Skokomish Tribal elder Delbert Sm3tcoom Miller ’96, winner of a 2013 Artist Trust Fellowship

Congratulations to Delbert Sm3tcoom Miller ’96, one of three Native American artists in Washington State to receive a 2013 Fellowship from Artist Trust.  Delbert will present his work, “stuxWa?scH3la, Keep the Knowledge and Memories of Our Ancestors Alive,” on January 31st in the Longhouse. The award was in the category of emerging fields & cross-disciplinary arts.

Cross-disciplinary is an excellent description of Delbert Miller. As an Evergreen student, his academic work focused on Sociology and Native American Studies. His resume lists expertise as a chemical dependency professional, a cultural resource specialist, and a Skokomish Tribal Historic Preservation Officer.  Tina Kuckkahn-Miller, Director of Evergreen’s Longhouse Cultural and Educational Center and Delbert’s wife, describes her husband’s many contributions and gifts:

Delbert and his family have been involved with the concept of the Longhouse from the beginning. Delbert was at the Longhouse’s ground breaking, opening, naming, 10-year anniversary and 2009 expansion. He is a frequent lecturer in Evergreen programs, although to date he has not lectured on his art, which is  why this fellowship is special – It allows him to talk about himself as an “artist”: a carver, jewelry-maker, composer, drummer, singer.

It is Delbert’s artistry that this award celebrates – his work as a carver, a maker of traditional objects that sing their own songs within a rich cultural context. Delbert writes:

I carve to maintain the usage and understanding of what our old cultural, traditional and spiritual items are. I carve paddles, canoes, root and clam digging sticks, cedar bark pounding tools, combs, house posts and many other items that are used in traditional Native societies in the Northwest. To have a house post is actually saying “I’m obeying the ancient law, remembering all that I can about the ancient history, songs, village sites, etc. It announces to the world who I am and that I have earned the right to have a shoylus, or house post.

Around campus, we know Delbert as a soft-spoken man with a big smile and a warm, enveloping presence, a singer of prayers and blessings at Evergreen’s most important occasions, a sharer of wisdom, and acreator of sacred space in the midst of a busy world. We look forward to learning more from Delbert, starting with a public presentation in January 2014. Watch this blog for updates.