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Hozomeen chert is a locally abundant and distinctive tool stone found exclusively in the northern Cascade range of Washington and British Columbia. Over the last two decades, archeologist Bob Mierendorf has studied quarries near today’s Ross Lake reservoir that reveal a 10,000 year long record of indigenous involvement with this rugged, high-mountain landscape.

The Skagit Environmental Endowment Commission (SEEC) first approached us to tell this story last winter. They had recently hosted an event called the Hozomeen Gathering, which brought together Washington tribes, British Columbia First Nations, archeologists, anthropologists, agency representatives and others to share knowledge and honor the long history of indigenous involvement with the upper Skagit watershed. Having completed a documentary video about that event, they wanted us to select one of the themes from the Gathering and tell a more focused story, a short piece that would capture the essence of Hozomeen: the place, its people and their intertwined history.

The challenge was selecting a single access point to such a monumental landscape and narrowing down the many voices that share a common interest in Hozomeen. When we learned about park archeologist Bob Mierendorf’s work with Hozomeen chert, we were excited by the tool stone’s ability to connect people with the landscape. We also thought that it would provide a good opportunity to explore the complex relationship between archeology and oral histories. So, with Bob as our main character, we selected other voices and perspectives to support our story: Canadian archeologist, Dave Schaepe; Sonny McHalsie, cultural advisor for the Stolo First Nation; and Larry Campbell, historic preservation officer for the Swinomish Tribal Community.

Having narrowed the focus and identified our characters, it was time to begin the fieldwork. Between June and September we spent three days with Bob. One of the many highlights was photographing artifacts from the archive in Marblemount and then visiting some of the sites where they came from. We also spent an afternoon with Larry, one day in British Columbia, and one day shooting aerials with help from LightHawk pilot Linda Chism — a total of six days of fieldwork for a seven-minute story.

Once we had all of these assets, we worked with Benj’s brother, Nick Drummond to compose a musical score. This was the first time we’ve worked with Nick on a client story. It’s very rewarding to use music that’s specifically designed for a story in terms of tone, scale, and even theme. In some places Nick used rocks that he found in his backyard for small percussion.

SEEC was created in 1984 when the High Ross Treaty prevented the further raising of Ross Dam and potential flooding in the American and Canadian Skagit Valley. Our newest multimedia story will help them achieve their unique mission to promote education, research, collaboration and cross-border stewardship of the Upper Skagit Valley. It currently appears on their

1/12/11 UPDATE: Tim Matsui posted an interview with us that includes more details on how this story came together, here.