Monster Of Angle Lake Glides Again

SEATAC - The monster that has inhabited Angle Lake for the past century or so reared its charred wooden head for the last time yesterday.

Well, OK, so the monster was only a canoe.

But it's one amazing old dugout: a rare and priceless Native American artifact and a source of continuing controversy between the two tribes laying claim to it.

"I'm just amazed it still floats," said Bill Walker of Burien, who found this canoe and another ancient one while scavenging the lake for valuables two summers ago.

Historians speculate that the canoes would surface every now and again, thus giving rise to the monster legend. The origin of the legend is unknown, but people who live around the lake and present-day Native Americans have heard it.

The 12-foot, water-logged boat recovered yesterday was wedged in mud 26 feet down. Walker speculates that his latest find might be between 100 and 300 years old.

The canoe will be immersed in a waxy preservative at the Washington State Archives in Burien, until it can be stabilized, which is expected to take at least a year.

Then the state - which has jurisdiction over archaeological finds on state property - is expected to turn over the canoe to the Muckleshoot Tribe, which is the only federally recognized tribal government in King County.

"It belonged to our ancestors. We want to see it preserved for our children and grandchildren," said Virginia Cross, the tribe's chair- woman.

But Cecile Maxwell, chair- woman of the Duwamish Tribe and great-, great-, great-niece of Chief Sealth, believes the canoe belongs to her tribe. Angle Lake is indigenous to the Duwamish people, she said.

When Walker tried to retrieve the first canoe last year, he found it was missing from Angle Lake. A fisherman had snagged it on his line and hauled it to his back yard - where it also turned up missing.

In the heat of the debate over ownership, a member of the Duwamish Tribe stole it, Maxwell said. The future of that canoe - which is no longer missing but still in its preservative at the Burien archives facility - is uncertain.

With members of the Duwamish and Muckleshoot tribes both at Angle Lake yesterday, King County police were on hand to keep the peace - just in case.

"What are they expecting, a war party?" Maxwell asked, casting a disparaging eye at the officers.

Walker, who financed both recovery efforts at an approximate cost of $23,500, said who gets what canoe is out of his hands. He's just had fun bringing a bit of history to the surface.