United Indians of All Tribes wanted the next generation to reimagine and breathe new life into this gathering space. And so the youth from Garfield, Chief Sealth, Ballard, Franklin, Seattle Academy, and Nathan Hale High School with mentorship from architects from Olson Kundig, came together and spent the winter dreaming up a new space at The Lance and Shield area, a crossroads at the Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center. In its previous iteration, this area had plenty of bench seating and was used as resting and gathering space for folks of all ages. It was the site of several weddings. After falling into disrepair, Parks came in and removed the wooden benches leaving the area bare.

In designing, we thought of ways to honor our environment—noticing all of the plants, trees, beavers, and birds. We thought of ways to honor all of the folks who pass by the space—designing something accessible and mindful of elders and youth, a place that would call-in gatherings and communing. We dreamt of seating structures that were conducive for conversations, play, pause, and rest.

The spring build program at Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center finished building an outdoor gathering place with United Indians of All Tribes Foundation. After 12 weeks of taking reclaimed beams from the cultural center’s roofline and processing them into benches, tables, and platforms, we all had a meal and fire to celebrate the activation of this space. The students burned offcuts from the building process and sent into the fire hopes for how community might use this renewed place. We are very grateful for the presence and effort of the students, mentors, other Sawhorse staff, and Daybreak Star staff.