Lawney Reyes

Lawney L. Reyes (born c. 1931 [Reyes 2002 does not give a birth date explicitly, but says (p. 92) that he was nine years old in August 1940.] [Levi J. Long, [http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=reception27m&date=20040227 Sculpture returns to its roots: 'Blue Jay' memorializes late Colville tribe activist] , "Seattle Times", February 27, 2004 (Accessed online 17 March 2007) refers to him as a "72-year-old artist" in February 2004.] in Bend, Oregon [The [http://web.mac.com/darrenhelen/iWeb/Lawney%20L.%20Reyes/Bio.html biography] on his [http://www.lawneyreyes.com/ official site] , accessed 11 March 2007, says that he was born in Bend, and that his family moved to the Colville Reservation in 1933, but does not give a date of birth.] ) is an American Indian artist, curator and memoirist. [Reyes 2002, "passim."]

Life

Reyes' mother, born Mary Christian, was Sin Aikst (now known as the Sinixt and historically as the Lakes tribe, one of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation); his father, Julian Reyes, was Filipino, but had largely assimilated to an Indian way of life. His mother's father, Alex Christian, was known as "Pic Ah Kelowna," "White Grizzly Bear"; his great uncle (brother of his maternal grandmother) was Chief James Bernard, a Sin Aikst leader in the early 20th century. [Reyes 2002, p. 28–50.]

Reyes' early childhood was spent largely on the Colville Indian Reservation in Washington. In 1935–1937, during the period of construction of the Grand Coulee Dam, his parents had moved to the Coulee and started a Chinese restaurant even though " [n] either of them could prepare Chinese food except for simple dishes such as pork fried rice, egg foo-yung, and chop suey". They soon acquired an ethnically Chinese partner and cook, Harry Wong; Wong bought them out of the restaurant in 1937. [Reyes 2002, p. 74–75.] His parents separated in 1939 and subsequently divorced; [Reyes 2002, p. 90.] his mother would later work again for Wong in Tacoma, Washington, and eventually marry him. [Reyes 2002, p. 185, 194.]

From 1940 to 1942, Reyes was a student at the Chemawa Indian School five miles north of Salem, Oregon; he would later write that his consciousness of being "Indian" was largely formed through his conversations there with other students. The rest of his childhood and youth was spent living with his father, variously on the Colville Reservation and in Okanogan, Washington. [Reyes 2002, "passim." In particular, p. 112 "These experiences helped me develop for the first time the feeling of being an Indian."]

After graduating from Okanogan High School, he initially moved to Tacoma, Washington, living with his mother. [Reyes 2002, p. 181–182.] He moved back east across the mountains and attended Wenatchee Junior College, where he obtained a two-year degree. [ [http://web.mac.com/darrenhelen/iWeb/Lawney%20L.%20Reyes/Bio.html Biography] on his official site, accessed 11 March 2007.] He met Joyce Meacham, a Yakama and Warm Springs Indian; they were married in 1955; she later had a career in social work and especially in Indian Health programs. He served in the U.S. Army; active service and leave gave him the opportunity to see much of Europe, from Pompeii to Malmö, Sweden, which confirmed his interest in working in a field related to "architecture design, and art". Upon his return he attended the University of Washington, studying painting and sculpture and majoring in interior design. [Reyes 2002, p. 181–182; 184–185 for his wife's later career.] He graduated in 1959cite web | title=100 Top Books By 100 UW Authors|url=http://www.washington.edu/alumni/columns/dec06/content/view/12/1/1/7/| accessdate=2007-08-16 ] .

He worked for Seafirst Bank, initially as a designer, eventually creating and curating the Seafirst Corporate Art Collection. During this time, he also used his nights and weekends to be a sculptor (mainly in wood) and a freelance interior designer. [Reyes 2002, p. 182.] He became an increasingly acclaimed artist—winning a major award from the Center for Indian Art in Washington, D.C. and being invited to teach Contemporary Indian Art at the University of Washington—and curator, serving as commissioner of the Seattle Arts Commission and a member of the (Washington) Governor's Task Force for the state's arts appropriation budget. [Reyes 2002, p. 182–185.]

He took early retirement from Seafirst in 1984, and traveled North America visiting various Indian tribes, [Reyes 2002, p.185.] and later writing two books, his memoir "White Grizzly Bear's Legacy: Learning to be Indian" and a biography of his brother "Bernie Whitebear: An Urban Indian's Quest for Justice".

Reyes' late brother Bernie Whitebear was a prominent activist, a founder of the Seattle Indian Health Board (SIHB), the United Indians of All Tribes Foundation, and the Daybreak Star Cultural Center; SIHB would grow to prominence under the directorship of their late sister, Luana Reyes, who eventually became the number two person in the U.S. federal government's Indian Health Services. [Reyes 2002, p. 185 "et. seq."]

Writings

Reyes' 2002 memoir "White Grizzly Bear's Legacy: Learning to be Indian" combines his own memories and research with notes from library and field research (including taped interviews) done by his mother before her death in a traffic accident in May 1978. [Reyes 2002, p. xi–xvi.] Among other things, it describes fishing at Kettle Falls on the Columbia River and living in Inchelium, Washington at its old site, before both Kettle Falls and Old Inchelium were flooded by the rising waters after the construction of Grand Coulee Dam (which also prevented salmon from reaching the Upper Columbia); the life of the Sin Aikst/Lakes as the flooding and other changes rendered many of their traditional ways impossible, along with their attempts to preserve elements of their traditions; and the ambivalent effect of institutions such as the Chemawa Indian School circa 1940, simultaneously acculturating natives to the dominant American culture while also instilling a sense of "Indianness" rather than just their individual tribes. [Reyes 2002, "passim."]

His other book — "Bernie Whitebear: An Urban Indian's Quest for Justice" (2006) — is a biography of his brother Bernie Whitebear (1937–2000), one of the so-called "Gang of Four" or "Four Amigos" who founded Seattle's Minority Executive Directors's Coalition. [ [http://depts.washington.edu/civilr/maestas.htm Roberto Maestas] , Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project, University of Washington. Accessed 11 March 2007.] [Jamie Garner and Dorry Elias, "Bernie Whitebear: Elegy for a gone-but-never-forgotten activist", "Real Change" (Seattle's "homeless paper"), 15 August 2000.]

As of 2007, he is working on a third book, "B Street: A Gathering of Saints and Sinners", about the Grand Coulee area between 1933 and 1941, during the construction of the Grand Coulee Dam. [ [http://web.mac.com/darrenhelen/iWeb/Lawney%20L.%20Reyes/Bio.html Biography] on his official site, accessed 11 March 2007.]

culpture and design

Reyes helped design the Daybreak Star Cultural Center; his sculpture "Blue Jay" (which measures 30 feet (9 m) wide and 12 feet (3.7 m) high) hung prominently for over 30 years at the Bank of California building in downtown Seattle; after a bank merger it came to hang at Daybreak Star in 2004. [ [http://depts.washington.edu/civilr/reyes.htm Lawney Reyes] , Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project, University of Washington. Accessed 11 March 2007.] [http://www.unitedindians.com/daybreak.html Daybreak Star Cultural Center home page] . Accessed 11 March 2007.] His "Dreamcatcher", at the corner of 32nd Avenues and Yesler Way in Seattle honors the memory of his brother Bernie and his sister Luana. [ [http://depts.washington.edu/civilr/reyes.htm Lawney Reyes] , Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project, University of Washington. Accessed 11 March 2007.]

Reyes received the Washington State Arts Commission Governor's Arts Award in 1971. [ [http://www.arts.wa.gov/default.html?wsacGAHA.html~accontent List of the Governor's Arts Awards] , Washington State Arts Commission. Accessed 11 March 2007.]

Notes

References

* Lawney L. Reyes, "White Grizzly Bear's Legacy: Learning to be Indian", University of Washington Press, 2002. ISBN 0-295-98202-0.
* Lawney L. Reyes, "Bernie Whitebear: An Urban Indian's Quest for Justice", University of Arizona, 2006. ISBN 0-816-52521-8. ISBN-13 978-0816525218.

External links

* [http://www.lawneyreyes.com/ Official site] . Images include [http://web.mac.com/darrenhelen/iWeb/Lawney%20L.%20Reyes/Art%20.html photographs of some of his art] .
* [http://depts.washington.edu/civilr/reyes.htm Lawney Reyes] , Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project, University of Washington. Includes extensive video of interviews with Reyes.