Transportation Case Studies on the Muckleshoot Indian Reservation, Washington

摘要

The land that I have been speaking of and the legend that is tied to it are integral parts of my people's history. The legend is not just some simple story; it is a part of the teachings that our elders bring to our young people. These teachings discuss the creation of life in this world. It is referred to as syayahub. Syayahub is the world literature of our people. I would like to quote a book called The Mythology of South Puget Sound. It explores the importance of these teachings for our culture and our need to preserve them. "Through the world literature of the syayahub, given as short vignettes, epics, or cycles of stories, the culture's wisest members could pass on information about the origin of the world and its inhabitants; about ancient monsters, natural phenomena, and present-day species, as well as about culture and the results of right and wrong behavior." These legends were heard many times by young people as an important part of their education. They were cherished and repeated by adults, then refined and dramatized by elders. They contain many admonitions, both obvious and subtle. A storyteller never said anything like "and the moral of this legend is." Figuring out the point of a story and applying it to one's own life is an important part of the educational process. The job of the audience was, and is, to pay attention and think. Attention is traditionally proved by calling out a signal word to let the teller know that the audience is listening. The world literature of our people, being an educational tool, depicts the importance of our culture, our resources, and the values that are placed in it as a part of life. The legend of the North Wind Storm Wind, our traditional cultural property, and the Sound Transit Project are important to us. Right now, it is especially important that we preserve our traditional properties so that we may pass them on to our children and they, in turn, can pass them to their children. If we are going to preserve our lands for the generations to come, we need to make people understand that traditional cultural properties do not hold a dollar value. We cannot place those kinds of values on our culture. For us to get this message across, we need to eliminate the whole idea of capitalism and shift our focus towards the spiritual. We need to begin to approach the development of Mother Earth in a holistic light because if we do not, the outcome could be devastating.