Latest news with #DuwamishTribe
Otago Daily Times
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Carving out a space
Lily Gladstone's new movie gives people a reason to laugh, writes Moira Macdonald. For Lily Gladstone, Oscar nominee (best actress for Killers of the Flower Moon ), the past year has brought a definite shift in the kind of roles being offered to her. "The characters I am seeing now are not explicitly Native characters," Gladstone, who made Academy Awards history last year as the first Native American best actress nominee, says. "For a long time, that was exclusively what I was seeing, for better or worse." Now, many of the scripts being sent her way don't specify the character's identity — such as her role in The Wedding Banquet , Andrew Ahn's new reimagining of Ang Lee's 1993 art house classic. "I think it's a lovely moment for film representation now, that audiences see themselves in whoever is portraying the character," Gladstone says. She appreciates the opportunity to portray the character, who on paper may not share her identity, as indigenous (Gladstone's tribal affiliations include Blackfeet and Nez Perce) — and "to show that we're still here, we exist in every space". In The Wedding Banquet , Gladstone plays a Seattle woman named Lee, in a longtime relationship with her partner Angela (Kelly Marie Tran) and trying to get pregnant via in vitro fertilisation — an expensive prospect that could possibly be funded by Angela agreeing to marry their friend Min (Han Gi-chan), a wealthy young gay man in need of a hasty green card marriage. Complications ensue, not least for Min's partner Chris (Bowen Yang), Angela's gay-activist mother May (Joan Chen) and Min's very traditional Korean grandmother Ja-Young (Youn Yuh-jung). Lee originally had a different name and not much specificity to her background; Gladstone, working with Ahn, saw the opportunity to give the character a very Pacific Northwest story. The character became a member of the Duwamish Tribe, giving a brief speech in the film about her connection to the land and to her family home, in which she now lives with Angela. "I haven't seen Duwamish representation on screen," Gladstone says. "When I talked to Andrew about making it locally specific, I talked about how indigenising my character was important to me — when you have an opportunity to carve space where there's not space, you take it." She also spent time in Seattle with Ahn and some crew members, doing a bit of unofficial location scouting. "I drove them around the neighbourhoods that I felt this family would be living in." "I showed them Ballard — there's a large Native population in Ballard. ... We went by Discovery Park, where Chris may have birded." (Yang's character is an avid bird-watcher.) And the character's name became Angeline as a nod to Chief Seattle's daughter, though she goes by Lee. Laughing, Gladstone pointed out that they were midway through filming before somebody realised that the "ship name," or relationship name, of the two characters — Angela and Lee — was Ang Lee. Making The Wedding Banquet was a chance for Gladstone to reacquaint herself with an early love: comedy. As a child doing theatre, "I was always trying to make people laugh," she says. "A lot of people were surprised that I turned into such a dramatic actress." She'd long wanted to make a romantic comedy, as part of an ensemble cast, and embraced the opportunity. "Even though Lee is sort of the straight man to everyone else's chaos, getting the chance to be as cartoony and goofy as I am naturally was really nice." The film, Gladstone believes, will create "a safe and necessary space" for the queer community and for immigrant families during a time of political and social upheaval. "There are so many themes in the story that represent so many communities that are just under attack right now. We didn't anticipate that the story was going to be so timely." She believes that audiences will especially appreciate the film's inclusive story of chosen family. "The gift that I'm really grateful this film gives people is hope." — TCA
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
How Native American myths have helped scientists track earthquakes
Earthquakes are part of Washington's past, present, and future, and we have local Native American tribes to thank for documenting some of our earliest ones. Local tribes have helped inform today's scientists about earthquakes that occurred more than a thousand years ago. 'It's explained in myths,' said Duwamish Tribal Councilman Ken Workman. 'Things happen. Then, stories are made about the things that happen.' One of the most significant was an earthquake on the Seattle Fault that took place around AD 900–950. According to the Washington State Department of Natural Resources, the earthquake caused parts of Bainbridge Island to lift 35 feet and even triggered a tsunami in Puget Sound. Earthquake - Emergency Management | The Duwamish Tribe's Cultural Preservation Officer Nancy Sackman's ancestors lived on the land when the earthquake occurred. 'We were more in sync with landform changes,' she said. 'Today, we think of our house as a permanent place. We think of our resources as permanent, as being always there in the same spot. Our ancestors knew that that was not the case.' Take Duwamish longhouses for example, made of cedar and designed to move if necessary. 'We knew that change was part of life,' Sackman said. 'That is our strength.'
Yahoo
18-02-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Impossible to predict and inevitable in our future: tracking Washington's earthquake risk
They're impossible to predict but inevitable in our future. Washington has a high risk of damaging earthquakes. 'Washington has, second only to California, the greatest risk from earthquakes in the country,' said Harold Tobin, Director of the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network. Many people may not realize it. Earthquakes happen sporadically, and our region's most recent damaging earthquake was 24 years ago. Washington has dozens of active faults and fault zones, including under major cities like Seattle and Tacoma, and urban centers in Snohomish County. 'The earthquakes might be smaller, but the damage could be really much worse,' Tobin said. Significant earthquakes on these faults would likely cause mass property destruction, isolate neighborhoods and cause a slew of injuries and even deaths. Recovery could take months. In some cases, it could take years. 'One would expect the power to be down, natural gas lines to be broken, maybe water and sewer lines to be broken,' Tobin said. Offshore, the Cascadia Subduction Zone has the power to produce 'the big one.' 'That can send a tsunami and also really damaging shaking,' Tobin said. Our most recent damaging earthquake was the magnitude 6.8 Nisqually Earthquake of 2001. The earthquake caused hundreds of injuries and millions of dollars in damage. Washington has had about 15 large earthquakes (earthquakes with a greater magnitude than 5) since 1870. 'The fundamental reason is that we sit right at the place where two of Earth's big tectonic plates meet,' Tobin said. Native American tribes have also helped inform today's scientists about earthquakes that occurred more than a thousand years ago. 'The most significant would have been the crustal earthquake of about 1000 A.D. that occurred on the Seattle Fault,' said Nancy Sackman, Cultural Preservation Officer with the Duwamish Tribe. According to the Washington State Department of Natural Resources, the earthquake caused parts of Bainbridge Island to lift 35 feet and triggered a tsunami in Puget Sound. Stories passed through local tribes' oral history, are some of our earliest accounts of earthquakes in Washington. Despite our history, and recent damaging earthquakes, experts stress we're not fully prepared for when the next one hits. There are things you can do to get ready. KIRO 7 will be airing stories to help you plan and prepare all week long, and adding these tips to our website too.
