By Shaun Scott, Puyallup Tribal News
Back in November 2025, the Chief Leschi Schools Culture Department put out an all-call to students, giving them an opportunity to submit artwork for the possibility of being selected to be featured on Culture Day.
Seventh grader Chenoa Peltier was one of those individuals that answered the call. Peltier, who discovered her love of drawing as a fourth grader, created a drawing featuring a hunter facing the moon. A wolf is inside the moon and the hunter is flanked by trees with a rabbit in a cage and a basket with water on the ground alongside the hunter.
The Culture Department selected Peltier’s drawing to be displayed on the front of Chief Leschi Schools Culture Day 2026 shirt. The shirt is titled, ʔubəlkʷ čəɫ txʷəl ti st’əx̌ʷšədčəɫ, Returning to Our Roots.
Chief Leschi Director of Culture David Sway-la Duenas described Peltier’s work as a prolific piece of art.
“We went with Chenoa’s design because it speaks to what we’ve been able to do here at Chief Leschi Schools. We really wanted to emphasize a cultural aspect,” Duenas said. “She is not Puyallup Tribally enrolled, she is actually Turtle Mountain Chippewa, and that was an opportunity for us to elevate the 60-plus other Tribes, First Nations and Alaskan Native folks represented here at Chief Leschi Schools.”
Peltier said her older brother had an old journal and they would draw together. Peltier said she also got inspiration from her grandmother, who told her stories and read her stories when she was young about the wolf and the moon.
She said she plans on passing those stories to her own children and grandchildren one day and hopes her work inspires other students.
“I want people to know they can do art and they can do a lot of things with art and make their stories pop out, too. They can do the same,” Peltier said.
The shirts for Culture Day were created within the walls of Chief Leschi Schools where close to 1,600 shirts will be given out on May 8. Every student, staff member and various departments involved with the event will receive one.
Duenas and other staff members pressed the shirts in April, starting at the beginning of the month during spring break. The group utilized four different machines to expedite the process.
Chief Leschi staff members Lauren Dale (Communications), Nicholas Espinoza (Special Services) and Viola Loucks (Culture) assisted with pressing of the t-shirts throughout the process.
“There is a lot of elements in that art. It came out really nice on this gray,” Duenas said. “I’m hoping it is really well received by the entire Chief Leschi Schools community.”
