Teachers Experience Native American Life at Workshop on Washington's First People; Hosted at PSE's Baker River Hydroelectric Facility.

BELLEVUE, Wash. -- Twenty-five local teachers are experiencing Native American traditions practiced by Washington's First People during a workshop this week at Puget Sound Energy's (PSE's)(NYSE:PSD) Baker Lake Lodge, part of the company's hydroelectric power-generating project in Whatcom and Skagit counties.

Hosted by PSE, Skagit Valley College, Washington MESA-First Nations MESA (Math, Engineering and Science Achievement), the North Cascades National Park complex, and the North Cascades Institute, the workshop is designed to give educators more familiarity with Native American history and culture through hands-on activities that enhance their knowledge and skills in the classroom.

Artists, storytellers, musicians, tribal community leaders and elders, and historians are leading the participants through curriculum activities that foster discussions on the culture, language, and history of the Native Americans who first populated what is now Washington state. Members of the Swinomish, Upper Skagit, and Jamestown S'Klallam tribes are participating.

The weeklong workshop's activities include:

--Paddling across Baker Lake in a Swinomish tribal canoe;

--Sampling the kind of dishes the region's Native Americans ate 200 years ago, served in a mock traditional Native American village;

--Playing a rousing game of "slahal," also called the "bone game," a game of prediction that originally used small pieces of animal bones as game pieces; and

--Hearing campfire stories of great exploits and daring adventures of the region's First People.

This year, for the first time, the workshop combines two popular seminars that have been offered in past years' workshops:

--"Canoes upon Our Waters" uses the Native American canoe as an aide to help teachers give their own classroom students a fresh perspective of math and science.

--"Voices Along the Skagit" is designed to give teachers a greater understanding of Washington state's rich cultural history.

"I've taught for 29 years, but this is the most exciting teaching I've ever experienced," said Tamara Stone, a teacher at David H. Wolfle Elementary in the North Kitsap School District who has attended one of the past seminars. "Canoes Upon Our Waters is a very subtle way of teaching. It weaves its way in small waves, building to a very powerful presence in the students' understanding of themselves and their culture."

PSE's Baker Lake Lodge is located about 12 miles north of State Route 20 (North Cascades Highway) near Concrete. The company's Baker River Hydroelectric Project has been in operation since 1925 and now consists of two dams, each with its own powerhouse. Combined, the project's dams have 175 megawatts of power-generating capacity.

About Puget Sound Energy 

The state's oldest and largest energy utility, with a 6,000-square-mile service area stretching across 11 counties, Puget Sound Energy (PSE) serves more than 1 million electric customers and 700,000 natural gas customers, primarily in Western Washington. PSE meets the energy needs of its growing customer base through incremental, cost-effective energy efficiency, low-cost procurement of sustainable energy resources, and prudent investment in the energy-delivery infrastructure.

About PSE's Baker River Hydroelectric Project

PSE's largest hydropower facility is the Baker River Hydroelectric Project. Located on a tributary of the Skagit River in northwest Washington, the project has two dams, each with its own powerhouse. The dams' reservoirs, Baker Lake and Lake Shannon, are fed by runoff from the flanks of Mount Baker and Mount Shuksan. Lower Baker Dam, completed in 1925, is a 285-foot-high concrete structure with 70 megawatts of power-generating capacity. The 312-foot-high Upper Baker Dam, completed in 1959, has a generating capacity of 105 megawatts. The project includes extensive salmon-propagation facilities and numerous amenities for public recreation. It also provides flood control for communities in the Skagit River Valley. A 50-year federal operating license granted to the Baker River Project in 1956 expired in April. The project is now operating under an annual license from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission while PSE seeks a new long-term license.