Cart 0
YouTube Channel Podcast: Global Archipelago FilAm U.S. History course
Cart 0
Discover a place not held solely by where it sits in the world, nor the season you’ve found yourself in- but as it has always been, by the landscape of its people.

SPRING MENU RESEARCH

Thank you for dining with us at Archipelago. Our menu is driven by FilAm history in place, here in the Pacific Northwest. Beyond the archives and books used to guide this research, we honor the stories of community members still active - fighting to make the world better for all of us. Further, we thank all of our producers and food systems workers who make this experience possible. Our actions today shape history tomorrow - may this spring bring you flowers.

Driving our menu forward this early spring are the stories and places of ...

KIKISOBLU and MAYA SANTOS, MARY & SANTIAGO BELTRAN, JOSE RIZAL PARK, THE PHILIPPINE CAFE: 1930, THE GOLDEN AGERS, VICTORIO EDADES, VELMA VELORIA, VAL LAIGO, ALFRED CHUMASERO, VICTORIO VELASCO.

While you read, we invite you to listen to the Spring Experience Soundtrack that was played during your dinner.

We welcome all thoughts and questions. Please feel free to contact us.

H6022-L233267819_original.jpg

COURSE 1

KIKISOBLU & MAYA SANTOS 

KIKISOBLU — PRINCESS ANGELINE

Princess Angeline was the oldest daughter of Chief Seattle - Kikisoblu - was her name given to her by her family. Princess Angeline, a name that lives on in memorialized and imprinted into the city in structures and street names, was given to her by a white settler family who were close friends with Chief Seattle, specifically the wife of Doc Maynard. According to some sources, the term Princess was used by some condescendingly. She was widely known in Seattle as she confirmed rumors of an impending attack on a local settlement during the Yakima Wars. Her bravery saved many lives, Native and settler alike.

With the rise of camera and photography technology, the postcard became a tool in many ways used to capture images of Native peoples- trying to prove settler assumptions about Native “backwardness” and confirm racist biases. Kikisoblu’s image was captured and recirculated in the US as an anthropological sample of “truth”, that cannot be separated from other images bearing likenesses of Indigenous peoples of the Philippines, and those made while human beings were on display at the Seattle World’s Fair at the University of Washington.

Kikisoblu was beloved for her image, and precisely through it, was attempted to be controlled. Kikisoblu had other plans. In her spirit of resistance - she refused to give up her land and her way of life. Like many other settler laws that discriminated against Native peoples and barred them from practicing and sustaining their traditional lifeways of fishing and living on their lands, the 1855 Treaty of Point Eliot was a colonial tool designed to remove as many Duwamish peoples as possible from the territory and into designated reservations.

Not only did Kikisoblu stay, she continued to practice her cultural traditions of basketmaking, selling her art to provide for herself in spite of what was stripped away. The two-spirit Sugpiaq and Choctaw poet, Storme Webber in Kikisoblu and her Cat 8 Ball, honors Kikisoblu’s legacy and works to reclaim the flattened narrative that we are far too often presented with.

“She was a multidisciplinary artist.
She performed while keeping her soul to herself.”
— Storme Webber

At Archipelago, we frame the Kamayan course as a collision of both the old and the new - layers and history of eating with one’s hand, cooking and transporting with leaves, and perhaps most importantly attempt to understand archipelagos of connectivity that go beyond what manifests often as a land acknowledgment - instead to try and tell stories of nuance and position highlighting assertions of sovereignty.

We encourage all guests to explore on their own and learn about Native history from Native scholars and community workers. Seattle has great examples, to start see:

—

MAYA SANTOS

Maya Santos in 1986

Was the youngest person ever to win a National Art Poster contest where high-profile judges from all corners of the art world were present. From a very young age, Maya demonstrated something that can take a lifetime to learn - grit, resilience, and belief in herself and her art. While much of the continuity of cuisine and the resources we access in archives speaks to the importance of honoring our elders, youth, and the people they become, have much to teach us. 

As artists and craftspeople, finding stories of individuals dedicated to their craft and the spirit of it, are our guiding lights. 



Both Maya and Kikisoblu represent individuals across time and space, who have made steadfast commitments to their communities. Who have demonstrated that other ways forward are possible - and that the power of believing in one’s voice and skill is timeless. 

Bird's-eye_View_of_Seattle,_Washington_Territory.jpg

OUR RESEARCH PROCESSES 

Our research process is an ongoing, formal exploration of archives, the cutting edge of food- studies texts, collaborations with other cultural workers, and an exploration of the interpretations of FilAM food from our chefs. We read recently published academic articles in Filipino/a/x Studies, Geography, and food science. We build out research tools and repositories like digital maps, foraging guides, and library resources for our team to access. Current projects also include working on developing programming that can help us actively collect stories from our communities. Above all, we try our best to sit in the present-ness of our community's initiatives. Those publishing their own writing, hosting film-viewings, and asking for collaborators. Research is also to assess the state of the present, to come up with the right solutions and interventions to preserve the future. 

Thankfully, we have had the most incredible models. FANHS and their published texts including Filipinos in Puget Sound (2009), and Filipinos in the Willamette Valley (2010), have given us a running start. From experiments in growing rice at Kamayan Farm run by Ari de Leña, to the form-bending work of artisans like Lexa Luna and Natasha Alphonse, we find ourselves continuously inspired. While we still have much to learn, like recipes, we are building out and collecting our own stories to live on and be told during our services.

 
 

Especially important to us are the conversations we are able to have with our farmers, foragers, butchers, and fisherfolk. Our agricultural system is so interconnected, yet resources don't flow as freely. As we hear about our partners' needs directly, we hope to continue to be in a position to purchase products, create value-added items, and volunteer where we can. This can look like lending our voice and reach in struggles for justice, such as the campaign with the United 6 right here in Seattle. 

When you dine with us, you are not just supporting the work of chefs. You directly support the quality of research, preservation, documentation, and development of new techniques that work to actively address the future of culturally relevant food in an era of increasing change. 

—

This resource was written by Hanover Vale. It was designed by Amber Manuguid with contributions by Miranda Qassis. It reflects years of hard work and dedication from the entire Archipelago team.

COURSE 2

THE BELTRANS 

MARY and SANTIAGO BELTRAN

Mary Beltran was the first president of the Filipina Women’s Club, which organized Filipinas to pool funds to pay for medical expenses, surprise expenses, and often supported new arrivals from the Philippines. This form of community aid helped countless individuals from the Philippines get on their feet in the Seattle area. Mary’s tact is well evidenced - not only was she able to spearhead this organization at a time when men often took center stage, she demonstrated how careful alignment and planning can both accumulate and stretch resources.

Mary and Santiago were congressionally recognized for their work fostering over 60 homeless children in the Seattle area. Their work gave hope and hospitality to those deeply in need. They help us see beyond static definitions of family and remind us that there can always be another seat at the table.

The iconic Philippine dish of pinakbet comprises of vegetables cooked in bagoong - a cornerstone of the cuisine. At Archipelago, we imagine this dish as anchored in a family classic but interpreted through the next generations. Pinakbet — anak ni bet — or “child of bet” is a play on words that conceptualizes this idea. While we may not cook the pinakbet you know, we make one that you will want to meet again.

jenkins-curtain-bg.jpg

COURSE 3

JOSE RIZAL PARK

One of the original sketches and designs of Jose Rizal Park as featured in the 1975 planning documents.

Jose Rizal Park in Beacon Hill is a testament to the resilience and fortitude of Fil-Ams in Seattle. In the 1960s and 70s, our elders worked to turn land that had been condemned by the city into a monument to the Philippines’ National Hero, Jose Rizal. This was a hard-won fight. It took upwards of a decade to establish the park’s plans, and fight for the necessary additions to the park that the community needed. After the city initially refused a funding package, Filipino Americans banded together to organize at every council meeting determining the fate of the park. Records show how well attended, and well catered, these gatherings were.

In October of 2024, Jose Rizal Park in Beacon Hill, Seattle, was vandalized. This moment reminded our community that our work does not end with a memorial. The memorial is a challenge to work together and overcome issues as a team. Following the park’s vandalism, our Sous Chef and community organizer Ronnette Sanchez helped to organize the Fil-Am community to establish weekly park clean-ups, history shares on the life and ideas of Jose Rizal, and to advocate for budgetary additions to the Park’s restoration and maintenance. This organization called SIKLAB, meets weekly on Mondays. DM us if you’re interested in joining!

IMG_5684.jpg

COURSE 4

THE 1930’S PHILIPPINE CAFE

 

Back before King street and Fifth avenue were filled in, the entrance to Philippine Cafe was on the elevated third floor. (Fun fact, most of Seattle’s Pioneer Square and Downtown are buried underground, now only accessible through certain maintenance tunnels and tours.) Valeriano and Bibiana Laigo, who came to the US from La Union, Philippines, opened Philippine Cafe and grocery store in the late 1920s, serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The Cafe provided home cooked meals to Filipino men living in the Chinatown International District (CID).


The CID at the time was full of Filipinos, as Journalist Willy Torin describes,

“Before 8AM Chinatown is dead. At 10AM the crowd begins to form around street corners and in the lobby of the Alps Hotel. By noon King Street is like a barrio street in the Philippines... Filipino pool halls open, offering diversion of pool and cards...Labor’s latest news is read and discussed. By 10PM tantalizing music at Rizal Hall...the Atlas Theatre is open all night.”
— Willy Torin

Philippine Cafe was a hospitality hub away from home, providing familiar cooked foods to those far from home. To a city full of Filipino bachelors who often lived many to a single hotel room (without a stove) what could be better?

When Valeriano was killed unexpectedly - he was murdered by a man interested in stealing the deed to his gold mine - Bibiana continued to run the restaurant entirely on her own, during a time when women were rarely the business owners, supporting her entire family.

Not only was Philippine Cafe known for the cooked food, Valeriano also had a grocery store attached. Dorothy Laigo Cordova told us that her father was sometimes called “Santa Claus” showing up with bags of rice and other foods during what would be the great depression. While her family endured a tragedy, the legacy of her family lives on and works to preserve Philippine heritage, spearheading the FANHS National Archives in Seattle.

Now, at 92, Dorothy remains generous with her time, continuing the family tradition of hospitality in a academic sense. Involved constantly with new projects and maintaining a curious spark, she continues to be a guiding star and inspiration within the community.

Though throughout the history of Seattle FilAm and Filipino businesses have come and gone, their enduring legacy, and how they are described as hubs by others remains. Archipelago in this way must think of itself as a natural extension of this business legacy. FilAm businesses now in the city view themselves in a coalition of community over competition.

Santa+Fe+8_+x+8_+Encaustic+Porcelain+Floor+and+Wall+Tile+(11.19+Sq.+Ft.+_+Case).jpeg

COURSE 5

THE GOLDEN AGERS

“Alfred Chumasero made a lasting legacy for us all. He is a pioneer, successful businessman and philanthropist. He is a person worth honoring and emulating. ”
— Maritia Villanueva, Golden Ager

The Golden Agers, an organization for members aged 50 years and older, was active in Clark County in Washington state in the 1980s and 1990s.

If you couldn’t already tell, we come from a culture that deeply respects their elders. In our community, we are constantly reminded of their power and agency. When greeting elders, one often does the gesture of “mano-po” - with the younger lifting the hand of the elder, and the elder touching their hand to the younger’s forehead. This gesture, while deeply personal to all of us, is almost a literal understanding of the skills, life, and knowledge contained in the hands of the elder, now transmitted, to the mind of the younger. 

With communities constantly in change, and the spatial character of neighborhoods shifting, we need the voices and contributions of elders in order to help shape our understanding of value. Of what is precious to us and our collective history. While we have already discussed FANHS, the Golden Agers were able to preserve the history of Filipinos in Washington at a monumental scale – through saving the Alfred Chumasero House. At risk of falling into dereliction and consequently, demolition the Golden Agers were able to raise funds and not only save Alfred’s home, but restore it and put it to good use, and for a brief period was a bed and breakfast.

Now, the Chumasero House is on the National Registry of Historic Places. The Golden Agers initiative in 1998 made possible a future of remembrance and preservation. We are reminded that it takes time and significant investment to preserve the places, communities, and histories that shape our understanding of the world and our impacts within it. 

The Smith-Chumasero House in Vancouver, WA.

Waterfront_Grant_St_Pier_bridge_dba02043-d907-473a-8b8c-dad7110bd4d9.jpg

COURSE 6

VICTORIO EDADES

Regular people laboring. Dust. Proportions that broke the classical mode. Victorio Edades, born in Dagupan, Pangasinan is considered the father of the Philippines’ modern art movement. He was the leader of the ‘thirteen moderns’, and was named a national artist in 1976. He earned his degree from the University of Washington, in fine arts and was a contemporary of the war hero and food scientist Maria Orosa - while she was Vice-President of the Filipino Club, Edades was a member. He was inspired by the European modernist movement, after encountering an exhibition where Cezanne, Matisse, and Picasso were shown - but had his eyes set on home.

Can you imagine what they must have discussed? Orosa and Edades - dreams for their home country — Philippine Independence?

Maybe they both knew that the art in the Philippines was about to be turned on its’ head. Risking his reputation after his degree, he put on a one man show at the Philippine Columbia Club in 1928 with 30 original paintings, one of which, The Builders won international acclaim, though did not yet find acceptance at home.

“I learned techniques in painting, but my heart was with Filipinos.

I saw nothing in America that aroused my emotions, I always thought of the Philippines.”
— Victorio Edades

It took a few years, but his rise to success in the Philippines Modern Art scene was meteoric. His career also culminated in his teaching at the University of Santos Tomas, becoming a Dean of the Department of Architecture serving a 30 year tenure.

Today, his work is shown extensively at the Philippine National Museum of Fine Arts.

Our final main course goes by another name: Tailor Made. As you finish your plate, we come around and offer more. We understand that life presents opportunities where we feel as though we only have one chance to “get it right.” But time and time again, it is the follow-up and willingness to check-in that builds momentum toward perfection. Tying the plate together is our Orosa Sauce - named after Maria Orosa, the brilliant food chemist who invented Banana Ketchup in a WWII moment of food scarcity. In this way too we are reminded that those who are our friends, and those we are in community with may find each other again in the most unexpected places.

edades-background.jpg

banyuhay

MORPHOSIS

This course revisits one of Lexa Luna’s custom pieces designed for our experience in Spring 2024, the first time we utilized a goblet for a three-part course. In this new year, we bring the goblet back again for it’s capstone project. Here, we use the symbolism in Lexa’s craft and practices in healing to bring the guest from the world of the savory through a portal, into the world of the sweet.

COURSE 7

VELMA VELORIA

Velma Veloria is one of those individuals who can do it all, yet still always built space for others as she climbed. She is the first Asian American and Filipina to be elected to the Washington State Legislature, representing Seattle’s 11th District from 1992 to 2004. She immigrated from the Philippines to Washington in 1962, earning a degree in Medical Technology from San Francisco State College.

Dedicated to the people and shaped deeply by political turmoil during Martial Law, Veloria was a labor activist from 1970 - 1980, working at the Office of Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU), IL WU Local 37 (Cannery Workers) and the Service Employees’ International Union (SEIU).

Sometimes the largest hearts are shaped by hardship. Veloria, endured the assassination of her fellow colleagues and cannery workers and activists, Silme Domingo and Gene Viernes in 1981 with guns paid for by their own union president. For working to investigate corruption in Union leadership they paid the ultimate price. This tragedy was felt deeply in the organizing community, where their deaths ignited protests and vigils a decade afterward.

Fighting for worker and human rights, Veloria sponsored the first ever State bill criminalizing human trafficking in Washington, soon after all 49 other states followed. Now, Velma teaches courses at UW alongside the Nation’s top scholars in Law, Philippines Studies, and Labor - stewarding the future for the next generation.

g45p-calacatta-gold-marble-18x18-tile-polished.jpg

COURSE 8

VAL LAIGO

“He had a marvelous ability to create from chaos.”

Adorning Dr. Jose Rizal Park in Seattle is a mosaic crafted by Val Laigo. The mosaic titled East Meets West “calls attention to Filipino Americans as well as the Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest” through the motif of water, and in stunning colors and textures. While educated for the museum, he was an artist for the people. Laigo’s art found a home more so in the community through his talents for murals - which adorn several reading rooms and medical centers and at Seattle University. 

He was a community worker through and through, dedicating himself to service alongside the Filipino Catholic Youth, Filipino Community of Seattle, Filipino Youth Activities of Seattle, and the Art Mobile Project. A merchant marine during the Korean War, and an Alaskero in the canneries during the summer from 1951 - 1953, and received a MFA from the University of Washington in 1964.

He worked for Boeing Research Laboratories as an “art director and staff artist.” He seemed to turn the everyday into art. How rare a talent that is!

As a Professor at Seattle University in the Fine Arts Department, Laigo’s contributions generated new course offerings in non-Western art that were requirements to pursuing a Fine Arts major. Laigo was born in Naguilian, La Union, Philippines. He moved to the US as a child, and ultimately found himself as a burgeoning artist in the Seattle area. He worked as an artist for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, and illustrated many beautiful covers of Bamboo Magazine - one of the first in the country to specifically discuss FilAm issues. He also had exhibits in museums, art and campus galleries in Mexico City, Los Angeles, Tucson, New York, Portland, Santa Barbara, Spokane, and Tacoma.

IMG_1178.jpg

COURSE 9

ALFRED CHUMASERO

A photo of Main Street in Vancouver, WA clearly showing Alfred Chumasero’s drugstore on the left.

““I hate to leave this beautiful world but I have fought the good fight, for such there is no death.” ”
— Alfred Chumasero

ALFRED CHUMASERO - is considered the first Filipino to live in Washington State. He moved to Vancouver, WA in 1890. He was a successful businessman who owned and operated drug and hardware stores, an electric station, and engaged in real estate. He was remembered after his passing as an individual of utmost character, his 1923 obituary reading “his philanthropy and kindness were done quietly and without ostentation.”  His Father, George Chumasero was a Filipino born in England in 1820. Alfred was orphaned before age 10, and then lived on a farm with Alfred Gillette, his Uncle, near Oberlin OH. They adopted Alfred and he went to graduate from Oberlin High School in 1881.

He made his way to Vancouver, WA in 1890, where he opened up a drug store. According to letters left by his friends, he was a well respected man. His business was successful, and “not one to amass wealth, but a sharer, ready to give the other man a chance” - he did not have any biological children of his own, but they adopted his wife Ella’s nephew. Through the work of the Golden Agers, Alfred Chumasero’s life and legacy is honored, preserved, and revisited.

Screenshot 2025-03-04 at 10.44.45 PM.png

VICTORIO VELASCO: THOUGHTS ON SPRING

While Victorio Velasco is best known for being the creator and editor in chief of the Filipino Forum. He was also a creative, a poet, and someone deeply connected to and involved with community affairs and issues of justice. Among his collections in the archives are papers that demonstrate his interest in housing and racial justice through the urban league, his previous work in the canneries as an Alaskero made him acutely aware of differences in treatment and value of his labor and white counterparts. His newsletters circulating in the canneries helped build community around issues of justice and injustice and are a track record of his steadfast commitment to improving the conditions and connectivity of Filipino communities everywhere. 

“The loveliest time of the year when Nature, as if awakening from a long and tedious slumber, rouses itself to its fullest activity, blushing with the rosy pink of life….

Here we at once forget our own mortality….

We find balm to our suffering hearts, comfort to our weary souls, and joy to our whole being…

We start to wonder at the deeper mysteries that now we are slowly coming to understand, and which we suspect are hidden powers in the marvelous harmony of the universe.”
— Victorio Velasco

The wealth of collections he leaves behind hint to the larger nuances of his whole being, his eye, ear, and sensibility for beauty.

Thank you for dining with us this evening at Archipelago. May light, buds and blossoms find your spirit Chelidonian.  

unsplash-image-xvU-X0GV9-o.jpg
 

Questions or thoughts?