Renaming Carkeek Park to Kwaatab: A Path to Indigenous Reconciliation

## CONTEXT **Situation:** Seattle, Washington, sits on the traditional lands of the Coast Salish peoples, including the Duwamish, Suquamish, and Muckleshoot tribes. Carkeek Park, a 216-acre park in the Broadview neighborhood, is a popular destination known for its forest trails, creek, and beach on Puget Sound. The park was named after Morgan Carkeek, a Seattle city councilman in the early 20th century. However, the area has a far older name in the Lushootseed language: *Kwaatab*, a village site and gathering place for the Salish people for thousands of years. **Complication:** The current name fails to reflect the deep Indigenous history of the site. Morgan Carkeek, while a politician, has no particular connection to the land itself, nor did he represent any notable contribution to Indigenous rights or environmental stewardship. Meanwhile, the Duwamish Tribe, though federally unrecognized, continues to assert its sovereignty and cultural presence in Seattle. The city of Seattle has made recent commitments to Indigenous reconciliation, such as renaming Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples’ Day and returning portions of Discovery Park to the Duwamish Tribe. Renaming Carkeek Park to Kwaatab is a direct, low-cost action that fulfills these promises. **Question:** How can Seattle move from symbolic gestures to meaningful land acknowledgments that restore Indigenous place names in public spaces? **Answer:** By proactively initiating a community process to rename Carkeek Park to Kwaatab Park, Seattle can set a precedent for other cities on the West Coast, such as Portland, Oregon, which renamed a park to *Swan Island* to honor local Native history. ## PROBLEM **Situation:** The current name “Carkeek” provides no educational value about the land’s true history. Park signage, city maps, and online resources perpetuate a colonial naming tradition that ignores the Coast Salish relationship to the site. A 2020 report from the city’s Office of Arts & Culture found that only 2% of Seattle’s public parks and buildings carry Indigenous names, despite the region’s 13,000+ year Native presence. **Complication:** The cost of inaction is measurable in lost educational opportunities and continued cultural erasure. When a park visitor looks at a sign reading “Carkeek,” they receive no invitation to learn about the Duwamish, Suquamish, or Muckleshoot peoples. This reinforces a broader pattern of “ghost geographies”—the disappearance of Indigenous place names from the urban landscape. A comparable study from Vancouver, British Columbia, found that renaming a single park to *xʷməθkʷəy̓əm* (Musqueam) resulted in a 40% increase in school field trips to the site and a measurable uptick in local media coverage of Musqueam history. **Question:** What specific harm does an incorrect park name cause? **Answer:** It harms the cultural integrity of the Coast Salish peoples, undermines the city’s stated goals of racial equity (as per Seattle’s Race and Social Justice Initiative), and denies the public a chance to learn accurate local history. If left unchanged, Seattle reinforces a system where 98% of its parks remain named after settlers—a statistic that worsens with every new park named without Indigenous input. ## PROPOSED SOLUTION **Situation:** The city of Seattle needs to rename Carkeek Park to Kwaatab Park. This aligns with the city’s own 2018 “Equity and Environment Initiative” and its 2021 “Duwamish Tribe Land Acknowledgement Resolution.” **Decision:** The Seattle Parks and Recreation Department, in consultation with the Duwamish Tribe, Suquamish Tribe, and the Lushootseed language preservation group (Tulalip Lushootseed Department), will initiate a renaming process. Rejected alternatives include leaving the name unchanged or adding a secondary plaque (which critics argue is a “semi-renaming” that fails to correct the primary erasure). **Action:** The Seattle City Council passes a resolution authorizing the renaming, allocating a modest $50,000 budget for new signage, educational materials, and a formal dedication ceremony involving tribal leaders. This mirrors the process used by the city of Portland, Oregon, when it renamed “Swan Island” to “Wapato-Swan Island” in 2021, a project that cost $30,000 and took eight months. **Process:** A joint working group composed of two Parks Department staff, two Duwamish tribal representatives, one Lushootseed linguist, and one local historian finalizes the name spelling and pronunciation (Kwaatab, as recorded in the Lushootseed Dictionary by Bates, Hess, and Hilbert). The group also designs interpretive signage explaining the origin of the name, the meaning (likely “place of the [land],” though subject to confirmation by elders), and the history of the village site. **Execution:** The renaming is completed within 12 months. New park entry signs, city website updates, and Google Maps listings are corrected. A dedication ceremony occurs on Indigenous Peoples’ Day (second Monday in October) to maximize public visibility and educational impact. ## EXPECTED IMPACT **Who benefits:** The Coast Salish tribes—especially the Duwamish, Suquamish, and Muckleshoot—receive a direct public acknowledgment of their ancestral claim to the land. The park’s 1.2 million annual visitors gain a new educational touchpoint. Local schools (especially Broadview-Thomson K-8) can integrate the renaming into curriculum on local Indigenous history. Seattle’s reputation as a leader in Native reconciliation is bolstered. **How metrics change:** The number of school field trips to the park is expected to increase by 20-35% in the first year, based on the Vancouver, BC precedent. Local news coverage of the Duwamish Tribe will rise temporarily, but the long-term benefit is in sustained public attention: a 2022 study from the University of Washington found that parks with Indigenous names in the city of Bellingham saw 3x higher rates of visitors researching Native history online. **Specific outcomes:** The city signals to all 29 federally recognized tribes in Washington that it is willing to invest in symbolic and substantive repair. The $50,000 cost is trivial compared to the $6.5 million annual budget of the Parks Department. Furthermore, the renaming sets a precedent: by 2030, Seattle could rename another 5-10 parks (such as Denny Park or Lake Union Park) following the same process, ultimately creating a network of renamed sites that tell a richer story of the city’s history. ## DECISION LENS | | If this passes | If this doesn't pass | | --- | --- | --- | | What will happen | Carkeek Park is renamed Kwaatab Park; new signage installed; Coasts Salish history taught at park; city holds dedication ceremony on Indigenous Peoples’ Day; media coverage increases. | The name remains “Carkeek”; the Duwamish Tribe feels frustrated by lack of action; the park’s educational potential remains dormant; Seattle’s reconciliation efforts are seen as performative. | | What won't happen | The park’s recreational use doesn’t change; no trees are removed; the cost is minimal; the neighboring community doesn’t lose parking or trails; the name change doesn’t affect property values. | We lose the opportunity to set a symbolic standard for other parks; the $50,000 budget is not spent; the city loses a simple win with a tribal partner; the name “Carkeek” continues to misrepresent the site. | ## PRECEDENTS EXAMPLE: Portland, Oregon — What: Renamed Swan Island Park to Wapato-Swan Island Park in collaboration with the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde — Outcome: Project cost $30,000, completed in 8 months, with a 25% increase in tribal youth programs using the park space. — Outcome: Project cost $30,000, completed in 8 months, with a 25% increase in tribal youth programs using the park space. EXAMPLE: Vancouver, British Columbia — What: Renamed a downtown plaza to “xʷməθkʷəy̓əm Plaza” (Musqueam language) to honor the host nation — Outcome: A study by UBC found that 67% of visitors reported learning something new about the Musqueam after seeing the signage. — Outcome: A study by UBC found that 67% of visitors reported learning something new about the Musqueam after seeing the signage. EXAMPLE: Bellingham, Washington — What: Added Lhaq’temish (Lummi) names to two city parks — Outcome: Online searches for Lummi history increased 300% in the first year; the city was invited to co-host a regional gathering of Coast Salish leaders. — Outcome: Online searches for Lummi history increased 300% in the first year; the city was invited to co-host a regional gathering of Coast Salish leaders.

August 12, 2026