Curtis DuPuis tells a story in the Jack Straw studio

Art & Heritage Partnerships

Native American Stories of Washington was a project designed to document and preserve stories and legends (with professional quality recordings), as told by some of Washington state’s important Native American tradition bearers from the Lummi, Yakama, Jamestown S’Klallam, Chehalis, Skokomish (Twana), Quinault and Squaxin tribes. It was coordinated by Northwest Heritage Resources, in partnership with Jack Straw Cultural Center and the Longhouse Education and Cultural Center at The Evergreen State College.

Native American elders and storytellers from Washington state who were recorded for the project in 2008:
Virginia Beavert – Yakama; Pauline Hillaire – Lummi; Curtis DuPuis – Chehalis; Delbert Miller – Skokomish; Elaine Grinnell – Jamestown S’Klallam; Harvest Moon – Quinault; Cecil Cheeka – Makah & Squaxin.

The recordings made by Pauline Hillaire as a part of this project were released as an album, which includes 6 traditional Lummi legends as told to Pauline by her father, kwul-kwul’tw (Joseph Hillaire).

Purchase Lummi Legends by Pauline Hillaire

All sales of Lummi Legends go to help support the production of future recordings for the Native storytellers, the preservation of Native languages in Washington, and the Native storytellers themselves.

This project was funded in part by the Folk & Traditional Arts Program at the National Endowment for the Arts, and we also wish to extend our thanks to the Washington State Arts Commission for ongoing support.

Art and Heritage Partnerships
Jack Straw Writers - 1997-2016

20 Years of Jack Straw Writers READ MORE >

Wooden bench and platform adjacent to a glass and metal building in the background. Speakers mounted on black columns over the bench.

Summit Sound at the Seattle Convention Center READ MORE >

Sonolocations logo: abstracted mountain with the words Sonolocations: A Sound Works Series, Henry Art Gallery and Jack Straw Cultural Center

Sonolocations: A Sound Works Series READ MORE >

TeenTix READ MORE >

Lelavision READ MORE >

Descriptive Tours at the Olympic Sculpture Park READ MORE >

Lake Union Oral History Project READ MORE >

Asian Festivals of Washington State READ MORE >

Somali Youth and Family Club

Jack Straw, Northwest Folklife, and Somali Youth and Family Club: Until We Meet Again READ MORE >

Women and Whales First logo

Women and Whales First: Poetry in a Climate of Change READ MORE >

Opening Doors READ MORE >

The words Common Field in a stylized font in black on a white background.

Common Field READ MORE >

Safarini In Transit : Music of African Immigrants READ MORE >

Portrait of a man playing violin

Traditional Artist Support Program READ MORE >

Coast Salish Culture Projects by Gregory Fields READ MORE >

Spirit of the First People - cover

Spirit of the First People READ MORE >

Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Centennial Radio Project READ MORE >

Gritos Del Alma READ MORE >

Extraordinary Ordinary People: American Masters of Traditional Arts READ MORE >

1962 Seattle World's Fair READ MORE >

Image promoting Erik Satie's Vexations at Jack Straw, May 15-16, 2010. Black background with piano keys on the bottom, text reading Join us at Jack Straw Productions as a rotating cast of pianists plays through Erik Satie's infamous "Vexations" theme 840 times, as suggested by the composer's note on the original manuscript, for the first time ever in Seattle.

Vexations Live at Jack Straw READ MORE >

Salmon in the City logo, high-contrast image of three salmon swirling around the Space Needle.

Salmon in the City READ MORE >