LAPUSH — Lt. Gov. Brad Owen promised Wednesday to put his political muscle behind the Quileute tribe’s efforts to move its tribal school out of the tsunami zone.
“I think there are some ways to muster some political support to make that happen,” he told tribal leaders.
Owen, his wife, a Chinese trade delegation and Forks officials talked in the A-Ka-Lat Center in the upper region of the reservation that abuts Olympic National Park.
The tribe hopes the park will relinquish enough land to move the school, senior center, tribal offices and housing onto it from the lower village that lies in the tsunami zone.
Owen’s visit started with a welcome song by tribal children and concluded with a meal of salmon and seafood served to the Quileute singing and drumming.
‘Issue can be solved’
Owen, who started his state political career representing Clallam, Jefferson and Mason counties in the House of Representatives, was receptive to the tribe’s concerns.
“This issue can be solved,” he said.
How much land does the tribe hope the park will swap?
“We’re not talking five acres,” said tribal attorney Lisa Atkinson, “and we’re not talking 5,000 acres.”
When did the Quileute hope to resolve the problem?
“We want to move the school by next week,” joked Tribal Chairman Russell Woodruff.
Woodruff said the tribe is outgrowing its one-square-mile.
“We shouldn’t have to move out from the land that we love,” he said.