Invitation to Ethel Whitener's birthday and announcement of Longhouse plans

Item

Title: Invitation to Ethel Whitener's birthday and announcement of Longhouse plans
Date: 1981
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November -..1 6, 198 i -·~.'

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Greetings:
This letter carries with it the hope that you and your family are in
good health and able to travel, since it is also an invitation to participate in the honori~ of the 77th birthday of Ethel Whitener, and to share
in the announcement of plans to provide a gathering place m9deZed after the
traditional Northwest Coast Longhouse structure on the campus of The Evergreen
State College. The event wiZZ occur on the 4th day of December, 1981, at
the Squaxin Tribal Center beginning at 6:00 PM.
You are invited to aome at any time to help in the preparation. The
celebration witt occur at a t~itional dinner as a family potlatch. The
dinner is a fourth annual such event held in joint effort between The Evergreen
State College and the Squaxin Island Tribe to foster a partnership of the
students, the community and the college.
Other activities are also being planned as a part of the dinner. The
main focus wiU be on two significant items. 1) Ethel's birthday and the
generational link between herself and her partents, as well as the lin~ with
her family as represented by the younger generations of the present and those
of the future, and 2) the announcem.ent of the concept of a Zonghouse project
to be a part of The Ever~reen State College.
A special effort is being made to encourage the presence of Ethel's family
and friends, as weZZ as those of us who have an interest in the establishment
of a gathering place of recognition and dignity of Native American Culture
and heritage.
This invitation is being sent with love in hopes that you can be with
us to share in a time of celebration, honor and recognition, as we exchange
thoughts of the past, ideas of the present and plans for the future.
Looking forward to your presence.

The Squaxin Island Tribe
The Family of Ethel and Percy Whitener
Native American Studies, Life Model i ng:
_ ..... A .Bence of Being, The Evergreen State
College
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Media: 1973-86_NAS_8D38_02_25