Thursday, June 8, 2023

Feature by: Jeanine Gordon, Special Assistant to the President for Native American Outreach

Photograph: “Stevens Treaty reenactment at Whitman College, circa June 10–12, 1955.” Stevens Treaty Council of 1855 Centennial Collection, Whitman College and Northwest Archives. A digital copy of the souvenir program from the event is also available to view online.

June 9, 2023 will mark the 168th anniversary of the Treaty of 1855 between the United States and the Cayuse, Umatilla and Walla Walla Tribes. 

The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) designated June 9 as an annual tribal holiday to commemorate the treaty. The CTUIR is a federally-recognized tribal nation with aboriginal and usual and accustomed areas for cultural practices in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and other Pacific Northwest states. The treaty is a contract between the CTUIR and the United States federal government—two sovereignties—and it serves as the supreme law of the land under the U.S. Constitution. 

On Treaty Day, we remember our ancestors who deliberated with the federal government, had the courage and vision to negotiate this agreement in order to bring peace to our homelands and sacrificed much to protect our way of life so that we could continue to practice our culture, live with our lands and continue to fish, hunt, dig roots and pick berries in our traditional homelands where we conducted these practices from time immemorial. 

The Treaty of 1855 did not “give” us any rights. What it did was guarantee that we could maintain the right to continue to live our way of life. Many of the rights discussed and referred to in the treaty center around traditional foods (First Foods) and traditional practices of caring for and getting those foods.

The Treaty of 1855 also ensured that we—the native people of the large geographical homelands within which we lived, traveled, hunted, fished, gathered and traded—agreed to peaceably let citizens of the United States continue to move into this area to form settlements.

On Treaty Day, we contemplate the past, the present and the future. We honor our ancestors and their negotiation and vision for peace. We honor them for looking out for our future. We honor where the treaty has brought us today. We honor where the treaty will bring us in the future. 

If you are interested in reading the Treaty of 1855, you can access it on the CTUIR website. 

This year, Treaty Day celebrations at the CTUIR will take place on Thursday, June 8 and Friday, June 9. (See attached flyer.)

The Whitman College women’s tennis team finished the season 35th in the nation and eighth in the west region. Angel Le ’23, the Northwest Conference’s Player of the Year, finished 20th nationally and 6th regionally. Arianna Castellanos Calderon ’25 finished 20th regionally. Camilla Tarpey-Schwed ’23 finished 23rd in the region. All three players were named to the Northwest All-Conference Team. Le was also named to the ITA All-American Team.

Earlier this week at the Staff Recognition Breakfast, President Sarah Bolton presented the annual Janice Abraham Award to Jennifer McNeil, Associate Registrar for Academic Credentials, and Phillip Schmatt, General Maintenance Technician. This annual award celebrates staff members who go above and beyond their job descriptions, bring forward creative and innovative ideas, promote a philosophy of customer service and contribute to the excellence found at Whitman College.

Reminder: Campus offices will be closed beginning at noon tomorrow, Friday, June 9, as one of several discretionary half days scheduled this summer. The Whitman College Post Office will close at noon on Friday,  and Printing and Mailing will be closed all day.

Please note that the Walla Walla Fire Department will utilize the Whitman-owned house at 22 Boyer Avenue for training exercises on Friday, June 9 from 8 a.m. to noon.

Unforeseen pre-existing conditions discovered during the steam condensate line replacement will necessitate the following electrical shut-offs next week. 

The Facilities Services team will ensure that all of the emergency infrastructure (lighting, generators) are operational during this work.

All supervisors on campus should plan to attend one of the training sessions scheduled by Human Resources to cover recent updates to Whitman’s performance management model. The next training session will be on Monday, June 12 at 9 a.m. in Reid Campus Center, Room 207. Additional training sessions will be held on Thursday, June 22 and Monday, June 26. Questions? Email hr@whitman.edu.

The Career and Community Engagement Center is excited to announce a new webpage dedicated to providing resources for diverse job seekers. If your identity has traditionally been excluded from full participation in the workforce, the process of finding a job or internship may feel overwhelming. This compilation of resources will support students on their journey in finding supportive communities in their career. As this page is a work in progress, if there is a resource you would like added to this list or an identity we should collect resources for, please email ccec_info@whitman.edu.

During Whitman College’s recent graduation weekend, Commencement Speaker Amber Ebarb ’03 (pictured above, fifth from left) joined the first ever Native Alumni and Šináata Students gathering—a collaboration between the Office of the President and Alumni Relations.

The Whitman College calendar is quiet this weekend. If you are looking for something to do in the community, explore the Visit Walla Walla calendar of events.

Would you like to share an event with campus? Submit the information to the Events Calendar.

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