Canku Ota Logo

Canku Ota

Canku Ota Logo

(Many Paths)

An Online Newsletter Celebrating Native America

 

October 5, 2002 - Issue 71

 
 

pictograph divider

 
     
 

Keeping Their Stories Alive

 
 
by Katherine Schiffner Everett, Washington Herald Writer
 
 
credits: Pat Brown, 66, (left) a former Stillaguamish tribal member who's now a Puyallup tribal elder, and Shirley Munger, 55, a Stillaguamish tribal elder, are interviewed for a video project recording the stories and memories of the Stillaguamish Tribe. Photo by Stephanie S. Cordle / The Herald
 

Pat Brown, 66, (left) a former Stillaguamish tribal member who's now a Puyallup tribal elder, and Shirley Munger, 55, a Stillaguamish tribal elder, are interviewed for a video project recording the stories and memories of the Stillaguamish Tribe. Photo by Stephanie S. Cordle / The Herald

ARLINGTON, WA - Members of the Stillaguamish Tribe are sharing their family histories on video in a project that aims to preserve tribal history and pass that knowledge on to future generations.

The interviews "are like opening a portal to the past," said Shirley Munger, 55, chairwoman of the Stillaguamish Tribe's elders committee. "I knew some of my ancestors, but I didn't know their history."

Munger, who is related to seven generations of chiefs, said she was reluctant to do an interview at first, but was persuaded to participate because she wants her grandchildren to know their ancestry.

"All this information will be here for our children," she said. "That's the most important thing."

The project was funded by a federal grant of about $70,000 under the Native American Graves Repatriation and Protection Act, said tribal member Jeff Tatro, who does cultural preservation work and other jobs for the tribe. A second grant also helped, he said.

Tatro, who's done 12 interviews for the project during the past year, said many tribal members were nervous about speaking on camera.

"Some people who were willing to give a written history, or even an audiotaped interview, did not want to be on video," he said. "But we just kept approaching them and let them know how important to the future this is."

Shawn Yanity, vice chairman of the tribe, said even his mother needed some convincing. Smiling as he watched her videotaped interview again last week, Yanity said the video is an invaluable link to the past.

"It will be neat for my kids and grandkids to sit down and hear these stories being told," he said.

He said he wishes the tribe had started the project years earlier.

"A lot of elders have passed and when they go, a lot of information goes with them," Yanity said. "You're in the position of wishing you'd asked the questions before."

Through the interviews, the tribe has learned about the location of some former tribal villages and traditional hunting and berry-gathering areas, he said. Some of the information is intended for tribal use only, Yanity said, out of concern non-tribal members would be drawn to tribal cemeteries and other culturally sensitive areas.

Munger said in her interview, which has not been finished yet, she recalled when salmon were so plentiful in the Stillaguamish River that they could be grabbed by hand and thrown out of the river.

"This brought back a lot of memories of my childhood," she said.

More interviews are planned with elders of other tribes who have knowledge about the Stillaguamish Tribe, which has 192 members.

Pat Brown, 66, a Stillaguamish Tribe fish and wildlife officer, is also sharing his extensive knowledge on video. He remembered listening to tribal elders share stories when he was a child.

"That's how I learned," said Brown, who is the chairman of the Stillaguamish Tribe's culture committee. "They were teaching us how to live in the future, and that's what I'm doing today."

Arlington, WA MAP
Maps by Expedia.com Travel
www.expedia.com

pictograph divider

     

Home PageFront PageArchivesOur AwardsAbout Us

Kid's PageColoring BookCool LinksGuest BookEmail Us

     
 

pictograph divider

 
  Canku Ota is a free Newsletter celebrating Native America, its traditions and accomplishments . We do not provide subscriber or visitor names to anyone. Some articles presented in Canku Ota may contain copyright material. We have received appropriate permissions for republishing any articles. Material appearing here is distributed without profit or monetary gain to those who have expressed an interest. This is in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107.  
     
 

Canku Ota is a copyright © 2000, 2001, 2002 of Vicki Lockard and Paul Barry.

 
Canku Ota Logo   Canku Ota Logo

The "Canku Ota - A Newsletter Celebrating Native America" web site and its design is the

Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 of Paul C. Barry.

All Rights Reserved.


Thank You

Valid HTML 4.01!