Asset

Date of ingest: 30 March 2026

Description: This 1970 proclamation from the United Indians of All Tribes in Seattle outlines the intent behind a protest occupation of the former military base in today’s Discovery Park. During the 1960s, the federal government announced that a large portion of the fort would be surplussed, and soon afterward city officials began planning to acquire the land for park purposes. Members of Seattle’s Indigenous community envisioned a different opportunity – one that would return the land to Native peoples for a land base for services, education, and events. Their efforts advocating for the City to consider this use were met with little success, so they shifted to direct action. The takeover began on March 8, 1970, when Native activists and their allies scaled fences surrounding the fort and launched a coordinated effort to occupy and reclaim the land for use by Native peoples. A handwritten note at the top of this proclamation indicates that the copy was delivered to the city on March 24th by Native activist and leader Bernie Whitebear, the takeover’s principal organizer. The occupation lasted several weeks and was the spark that eventually – after years of debate and negotiation with city, state, and federal officials – led to the creation of the Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center, which opened in Discovery Park in 1977. Bernie Whitebear served as its director until his death in 2000, and in 2011 the road to Daybreak Star was officially named Bernie Whitebear Way in his honor.