First Peoples of the Duwamish

From: Jessica Partnow
Series: Life on the Duwamish: Rediscovering Seattle's Dirty South
Length: 08:45

Life on the Duwamish, Segment 2 Read the full description.

Piece Audio

Playing: First Peoples of the Duwamish
From: Jessica Partnow

Prxduwe2_small South Seattle's history starts long before the city was founded. For generations Native American villages dotted the banks of the Duwamish River. In this segment of Life on the Duwamish, Jessica Partnow explores the Native history of Seattle that is right under our feet.

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Piece Description

South Seattle's history starts long before the city was founded. For generations Native American villages dotted the banks of the Duwamish River. In this segment of Life on the Duwamish, Jessica Partnow explores the Native history of Seattle that is right under our feet.

Broadcast History

First broadcast on KUOW 949 Seattle September 2007. Rebroadcast November 2007.

Transcript

SCRIPT

[Cars on West Marginal Way and birds at T-107 Park]

James: You?re, you?re on an, a village site. Right now.

This is James Rasmussen. He?s a member of the Duwamish Tribal Council, representing Native people who lived along the Duwamish River for thousands of years.

James: Obviously container shipping is one of the things that people immediately see. Here.

We?re standing in T-107, a grassy park stretched between West Marginal Way and the River, just south of the West Seattle Bridge.

James: Actually if you look right down here, you can see all the shell?well other than the condoms and the, the other stuff. Um, you will see the shell that and that?s coming off the bank and down here. This is what?s called a ?midden.?

A midden is a dump site for a native village. And the white clam shells lining the muddy bank here came from miles away. People brought them here from al...
Read the full transcript

Timing and Cues

LEDE (0:16)

Driving across the West Seattle Bridge, you get unobstructed views of industry ? the smokestacks and container ships that line the Duwamish Waterway. But there is a forgotten history just beneath the surface. In today?s segment of Life on the Duwamish, Jessica Partnow takes us to a former Native American village you might never know was there.

BACKANNOUNCE

That was the second segment in Jessica Partnow?s series, Life on the Duwamish. Funding for Life on the Duwamish was provided by the KUOW Program Venture Fund. Contributors include Paul and Laurie Ahern and Puget Sound Energy. Tune in tomorrow for Drinking on the Duwamish, an exploration of South Seattle?s historic bar life ? and why we?ve always sent our booze and strip clubs south of downtown. (0:20)

Story is 7:48