Bernie Whitebear: An Urban Indian's Quest for Justice

by Lawney L. Reyes

When American Indians left reservations in the 1950s, enticed by the federal government’s relocation program, many were drawn to cities like Tacoma and Seattle. But in these new homes they found unemployment and discrimination, and they were no better off. Sin Aikst Indian Bernie Whitebear was an urban activist in the Pacific Northwest during the last decades of the twentieth century, a man dedicated to improving the lives of Indians and other ethnic groups by working for change and justice. He unified Northwest tribes to fight for the return of their land and was the first to accomplish this in the United States. But far from a fearsome agitator, Bernie was a persuasive figure who won the praise and admiration of an entire community. Bernie began organizing powwows in the 1960s with an eye toward greater authenticity; and by making a name in the Seattle area as an entertainment promoter, he soon became a successful networker and master of diplomacy, enabling him to win over those who had long ignored the problems of urban Indians. Soft-spoken but outspoken, Bernie successfully negotiated with officials at all levels of government on behalf of Indians and other minorities, crossing into political territory normally off-limits to his people. Bernie Whitebear’s story takes readers from an impoverished youth—including a rare account of life on the Colville Reservation during the 1930s—to the “Red Power” movement as it traces Bernie’s emergence as an activist influenced by contemporaries such as Bob Satiacum, Vine DeLoria, and Joe Delacruz. By choosing this course, Bernie was clearly making a break with his past, but with an eye toward a better future, whether staging the successful protest at Fort Lawton or acting on behalf of Native fishing rights in Puget Sound. When he died in July 2000, Bernie Whitebear had left an inestimable legacy, accomplishing things that no other Indian seemed able to do. His biography is an inspiring story for readers at many levels, an account of how one American Indian overcame hardships and obstacles to make a difference in the lives of his people—and an entire community.

Genres: Indigenous, Nonfiction, Biography

192 pages, Paperback

First published April 13, 2006

Reviews

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bernie Whitebear was an important activist for Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest, especially the Seattle area, and this history of his life by his brother Lawney is of considerable interest for anyone who lives here. But except for details about where the family moved and why, or the charming anecdotes about Whitebear's sense of humor, it didn't tell me much more than a Wikipedia entry or detailed obituary would. The book certainly doesn't delve deeply into Whitebear's motivations or struggles, and includes almost nothing about his adult personal life. Finally, although the writing is competent, it is also quite flat. All in all, I am glad I read the book but it is not a notable work in terms of writing or the level of information provided.

[David Grosskopf · Rating 3 out of 5]

This biography of Bernie Whitebear is written with great tenderness and admiration by Whitebear's older brother, Lawney Reyes. Its drumbeat is one of such affection for his brother's energy, warmth, humor and generosity, and wonder at the leadership and fundraising prowess of someone who kept giving his own money away and yet brought together Washington tribes in Seattle with multiple programs, agencies, and in the crowning achievement, winning back 20 acres of land at Discovery Park, which became the Daybreak Star Center in 1977.

I thought I was going to read this book quickly, just gather in its facts: But because it was written with such love, I was much more tender in my reading, giving the paragraphs care back.

The biography captures Lawney, Luana and Bernard's childhood as one that also sees great changes in the lives of Columbia basin tribes, including theirs, the Sin-Aikst People, due most powerfully to the Grand Coulee Dam, brought into this world at about the same time as little Bernard, in 1937. Their uncle was a chief of the Lakes Indians, and his uncle was a chief, and their lives were sustained and given meaning by salmon. I had read recently about Kettle Falls, and what a sacred and important trading post it had been before this time. But when the Grand Coulee was built, the Kettle Falls were swallowed up in still water and the salmon were choked off. The livelihoods of all the Columbia basin tribes were starved off.

This biography details the way Indians faced at the same time bigotry that kept them from jobs and left them to split and catch as catch can and drink. Through the beginning of this, when a judge forced the older two siblings into a boarding school far away, little Bernard had to entertain himself with his father, always gone, and most of all, the two very poor adults who cared for him while his father tried to earn some money.

In these descriptions, the older brother captures the motor-mouthed excitement and curiosity and joy of his young little sibling when Lawney and his sister return from school, and this indefatigable positive energy remains a defining characteristic, even as Bernard Reyes becomes a teenager and a green beret and Bernie Whitebear and an activist. He's the one cooking the salmon at the pow wows -- a ritual of dance and music from the Plains Indians, Bernie had at first shunned because coastal Indians were losing their own songs and dances already -- but soon he embraced these as a uniting and educating power. He was involved in fish-ins and occupying Discovery Park and in countless youth and other Indian programs and physical real estate.

Here's what I think, reading this: First, I love the love in this book. Second, Bernie Whitebear is a genuine hero of Seattle, and one from whom we can learn in his generosity and warmth, the activism and energetic outreach, the willingness to cause some trouble.

[Bearclaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a great reminder of the many things Bear did for us natives of the Northwest. I hope that the bear will inspire more natives to think of the other unfortunate natives in our area. He is a hero in my heart.