By Corvo Rohwer, Puyallup Tribal News
In a historic moment, members of Puyallup Tribal Council stood beside Heritage Division Manager and Puyallup Tribal Elder Connie McCloud (sɫupayqʷuʔ) as she cut the ribbon on the Tribe’s newly constructed longhouse, x̌ʷiqʷadiʔalʔtxʷ (Thunderbird House).
“Our home is coming home,” McCloud said. “This will be a place of healing, of gathering, of feeding each other.”
Tribal Member David Bean greeted and welcomed attendees to the event, and honored four witnesses for being present. Bean said this is the first longhouse on Puyallup Tribal land since the 1850s, and expressed gratitude for the large crowd of Tribal community members who gathered to see the return of the longhouse in person.
“We are who our ancestors fought for, we are who our ancestors sacrificed for and we are who our ancestors prayed for,” Bean said. “We are here today because of their love, their prayers and sacrifices, and today we are bringing this longhouse back to this community.”
Vice Chairwoman Sylvia Miller called the space a true blessing, noting how long it’s taken for the Tribe to get something back like it.
“It’s taken a long time: 171 years like David (Bean) said, but we’re finally here,” she said. “This will be good medicine for all of us, and I’m so glad that everyone came from everywhere to share this moment with us.”
Councilman James Rideout extended this sentiment by thanking the sləlu who helped the Tribe become what they are today.
“To all of our Elders, I thank you. I thank you for standing up for us. They had to fight for this day today. … they built the foundation of what we’re standing on today and I’m grateful for that,” Rideout said.
Construction of the longhouse was completed by Tahoma Construction Services and began in January 2025. The building is located within the Puyallup-built Levee Road housing community just next door to k’Little Wild Wolves Youth Center. With the location centralized within familial spaces near the river, Councilwoman Annette Bryan said the building will be host to healing for the Tribe.
“This longhouse will be the foundation for healing and wellness for our people who have been stuck in the middle of a city that has not been kind to us, that has not acknowledged us, that has abused and traumatized us,” Bryan said. “We are now taking that trauma and turning it into wellness, and I’m so grateful today.”
Councilwoman Monica Miller expressed similar thoughts.
“It’s beautiful, and we’re going to get great use out of it. It will bring us lots of nice gatherings. Most of all, it’s going to heal all of us by bringing us together,” she said.
The indoor space of the longhouse is approximately 17,300 square feet, with one half dedicated to kitchen and dining spaces and the other half featuring a great room that can host more than 500 people. Councilwoman Anna Bean said she is looking forward to the Puyallup people having their own longhouse for use in community gatherings.
“I want to say hawadubš čələp to all of our relatives from all directions who allowed the Puyallup people over all of these years to share their songs and to share their spaces to have in ceremony,” Councilwoman Bean said. “I stand here today as the Puyallup Tribe has revitalized their language, songs, dances and officially today, we start our own ceremony.”
After the ribbon was cut, the community was invited inside to witness the First Foods Ceremony. Fifty people were chosen by sqaqagfrom the crowd to gather in the center of the Great Hall to partake in the foods.
