Red Cedar Elementary — The long path to rename a Capitol Hill school has families and staff closer to achieving their goal – Top Seattle

 

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For decades, families and staff at Stevens Elementary School have talked about hopes of detaching the North Capitol Hill school from a figure with a fading place in the state’s history and to give respect back to Duwamish and Indigenous Peoples.

Now, some 167 years after Isaac Ingalls Stevens finished his term as the Governor of the newly formed Washington Territory, organizers at the school feel 2024 is the year to finally make change.

“When people finally realize that their school and the name ‘Stevens’ is actually Isaac Stevens, and as kids learn in history about Isaac Stevens, they would question why they are named after this person,” Michelle Martine, a first grade teacher at the school, tells CHS. “There has always been a push to change the name, but it has never felt as right as it does right now.”

Martine said renaming has been a conversation with children and families who come through the school. A petition was launched earlier this month and currently has a total just under 100 signatures in favor of a proposed name change to Red Cedar Elementary.

The organizers spent much time, effort and thoughtfulness researching, listening to and learning from Indigenous Peoples to uncover the perfect name.

“The name ‘Red Cedar’ came about because we were speaking with Duwamish Elders and asking them how do they go about names when they name places or buildings, and it’s to see what was on the land before you came, and give respect back to it,” Martine said.

CHS reported in 2022 on the organizers and their ongoing efforts to change the name, during which Duwamish Tribal Council chairwoman Cecile Hansen granted the name Princess Angeline, the oldest daughter of Chief Si’ahl, more commonly known as Chief Seattle, to the school.

“When we had the meeting in 2022 there was push back from the community about naming the school after a particular person from a particular group of people. We started looking for routes that would be more inclusive to many Indigenous People,” Martine said. “The naming of the school now represents and is symbolic to the land and the people.”

Ken Workman, the great-great-great-nephew of Princess Angeline, helped the organizers learn how the Duwamish name places. In the neighborhood, red cedar trees were abundant and have been significant to the Duwamish and Native Peoples.

“Let’s envision a world where Indigenous, Black, POC coexist and actually start taking steps towards equality. Our school’s taking a step. This is our step,” Martine said. “This change is going to happen. We’re not going to back down. The community wants this. The city wants this. Our students want this.”

Organizers say the name of the school chosen in 1906 is tied to the brutal actions of Stevens. As governor, many hold the military leader responsible for forcing tribes into signing deceptive treaties that took away large areas of land.

“Isaac Stevens told the Indigenous People—the Duwamish People—that if they don’t sign the treaty, they would walk home knee-deep in the blood of their own families, and so they were threatened to sign these treaties, and many believed that they would get the land, they would get the fishing rights and they would have freedom. Unfortunately, that’s not what happened,” Martine said.

Those who support the name change have many reasons but many want to give respect back to the tribe and the land.

There is more work to be done. Martine said the group is following the same course of action that Northgate Elementary took to change their name to James Baldwin Elementary. The Capitol Hill group will continue to work to gain community support, and are working with school and district officials.

For now, the district’s leadership is taking a hand’s off approach while supporting the local effort.

“The process of renaming Stevens Elementary has been characterized by extensive community engagement and deliberations regarding the new name. The staff has collaborated closely with the Duwamish Native Peoples to identify a name that reflects respect and honor,” a Seattle Public Schools spokesperson told CHS.

SPS said the school is navigating steps laid out in a school board procedure, and while the school board does not favor name changes of existing school district buildings, there are exceptions.

Following community engagement and support, district superintendent Dr. Brent Jones decide if the school name change should be considered. If so, officials will request the school principal to meet with staff, parents, students, alumni, and community members for continued discussion of the proposal. From there, the principal is tasked with preparing a written report summarizing the support and opposition of the proposal, which will then be submitted to the superintendent.

Ultimately, Jones will need to make the decision to step forward. If the superintendent approves, the proposal will be submitted to the School Board, who will either accept or reject the initiative.

Seattle’s board members, meanwhile, aren’t yet acting on the possible name change

Michelle Sarju, the SPS Board Member who represents Stevens, told CHS she hasn’t been involved in the discussions as did Liza Rankin, Seattle School Board President.

The petition organizers say they feel positive about the proposal and feel like it’s a community decision that they are looking for the families and the neighborhood to support.

 

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