By Micheal Rios, Tulalip News
On Monday, August 24, the Seattle Mariners hosted their annual Native American Heritage Night. For one amazing evening, the sights and sounds of Coast Salish culture shared center stage with America’s pastime. Cedar hats, ribbon skirts, long braids, and beaded everything could be spotted in all directions.
The evening began hours before the 6:40pm first pitch. With a special Native Heritage Mariners jersey being given away to the first 10,000 fans through the gates, people lined up early. Very early. Among the first was a family from La Push who made the trek from the Olympic Peninsula the night before and arrived outside the stadium around 10 a.m. That was nearly nine hours before game time.
“This is actually my first time attending the Mariners’ Native Night. It’s been a bucket list item for a while now,” admitted La Push tribal member Warren Rosander who stood at the very front of a line that stretched multiple Seattle blocks. He revealed that he took multiple days off from work in order to take in the full experience. “I’m here with my girlfriend, Gloria, my parents, Darren and Cora, and my brother. I’m definitely excited to see the Muckleshoot Canoe Family perform, but I’m even more excited to finally have an official Native jersey.”
The Rosander family’s dedication was rewarded when the gates finally opened and a sea of fans poured inside. Many of them, including Warren and his parents, immediately changed into their newly minted, Native-themed Mariners jersey.
Outside the stadium, Indigenous creativity remained on display. Tulalip artist Dion Joseph set up shop among the crowds making their way toward the entrances, offering his custom Salish designed shirts and hoodies.
“I created a few different designs using my signature Coastal style and put them on different colored t-shirts and hoodies. Just as a way to offer something different than the local vendors,” shared Dion. “As a kid, my grandma Tillie lived up on Beacon Hill, so my family would come down here and we’d all attend games at the King Dome. I’ve been a lifelong Mariners fan ever since. My wife and kids have inherited that fandom. We aren’t bandwagon fans either. We’re loyal to our soil!”
Like Dion’s vibrant Mariners shirts for sale, the Coast Salish visibility was impossible to miss on this particular Monday. From Tulalip to Muckleshoot, Puyallup to Lummi, and tribal communities from throughout western Washington and beyond, Native families showed up in force. Several tribes purchased large ticket blocks, effectively taking over entire sections of the ballpark for their members.
Looking across the stands, clusters of Native people were easy to spot. Some wore Mariners blue and teal. Others proudly represented their own tribal nations with custom designed tribal softball jerseys. Beaded medallions rested against Julio Rodríguez jerseys. Ribbon skirts flowed between rows of stadium seats. For a stadium that routinely draws fans from throughout the Pacific Northwest, Native Night felt different.
The Mariners organization’s relationship with the Muckleshoot Tribe has grown substantially since the two announced a long-term partnership in 2023. That partnership has brought Muckleshoot history, artwork and cultural representation into the stadium while also supporting expanded baseball and softball opportunities for Native youth.
The Muckleshoot Diamond Club itself features Coast Salish artwork, including painted baseball bats, carved canoes and paddles, historic photographs and maps showing the Tribe’s ancestral hunting and fishing areas. Muckleshoot Councilmember Jaison Elkins spoke about that connection when the partnership was announced, emphasizing both the Tribe’s status as the first people of the Seattle area and the shared values found between tribal communities and team sports.
“I think the most exciting part is that we have shared values in building up our community, and also growing the sport of baseball,” explained Councilmember Elkins. “We love baseball. It’s America’s sport. We’re diehard fans, and we want to make sure we can get the kids into baseball, and softball as well.
“I was thinking, too, about my role as a Councilmember of the Tribe. There are nine of us, and we have to work as a team in order to take care of our people. Baseball is a team sport, and it’s all about teamwork, discipline, strength and conditioning – things that kids can learn and take that with them for the rest of their lives. It builds up good leadership skills for our Tribe’s future.”
Those Coast Salish roots were put front and center during Monday evening’s pregame festivities. With thousands already settled into their seats, members of the Muckleshoot Canoe Family walked onto the field. Drummers gathered together on the same grass normally occupied by Major League ball players and shared several songs. Around them danced Muckleshoot youth.
Their movements carried across the outfield while the steady rhythm of the drum echoed throughout T-Mobile Park.
On the massive stadium video boards were close ups of Native singers and dancers, their regalia and smiles broadcast to tens of thousands of baseball fans. For several minutes, before batting averages, pitch counts, and playoff standings took over, Coast Salish culture commanded the ballpark.
Then came baseball. And what a game Native Night attendees were treated to. The visiting Philadelphia Phillies entered Seattle riding a nine-game winning streak and wasted little time taking a 1–0 lead in the first inning. That lead did not last long. Julio Rodríguez stepped to the plate in the bottom half and launched a three-run homer. Moments later, Cal Raleigh sent a Zack Wheeler pitch screaming into the right field seats for a two-run blast.
Five runs in the first inning. T-Mobile Park erupted. It turned out to be only the beginning as Seattle added another run in the third before Raleigh returned to the plate to lead off the fifth. Once again, the Mariners catcher turned on a pitch and deposited it into the right field seats.
Back-to-back plate appearances. Back-to-back home runs by the Big Dumper.
Cole Young followed with another homer, giving Seattle consecutive blasts and sending the Native-filled sections into another frenzy. By then, Raleigh was already having his best offensive game of the season. And he wasn’t even finished. In the seventh inning, batting left-handed against Philadelphia reliever Chase Shugart, Raleigh connected again. The ball sailed toward right field. Gone. Home run number three! The 35,293 fans in attendance rose to their feet as Raleigh rounded the bases.
Raleigh, Rodríguez and Young combined for five Mariners home runs as Seattle dismantled Philadelphia, 9–2. For the tribal families who remained in their seats until the final out, it was about as complete a Native Night as one could imagine.
There were songs and drums. There were young Coast Salish dancers on a Major League Baseball field. There were Native artists, tribal families and entire sections packed with relatives from throughout the region. There were beads. There were braids. And there was a whole lot of memorable baseball.