Editors Note: This past week, we lost a great human being. Silas Whitman gave his time and himself to his people and everyone he could to make the world better. Thanks to his friend John Platt, who wrote the feature story below, Silas was able to come to Hillsboro and leave his mark here as a tribal leader of the Nimiipuu (Nez Perce) people. At a crucial moment in Hillsboro’s history, he came to bless the land where the lost burial site of five children of our pioneer first family, Joseph and Virginia Meek, were being covered over with a logistics center. Meeting Silas and his close friend and spiritual leader Charles Axtell was one of the great things in many of our lives. Their ceremonies and blessings over the land where the Methodist Meeting House Memorial now stands (across from 4825 NE Starr Street) were next level. Silas passed on the great beyond this week, and his people, family, and the universe lost a great one. John’s story below is a small window into this man’s life and their great friendship. Silas and Charles told me they came to help the spirits of the children deal with what was about to happen and ensure a peaceful resolution occurred. They believed that without the ceremony, a long period of unrest and difficulty would befall those working on the property now. All of us at these ceremonies felt the palpable calm that passed over the land. We will never forget what they did. If you have not visited the site, please do so and learn the rest of this story.
Guest Author: John Platt
Loss of a Nez Perce Leader
The Nez Perce Tribe and the World lost a great leader when Silas Whitman passed on Tuesday . . . and salmon lost the best friend a fish could have.
As executive director of the National Congress of American Indians, as the Nez Perce Tribe’s fisheries director, chairman of its governing body, and, of late, its Circle of Elders. Silas Whitman worked tirelessly to advocate and educate on behalf of the Nez Perce people. He was raised on the Umatilla Reservation and his forebearers hailed from the Wallowas of Northeastern Oregon and the Palouse of Eastern Washington where respect for the lands and all creatures was not only a basis for time-honored cultural traditions but also the means for the peoples’ survival.
Silas Whitman relied on those traditions and extended them to regenerate the legal and cultural sovereignty of his people. He learned those traditions from his elders and, especially, from time at Celilo, where his grandmother’s relation, Chief Tommy Thompson taught him the ways of tribal fishery management.
In 1988, as fisheries director, he initiated an ambitious plan to restore abundant salmon populations to the Nez Perce ceded areas after more than thirty years of federal and state management indifference to lower river and ocean fishery exploitation. The Snake River fall chinook population, once numbering a half-million adult returns, had declined to 78 fish in 1990. In 2013, as a result of the plan, the population was restored to over 21,000 returning adults.
He not only used his leadership skills to manage restoration success, but he also showed his personal respect and love for the salmon populations by working directly at the Nez Perce Tribal Hatchery and by living and working as field manager for the Lostine Hatchery. The hatchery is located near the site of Old Chief Joseph’s gravesite at the junction of the Lostine and Wallowa Rivers.
Silas Whitman extended his cultural knowledge beyond Nez Perce lands. When it appeared that the Nez Perce children of Joe Meek and his Nez Perce spouse, Virginia, were buried at the site of the 19th-century Methodist Meeting House in Hillsboro, Oregon, which was slated for data center development, he arranged travel with Charles Axtell to identify the graves.
He then advocated for a memorial on the site and spoke at its dedication.
In a Confluence podcast, he said that his Indian name meant, “tied to the North Star.” In his resolute journey of advocacy and education, Silas Whitman stayed true to the direction laid out for him by his elders and ancestors. He will be greatly missed, but his life provides a direction that continues the cultural regeneration that he envisioned.
John Platt worked professionally with his beloved (Atway) friend for many years. He is a long-time resident and community leader in Washington County. John is the owner and fantastic winemaker at Helvetia Winery. I am very lucky to call him my friend as well.
I’ve learned much about some of Oregon’s Native Nations after teaching in Cntral Oregon. I have great respect for these Nations and their leaders. I was blessed with the opportunity to learn from my native students in Central Oregon. Thank you for sharing Silas Whitman’s story.
You are very welcome – we can all learn so much from them- so very much!