UNION CITY
T OWN S
HOOD CANAL TOWN Descriptions of Union, WA usually run along the lines of "inspired by nature." The first time I encountered that aphorism I took it as artistic whimsy, but by the third website I read about Union, I became curious. Is only one person writing all of this advertising content? Maybe. Or perhaps there is something more here. Perhaps there is something inspirational about Union’s situation near the bend of the Hood Canal with uninterrupted views of Mount Washington, Mount Constance and the iconic Brothers. Maybe there is a muse in this coastal, Mediterranean microclimate colored by the luscious, green foliage of salal bushes and the imposing Western Red Cedar and the bright red trunks of the Madrona trees.
STEEPED IN HISTORY By Stella Wenstob | Contributing writer
Possibly more is fed than the stomach on Hood Canal seafood. At Union maybe the soul is fed too. When I started to examine the history of the extraordinary people that lived in this area, I began to see this inspired lifestyle stretching back countless generations. The members of the Skokomish Tribe are descendants of the Twana people whose traditional territory covered an extensive area along the Hood Canal, inland to the peaks of the Olympic Mountains. The Skokomish River on the Eastern side of the Olympic Peninsula with its productive salmon run
Union City on Hood Canal, Mason County, ca. 1905 Photo by Asahel Curtis, Courtesy UW Special Collections (CUR389) FJORD 26
and valuable grasses for weaving baskets was especially important to the Skokomish. When their lands were limited to a small section of the Skokomish River by the Treaty of Point No Point in 1855 one elder from the area, S’Hau-at-Seha-uk, voiced his fear of losing his home and way of life, “I do not want to leave the mouth of the River. I do not want to leave my home; and my burying ground; I am afraid I shall die if I do.” Despite losing traditional lands and the damaging effects of colonialism – the Skokomish are a thriving people. Skokomish arts and culture are informed and shaped by nature.
Twana basket - wolves and people (Burke Museum)
