History
Researched and illustrated by The Island School's fourth and fifth graders.
Before the signing of the Point Elliott Treaty in 1855, Suquamish People in the area lived a very different life. The Suquamish People have been living in this area for 14,000 years as berry pickers, fishers, hunters, shellfish collectors, artists and community builders. Native life was changed by the arrival of Europeans. Smallpox decimated Indigenous populations. In May of 1792, Captain George Vancouver anchored off Restoration Point at the southeast tip of Bainbridge Island and traded with Suquamish People who were at one of their many spring and summer villages. Vancouver was the first European to find and explore Bainbridge Island, and he created a map of the island. He initially thought it was a peninsula and not an island. Soon after, Europeans wanted more power and land and tried to take over the land of the Suquamish People because they wanted to settle on it. Therefore, in 1855, the Point Elliott Treaty was introduced as a means to negotiate a deal between European arrivals and the Suquamish People.
Europeans wanted to give the Suquamish People a small amount of money for their land and move them to reservations. Yet, European money had no value to the Suquamish, as they were traders who lived off the bounty of nature and didn’t have any currency exchange at this time. During the presentation of the Point Elliott Treaty, multiple chiefs were present and there were many languages being spoken. Europeans had a difficult time finding translators for all of the languages being represented. They promised healthcare, farming, and schooling for Indigenous People. The Europeans tried to convert them to take on European ways of life. This history reflects how the BI Native Food Forest land was first used and how European settlers came to control it.
During the mid to late 1800s, the forests of Bainbridge Island were heavily logged, including the land where the BI Native Food Forest is now located. In 1928, Yasuji and Mitsuo Suyematsu bought 40 acres of land adjacent to where the food forest is located, but they were not able to purchase it in their names because Japanese-born immigrants were not able to buy and own land in the United States in that time. They decided to buy it in the name of their son, Akio, who was 8 years old at the time! During WWII, the Suyematsu family was forced to go to an internment camp, during which time the land was unused. After the war they were able to return to their land and continue growing their primary crop -- strawberries. During this time, the Suyematsu family added to their land by purchasing the 13 acres to the south of their property: the current Bainbridge Island Native Food Forest.
In 1983, Akio Suyematsu sold those 13 acres to Merillee McMullen and her daughter Elizabeth Helbig Grossman. Eight of those acres were used as a Christmas tree farm, and the other five were left as woods. You can still see some of the (very large) Christmas trees on the land today!
In 2003, Marilee McMullen and her daughter Elizabeth Helbig Grossman, prior owners of the M & E Christmas Tree Farm, donated the land that is now the Native Food Forest to the City of Bainbridge Island, with the condition that no one would develop it. In 2018, the idea of the Native Food Forest was created by Friends of the Farms in partnership with Bainbridge Prepares and Helpline House. Today, Friends of the Farms is working to create a place where people and animals can collect native foods whenever they are in season. The designers of the Native Food Forest are trying to manage the habitat to recreate a more natural selection of plants. Invasive species such as English ivy, Scotch broom and Himalayan blackberries are not helpful to the environment, so they are being removed by kids from The Island School and many other volunteers.
The Bainbridge Island Native Food Forest currently covers 13 acres of land full of vegetation, trees, creeks, and wildlife. It will be the biggest food forest in the country, and it is expected to take 10-20 years to complete the vision. Soon there will be a snack trail, raised beds, pollinator meadows and more for all to enjoy! The Native Food Forest can be accessed at the north end of Charles Place NE.
