Letter to Shoalwater Bay Tribal Council from the Longhouse Advisory Coordinator
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Title
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Letter to Shoalwater Bay Tribal Council from the Longhouse Advisory Coordinator
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Date
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1982
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extracted text
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The Evergreen State College
January 27, 1982
Shoalwater .Bay Tribal Council
Shoalwater Reservation
P.O. Box 579
Tokeland, WA 98590
Dear Tribal Council and Members:
'
The Native American
Studies Specialty Program at The Evergreen State College (a
cultural program designed to aid Native Americans attending college), desires to
build a gathering place for Native Americans on the Eyergreen State College .
campus where the water meets the land. It is the wishes of the Native Americans
at Evergreen, and faculty and students, that the Longhouse gathering place be
built in the tradition of the - Northwest Longhouse and serve as a center for
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Native Americans, particularly for the enrichment of Native American eduoation,
art, and culture. It is also the wishes of the Native American Studies members
involved in the planning that the center be used as a gathering place ·for Native
American Nations and Tribal Councils, as well as a place for large meeting
groups involved in Indian affairs. The Longhouse would serve as a · place of
hospitality where non-Indians and Indian people would be educated about cultural
as well as the contemporary concerns of Native Americans. The Longhouse
Advisory Committee feels that The Evergreen State College campus is an
especially good meeting place for .Native AMerican Nations and Tribar ·eouncils· of
the Pacific Northwest because of its close vicinity to the State Capitol in
Olympia. Finally, it is the .wishes of the Native American Studies Specialty
Program that the center can serve as a place where Native American students
enrolled at Evergreen will feel · at home and that the center will attract more
Native Americans to attend college at Evergreen.
The idea for the Longhouse gathering place has not been offlcially accepted by
the College Board for a number of reasons. two very important reasons are that
first, the Board of Trustees wishes to know how much support the project has
from the Indian Nations of Washington State and second, the board wishes to know
specific ideas ~bout the sttucture and uses of the building. Since the
Long house gathering place has been . initially planned to aid Native Americans,
and serve as a meeting place for Tribes of the Northwest, the Longhouse advisory
committee feels that it needs to ask all the Tribes throughout the State for
their support and .also for their ideas concerning the building's structure and
uses. Does the tribal council think that such a place would prove useful to
Native Americans? What would the councils and the people want in such a
Longhouse gathering place and what wouldn't they want? What should be some of
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Olympia. Washington 98505
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the uses, and what should the structure look like? We would appreciate hearing
from you about .what your thoughts and "ideas are about such a gathering place and
if you would permit it, . we would also like to personally visit your area and
talk ~o you about planning development and your .wishes about how .to make the
gathering . place best suit Native American needs • . We look forward to hearing
from you about what you thin·k of this project and whether or not you would
.welcome an information group to come ·and ~talk with you to answer any of your
questions and to respond to your ideas. We need all the support and h~lp that
we can get. Please address your responses to: Native American Studies,
Longhouse Adviso.ry Committee, The Evergreen State College, Olympia, Washington
98505.
Respectfully,
Mel Moon, Jr.
Longhouse Advisory Coordinator
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MM:ap
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