Chief Timothy, 2015
Chief Timothy Park, Clarkson, Washington

Photography: Courtesy Confluence Project

Chief Timothy Park, on an island at the confluence of the Clearwater and Snake Rivers in Clarkston, Washington, is the only Confluence Project site that still resembles what Lewis and Clark saw two hundred years ago. The locally found basalt of the amphitheater restores a section of the island to native grasses and wildflowers, while a large, stone-rimmed earthwork: a “listening circle” sculpted out of a natural amphitheater located at the top of the island.

The shape is inspired by a Nez Perce blessing ceremony performed here in spring 2005, at which the women were seated facing north, the men facing south, and the elders facing east, with no one allowed to pass behind the elders. The exact form of the amphitheater captures that ceremony in built form. The quote inscribed on the basalt steps of the seating describes both that day and the landscape that Lewis and Clark observed at this place.