"Subiyay was and remains a gift
given to us by the Creator."
"Bruce [subiyay] Miller, a Skokomish spiritual leader whose teaching nourished a renaissance of Salish art and culture in the Northwest and beyond, died on Saturday, 5 February.
"On Sunday morning, family, friends and admirers kept arriving from around the country and the region to share songs, prayers, memories and stories of the man who dedicated his life to learning and passing on the gifts of his ancestors' knowledge and artistic skills."
[The librarian at the school where I work had gone to a storytelling workshop that Bruce Miller was going to co-lead on Saturday. Word of his death came during the workshop and, as related by the librarian, the other tribespeople simply acknowledged the fortune they'd had in learning from him and his example, and they continued.]
"As a young child, Miller would go to his great-grandmother's house 'and she would relate the family traditions and stories in oral recitations the old people talk about. That was the sprouting of the seed of curiosity that lie within me at that point.'
"He worked in the theater in New York and in 1967 was drafted into the U.S. Army. He served two tours in Vietnam, earning the Army Medal of Commendation.
"Miller was appointed the tribe's cultural and educational director in 1971 and earned stature for his traditional knowledge, including a repertoire of more than 120 Skokomish tribal stories, some of which take days to tell. MIller was a master of Skokomish basketry, weaving and cedar-mat making. In 1974, he founded the Twana Dance Group, which has performed for thousands of people throughout the Northwest.
"Mr. Miller helped bring back several ceremonies that were once banned by U.S. government agents and missionaries. He also developed a substance-abuse program for the tribe based on Skokomish and Salish legends, and he created an herbal and medicinal garden visited by ethnobotanists from around the world. He compiled and illustrated 12 books based on his family's stories.
"He was honored with a National Heritage Fellowship by the National Endowment for the Arts in 2004."
[A parent of one of the schoolchildren had produced a video on Miller, which we saw today. He narrated at one point: "Don't teach the children all the same thing. If you do that, then they think that they don't need each other, and the world will fall apart."]
"A celebration of Mr. Miller's life and a time for remembering will be held Saturday, 12 February, from noon to 6 p.m. at Skokomish smokehouse, N. 170 Tribal Center Road, Skokomish Nation. The event will be open to the public. Donations can be sent to the Twana Seowyn Society, N. 170 Tribal Center Road, Skokomish WA, 98584."
"On Sunday morning, family, friends and admirers kept arriving from around the country and the region to share songs, prayers, memories and stories of the man who dedicated his life to learning and passing on the gifts of his ancestors' knowledge and artistic skills."
[The librarian at the school where I work had gone to a storytelling workshop that Bruce Miller was going to co-lead on Saturday. Word of his death came during the workshop and, as related by the librarian, the other tribespeople simply acknowledged the fortune they'd had in learning from him and his example, and they continued.]
"As a young child, Miller would go to his great-grandmother's house 'and she would relate the family traditions and stories in oral recitations the old people talk about. That was the sprouting of the seed of curiosity that lie within me at that point.'
"He worked in the theater in New York and in 1967 was drafted into the U.S. Army. He served two tours in Vietnam, earning the Army Medal of Commendation.
"Miller was appointed the tribe's cultural and educational director in 1971 and earned stature for his traditional knowledge, including a repertoire of more than 120 Skokomish tribal stories, some of which take days to tell. MIller was a master of Skokomish basketry, weaving and cedar-mat making. In 1974, he founded the Twana Dance Group, which has performed for thousands of people throughout the Northwest.
"Mr. Miller helped bring back several ceremonies that were once banned by U.S. government agents and missionaries. He also developed a substance-abuse program for the tribe based on Skokomish and Salish legends, and he created an herbal and medicinal garden visited by ethnobotanists from around the world. He compiled and illustrated 12 books based on his family's stories.
"He was honored with a National Heritage Fellowship by the National Endowment for the Arts in 2004."
[A parent of one of the schoolchildren had produced a video on Miller, which we saw today. He narrated at one point: "Don't teach the children all the same thing. If you do that, then they think that they don't need each other, and the world will fall apart."]
"A celebration of Mr. Miller's life and a time for remembering will be held Saturday, 12 February, from noon to 6 p.m. at Skokomish smokehouse, N. 170 Tribal Center Road, Skokomish Nation. The event will be open to the public. Donations can be sent to the Twana Seowyn Society, N. 170 Tribal Center Road, Skokomish WA, 98584."
"Subiyay was and remains a gift
given to us by the Creator."
mr damon, 06:06
1 Comments:
Bruce was a great man and a good Great uncle.
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