A new outdoor mural in Arlington honors the Stillaguamish legacy

Published 2:40 pm Tuesday, July 21, 2026

ARLINGTON — An Arlington mural celebration honored the Stillaguamish Tribe and the mural’s creator Monday.

Stillaguamish artist Nakita Strangeways painted “A Day on the Stillaguamish River” with assistance from a virtual reality headset, along with her husband, Gus Gutierrez, and mother, Ember Bennu.

The mural is on display in Arlington at 211th Place Northeast and Ronning Road on a wall next to a newly completed housing project.

“The mural just reminds folks of how many artifacts were found during this project and kind of remind folks that we’re on Stillaguamish ancestral land,” Stillaguamish Tribe Chair Eric White said during the ceremony. “But this day is about Nakita, and on behalf of the board, we just want to say how proud we are of her.”

“A Day on the Stillaguamish River” took about one month to complete, Strangeways said in an interview after the ceremony. She used the virtual reality headset to trace the image on the wall.

“You can see the space because it has so many cameras,” Strangeways said. “It just basically projects it onto the wall and you can pin it where you need.”

Generally, outdoor murals are painted using a grid system or a projector, she said. The headset was a more compact, easier way to move the image around and stick it in place, Strangeways said.

“It’s not exactly accessible because VR headsets are expensive, but I was able to borrow one,” she said.

The mural depicts Stillaguamish Tribe members in the past making camp and boating along the Stillaguamish River. Wild animals are painted in a traditional style, while those “impacted by humans” are more modern, Strangeways said.

“I wanted to have some of our more traditional art in there, and so I used a lot of the classic animals that are in the Pacific Northwest as well as our traditional story animals,” she said.

The mural is also about education, Strangeways said. Subjects in the painting are labeled using the Lushootseed language with pronunciation guides and English translations.

“I wanted to share my language,” she said. “Just bring a little bit of color and fun to people’s lives with a little bit of education.”

Above all, she’s glad that it’s done, Strangeways said.

“It feels nice to have it finally be out of my head and on the wall,” she said.

Arlington posted a video of the mural art and the Lushootseed pronunciations at arlingtonwa.gov/918.

“We are just so pleased to have this great work of art done by Nakita,” said Sarah Lopez, Arlington’s community engagement director, during the ceremony.

Members of the Stillaguamish’s Cultural Resources Department sang a song of appreciation for Strangeways, led by Yakima Tribe member Raymond Rehaume.

“Pictures mean 1,000 words, but you know poems can mean 1,000 pictures. Pieces of art mean culture,” Rehaume said before they sang. “I’m so glad that we get to see this dream come true for you and sing an appreciation song for you. The young ones are going to remember this and it’s an inspiration to everybody.”

Taylor Scott Richmond: 425-339-3046; taylor.richmond@heraldnet.com; Bluesky: @btayokay.bsky.social