Public Invited to Celebration of
Years-in-the-Making Waterfront Honoring Carving Recognizing Gig Harbor’s First Peoples
GIG HARBOR, WASH. (SEPTEMBER 2, 2022) – The City of Gig Harbor is pleased to announce the unveiling and blessing of a long-awaited art installation and honoring symbol, “Our Fisherman, Our Guardian” on the downtown Gig Harbor shoreline, at Austin Park at txʷaalqəł Estuary.
The public is invited to attend and participate in the ceremony, which will take place on Thursday, September 15 at 10:00AM. The honoring symbol will be unveiled by Puyallup Tribal Councilmember Anna Bean, Quinault Nation President and artist Guy Capoeman and Gig Harbor’s Mayor Tracie Markley. A celebration will follow with dancers, drummers, a Tribal blessing, and an appearance by a traditional cedar canoe.
“Our Fisherman, Our Guardian” is a 14-foot-tall sculpture depicting a Salish fisherman embracing a salmon — the One with All, or the ancient ancestor. The fisherman wears a cedar woven hat typical of those worn by the Puyallups, framed by traditional southern Salish-design canoes, all carved from cedar. The salmon is fabricated from copper with glass inlays.
Set on a base of concrete and steel, the honoring symbol was crafted by carver/artist Guy Capoeman, also current President of the Quinault Nation, who has ancestral ties to the Gig Harbor area. As an artist, Capoeman has done extensive research into Quinault/Salish culture, design, architecture and ceremony. He is known for his carvings of canoes, house posts, welcome figures, panels and paintings.
The carving, in the house post category of the artist’s works, stands at the mouth of the harbor, as if to welcome visitors to the shore. The work will honor the history of Gig Harbor’s first peoples, the sx̌ʷǝbabš (Swiftwater) band of the Puyallup Tribe, on the location of the original txʷaalqəł village site where they hunted, fished, and lived.
Of the work, Capoeman says, “This is symbolic of our ancient fisherman embracing this catch, his relative. The fisherman is the first way our people that knew all about our waterways and what was in them; surrounded by canoes in every aspect of our lives from birth to death, from social events to work to warfare, the Salish and the canoe are one.”
A collaboration between the Puyallup Tribe of Indians, the City of Gig Harbor, the City of Gig Harbor’s Arts Commission, with additional funding provided by the Kiwanis Club of Gig Harbor, the honoring carving brings yet another dimension to the recognition of the of Gig Harbor’s first peoples, the sx̌ʷǝbabš (Swiftwater) band of the Puyallup Tribe.
Previously, the City of Gig Harbor restored the original Twulshootseed name to acknowledge the traditional Tribal language for the Estuary, changing the official name to Austin Park at txʷaalqəł Estuary.
In 2021, steel panels were installed on former concrete pylons that provide the history of the sx̌ʷǝbabš band in the land surrounding the park, and voice boxes were installed in partnership with the Puyallup Tribe’s Twulshootseed language project to give a full understanding of how to pronounce Twulshootseed words.
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About Guy Capoeman:
The current President of the Quinault Nation, Capoeman has done extensive research into Quinault/Salish culture, design, architecture and ceremony. He is known for his carvings of canoes, house posts, welcome figures, panels and paintings. Mr. Capoeman lives in Tahola, WA. For further information on his work, visit:
www.gcapoemanstudio.com.
About Austin Park at txʷaalqəł Estuary:
Located at 4009 Harborview Drive, this special waterfront park consists of 1.38 acres of developed uplands and 7.07 acres of open space tidelands. The natural area park provides shoreline access to the estuary and a gravel trail extends under the bridge next to the Harbor History Museum and connects to Donkey Creek Park. In 2006, the City acquired this site through Pierce County Conservation Funds.
