SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES
Dori: With all the crime in Seattle, let’s worry about totem poles
Nov 10, 2018, 6:46 AM

The Pioneer Square totem poles. (File photo)
(File photo)
In Seattle we’ve got plenty of problems. We’ve got property crime and break-ins. We’ve got drug addicts scaring people on the streets and in some cases attacking them, urinating on the streets, and even flinging poo at passers-by. We’ve got drug-filled RVs everywhere and open-market drug dens in Capitol Hill and Belltown. We’ve got a city that is in dire straits right now. So what sorts of things is our city council focusing on to get Seattle back on track? I’m happy to tell you that Councilmember Debora Juarez is calling for a review of iconic totem poles around the city.
Juarez believes that in Seattle, there is a lot of cultural appropriation and other far-left buzzwords that no one really knows the meaning of, but that everyone uses ad nauseam all the time. She claims that many of the totem poles found throughout Seattle, such as the Tlingit totem pole in Pioneer Square, were not actually created by Native Americans.
Juarez also wants a review of the city seal, which was originally adopted in 1931 and has an image of Chief Sealth. She said that the drawing was done by a guy from Indiana, not a Native American.
You want to talk about a diversion game? This is the city council’s equivalent of throwing a smoke bomb to get people’s attention to go someplace else. Can you believe that in a city with the crime that we have, the rampant drugs, the de-policing, the fact that people are scared just walking to their cars, and praying that their car windows haven’t been smashed when they get there — that Debora Juarez wants a review of totem poles and the city seal?
It is unbelievable how out-of-whack our priorities are in this city. That is why we are in such desperate straits.
RELATED: Seattle to review totem poles for cultural sensitivity