Luana Reyes

Luana Reyes (c. 1933 [Reyes 2002 does not give a birth date explicitly, but says (p. 92) that she was seven years old in August 1940.] – 5 November 2001 ["A Tribute…" 2002] ) was an American Indian health care administrator. As executive director of the Seattle Indian Health Board 1972–1982, she grew that institution from a staff of five to nearly 200 and made it a model for urban Indian institutions; subsequently, she worked for the federal Indian Health Services, eventually becoming deputy director of that 14,000-person institution. [Reyes 2002, p. 185–186.] [Reyes 2002 gives her title as "assistant director," but the July 1999 [http://www.ncai.org/ncai/resource/documents/governance/CSCfinalrep.htm Final Report] of the National Congress of American Indians National Policy Work Group on Contract Support Costs (accessed online 11 March 2007) gives it as Deputy Director, as does [http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/prof/heart/other/aianwksp/aianwksp.pdf Summary Report for the “Mobilizing American Indian and Alaska Native Communities Workshop on Improving Cardiovascular Health”, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute — Indian Health Board Partnership] , May 7–8, 2001 (accessed online 11 March 2007) and other similar official documents.]

On October 10, 2001, shortly before her death of aplastic anemia, she received the Presidential Rank Meritorious Award. ["A Tribute…" 2002; Reyes 2002, p. 186]

Life

Reyes' mother, born Mary Christian, was Sin Aikst (now known as Lakes tribe, one of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation); her father, Julian Reyes, was Filipino, but had largely assimilated to an Indian way of life. Her 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, her 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.] Her parents separated in 1939 and subsequently divorced; [Reyes 2002, p. 90.] her mother would later work again for Wong in Tacoma, Washington, and eventually marry him. [Reyes 2002, p. 185, 194.]

From 1940 to 1942, Reyes and her older brother Lawney were students at the Chemawa Indian School five miles north of Salem, Oregon [Reyes 2002, "passim."] After graduating from Okanogan High School (Okanogan, Washington) in 1951, she moved to Tacoma, Washington, living with her mother, working in a department store and for Harry Wong's restaurant. [Reyes 2002, p. 185.] She worked over the next twenty years in the private sector in San Francisco, Hawaii, and Seattle before succeeding her younger brother, activist Bernie Whitebear, as executive director of the Seattle Indian Health Board, which, over the next decade she transformed from a tiny organization with a staff of five [Reyes 2002, p. 185, 187.] into "a comprehensive community health care center with a multimillion-dollar budget and over 190 full-time health professionals and support staff." ["A Tribute…" 2002] During this time, she helped to found the American Indian Health Care Association, now known as the National Council on Urban Indian Health. ["A Tribute…" 2002] Subsequently, after a brief stint as executive director of the Puyallup Nation Health Authority community health program, ["A Tribute…" 2002] she worked at the headquarters of the federal Indian Health Services (Rockville, Maryland), eventually becoming director of headquarters operations and deputy director of that 14,000-person institution. [Reyes 2002, p. 185–186, but see note above on the title "deputy director".] ["A Tribute…" 2002] [For "director of headquarters operations" see [http://www.senate.gov/~scia/1998hrgs/1007_lr.pdf Reyes' testimony] before the Indian Affairs Committee of the U.S. Senate, October 7, 1998, regarding tribal self-governance and healthcare. Accessed online 11 March 2007.]

She had one child, a daughter, Kecia, born in 1985. [Reyes 2002, p. 185.]

Reyes' brother Bernie Whitebear (1937–2000) was a prominent activist, a founder not only of the Seattle Indian Health Board (SIHB), but of the United Indians of All Tribes Foundation, and the Daybreak Star Cultural Center; her older brother Lawney Reyes is a sculptor, designer, curator, and memoirist. [Reyes 2002, "passim", especially p. 181 "et. seq."]

There is now a Luana Reyes Leadership Award named in her honor. ["Other News", [http://www.navajo.org/images/pdf%20releases/KFrancisPR/dec06/Navajo%20Nation%20Council%20overrides%20veto%20of%20funds%20for%20Chapters,%20passes%20Legislation%20to%20establish%20Navajo%20Code%20Talkers%20Day_Dec22.pdf press release] , Karen Francis, Public Information Officer, Navajo Nation Council Office of the Speaker, December 22, 2006. Accessed online 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.
* "A Tribute to Luana L. Reyes", [http://www.nihb.org/docs/conf_consumer_2002_program.doc The National Indian Health Board Presents Its 19th Annual Consumer Conference] ] (Microsoft Word document) Accessed online 11 March 2007.