By Shayna Brown
Muckleshoot — On Dec. 20, Muckleshoot Tribe’s Annual Christmas Party brought families together for a festive day filled with excitement, tradition, and holiday spirit. The event blended cultural pride with modern fun, creating a jolly good time for all ages.
This year’s celebration featured an impressive lineup of attractions. The community was able to enjoy thrilling outdoor rides and cutting‑edge VR experiences that transported them into imaginative fun worlds. The climbing wall had youth racing to the top. The video game truck was a constant hub of energy, giving cousins, friends and siblings a chance to play together throughout the event. Indoors, winter craft stations offered a cozy space for families to create custom beanies, scarfs, and keepsakes that captured the spirit of the season.
Photo booths were scattered throughout the venue, along with professional caricatures, and even a robotic sketch artist, giving families and friends the chance to capture fun festive pictures and drawings to take home. These captured moments added a personal touch to the celebration and helped preserve the joy of the day.
As always, the Christmas Party highlighted the Tribe’s commitment to unity, cultural pride, and community connection. Elders, youth, and families shared a sense of belonging, laughter, and holiday cheer, making the event one of the most meaningful gatherings of the year.
Testimonies by the Chairman and Vice Chairman touched on the significance of regional waterways to the Tribe, and the exciting opportunity to educate the public about Muckleshoot heritage and sovereignty through the Seawall Project.
Major accomplishments for the Tribe this year include protecting Tribal gaming, advancing efforts to address MMIWP, and securing state investments in local infrastructure projects in and around the Muckleshoot Reservation.
Ten years after signing the Elliott Bay Seawall Memorandum of Agreement, the city and Muckleshoot Tribe have agreed on a building for a Tribal center, located directly across the street from the Seattle Aquarium and the new Waterfront Park.
Fighting brings Shane White Eagle closer to his culture and helped him grow into a leader. He exemplifies the warrior spirit and represents his family, his team, and the Muckleshoot Tribe. Hear from Shane, in his own words.
The Muckleshoot Messenger is a Tribal publication created by the Muckleshoot Office of Media Services. Tribal community members and Tribal employees are welcome to submit items to the newspaper such as news, calendar items, photos, poems, and artwork.
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