
Mount Tahoma - the Indigenous name for Mount Rainier - stood watch in the backdrop as Native business owners displayed their wares to festival goers on the Bell Harbor Patio on Thursday.
Tourists used telescopes to check out the landscape before passing the vendors.
Susan Arntson, founder of skincare brand Fortae, sells sweetgrass and jasmine body oils. Sweetgrass is revered as a sacred plant by some Indigenous peoples.
Arntson, who is part of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, traveled from Vancouver, Wash., to serve as a vendor at the Seattle event. Her products were inspired by her children, Thorin, Ady and Ella, who deal with eczema and asthma.
Arntson used to teach preschool, kindergarten and second grade before starting her small business last year.
Despite the challenges, "it's what I want to do," she said, oils lined up neatly on the table in front of her. "It just feels like it has a heartbeat, you know?"
Cultural exchange wasn't limited solely to local tribes, with Alaska Natives and Kānaka Maoli (Native Hawaiians) showcasing their own traditions.
It personified the Indigenous diversity in Washington, which is home to 29 tribes. The state also has the No. 2 population of Alaska Natives and the third-largest population of Kānaka Maoli, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
The day saw spirited performances by the Alaska Kuteeyaa Dancers, a dance group representing tribes from Alaska and Washington, and Halau Hula O Napualani, a Hawaiian dance school that teaches classes in Shoreline and Port Orchard.
Despite the gentle afternoon drizzle, a handful of attendees gathered to watch the Alaska Kuteeyaa Dancers, draped in red, black, blue and green regalia. Others leaned on the balcony railings of the docked cruise ship, observing from a distance.
The performance opened with a prayer for the Coast Salish peoples, thanking them for their permission to dance on their soil. About a dozen dancers sang and moved, telling stories about a great flood in the past, about different clans, about love.
Passersby came and went. Ashley Maddock, a member of the Yakama Nation, sat nearby under her canopy, taking in the scene.
She and her husband launched Chief Crescent Creations, a laser engraving business, late last year.
"We always knew we wanted to own a business," said Maddock, who lives in Des Moines. "We always knew we wanted to build something for our family."
It was her first time serving as a vendor at a World Cup event in Seattle. Typically, she sets up shop at powwows, or intertribal gatherings that center dancing and singing.
Chief Crescent Creations catered to soccer fans with wooden magnets and coasters, engraved to read, "Seattle welcomes the world."
However, Maddock doesn't ultimately believe tourists have boosted her business. Instead, she thanks the consistent support of the tribes, which help her fill orders in every corner of the country.
"I never thought that I would be a business owner and working downtown Seattle right here by this big cruise ship," she said. "Representation really just matters. If I can do it, you can do it.
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