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NEWS RELEASE
Capitol
ceremony to unveil
New structure to mark state's
first non-native settlement, honor veterans
OLYMPIA – Lt. Gov. Brad Owen will be the master of ceremonies at a June 8 event in the Capitol to officially unveil a landmark structure being built on the Washington coast to mark the site of the region’s first non-Native American settlement 215 years ago and honor Neah Bay area veterans.
The program to commemorate the construction of Fort Núñez Gaona – Diah Veterans Park will start at 3 p.m. in the State Reception Room on the third floor of the Legislative Building in Olympia. Currently under construction on the Makah Indian reservation on the Olympia Peninsula, the structure is on the site of a Spanish fort constructed in 1792. It will also serve as a memorial for nearly 300 area veterans who served in the U.S. military. “This monument will stand as a very important marker not only for the history of our state but for the history of the United States and area tribes,” Lt. Gov. Owen said. When completed in August, the structure on waterfront property overlooking Wadah Island in Neah Bay will consist of six large cedar columns and resemble a traditional Makah longhouse. It will bear the flags of the United States, Spain, the Makah Nation, Washington state, the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribe of Canada and each branch of the United States military. A stone monument bearing the names will honor Neah Bay area veterans. The project is a collaboration of the Spanish government and Spanish Vice Consul Luis Fernando Esteban, the Makah Tribal Council, the Office of Lt. Governor Brad Owen, Neah Bay area veterans and members of the local Neah Bay community. It is being built with $58,000 in state funds; $40,000 from the Spanish Embassy; donated labor and equipment from Forks area residents Bill and Kitty Sperry; $15,000 in graphics services donated by Orca Creative Group Inc. of Vancouver, B.C.; a $2,000 donation from Neah Bay Veterans and the donation of land from the Hawley, Youngblood and Claplanhoo families of Neah Bay. The Spanish government will be
represented by Jorge Sobredo the Cultural Consul for the Embassy of
Spain in Washington D.C., and the Honorary Vice Consul of Spain in
Washington, Luis Fernando Esteban. Members of the Makah Nation Tribal
Council and other key dignitaries are expected to join the lieutenant
governor at the event. A formal dedication ceremony is expected to take place in Neah Bay upon the park’s scheduled completion in August. For more information about the project, please see the fact sheet or contact Antonio Sanchez Ph.D., director of economic development and international relations in the Office of Lieutenant Governor at (360) 786-7786. ###
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