Lelooska: The Life of a Northwest Coast Artist

Acknowledgments

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS THIS VOLUME REPRESENTS more than collaboration between Lelooska and me. Behind it are the influences of our respective families and networks of associations. For my part, my wife, Katie Walker, has been an indispensable friend and critic. She kept me on task, offered encouragement and support, and, as usual, went over many different drafts. From the beginning, she was convinced of the merits of this project, for she knows how much Lelooska has meant to our three children—Anya, Becca, and Miles. Without the input of my parents, Anna and Harlow Friday, I could not have filled the gaps in my own knowledge about the Lelooska family. My brother-in-law Joe Walker and his wife, Rachel Belcher, deserve thanks as readers, ad hoc research assistants, and patient friends in awaiting the completion of the project. My colleagues at various universities provided critical intellectual stimuli and support. John Purdy, Peter Iverson, Steve Haycox, and Andrew Fisher generously gave wonderful guidance on many aspects of Native American studies. Alan Gallay, Kevin Leonard, Beth Joffrion, Diana Shenk, and Midori Takagi provided good conversation about this project, paid careful attention to my writing, and offered helpful critiques. Valerie Matsumoto deserves a special commendation as a consistent booster of this project. Phone conversations with her invariably left me with xiii renewed confidence; early in my work she pointed to other collaborative narratives and started me on an important path. Western Washington University has been helpful, too, in seeing this work through to completion. Work-study funds paid for the rough transcription of the tapes. A Bureau for Faculty Research summer research grant allowed me to explore Makah history and Native American literary criticism . Western also granted a leave of absence for the 1995–1996 academic year so that I might spend time at Washington State University’s Northwest Center for Comparative American Cultures and Race Relations, funded by a Rockefeller Humanities Grant for an unrelated project. That time and my colleagues there—Paul Wong, Rory Ong, Shelli Fowler, the late Collin Beckles, William Willard, Paul Hirt, Sue Armitage, T. V. Reed, and Noel Sturgeon—gave me new insights into the fields of ethnic and Native American studies. Most recently, a yearlong sabbatical from Western afforded the opportunity to finalize this study and work on a second, related book. The students in my history courses at Western Washington University gave me a chance to place Lelooska’s life in historical context and have been positive about what I shared with them. Many others have lent their aid to this project. Gilbert A. Giles, Edward Malin, and Ralph and Karen Norris shared their photographs and time, which were invaluable. Lita Tarver and Pat Soden at the University of Washington Press demonstrated faith in Don’s narrative. I am grateful for their ongoing support. They also selected reviewers whose comments proved most helpful and challenging. I am in their debt. I thank Xavier Callahan for shepherding the manuscript through its final stages at the press and Kris Fulsaas for her watchful (and helpful) copyeditor’s “eye.” In the end, none of this would have been possible without Don. Thank you. CHRIS FRIDAY Bellingham, Washington Acknowledgments • xiv ...