There is a special place north of Nine Mile Falls Dam at the confluence of the Spokane and Little Spokane rivers that represents the best and worst of what can happen when cultures convene. Now under the purview of Riverside State Park, the area is known as Spokane House, the name British Canadian fur trader and explorer David Thompson gave the trading post he helped establish in 1810 on land where the two rivers meet.
What makes Spokane House so special? That depends on one's perspective. Tribal members' ancestors first gathered and fished there, but were ultimately pushed out by Whites. Some modern-day groups, meanwhile, are keen on conveying the legacy of early fur traders and working to ensure the area's continued preservation.
What they share is the commitment to telling the story of Spokane House, including through its modest interpretive center, where a confluence of cultures recently worked to repaint historical murals on the building's exterior.
The original murals were painted in 2005, but were in disrepair, prompting Riverside State Park ranger Paul Neddo to seek artists to fix the paintings as early as 2018.
"The east wall mural has a synopsis on the site's significance and it was becoming illegible," Neddo says. "When the interpretive center is closed and visitors walk onto the grounds, that synopsis is a valuable interpretive communication tool as it shows the connections of the Spokane Tribe, the natural resources, and the fur traders to this important historical locale."
Neddo worked with the Friends of Spokane House, the park, and Spokane Tribal members to get the project going in early 2020.
"The mural project on the Spokane House Interpretive Center was a collaborative effort by many," says Spokane Tribal member Warren Seyler, who facilitated communications with tribal members throughout the two-year-long project.
Shaun Deller, a member of Friends of Spokane House historical reenactment group, volunteered to help.
"In my 20s, I became fascinated with survival skills and Stone Age technology," says Deller, who lives in a cabin he's restoring in Priest River, Idaho, and also teaches woodworking at Sandpoint Waldorf School.
"Around eight years ago, my interests in art, survival skills and local history started to blend together, and I found that I really enjoy studying about the early 19th century fur trade in the Pacific Northwest and doing living history interpretation," Deller says.
With his background in history and art — he attended Pennsylvania College of Art and Design and Maryland Institute College of Art — including a fascination with copying Old Masters' paintings, Deller was an ideal choice.
"Early on there was some discussion that the painter should be a tribal person," says Seyler, adding that the idea didn't gain traction because of timelines, lack of funding, and other factors.
Despite pandemic-related delays, Seyler adds, "Shaun Deller was very committed to getting [the murals] as historically accurate as possible."
To do that, Deller immersed himself in historical source material like David Thompson's journals and Eastern Washington University professor John Alan Ross' tome, The Spokan Indians. Deller worked with Seyler and other Spokane Tribal members, including Jennifer Lebrett and Joshua Flett, as well as Shawn Brigman, from whom Deller also took a tule mat tipi workshop.
The final murals balance historically accurate imagery with details Deller felt would help bring history alive for viewers, showing more facial expressions, for example, or clothing detail like beadwork.
"I just put a lot more people in [the murals], and a lot more diversity," Deller says, adding that he incorporated images of more women and children in the current scenes.
"I wanted it to kind of have a feel of like, this is a village," he says. "This wasn't just a few Native people that happened to meet here with some traders." ♦
Visit friendsofspokanehouse.com for more information about Spokane House, the mural project or to donate to pay for the artist's time.
