- Moses Lake, WA
On TUesday, The Downtown Moses Lake Business Association in partners with the Colville Indian Council unveiled commemorative banners at Sinkiuse Square to honor Chief Moses. Born in 1829 Moses was a chief of the Sinkiuse-Columbia tribe stretching from what is today Vantage to the Ritzville region and from the Waterville area to White Bluffs.
In 2019 the D.M.L.B.A had the idea of wanting to make Sinkiuse Square a more significant spot in Moses Lake and teach the public the history of Moses Lake and the Columbia Basin. The new banners were designed by both the business association and the Colville tribe council and features a portrait of Chief Moses with one of his quotes from around the year 1870 stating,
“My parents gave birth to me here, and I fancy this is my country … let me remain in my own country and I shall die contented.”
Along with the Colville Indian Council, the Downtown Moses Lake Business Association, City Manager Allison Williams, and Mayor David Curnel, two direct descendants of Chief Moses was also in attendance for the event.
Executive Director at the DMLBA Lexi Smith said,
"people didn't know what Sinkiuse Square was and didn't know the intentions, and the board wanted to share the history and have it be present and visible to everyone to see... the DMLBA worked with the Colville Business Council to design the banners and display Chief Moses in the most accurate significant way that they could."
City Manager Allison Wiliams said,
I'm honored to be here today, and being a new city manager of what is a new city compared to the history we just heard in 1938... and im a-pointed by the city to carry out the work in the city and I feel and I feel honored to be here today and here the voices of this place and what this place meant to the indigenous people".