On April 19 student leaders received an email from President John Carmichael outlining leadership changes in administration that are planned for this summer. One of the most striking changes was that the Department of Tribal Relations, Arts, and Cultures will be re-joining the Academics Division after former President George Bridges made the decision to separate the two in 2017. We sat down with Director of the House of Welcome Laura VerMuelen, Evergreen’s Tribal Liaison Lyn Dennis, and President of The Evergreen State College John Carmichael to talk in more detail about how, and why, this change is taking place.
Carmichael summarized with, “All of these programs [within the department and academics] need to communicate… collaborate, and any artificial barriers or obstacles that we are putting in administratively that inhibit that are probably not a good thing.” He explained how work will continue as they search for the next provost, and specifically that work on the Mary Ellen Hillarie archive should continue uninterrupted despite the departure of interim Vice President of Tribal Relations Kara Briggs, who was actively working with Evergreen archivist Lisa Herold-Edge to figure out the what the best place for the amazing collection should be. Lyn Dennis, a member of the Lummi Nation, said that she has also spoken directly with the Hellaire family and Northwest Indian College to start digitizing and safely storing this incredible collection of art.
When asked how work that had been started before the change would continue through the transition, Laura Vermeulen immediately jumped on the question and said “We are approaching our 28th year doing art, supporting indigenous Arts and Cultures. And so that has been ongoing that whole time. I’ve been here in the House of Welcome since 1999. And so this is my life’s work. To make sure that whoever is here, right now, is supporting indigenous Arts and Cultures, not only with the tribal nations, but also that there’s an educational component… that work will continue without question.”
Laura then explained the importance of the search for an assistant director for the House of Welcome, as she hopes to begin training someone to take her place when she retires and give her some much-deserved assistance as soon as possible.
For those of you who have not had the pleasure of going into the longhouse and saying hi to Laura. I highly recommend going in. Laura has truly put a lifetime of work into building a community to inhabit the most beautiful structure on our campus, and that community thrives as the most prosperous, innovative, and welcoming culture at The Evergreen State College.
With the changes in leadership coming, it is vital that the college compensates and listens to those who are most directly associated with the Department of Tribal Relations, Arts, and Cultures, and allows them the freedom to pursue activities and curriculums organized by those within the community.
