Suquamish Welcome Pole Coming to Bainbridge Island and the Seattle to Olympics Trail

With support and in celebration with the Suquamish Tribe, the Bainbridge Island Parks & Trails Foundation has commissioned a cedar Welcome Pole by Suquamish artist Randi Purser, to be placed on the Sound to Olympics Trail (STO) on Bainbridge Island.

The Welcome Pole, representing Chief Seattle’s father, will inspire all to learn about the rich culture of our Tribal neighbors, and acknowledge that Bainbridge Island is the ancestral land of the Suquamish people.

The Parks & Trails Foundation is fundraising to complete the $65,000 project. Donations can be made at www.biparksfoundation.org/welcome-pole. The project is supported by a $10,000 challenge grant from Rotary Club of Bainbridge Island. The City of Bainbridge Island has committed $20,000 to fund the installation of the Welcome Pole along the STO Trail. The City Council in 2023 approved acceptance of the gift of the Welcome Pole from the Parks & Trails Foundation.

According to City and Parks’ officials, the STO gateway is the ideal place for the Welcome Pole, a physical embodiment of a Suquamish land acknowledgment and an invitation for community members and visitors to learn more about the art and culture of our Suquamish friends and neighbors. Welcome Pole installation is anticipated sometime this fall.

About the Artwork

Suquamish artist Randi Purser is carving a male figure to represent Chief Seattle’s father, who was Suquamish. The Welcome Pole will be 14 feet tall, carved from old growth cedar specially chosen by the artist. It will be at the start of the Sound to Olympics Trail, just up the trail from the SR305/Winslow Way intersection.

The project timing is serendipitous, as it will complement a piece for which Purser is already under commission for the Seattle waterfront. That piece will represent Chief Seattle’s mother, who was from the Duwamish Tribe.  The Shweabe pole on Bainbridge Island will look east across Puget Sound toward Sholeetsa, while the Sholeetsa figure in Seattle will look west toward Suquamish territory and Shweabe.   

About the Artist

Randi Purser (whose tribal name is X^Wibulica) is an elder of the Suquamish Tribe. She carries forward the traditional disciplines and regional forms of Native carving, under the mentorship of Duane Pasco.  Suquamish Tribal leaders encouraged the Parks & Trails Foundation and City of Bainbridge Island to invite Randi to this special commission.

About the Sound to Olympic Trail

The STO Trail will link the Bainbridge Island and Suquamish communities. It is a local link in the national Great American Rail trail, a planned contiguous trail route stretching from Maryland west across the nation, across Washington and Bainbridge Island, across the Kitsap Peninsula to the Olympic Discovery Trail, and all the way to the shores of the Pacific.

Source Material: from BI Parks Foundation. For more information, visit: Suquamish Welcome Pole on the STO | Bainbridge Island Parks & Trails Foundation (biparksfoundation.org)  Photo Credit: Sue Larkin Photography.

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