Guests

Zalmai "eswali" Zahir

Zalmai "eswali" Zahir is a fluent speaker of Puget Salish. He has studied the Puget
Salish language (Lushootseed) under Dr. Vi Hilbert, Don Matheson, Earnest
Barr, Nellie Ramirez, Lawrence Webster and various other speakers. Mr.
Zahir has written over 14 books and is an accomplished storyteller.

Gerald Bruce "Subiyay" Miller (Skokomish)

Subiyay is a renowned Skokomish artist, educator and spiritual leader of the
Pacific Northwest. His artistic work centers on Native American theater,
storytelling, carving and basket weaving. He has served as President of the
Northwest Native American Basketweavers' Association (NNABA). Bruce was
instrumental in the development of the first Native American performing
artist company, the Native American Theater Ensemble, based in New York
City. He was awarded the Bicentennial Playwright's Fellowship by the
Washington State Arts Commission, and has received various other awards
including the Washington State Governor's Ethnic and Heritage Award (1992),
and a Washington State Arts Commission Fellowship (1996). His work as part
of the Washington State Arts Commission's Art in Public Places Program can
be seen at The Evergreen State College's Longhouse Education and Cultural
Center.

Sya?ya?
Sya?ya? began in 1997 lead by Dale Clark and Corey O’Lague as an intertribal
drum group. Sya?ya? is an effort to learn and to share the rich cultural
diversity of tribal people living in the Puget Sound region. This was the
beginning of a cultural journey of song, dance and cultural protocol.
Today, Sya?ya? has become a cultural foundation for the Squaxin Island
community where culture is the base from which many live their lives.

Key Sun

Key Sun teaches at Central Washington University-Pierce. He has a Ph.D. in psychology, MSW, and law degrees. As a Beijing native growing up with the traditional Chinese culture, he also teaches and practices Chinese style paintings and Tai Chi/Qigong.

Tina Kuckkahn

Tina Kuckkahn, J.D., is a member of the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake
Superior Ojibwe and has been the director of the Longhouse Education and
Cultural Center at The Evergreen State College since 1996. As a public
service center at TESC, the Longhouse's mission is to promote Native
American art and culture in the Pacific Northwest.

Alexander Mar

Alexander S. Mar is one of the four computer systems managers at TESC.
He was the former principal of Chinese School of Olympia and ran that
school for over eight years. He left Hong Kong more than 50 years ago
to join his Mexican grandparents and father at Baja California, Mexico
but instead went to Stockton, California to attend school. After his
Vietnam War military duty in 1967, he attended UC Berkeley and graduated
with a bachelor degree in both electrical engineering and computer
science. At UC Berkeley, a chance attendance of Professor Stanford
Lyman's lecture on Chinese American history inspired him to study
Chinese history and civilization. He has been a student of Chinese and
Asian histories ever since.

Randy Scott (Haida/Gitxsan)

Randy Scott is of Haida and Gitxsan heritage from Alaska and British Columbia. He and his wife Jennifer have three children and two grandchildren. Randy has extensive work experience in intergovernmental relations and is the owner and operator of ACCESS-Governmental Relations. His work focuses primarily on advocating on behalf of tribal and local government issues at the state, local and regional levels.

Randy’s previous work history includes the Deputy Director of Puget Sound Water Quality Authority, Washington State Association of Counties’ Assistant to Executive Director and City of Seattle and Seattle City Light governmental relations representative to the state Legislature. Randy served as the Special Assistant for Indian Affairs to both Governors’ Spellman and Ray.

Community interests and Board membership has included Thurston County Dispute Resolution Center, Community Youth Services, and is currently President of United Indians of All Tribes Foundation. He is a member of Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians and National Congress of American Indians. Randy and his son Matthew enjoy golfing and often enter Indian Golfing events.

Hank Adams(Assiniboine-Sioux)

Mr. Hank Adams is widely respected as an authority on Native American history. Ramona Bennett says: “ Hank is our choreographer, he knows were the next step should be.”

Thom Rainy overlooking Volga river, Russia

Thom Rainey

Thom Rainey has a Ph.D. in history and is a TESC faculty emeritus. He has made over 30 trips to the former Soviet Union to study water issues of Volga and Lake Baikal.

Mary Randlett

Mary Randlett, premier Northwest photographer has been described as a maverick. Her vitality, talent, and contribution to the arts have been a key to the Northwest art scene for the past 50 years. Mary Randlett has been honored as the first recepient of Artist's Trust's Lifetime Achievements Awards for Women Visual artists. She is the Alumnus of Merit of Whitman College.

Some of Mary's Work (click to see full image):

Photographs by Mary Randlett

Dave Herrerra

John Diamant, Gibbs & Olson Engeneering, Inc.

John Diamant with Gibbs & Olson's Inc., has received an award from the the American Consulting Engineer's Council for one of this year's best consulting engineering projects in the State of Washington.Gibbs & Olson did a very complicated and intensive water quality study that was the first such study done in Washington State.

Elaine Grinnel (Jamestown S'Klallam)

Elaine Grinnell is a renowned storyteller and weaver of the Jamestown S'Klallam tribe of the Olympic Peninsula. She is a respected elder whose stories of the Pacific Northwest are enjoyed by audiences of all ages.

Ramona Bennett (Puyallup)

Ramona Bennett, the distinguished Native American activist, is an honorary doctor of public affairs. Ramona Bennett has started several Native American centers; presently she is the Executive Director of the Rainbow Youth & Family Services

Susie Vanderburg

Susie Vanderburg has been the coordinator for Thurston County Stream Team
since 1993. Previous to that, she taught elementary school for nine years
and co-authored several environmental education curricula. She has a
Masters Degree in Education from Western Washington University.

Stream Team is an organization for people who are interested in learning
about aquatic ecosytems and in taking action to protect and enhance local
streams, wetlands, and bays. Stream Team activities include workshops,
field trips, trainings, monitoring, storm drain stenciling, stream
enhancement projects, and the Salmon Stewards docent program. Stream Team
is sponsored by the Stormwater Utilities of the Cities of Lacey, Olympia,
Tumwater, and Thurston County. Everyone is welcome and events are free.
Contact: 753-8454.

Saeed Shahram

Saeed Shahram's unique musical style has been described by critics as
"hauntingly beautiful," "incredible," and "spectacular." His music has
not only connected with a large, world-wide audience but also received
widespread critical praise for its integrity, emotional depth and craft.
Saeed Shahram received two international awards for his film scores in
1994. Shahram began composing music at the age of 10. He studied compositionand electronic music, and completed Persian Music (Dastghah) in 1983. With numerous film scores, documentary movies, TV series, and anthem songs to his credit, Saeed Shahram blendes Iranian traditional musicwith acoustic jazz, jazz, and blues, creating a music that transcends
borders.

Katayoun Lotfi

Katayoun Lotfi was born in Tehran, Iran. She was introduced to Iranian poetry through her parents and teachers, as a young girl in Iran. In 1992, Katayoun immigrated to Seattle with her family. She continues to explore her Iranian cultural heritage through studying for Persian poetry and music.

Mukti Khanna

Mukti Khanna is a clinical psychologist and expressive arts therapist. She has been working with mind-body practices including tai ji and chi gong to enhance creativity, wellness, and compassion.

Regina B. Mar

Regina B. Mar is a member of the Chinese Art and Music Association. Sinceearly 1992, Regina has been learning Chinese classical music instruments
from Zhao, Bui-Yun, a well known musician from Shanghai, China. Regina
specializes in yangqin and pipa and has been teaching these two music
instruments for several years. She has been a member of the Seattle Chinese
Orchestra and was a founding member of the Washington Chinese Youth
Orchestra. CAMA has designated Regina as the Director of the Washington
Chinese Youth Orchestra, Olympia branch.

Marla Beth Elliot and Sonja Wiedenhaupt

Marla Beth Elliott teaches at Evergreen and sings with The Righteous
Mothers. Her new passion is learning to play the upright bass. She and
Sonja Wiedenhaupt have been playing and singing together for about a
year. Marla grew up in Texas.

Sonja Wiedenhaupt teaches about teaching at Evergreen. She plays, among
other instruments, guitar and flute. Despite an upbringing that
includes nearly everywhere except Tennessee, she loves twangy acoustic music
music. Sonja has been playing and singing with Marla Beth Elliott for
about a year.

Jennifer Johnson

Jennifer Johnson is an Evergreen graduate who focused on human
relations with the green world while at Evergreen. She has been
involved in environmental education for over ten years and in her
current capacity as an Environmental Outreach Specialist with Thurston
County Health and Social Services in the Environmental Health Division
for five years. Her focus is on adult education in the area of
household hazardous waste reduction and disposal. Household hazardous
wastes are the ordinary things in our homes with signal words such as,
"Caution," "Danger," and "Warning."

Thurston County's web site is: www.co.thurston.wa.us

i’ina

i’ina, TESC graduate, has been working with Reiki and Polarity Therapy for the last 8 years. The focus of her work is to help remove blocks and tensions to allow a free flow of energy.

Emily and Park Wei Locke

Emily and Park Wei Locke were born in Guangdong, China. Park Wei Locke has
been in restaurant business at Olympia Area for many years and is recently
retired.

George Xu

George Xu has learned Dizi (flute) and many other Chinese music instruments
since he was eight years old in Sichuan, China. However, George Xu
specializes in Dizi, a beautiful classical Chinese music instrument known in
China thousands of years before the earliest written history of China.
George performed for many years in China before coming to USA to attend
graduate school at the University of Minnesota. He obtained a PhD degree in
economics and eventually became an economist with the WA Insurance
Commission.

Wa-he-let School Drum and Dance Group