Native American violinist captivates campus audience

Oct. 8, 2009— Yesterday, Native American violinist Swil Kanim held rapt an audience of prospective students and members of the campus community as he deftly intertwined stories of his youth with music and meditations on what it is to hold on to one’s sense of self in the midst of the journey to enlightenment -- namely, the journey one follows in pursuit of higher education.

He reminded us, “We are not human doings, we are human beings.”

Kanim, a member of the Lummi Nation, told stories of sneaking away every week to his best friend’s house to practice violin, despite his foster parents’ crushing discouragement of his musical pursuits, and how he and his friend became first and second chairs in the school orchestra thanks to their devoted practice.

Then there was the story of Miss Doer, the fourth-grade teacher who became his heroine when she taught him that love does, indeed, know color, and that it is an honor to be loved for one’s color as much as for anything else.

And Kanim is as fine a composer as he is a storyteller. His original works were captivating.

Many thanks to Sharon Parker (Equity and Diversity) and the Symposium for Native American Issues in Higher Education for bringing this wonderful educator to campus.