NOTICES
Whitlow Donates Documents, Books to Siletz Tribe, Library
Some Date as Far Back as 1866
by Laurel Johnson
\ few days after Christmas, the
Siletz Tribe received a rare and invalu
able gift from a 1957 Siletz High School
graduate.
More than 50 years have passed
since Leonard Whitlow Jr. discovered
a large collection of Siletz Tribal docu
ments and historical publications in a
decaying building that was located on
Government Hill.
"There was a lean-to type room on
the back of the old hospital and the
records were all over the floor up there.
I often went up there because Ada (Jim
Collins) would tell me stories about the
early reservation and of her trip down
the coast with her grandmother back
to the Rogue River country." he said.
“I had played up on the hill from sec
ond grade on up. All the buildings were
open except the ‘Recreation Hall' that
was built from lumber when they tore
down some of the boarding school."
Upon his discovery of the Siletz rec
ords, Whitlow realized their importance.
“My dad loved history. I think he
passed that on to me," he said. “When
I looked at dates on some of those
records, to me they were old. old. old.
I knew lots of the old Indians and I may
have tried to get someone to ‘care,’ but
that didn't happen. I just knew they
were worth keeping."
Whitlow collected the records from
the building and took them home to
preserve them. With his recent move
because of illness and the need to
downsize his storage space, he decided
to give the records to the people who
would most benefit from their histori
cal value.
On Dec. 28, 2(X)6. Whitlow and tribal
representative Tina Retasket signed a
legal agreement to make the records
available for research by both Indians
and non-lndians. Whitlow indicated that
his actions in presenting the records to
the tribe stem from his love of history.
After graduating from Siletz High
School in 1957, he worked as a his
tory teacher for 30 years, teaching at
Oceanlake Elementary School in Lin
coln City in the early 1960s, and later
at U.S. Grant High School in Portland.
Other than teaching. Whitlow has other
interests within the field of history.
“I have so many history-oriented
hobbies. My family genealogy, my
wife's family genealogy, and I used to
work very hard on Siletz Indian gene
alogy,” he said.
In regards to the gift he has pre
sented to the Siletz Tribe. Whitlow of
fered these words to tribal members:
“Be proud of your local Siletz/Rogue
River heritage and preserve it for fu
ture generations. Don't let your culture
be watered down by dress and tradi
tions of the Great Plains Indians.”
The documents Whitlow gave to the
tribe include publications dated as far
back as 1866 and cover such topics as
government buildings in Siletz, jour
nal records of tribal agency actions, and
miscellaneous correspondence.
One interesting item included in the
papers, said Siletz Tribal Cultural Di
rector Robert Kenttä, “was a stationery
memo/invoice sheet from Frank
Carson's ‘Red Front' Blacksmith Shop
in Toledo dated 1908. Carson was a tribal
member who had a business in Toledo
and the Siletz Agency apparently used
his business.”
Under Kentta’s supervision, the
records will be housed in the Siletz
Tribal Cultural Center and upon its
completion, in archival storage in the
tribal museum.
Concerning his gift of a collection
of books on American Indians to the
Siletz Public Library in late December.
Whitlow noted, “My illness made me
realize that I had to downsize my large
library (teachers love to collect books).
I had spoken to the library about it over
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a year ago. My stipulation with them was
that the books had to remain together
as a collection and that I reserved the
right to borrow books back if I needed
them. Some of my books there will be
on shelves and the more valuable books
will be in a locked case. Most of the
books will not circulate. Their use will
be in the library only. I have some more
books to give them, (but) I just can't
wean myself away from them yet.”
He added. “I enjoyed reading
about Indian history, so I picked up
Indian books wherever I went and
friends gave me books. I picked books
up at estate sales and Kitty Geddes,
who had more estate sales than any
one else in Portland, usually gave me
MONTH
Student Art Competition
The Office of Indian Education
announces the Third Native American
Student Art Competition, themed Edu
cation: A Gift Beyond Boundaries.
The 2007 competition requires par
ticipants to register their entries online
at www.indianeducation.org/sac or call
I-X88-747-4994 prior to submitting their
iirtwork to receive a confirmation number.
For more information, please con
tact Paula Arevalo at 1-888-747-4994
or e-mail parevalo@kauffmaninc.com
DOE’s Tribal Energy
Program Internships
Invoice from Frank Carson’s Red Front
m
a little package at Christmas of Indian
books that had not sold at her sale."
Whitlow indicated that among the
books he donated to the Siletz Public
Library. “|t]here are some things there
that would be Siletz Tribe-specific. But
not too many. The stirring of the Rogue
River tribes and then the suppression
of their traditions at the end of the
1800s made it difficult to find specific-
books on the various Siletz tribes.
“I think probably reading every
thing one can get their hands on about
the Yurok and Karuk Tribes in North
ern California is very close to the life,
dwellings, and traditions of the Rogue-
River tribes that were moved to Siletz."
Art Competition, Internship,
Financial Aid Available to Students
The postmark deadline for the
2007 competition is March 14, 2007.
P roprietor
THE
Leonard Whitlow Jr shows the collection of documents and historical publica
tions to Rud Lane, Tina Retasket, and Robert Kentta.
The U.S. Department of Energy's
Tribal Energy Program is offering sum
mer internships to American Indian stu
dents who are interested in renewable
energy and currently are college upper-
classmen or graduate students.
To be considered for the 2007 sum
mer program, applications must he re
ceived by Feb. 23, 2007.
For more on the program, see
www.eere.energy.gov/tribalenergy/
internprogram.html.
For questions, contact Sandra K.
Begay-Campbell. Sandia National
Laboratories, at 505-844-5418 or
skbegay@sandia.gov.
Federal Student Aid
January marked the start of the sea
son for new and returning college students
to apply for financial aid. Students are
encouraged to file for a share of the
more than $80 billion in federal grants,
loans, and work-study assistance.
To further publicize the availability
of federal aid. the U.S. Department of
Education is launching a public aware
ness campaign with the message, “The
most costly education is the one not
begun."
For more information, please go to
http://federalstudentaid.ed.gov/.
February 2007
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Siletz News
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