View from the area west of the old high school. 

I’m sitting here on the bay by the old Seaside High School, wondering what the proposed plan is for the property. As it sits, empty, run-down and sad-looking, I have memories of running my heart out on the track, endless soccer practices and science trips along the estuary.

Now, just north a piece of land sits quietly, gifted back to the Clatsop-Nehalem Confederated tribes. I wonder, as my kids play in the water in the melty, setting sun — if the property would ever be considered by the “owner” for donation to the tribes.

I notice several cars line the small parking area facing west, as the day ends and the birds make noise along the shore.

The people in those cars appear to all be native — hanging out talking, just relaxing in the sun’s rays. It seems like an obvious thing to gift the area nearby back to those who struggle to maintain their culture, their sense of place in a vastly different world from the one not so long ago, where their ancestors dotted these shores.

In a world filled with deep uncertainty about the future, wouldn’t it be incredible to see some hope in the form of land being given back?

I think so. If the owner of the property reads this, maybe consider the impact it would have for generations — of all people. The message, the positive action to make right what has been wrong for so many generations for so many generations is to make a reparation.

Megan Lucas

Nehalem