The newest exhibit at the Suquamish Museum invites visitors to do more than look at history — it encourages them to touch it, hear it, feel it and see themselves reflected in it.

“Carrying It On: Suquamish Youth, Past and Present” opened to the public June 12, offering an interactive exploration of what it means to grow up Suquamish. Co-curated by Museum Curator and Archivist Marta Belmont and Anna Mirzayan, the exhibit follows the journey of Suquamish youth from early childhood through ultimately becoming a revered Elder, examining the traditions, relationships and responsibilities that help shape identity.

“What family will they become part of?” Belmont asks. “Will they be a puller, a dancer, a drummer, a leader?”

The exhibit arrives as Belmont celebrates her first anniversary as curator, a role that has become deeply personal. Although her father served as Suquamish Tribal Chairman before she was born and when she was an infant, Belmont was raised in Bremerton and had limited exposure to Suquamish culture and community while growing up.

“It’s why I love this job so much — because I didn’t get it when I was younger,” she said.

Like many people, Belmont’s cultural journey didn’t begin in childhood. It began decades later. “I didn’t join my canoe family until I was in my 40s,” she said. “I started researching my heritage when I became a mom and I wanted to know about my culture and find my place in community.”

Part of that journey began when Suquamish Canoe Family Skipper Nigel Lawrence encouraged her to get involved with the canoe family. “It’s your birthright!” he told her.

Belmont eventually joined the canoe family, becoming the first Belmont to pull in a Suquamish canoe in recent memory. What began as a search for connection grew into a deeper understanding of family, community and identity.

Today, she says she belongs to multiple families within the community.

“I spend more time with my canoe family and my firework family,” she said. “Those are the people I go to and the people I celebrate with.”

That sense of belonging is woven throughout the exhibit. Visitors encounter stories and photographs that highlight the many paths Suquamish youth can take as they grow into their roles within the community.

A central theme of the exhibit is resiliency. Historic photographs of Tribal Elders during their youth are paired with contemporary images of today’s young people participating in the same activities decades later.

“We’re still doing it,” Belmont said with a smile.

Across the room, visitors can spot striking parallels between generations — a young person learning cultural practices today mirrored by an Elder who once stood in their shoes many years ago.

“You can look at a contemporary picture and across the room find another generation doing the same thing, decades apart,” Belmont said.

The exhibit also challenges traditional museum expectations. Rather than a collection of artifacts tucked safely behind glass, Carrying It On encourages hands-on exploration.

“Museums have always been ‘look but don’t touch,’” Belmont said. “That’s not how many people learn.”

Interactive stations invite visitors to engage their senses by touching cedar, twirling a replica jingle dress, shaking a red cedar rattle and experiencing cultural items in motion.

“Feel it, hear it, see it in action,” Belmont said.

For Belmont, the exhibit carries a message that extends beyond the walls of the museum.

“It’s never too late to get yourself into your community and your culture,” she said.

She hopes visitors leave inspired to think about the traditions that shaped their own lives — whether those traditions come from Suquamish culture or another heritage entirely. And, there is a dedicated display board designed to celebrate them.

“Take time to think about your own culture and appreciate that thing and person you learned it from,” she said. “I want to see this board overflowing from people with traditions from all over the world.”

Just as she was encouraged to explore her own place in Suquamish culture, Belmont hopes others recognize that understanding where they come from is something everyone deserves.

“I think everyone should see themselves in community because they are part of community.”

Suquamish Tribe Chairman Leonard Forsman joined Seattle-area leaders June 4 to formally reopen the Myrtle Edwards and Centennial Parks to the community.

The two parks provide 16 acres of public space extending for more than a mile along the Elliott Bay shoreline. A three-year restoration and revitalization effort has created a new greenway providing more access to water and other amenities.

“The Suquamish Tribe is happy to take part in celebrating the re-opening of Myrtle Edwards and Centennial Parks and appreciate being part of the design process. Our tribe’s Culture Committee suggested the name haʔłali for the new park building which means ‘the good place’ in Lushootseed, the mother language of Suquamish,” said Forsman, referring to a new parks’ facility offering food and beverage vendors, as well as restrooms.

“This transformation of the waterfront has indeed made it a good place for reflection, recreation, and learning more about our ancestral waters,” added Forsman.

Some 74,000 new plants – including more than 1,000 trees – now line the greenway. Existing beaches have expanded and access improved.

Bike trails and pedestrian paths have also gotten a glow-up, including lighting on the bike trail, pavement repairs, regrading and new maps and wayfinding. Children of all ages will be thrilled to find a new exploration area, as well as natural wood seating and picnic tables throughout.

When Robin Little Wing Sigo sat alone in a Seattle imaging center last summer, waiting to learn whether a second round of scans would confirm her fears, time seemed to narrow into two doors.   

One door led back to normal life.   

The other would change everything.   

“In five minutes,” she told the crowd gathered at the Women’s Health Fair at Kiana Lodge in May, “they were determining what the next steps of my life were going to be.”   

Sigo, a former Suquamish Tribal Council member and co-founder of the Suquamish-based nonprofit SaltFire, publicly shared the story of her breast cancer journey during the event, which focused on women’s health, survivorship and prevention.   

The moment she received her diagnosis remains vivid.   

After an annual mammogram last June revealed abnormalities in her right breast, Sigo returned weeks later for additional imaging. At first, she tried to reassure herself.   

“They can’t get me in for six weeks,” she recalled thinking. “Clearly this is not a big deal.”   

You have cancer right here   

Her fiancé, Randy, insisted on accompanying her to the appointment in Seattle. She initially told him there was no reason to come.   

“I was like, ‘They’re not going to give me any answers,’” she said.   

But after more scans and an ultrasound, a doctor entered the room and delivered the news directly.   

“He said, ‘I’ve got to be really honest with you. You have cancer right here.’”   

She immediately asked him to bring Randy in from the waiting room   

“Tears are running down my face and, you know, it was a terrible moment, all these fears I’ve had all my life just welling up,” she said. “And then in comes my big burley Viking guy and he was not just there for me, but he was also able to ask all the questions that I wasn’t able to even think of in that moment. I was so grateful for that.”   

The diagnosis came after decades of work connected to health and wellness in the Suquamish community.   

Sigo first began working for the Suquamish Tribe nearly 27 years ago, originally planning to stay only for the summer. Instead, she built a career rooted in community health, social work and trauma-informed care.   

Early in her career, she helped administer health grants related to diabetes prevention, breast cancer prevention, and public health outreach. She spent years encouraging women to schedule mammograms and preventative screenings, long before she imagined she would someday face cancer herself.   

“My grandma had breast cancer,” Sigo said. “So I always knew I needed to get checked.”   

Constellations of care   

That background shaped how she approached the diagnosis. After the initial shock, she found herself thinking like a counselor and social worker, trying to gather information and prepare for what came next.   

The long months that followed were both physically and emotionally exhausting. From July through September, she underwent additional testing, consultations and uncertainty before doctors confirmed the cancer was treatable and likely would not require chemotherapy.   

“There are so many tests and so many things,” she said. “It becomes this constant process.”   

Sigo received treatment through Virginia Mason, where she said coordinated care teams, navigators, and specialists helped guide her through surgery and recovery.   

Equally important was the support surrounding her outside the hospital.   

“There was something really amazing about this constellation of people that came out to help me,” she said, describing the family members, coworkers, friends, and community members who brought meals, donated money, checked in on her and sat with her during difficult moments.  

 Strength in our DNA   

Throughout the process, Sigo also leaned on the resilience she believes is carried through generations of Native women.  

 “I’m proud to be a Native woman,” she said. “Because I know that living in our DNA, we have ancestors who made it through hard things.”   

Now six months after her surgery, Sigo said she wanted to share her story publicly because too many people delay screenings, avoid appointments or try to face illness alone.   

Her message to others was practical and direct.   

• Get regular mammograms.  
• Ask questions.  
• Accept help.  
• And don’t wait until things feel urgent before taking your health seriously.  

She also encouraged people to recognize the emotional toll a serious illness places not only on patients, but on families and caregivers trying to process fear and uncertainty in real time.   

Most importantly, she urged people to allow themselves to lean on community.   

“There are people here to help,” Sigo said. “You don’t have to do it alone.”