Focus on: Native American Issues
Playing big roles in the House of Knowledge project are (from left) Julian Argel, ’84, ’90; Denny Hurtado, chair of the UW Native American Advisory Board; UW faculty member Charlotte Coté; and W. Ron Allen, ’83, chair of the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe.
House of Knowledge With tribal and community support, the UW moves forward on a Longhouse-style building to serve Native American students. By Julie Garner photos by Mary Levin
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Anthony Pastores, ’08, looks forward to standing shoulder to shoulder with others in the Native American community on the day the University of Washington breaks ground on a structure of enormous historical, emotional and cultural significance to American Indians of this region. The House of Knowledge, a Longhouse-style building reminiscent of the traditional dwelling and ceremonial structure of the coastal tribes, will be a gathering place offering hospitality and warmth to Native American students and people of all cultures. For years, American Indians
The UW’s 2008 Tribal Leadership Summit held in April included UW President Mark Emmert (center, top photo) and leaders from many local tribes.
throughout the region, on campus and off, have wanted a “home away from home” for their community’s students. “It will create a place for students just to be who they are on campus. It will take us out of the minority context and put us in a space that’s more comfortable,” says Pastores, a member of the Upper Skagit tribal community, who graduated in June. The House of Knowledge will also be a place for meetings and special events. The structure is set to rise on the UW Seattle campus in several years, the culmination of a 30-year dream of faculty, staff, students and Native leaders. The UW House of Knowledge won’t be the first such facility to be erected on land near Lake Washington. Leonard Forsman, ’78, an anthropologist who is chairman of the Suquamish Tribe, notes that there were winter houses and American Indian villages dotted throughout the region in places