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Urban Indians and Seattle's civil rights history
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This page is a guide to the Seattle Civil
Rights and Labor History Project resources for exploring the civil
rights activism of Urban Indians in the Pacific Northwest. They
include activist oral histories, research reports, newspaper reports,
photographic collections, historical documents, |
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Activist Oral Histories
Click to learn more about these activists and
watch video excerpts of their oral history interviews.
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 Bennett,
Ramona
A Puyallup, Ramona Bennett has been pioneering activist on behalf of Indian rights since joining the American Indian Women's Service league in the 1950s. In 1964 she co-founded the Survival of American Indians Association. In 1971, she was elected Puyallup Tribal Chairwoman, becoming one of the first women to lead a tribe. She was one of the principal authors of the Indian Child Welfare Act passed by Congress in 1978. |
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 Bill,
Willard
A member of the Muckleshoot tribe,
Willard Bill has spent forty years providing educational services to Native
peoples and non Indians in Washington state. He has taught at the University
of Washington, where he helped develop the Office of Minority Affairs. He
worked for the State Department of Education and the Seattle Community
College District. He is currently Muckleshoot tribal historian. |
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 Lewis,
Randy
Born on the Colville
Reservation, Randy Lewis attended Western Washington College in the 1960s
where he helped found the American Indian Student Union. After participating
in the Alcatraz occupation in 1969, he joined Bernie Whitebear in organizing
the Ft. Lawton takeover in 1970s. He is a longtime member of the United
Indians of All Tribes Foundation. |
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 Paul,
Blair
Born in Alaska and a member of the
Tlingit nation, Blair Paul earned a law degree at the University of
Washington and went to work in 1969 for the Seattle Human Rights Department
on behalf of urban Indians. During the Ft. Lawton takeover, he provided
logistical and legal support and was a founding board member of the United
Indians of All Tribes Foundation. |
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 Raymond,
Jeanne
A member of the Confederated Tribes of
the Umatilla, Jeanne Raymond moved to Washington in her teens, attended
Western Washington College and then graduate school at the University of
Washington. She helped pioneer American Indian Studies at Seattle Community
College and then co-founded Seattle's American Indian Heritage High School. |
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 Reyes,
Lawney
A renowned artist and architect, Lawney
Reyes grew up on the Colville Reservation. With his brother, Bernie
Whitebear, and sister, Luana Reyes, he helped promote Indian activism in
Seattle, including the takeover of Ft. Lawton. Part of the architect team
that designed Daybreak Star Cultural Center, Reyes has also written two
books about his family. |
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Research Reports
The fish-ins of the 1960s were to Native Americans what sit-ins were to the Black civil rights movement. Native activists defied state authorities, suffering arrest and jail time in order to reclaim fishing rights guaranteed in the treaties of the 1850s. In 1974, the federal courts finally recognized their rights. This prize-winning essay examines the historic campaign.
In the early morning hours of March 8, 1970, members of the United Indians of All Tribes jumped the barbed wire fences of Fort Lawton and reclaimed the soon-to-be-decommissioned military base as land that belonged to Native peoples. Thus began an 18 month long struggle that resulted in the establishment of Daybreak Star Cultural Center, one of the first urban Indian cultural centers in the United States.
The invasion of Fort Lawton set off a frenzy of media coverage. Intrigued by the militant action, the major newspapers mixed condescension with mild sympathy while reinscribing old stereotypes. Smaller newspapers took stronger positions. American Indian publications were also divided. This essay analyzes the press coverage, finding fascinating differences of perspective, while arguing that the volume of press coverage was an important breakthrough for Native politics.
Founded in 1958 by Pearl Warren and seven other Native women, The American Indian Women's Service League proved a pivotal institution for Seattle's growing urban Indian population. In 1960, the group opened the Indian Cultural Center which provided social and health services, taught Native cultural awareness, and laid the foundation for the political activism of young urban Indians in the late 1960s and 1970s.
In October 1977, the U.S. Civil Rights Commission began two days of hearings in Seattle. The hearings were in response to mounting tension between local government and business interests and Native American communities over the issue of tribal sovereignty. This article explores the backlash campaign that followed the 1974 Boldt fishing rights decision and the Civil Rights Commission's effort to sort out the controversy.
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Newspaper reports
Published
in Hoquiam and distributed throughout Washington and beyond, The Real
American was a well-written and lively weekly that mixed local tribal news
with coverage of national issues important to Indians. Editor Hugh Howell
and a staff of young Northwest Indians preached pan-Indianism while also
serving up large spreads about beauty contests and other entertainment.
The
Quileute Independent began publication in 1908 in La Push, Washington.
Its editor, W.H. Hudson was a member of the Quileute tribe who had attended
Chemawa Indian School, near Salem, Oregon. The next year the newspaper
changed its name to the Quileute Chieftain with Hudson continuing as
editor. Six issues of the combined newspaper are available on microfilm at
the University of Washington Library
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Photo Collections |
| Maps of residential
patterns |
Document
collections
- Indian Center News 1960-1971
Here is a nearly complete collection of Indian Center News, published by the American Indian Women's Service League. Its pages carried everything from calls for political action to recipees for tradition tribal foods, and contributions from scores of Native writers including Pearl Warren and Bernie Whitebear.
- Newspaper Coverage 1970-1985: United Indians of All Tribes Fight for Fort Lawton
This is a digital archive of the newspaper coverage that accompanied the struggle to reclaim Fort Lawton and build a cultural center for urban Indians in Seattle. These fully readable articles appeared in Seattle Times, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, UW Daily, Bremerton Sun, Awkesansne Notes, Seattle Medium, Seattle Weekly and other newspapers between 1970 and 1985
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Other resources and links
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Video Oral Histories