It’s hard to miss the irony that a word, which translates into “friend,†should be the root of ill feelings on the North Kitsap School Board and the community of Kingston.
But the late-coming proposal to add the Salish word Siyaya to the title of the new high school seems to be doing just that.
The board is split on the name and the school’s new planning principal was conveniently absent from last Thursday’s heated discussion on the topic. We hope it was unintentional.
NKSD board member Dan Delaney’s quip to drop the name “Kingston†from the title of the school is especially foolhardy as the majority of North Kitsap had absolutely no idea what the word “Siyaya†meant until about two weeks ago.
Unlike the opening of Olympic College Poulsbo, the tribal presence and input at the high school in Kingston has been fairly limited in scope.
Yet when OC came to North Kitsap and didn’t add a Salish name, no one raised an eyebrow. No one protested the idea — not even the tribes who participated in ceremonies to bless the land at Olhava.
That said, we’re not really sure why a high school name is being used as a makeshift olive branch in the first place.
Will adding the name to the title of a new high school really make residents here more keenly aware of the region’s Native American heritage? Unlikely. Will those in the community who dislike their tribal neighbors suddenly decide to turn over a new leaf? Again, unlikely.
Will the Herald be deemed racist for not supporting the addition of this name? Maybe, but such an accusation would be ridiculous. The Suquamish and S’Klallam tribes are held in high regard here and our news coverage of their activities is unrivaled.
We are most certainly not anti-tribal, yet we simply don’t see the point in using a title to bridge a gap between two cultures. Certainly, we can be more innovative than that.
