(birds singing)
♪♪
Bernie Whitebear was the first person
that ever talked to me about urban Indians.
We spent time together in the streets of Seattle,
and he would say to me, Ralph, these people need a home.
They need someplace they can go.
And they know they're safe and they can gather and
sometimes could receive maybe medical care or
maybe find out more about their own
tribe back home, whatever it happened to be.
They were from all different tribes; some from Alaska,
some from British Columbia, some from here.
And they often found themselves on the streets
in our major city of Seattle.
Bernie had read the treaties and he knew that
a number of the treaties between the military
and the tribes had said
if the military ever gives up tribal land, that they'd taken
from the tribe, that the tribe had a right to take it back.
And based on that language,
he asked that when Fort Lawton was surplused,
that part of it go to the United Indians for [of] All Tribes.
It took a lot of fighting.
It took a lot of protests.
It took a lot of convincing.
It took a lot of legislative hearings and city council hearings.
It took a lot of friends who came in to help.
But he succeeded.
And today, the Daybreak Star Cultural Center -
even though Bernie is long gone, as our friend departed us
- it's a tribute to him,
a tribute to the work that he did and a tribute
to the people he represented.
♪♪
I'm very impressed with the preschool here,
the artwork here, and the number of visitors here.
♪♪
It's perhaps one of the most beautiful views
in the state of Washington, looking out over Puget Sound and
up to Whidbey Island and out west to Suquamish
and Bainbridge Island.
The Daybreak Star Cultural Center is one of my very favorite places.
♪♪