Bernie Whitebear
Encyclopedia
Bernie Whitebear birth name Bernard Reyes, was an American Indian
activist, a co-founder of the Seattle Indian Health Board (SIHB), the United Indians of All Tribes Foundation, and the Daybreak Star Cultural Center
.
); his father, Julian Reyes, was Filipino
, but had largely assimilated to an Indian way of life. Born in the Colville Indian Hospital in Nespelem, Washington
, he was named "Bernard" after his great uncle (brother of his maternal grandmother), Chief James Bernard, a Sin Aikst leader in the early 20th century. Around 1970, as he became an activist, he changed his name to honor his mother's father, Alex Christian, known as Pic Ah Kelowna, "White Grizzly Bear".
His early childhood was a spent largely on the Colville Indian Reservation
in Washington. His parents separated in 1939 and subsequently divorced; his mother would later re-marry to Harry Wong, with whom she and Julian Reyes had, in 1935–1937, run a Chinese restaurant during the construction of the Grand Coulee Dam
. While his older brother Lawney Reyes
and sister Luana Reyes
attended the Chemawa Indian School
in 1940–1942, he was too young to do so, and lived with foster grandparents, the Halls.
The rest of his childhood and youth was spent living with his father, variously on the Colville Reservation and in Okanogan, Washington
, where he graduated from high school in 1955. Being from a musically inclined family, he took up the trumpet, eventually becoming the lead trumpet of the Okanogan High School band. He was popular in his otherwise all-white high school, although some of his classmates' parents didn't approve of them socializing with (or, especially, dating) an Indian.
After attending one year of school at the University of Washington
, he spent a bit over a year living with his mother in Tacoma, Washington
. There he first met, and fished with, Bob Satiacum. Drift netting for salmon in Tacoma's Commencement Bay
and the rivers that fed into it, they were repeatedly harassed by white sport fishermen and by the Coast Guard
. In September 1957 he enlisted in the United States Army
, where he served first in the 101st Airborne Division
as a Green Beret
paratrooper
.
area of Washington State, he took a job at Boeing
and remained in the Army Reserve
. He soon changed his name to "Bernie Whitebear" and renewed his friendship with Satiacum and others who were fighting for native fishing rights on the Puyallup River
and elsewhere in Western Washington, a fight that they would eventually win when the 1974 Boldt Decision
made the Washington's tribes co-managers of the state's fisheries.
The fishing rights struggle gave Whitebear a much stronger sense of conflicts between Indians and the white population than he had had growing up around Okanogan. During this period, the struggle over the rights to fish for salmon occasionally reached the level of physical violence. Satiacum was prominent among those who continually upped the ante, deliberately netting fish in places where he knew it would provoke anger from sports fishermen. According to his brother and biographer Lawney Reyes, Whitebear, Satiacum, and a few other of their friends "spent a lot of time together partying and drinking" and styled themselves as a "fraternal organization" called the "Skins", with three Tacoma taverns as their "lodges". "When the Skins gathered," Reyes wrote, "others gave them a wide berth." In Reyes's brother's view, through this period, Whitebear was "learning much about the problems of urban Indians" and developing an anger that he would soon put to constructive use. Through the early 1960s, he began searching for a way to change the dominant American culture's perception of Indians, and to support the recovery and retention of culture that was becoming lost as Indians were losing their specific tribal knowledge and traditions.
In the summer of 1961, along with his various family members, he was among those who successfully opposed a federal government proposal to "terminate" the Colville Reservation by paying US$
60,000 to each tribal member to relinquish their rights as American Indians.
at Seattle's Masonic Temple; in 1966 he moved to the city. Throughout this period, he retained his job at Boeing (and even played Sitting Bull
in a Boeing employees' production of Annie Get Your Gun
), but also became involved with young Indians in learning the songs and dances of the Plains
and Plateau Indians
, as well as those of their own respective tribes. This involved tracking down Indians knowledgeable in these various traditions, and taught Whitebear himself the traditional songs and dances of many Native cultures.
In 1968, Whitebear had the opportunity to put together a Native American dance group to tour Southeastern Europe along with the Balkan-style Koleda Dance Ensemble. They later made a second trip, performing in France and Germany. According to Lawney Reyes, Whitebear's experiences in Europe helped him "realize his calling in life", to "make Indians more visible to white people" and to help "the various tribes… forge a united front."
Returning home, Whitebear organized a series of pow wows larger than any that Seattle had ever seen, taking place at the Mercer Arena
at Seattle Center
, and bringing together some of the leading singers, dancers, and drummers of Plains and Plateau traditions, as well as of the local Northwest Coast Indians
.
Hospital, (later the Pacific Medical Center
); other key figures in the clinic were Lyle Griffith, an Oglala Sioux who was then a medical resident at the University of Washington, and Lyle's wife Donna Griffith, and later New Yorkers Peter and Hinda Schnurman, Jill Marsden from England, and pharmacist Eveline Takahashi.
At this time, Bernie Whitebear left Boeing to become part of this clinic, which in 1969 established itself as a separate non-profit, the Seattle Indian Health Board (SIHB). In 1970, Whitebear became the group's first executive director. Lawney Reyes characterizes the SIHB as "the first major achievement for the Indian community in Seattle," and remarks that his brother became executive director not because he knew anything in particular about healthcare but "because he was Indian and well spoken." Jill Marsden became increasingly the real administrator of the group, and after about a year Whitebear resigned, in order to focus more on obtaining some sort of land base for Seattle's Indians. A national search for a new executive director ended up hiring Whitebear's sister Luana, who until this time had been a successful businesswoman in San Francisco. Over the next decade, she built SIHB into a 200-employee institution recognized as a national model, and launched herself on a career path that ultimately led to the deputy directorship of the federal Indian Health Service
.
Shortly after this, he became heavily involved in the movement to make sure that Indians would gain a share of the land in Seattle that the federal government freeing up as they reduced the size of the Fort Lawton
army post. The group was influenced by the Indians Of All Tribes
(IAT) who were then occupying Alcatraz Island
in San Francisco Bay. Initially, they called themselves "Kinatechitapi", Blackfoot
for "All Indians". Their first efforts to open discussions with the City of Seattle in advance of the turnover of the land failed. The City said it would not open discussions until it had the land, and referred them to the Bureau of Indian Affairs
(BIA). As Whitebear later wrote, "This action displayed their ignorance of both the BIA's restricted service policy, which excluded urban Indians, and also the disregard and disfavor urban Indians held for the BIA."
The Kinatechitapi split between a faction that called for direct action
and one that preferred to wait until the land was in city hands and then attempt negotiation. Prominent among those who preferred to wait was Pearl Warren, founder of the American Indian Women's Service League, who was concerned that a militant attitude would undercut the existing city-funded services. It was peaceably agreed that those who wished to take more extreme action would not use the name "Kinatechitapi", but the resulting tensions led to Warren losing the next election for the Service League presidency to Joyce Reyes.
The more militant faction soon adopted the name "American Indian Fort Lawton Occupation Forces". Some of the Indians of All Tribes came in from Alcatraz, including Richard Oaks, leader of that action; other activists came from Canada. A plan was formed to invade the base. Another arrival was Grace Thorpe, daughter of athlete Jim Thorpe
. Meanwhile, ongoing protests around nearby Fort Lewis
, including by American Indian soldiers, were tying native rights to opposition to the Vietnam War
. At the behest of the Fort Lewis coalition, Jane Fonda
was in town when the invasion took place. According to Whitebear, her presence "captured the imagination of the world press. American Indians were attacking active military forts along with one of the nation's leading opponents of United States involvement in the Vietnam War." Her presence transformed "an effort to secure a land base for urban Indians" into "a bizarre, ready-for-prime-time, movie scenario, complete with soldiers, modern-day Indians, and anti-war activists. Without really appreciating it at the time, the Indian movement had achieved through Jane Fonda's presence, a long-sought credibility which would not have been possible otherwise."
On March 8, 1970, Whitebear was among the leaders—arguably the leader—of about 100 "Native Americans and sympathizers" who confronted military police in riot gear at the fort. The MPs ejected them from the fort, but they were able to establish an encampment outside the fort. Organizing as the United Indians of All Tribes Foundation (UIATF), they used tactics ranging from politicking to occupation of land to celebrity appearances. Some of the key politicking came at the federal level: UIATF, like the City, filed to directly acquire land that the federal government was releasing, and the federal government ultimately insisted that the two come up with a joint plan. Negotiations, confrontation and even a Congressional
intervention combined in November 1971 to give them a 99-year lease on 20 acres (81,000 m²) in what would become Seattle's Discovery Park
, with options for renewal without renegotiation. In addition, the City gave $600,000 to the American Indian Women' Service League for a social services center.
Whitebear was soon elected CEO of the UIATF. At UIATF, he successfully oversaw fundraising (including a million dollar grant from the state) and construction for what would become the Daybreak Star Cultural Center
. His brother Lawney Reyes — a sculptor, designer, curator, and later memoirist (as well as his biographer: Bernie Whitebear: An Urban Indian's Quest for Justice, 2006) — joined with architects Arai Jackson to design the facility, which opened in 1977.
Along with Bob Santos, Roberto Maestas, and Larry Gossett
, he became one of Seattle's so-called "Gang of Four
" or "Four Amigos" who founded Seattle's Minority Executive Directors's Coalition. He continued to build the UIATF as an institution, with programs ranging from the La-ba-te-yah youth home in the Crown Hill
neighborhood to the Sacred Circle Art Gallery at Daybreak Star, as well as a pre-school, family support programs, and a large annual pow-wow
held every July. In addition, UIATF acquired other land in Seattle outside of Daybreak Star, including a quarter-block downtown at Second and Cherry.
In the same era when Daybreak Star was being constructed, Whitebear served on the Seattle Arts Commission. In 1995, he was appointed to the board of the National Museum of the American Indian
, and was involved in the planning for the museum that opened September 21, 2004 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
. He was also involved in the early planning for two other projects, neither of which has been achieved as of 2007. A People's Lodge at Daybreak Star is intended to include a Hall of Ancestors, a Potlatch House, a theater, and a museum; the Pacific Northwest Indian Canoe Center is intended as part of the ongoing development at South Lake Union
, just north of downtown. Whitebear's death impacted both of these projects. , construction of the People's Lodge has been indefinitely postponed. A Native American Canoe Center is in the master plan for South Lake Union Park; as of 2007, it is being referred to as the Northwest Canoe Center. An October 2007 grant from the Northwest Area Foundation should allow this project (and several other UIATF projects) to proceed.
Whitebear died of colon cancer, July 16, 2000.
, who in November 1997 declared him to be the state's First Citizen of the Decade, later remarking after Whitebear's death that it should have been "of the Century". Vine Deloria, Jr.
called him the most important Indian of the last century.
Besides his prominence as an activist and administrator, Whitebear continued intermittently to perform on stage. He and his Gang of Four colleagues sang and danced annually at the Community Show-Offs, where they "usually stole the show".
Whitebear never married, nor had children, although Marilyn Sieber of the Nit Nat tribe was his "constant companion" for more than a decade in the 1970s and '80s, and the two were at one point engaged. However, in effect, he was like a parent to "every Indian kid in Seattle", He never acquired a personal fortune: he gave away most money that came his way to those he considered needier, even borrowing money from his siblings to do so. His only monetary self-indulgence was a collection of old cars that he tinkered with in his spare time. Most of them sat in his back yard; others ended up at Daybreak Star or in friends' yards.
Whitebear's death was front-page news in the Seattle Times and Seattle Post-Intelligencer
. In fact, the Times ran front page stories on two successive days.
In memory of Whitebear, there is now a Bernie Whitebear Memorial Ethnobotanical Garden next to the Daybreak Star Cultural Center. He and his sister Luana are both memorialized by their brother Lawney's public sculpture "Dreamcatcher" at the corner of Yesler Way and 32nd Street in Seattle. The eleventh floor of King County's
Chinook Building at Fifth and Jefferson is also named in his honor.
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
activist, a co-founder of the Seattle Indian Health Board (SIHB), the United Indians of All Tribes Foundation, and the Daybreak Star Cultural Center
Daybreak Star Cultural Center
The Daybreak Star Cultural Center is a Native American cultural center in Seattle, Washington, described by its parent organization United Indians of All Tribes as "an urban base for Native Americans in the Seattle area." Located on 20 acres in Seattle's Discovery Park in the Magnolia...
.
Youth
Whitebear's mother, born Mary Christian, was Sin Aikst (now known as Lakes tribe, one of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville ReservationColville Indian Reservation
The Colville Indian Reservation is an Indian reservation in the north-central part of the U.S. state of Washington, inhabited and managed by the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, which is recognized by the United States of America as an American Indian Tribe...
); his father, Julian Reyes, was Filipino
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, but had largely assimilated to an Indian way of life. Born in the Colville Indian Hospital in Nespelem, Washington
Nespelem, Washington
Nespelem is a town in Okanogan County, Washington, United States. The population was 236 at the 2010 census. The town is located on the Colville Indian Reservation. The name Nespelem is derived from a local Indian term meaning "large flat meadow".-History:...
, he was named "Bernard" after his great uncle (brother of his maternal grandmother), Chief James Bernard, a Sin Aikst leader in the early 20th century. Around 1970, as he became an activist, he changed his name to honor his mother's father, Alex Christian, known as Pic Ah Kelowna, "White Grizzly Bear".
His early childhood was a spent largely on the Colville Indian Reservation
Colville Indian Reservation
The Colville Indian Reservation is an Indian reservation in the north-central part of the U.S. state of Washington, inhabited and managed by the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, which is recognized by the United States of America as an American Indian Tribe...
in Washington. His parents separated in 1939 and subsequently divorced; his mother would later re-marry to Harry Wong, with whom she and Julian Reyes had, in 1935–1937, run a Chinese restaurant during the construction of the Grand Coulee Dam
Grand Coulee Dam
Grand Coulee Dam is a gravity dam on the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington built to produce hydroelectric power and provide irrigation. It was constructed between 1933 and 1942, originally with two power plants. A third power station was completed in 1974 to increase its energy...
. While his older brother Lawney Reyes
Lawney Reyes
Lawney L. Reyes is an American Indian artist, curator and memoirist.-Life:Reyes' mother, born Mary Christian, was Sin Aikst ; his father, Julian Reyes, was Filipino, but had largely assimilated to an Indian way...
and sister Luana Reyes
Luana Reyes
Luana Reyes ) was an American Indian health care administrator. As executive director of the Seattle Indian Health Board 1972–1982, she grew that institution from a staff of five to nearly 200 and made it a model for urban Indian institutions; subsequently, she worked for the federal Indian Health...
attended the Chemawa Indian School
Chemawa Indian School
Chemawa Indian School is a Native American boarding school in Salem, Oregon, United States. It was opened on February 25, 1880 as an elementary school, but as of 2005, served ninth through twelfth grades. It is sometimes referred to as Chemawa High School...
in 1940–1942, he was too young to do so, and lived with foster grandparents, the Halls.
The rest of his childhood and youth was spent living with his father, variously on the Colville Reservation and in Okanogan, Washington
Okanogan, Washington
Okanogan is a town in Okanogan County, Washington, United States. The population was 2,552 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Okanogan County.It has a small commuter airfield, Okanogan Legion Airport - with one paved runway of in length....
, where he graduated from high school in 1955. Being from a musically inclined family, he took up the trumpet, eventually becoming the lead trumpet of the Okanogan High School band. He was popular in his otherwise all-white high school, although some of his classmates' parents didn't approve of them socializing with (or, especially, dating) an Indian.
After attending one year of school at the University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
, he spent a bit over a year living with his mother in Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma is a mid-sized urban port city and the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. The city is on Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Park. The population was 198,397, according to...
. There he first met, and fished with, Bob Satiacum. Drift netting for salmon in Tacoma's Commencement Bay
Commencement Bay
Commencement Bay is a bay of Puget Sound in the U.S. state of Washington. The city of Tacoma is located on the bay, with the Port of Tacoma occupying the southeastern end. A line drawn from Point Defiance in the southwest to Browns Point in the northeast serves to mark the generally accepted...
and the rivers that fed into it, they were repeatedly harassed by white sport fishermen and by the Coast Guard
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...
. In September 1957 he enlisted in the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
, where he served first in the 101st Airborne Division
101st Airborne Division
The 101st Airborne Division—the "Screaming Eagles"—is a U.S. Army modular light infantry division trained for air assault operations. During World War II, it was renowned for its role in Operation Overlord, the D-Day landings on 6 June 1944, in Normandy, France, Operation Market Garden, the...
as a Green Beret
United States Army Special Forces
The United States Army Special Forces, also known as the Green Berets because of their distinctive service headgear, are a special operations force tasked with six primary missions: unconventional warfare, foreign internal defense, special reconnaissance, direct action, hostage rescue, and...
paratrooper
Paratrooper
Paratroopers are soldiers trained in parachuting and generally operate as part of an airborne force.Paratroopers are used for tactical advantage as they can be inserted into the battlefield from the air, thereby allowing them to be positioned in areas not accessible by land...
.
Forging a contemporary Indian identity
After leaving the army in 1959 and returning to the Seattle-TacomaTacoma, Washington
Tacoma is a mid-sized urban port city and the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. The city is on Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Park. The population was 198,397, according to...
area of Washington State, he took a job at Boeing
Boeing
The Boeing Company is an American multinational aerospace and defense corporation, founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington. Boeing has expanded over the years, merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Boeing Corporate headquarters has been in Chicago, Illinois since 2001...
and remained in the Army Reserve
United States Army Reserve
The United States Army Reserve is the federal reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the reserve components of the United States Army....
. He soon changed his name to "Bernie Whitebear" and renewed his friendship with Satiacum and others who were fighting for native fishing rights on the Puyallup River
Puyallup River
The Puyallup River is a river in the U.S. state of Washington. About long, it is formed by glaciers on the west side of Mount Rainier. It flows generally northwest, emptying into Commencement Bay, part of Puget Sound...
and elsewhere in Western Washington, a fight that they would eventually win when the 1974 Boldt Decision
Boldt Decision
United States v. Washington, 384 F. Supp. 312 , was a 1974 court case which affirmed the right of most of the tribes in Washington to continue to harvest salmon...
made the Washington's tribes co-managers of the state's fisheries.
The fishing rights struggle gave Whitebear a much stronger sense of conflicts between Indians and the white population than he had had growing up around Okanogan. During this period, the struggle over the rights to fish for salmon occasionally reached the level of physical violence. Satiacum was prominent among those who continually upped the ante, deliberately netting fish in places where he knew it would provoke anger from sports fishermen. According to his brother and biographer Lawney Reyes, Whitebear, Satiacum, and a few other of their friends "spent a lot of time together partying and drinking" and styled themselves as a "fraternal organization" called the "Skins", with three Tacoma taverns as their "lodges". "When the Skins gathered," Reyes wrote, "others gave them a wide berth." In Reyes's brother's view, through this period, Whitebear was "learning much about the problems of urban Indians" and developing an anger that he would soon put to constructive use. Through the early 1960s, he began searching for a way to change the dominant American culture's perception of Indians, and to support the recovery and retention of culture that was becoming lost as Indians were losing their specific tribal knowledge and traditions.
In the summer of 1961, along with his various family members, he was among those who successfully opposed a federal government proposal to "terminate" the Colville Reservation by paying US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
60,000 to each tribal member to relinquish their rights as American Indians.
Pow wows and performances
As early as 1961, Whitebear organized a pow-wowPow-wow
A pow-wow is a gathering of North America's Native people. The word derives from the Narragansett word powwaw, meaning "spiritual leader". A modern pow-wow is a specific type of event where both Native American and non-Native American people meet to dance, sing, socialize, and honor American...
at Seattle's Masonic Temple; in 1966 he moved to the city. Throughout this period, he retained his job at Boeing (and even played Sitting Bull
Sitting Bull
Sitting Bull Sitting Bull Sitting Bull (Lakota: Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake (in Standard Lakota Orthography), also nicknamed Slon-he or "Slow"; (c. 1831 – December 15, 1890) was a Hunkpapa Lakota Sioux holy man who led his people as a tribal chief during years of resistance to United States government policies...
in a Boeing employees' production of Annie Get Your Gun
Annie Get Your Gun (musical)
Annie Get Your Gun is a musical with lyrics and music written by Irving Berlin and a book by Herbert Fields and his sister Dorothy Fields. The story is a fictionalized version of the life of Annie Oakley , who was a sharpshooter from Ohio, and her husband, Frank Butler.The 1946 Broadway production...
), but also became involved with young Indians in learning the songs and dances of the Plains
Plains Indians
The Plains Indians are the Indigenous peoples who live on the plains and rolling hills of the Great Plains of North America. Their colorful equestrian culture and resistance to White domination have made the Plains Indians an archetype in literature and art for American Indians everywhere.Plains...
and Plateau Indians
Plateau Indians
Indigenous peoples of the Northwest Plateau, also referred to by the phrase Indigenous peoples of the Plateau, and historically called the Plateau Indians are indigenous peoples of the Plateau or Intermontane region of Western Canada and the United States, whose territories are located in the...
, as well as those of their own respective tribes. This involved tracking down Indians knowledgeable in these various traditions, and taught Whitebear himself the traditional songs and dances of many Native cultures.
In 1968, Whitebear had the opportunity to put together a Native American dance group to tour Southeastern Europe along with the Balkan-style Koleda Dance Ensemble. They later made a second trip, performing in France and Germany. According to Lawney Reyes, Whitebear's experiences in Europe helped him "realize his calling in life", to "make Indians more visible to white people" and to help "the various tribes… forge a united front."
Returning home, Whitebear organized a series of pow wows larger than any that Seattle had ever seen, taking place at the Mercer Arena
Mercer Arena
Mercer Arena, previously known as the Exposition Building, the Civic Ice Arena and Seattle Center Arena, is a performing arts venue located at the corner of Mercer Street Fourth Avenue North in Seattle, Washington. It was built in 1912 next door to the Seattle Civic Auditorium , as part of the $1...
at Seattle Center
Seattle Center
Seattle Center is a park and arts and entertainment center in Seattle, Washington. The campus is the site used in 1962 by the Century 21 Exposition. It is located just north of Belltown in the Lower Queen Anne neighborhood.-Attractions:...
, and bringing together some of the leading singers, dancers, and drummers of Plains and Plateau traditions, as well as of the local Northwest Coast Indians
Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast
The Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of the Pacific Northwest Coast, their descendants, and many ethnic groups who identify with those historical peoples. They are now situated within the Canadian Province of British Columbia and the U.S...
.
Activist and leader
During this same period, Whitebear became particularly interested in health issues among Seattle's Indians. At this time, Seattle's estimated 25,000 urban Indians had "no health services, no organization, no money and no meeting place except an old church on Boren Avenue". Alaskan Native Bob Lupson had helped to organize a free clinic for Indian People at Seattle's Public HealthUnited States Public Health Service
The Public Health Service Act of 1944 structured the United States Public Health Service as the primary division of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare , which later became the United States Department of Health and Human Services. The PHS comprises all Agency Divisions of Health and...
Hospital, (later the Pacific Medical Center
Pacific Medical Center
The Pacific Medical Center is a 16-story building on Beacon Hill in Seattle, Washington. It is located at 1200 12th Avenue South. The building is of a Art Deco style. It was completed in 1932 and opened in 1933 as a hospital for the Marines. It continues to function as a medical center...
); other key figures in the clinic were Lyle Griffith, an Oglala Sioux who was then a medical resident at the University of Washington, and Lyle's wife Donna Griffith, and later New Yorkers Peter and Hinda Schnurman, Jill Marsden from England, and pharmacist Eveline Takahashi.
At this time, Bernie Whitebear left Boeing to become part of this clinic, which in 1969 established itself as a separate non-profit, the Seattle Indian Health Board (SIHB). In 1970, Whitebear became the group's first executive director. Lawney Reyes characterizes the SIHB as "the first major achievement for the Indian community in Seattle," and remarks that his brother became executive director not because he knew anything in particular about healthcare but "because he was Indian and well spoken." Jill Marsden became increasingly the real administrator of the group, and after about a year Whitebear resigned, in order to focus more on obtaining some sort of land base for Seattle's Indians. A national search for a new executive director ended up hiring Whitebear's sister Luana, who until this time had been a successful businesswoman in San Francisco. Over the next decade, she built SIHB into a 200-employee institution recognized as a national model, and launched herself on a career path that ultimately led to the deputy directorship of the federal Indian Health Service
Indian Health Service
Indian Health Service is an Operating Division within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services . IHS is responsible for providing medical and public health services to members of federally recognized Tribes and Alaska Natives...
.
Shortly after this, he became heavily involved in the movement to make sure that Indians would gain a share of the land in Seattle that the federal government freeing up as they reduced the size of the Fort Lawton
Fort Lawton
Fort Lawton is a United States Army fort located in the Magnolia neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. The fort was included in the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure list.-History:...
army post. The group was influenced by the Indians Of All Tribes
Indians of All Tribes
Indians of All Tribes may refer to one of two organizations:*Indians of All Tribes, based out of San Francisco, and responsible for the Occupation of Alcatraz...
(IAT) who were then occupying Alcatraz Island
Occupation of Alcatraz
The Occupation of Alcatraz was an occupation of Alcatraz Island by the group Indians of All Tribes . The Alcatraz Occupation lasted for nineteen months, from November 20, 1969, to June 11, 1971, and was forcibly ended by the U.S. government.-Background:...
in San Francisco Bay. Initially, they called themselves "Kinatechitapi", Blackfoot
Blackfoot language
Blackfoot, also known as Siksika , Pikanii, and Blackfeet, is the Algonquian language spoken by the Blackfoot tribes of Native Americans, who currently live in the northwestern plains of North America...
for "All Indians". Their first efforts to open discussions with the City of Seattle in advance of the turnover of the land failed. The City said it would not open discussions until it had the land, and referred them to the Bureau of Indian Affairs
Bureau of Indian Affairs
The Bureau of Indian Affairs is an agency of the federal government of the United States within the US Department of the Interior. It is responsible for the administration and management of of land held in trust by the United States for Native Americans in the United States, Native American...
(BIA). As Whitebear later wrote, "This action displayed their ignorance of both the BIA's restricted service policy, which excluded urban Indians, and also the disregard and disfavor urban Indians held for the BIA."
The Kinatechitapi split between a faction that called for direct action
Direct action
Direct action is activity undertaken by individuals, groups, or governments to achieve political, economic, or social goals outside of normal social/political channels. This can include nonviolent and violent activities which target persons, groups, or property deemed offensive to the direct action...
and one that preferred to wait until the land was in city hands and then attempt negotiation. Prominent among those who preferred to wait was Pearl Warren, founder of the American Indian Women's Service League, who was concerned that a militant attitude would undercut the existing city-funded services. It was peaceably agreed that those who wished to take more extreme action would not use the name "Kinatechitapi", but the resulting tensions led to Warren losing the next election for the Service League presidency to Joyce Reyes.
The more militant faction soon adopted the name "American Indian Fort Lawton Occupation Forces". Some of the Indians of All Tribes came in from Alcatraz, including Richard Oaks, leader of that action; other activists came from Canada. A plan was formed to invade the base. Another arrival was Grace Thorpe, daughter of athlete Jim Thorpe
Jim Thorpe
Jacobus Franciscus "Jim" Thorpe * Gerasimo and Whiteley. pg. 28 * americaslibrary.gov, accessed April 23, 2007. was an American athlete of mixed ancestry...
. Meanwhile, ongoing protests around nearby Fort Lewis
Fort Lewis
Joint Base Lewis-McChord is a United States military facility located south-southwest of Tacoma, Washington. The facility is under the jurisdiction of the United States Army Joint Base Garrison, Joint Base Lewis-McChord....
, including by American Indian soldiers, were tying native rights to opposition to the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. At the behest of the Fort Lewis coalition, Jane Fonda
Jane Fonda
Jane Fonda is an American actress, writer, political activist, former fashion model, and fitness guru. She rose to fame in the 1960s with films such as Barbarella and Cat Ballou. She has won two Academy Awards and received several other movie awards and nominations during more than 50 years as an...
was in town when the invasion took place. According to Whitebear, her presence "captured the imagination of the world press. American Indians were attacking active military forts along with one of the nation's leading opponents of United States involvement in the Vietnam War." Her presence transformed "an effort to secure a land base for urban Indians" into "a bizarre, ready-for-prime-time, movie scenario, complete with soldiers, modern-day Indians, and anti-war activists. Without really appreciating it at the time, the Indian movement had achieved through Jane Fonda's presence, a long-sought credibility which would not have been possible otherwise."
On March 8, 1970, Whitebear was among the leaders—arguably the leader—of about 100 "Native Americans and sympathizers" who confronted military police in riot gear at the fort. The MPs ejected them from the fort, but they were able to establish an encampment outside the fort. Organizing as the United Indians of All Tribes Foundation (UIATF), they used tactics ranging from politicking to occupation of land to celebrity appearances. Some of the key politicking came at the federal level: UIATF, like the City, filed to directly acquire land that the federal government was releasing, and the federal government ultimately insisted that the two come up with a joint plan. Negotiations, confrontation and even a Congressional
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
intervention combined in November 1971 to give them a 99-year lease on 20 acres (81,000 m²) in what would become Seattle's Discovery Park
Discovery Park (Seattle)
Discovery Park is a 534 acre park in the peninsular Magnolia neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. It is the city's largest public park and contains 11.81 miles of walking trails. United Indians of All Tribes' Daybreak Star Cultural Center is within the park's boundaries...
, with options for renewal without renegotiation. In addition, the City gave $600,000 to the American Indian Women' Service League for a social services center.
Whitebear was soon elected CEO of the UIATF. At UIATF, he successfully oversaw fundraising (including a million dollar grant from the state) and construction for what would become the Daybreak Star Cultural Center
Daybreak Star Cultural Center
The Daybreak Star Cultural Center is a Native American cultural center in Seattle, Washington, described by its parent organization United Indians of All Tribes as "an urban base for Native Americans in the Seattle area." Located on 20 acres in Seattle's Discovery Park in the Magnolia...
. His brother Lawney Reyes — a sculptor, designer, curator, and later memoirist (as well as his biographer: Bernie Whitebear: An Urban Indian's Quest for Justice, 2006) — joined with architects Arai Jackson to design the facility, which opened in 1977.
Along with Bob Santos, Roberto Maestas, and Larry Gossett
Larry Gossett
Larry Gossett is an American politician. He is a member of the King County Council, representing District 2...
, he became one of Seattle's so-called "Gang of Four
Gang of Four (Seattle)
In the politics of Seattle, Washington in the United States, "Gang of Four" refers to Bernie Whitebear, Bob Santos, Roberto Maestas, and Larry Gossett, who founded Seattle's Minority Executive Directors's Coalition....
" or "Four Amigos" who founded Seattle's Minority Executive Directors's Coalition. He continued to build the UIATF as an institution, with programs ranging from the La-ba-te-yah youth home in the Crown Hill
Crown Hill, Seattle, Washington
There is also a Crown Hill Cemetery, in Indianapolis, IndianaCrown Hill is a neighborhood in the city of Seattle, in the US state of Washington.The neighborhood is bounded on the south by N.W...
neighborhood to the Sacred Circle Art Gallery at Daybreak Star, as well as a pre-school, family support programs, and a large annual pow-wow
Pow-wow
A pow-wow is a gathering of North America's Native people. The word derives from the Narragansett word powwaw, meaning "spiritual leader". A modern pow-wow is a specific type of event where both Native American and non-Native American people meet to dance, sing, socialize, and honor American...
held every July. In addition, UIATF acquired other land in Seattle outside of Daybreak Star, including a quarter-block downtown at Second and Cherry.
In the same era when Daybreak Star was being constructed, Whitebear served on the Seattle Arts Commission. In 1995, he was appointed to the board of the National Museum of the American Indian
National Museum of the American Indian
The National Museum of the American Indian is a museum operated under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution that is dedicated to the life, languages, literature, history, and arts of the native Americans of the Western Hemisphere...
, and was involved in the planning for the museum that opened September 21, 2004 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
. He was also involved in the early planning for two other projects, neither of which has been achieved as of 2007. A People's Lodge at Daybreak Star is intended to include a Hall of Ancestors, a Potlatch House, a theater, and a museum; the Pacific Northwest Indian Canoe Center is intended as part of the ongoing development at South Lake Union
South Lake Union, Seattle, Washington
South Lake Union is a neighborhood in Seattle, Washington, so named because it is at the south tip of Lake Union.The official boundaries of the City of Seattle Urban Center are Denny Way on the south, beyond which is Denny Triangle; Interstate 5 on the east, beyond which is Capitol Hill; Aurora...
, just north of downtown. Whitebear's death impacted both of these projects. , construction of the People's Lodge has been indefinitely postponed. A Native American Canoe Center is in the master plan for South Lake Union Park; as of 2007, it is being referred to as the Northwest Canoe Center. An October 2007 grant from the Northwest Area Foundation should allow this project (and several other UIATF projects) to proceed.
Whitebear died of colon cancer, July 16, 2000.
Character and legacy
Whitebear has been the subject of many tributes. One of the most unusual came from Washington governor Gary LockeGary Locke
Gary Locke may refer to:*Gary Locke , Chinese American politician; U.S. Secretary of Commerce and former Governor of Washington*Gary Locke *Gary Locke...
, who in November 1997 declared him to be the state's First Citizen of the Decade, later remarking after Whitebear's death that it should have been "of the Century". Vine Deloria, Jr.
Vine Deloria, Jr.
Vine Deloria, Jr. was an American Indian author, theologian, historian, and activist. He was widely known for his book Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto , which helped generate national attention to Native American issues in the same year as the Alcatraz-Red Power Movement...
called him the most important Indian of the last century.
Besides his prominence as an activist and administrator, Whitebear continued intermittently to perform on stage. He and his Gang of Four colleagues sang and danced annually at the Community Show-Offs, where they "usually stole the show".
Whitebear never married, nor had children, although Marilyn Sieber of the Nit Nat tribe was his "constant companion" for more than a decade in the 1970s and '80s, and the two were at one point engaged. However, in effect, he was like a parent to "every Indian kid in Seattle", He never acquired a personal fortune: he gave away most money that came his way to those he considered needier, even borrowing money from his siblings to do so. His only monetary self-indulgence was a collection of old cars that he tinkered with in his spare time. Most of them sat in his back yard; others ended up at Daybreak Star or in friends' yards.
Whitebear's death was front-page news in the Seattle Times and Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer is an online newspaper and former print newspaper covering Seattle, Washington, United States, and the surrounding metropolitan area...
. In fact, the Times ran front page stories on two successive days.
In memory of Whitebear, there is now a Bernie Whitebear Memorial Ethnobotanical Garden next to the Daybreak Star Cultural Center. He and his sister Luana are both memorialized by their brother Lawney's public sculpture "Dreamcatcher" at the corner of Yesler Way and 32nd Street in Seattle. The eleventh floor of King County's
King County, Washington
King County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. The population in the 2010 census was 1,931,249. King is the most populous county in Washington, and the 14th most populous in the United States....
Chinook Building at Fifth and Jefferson is also named in his honor.
External links
- Urban Indians and Seattle's civil rights history, Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project, contains numerous oral histories, research reports, and other documents, many of which relate to Bernie Whitebear's life, including some of his own writings in Indian Center News.
- Bernie Whitebear, A Brief History of the United Indians of All Tribes Foundation, written in 1994.
- Year-End Tribute to Hazel Wolf, Jacob Lawrence, Alan Hovhaness, and Bernie Whitebear, KCTS/Seattle television, December 28, 2000, includes video footage.