Whitman Stories

With a combination of film screenings, tribal speakers, cultural performances, traditional salmon bake, and ceremonies, the Salmon Film Festival is designed to educate, inspire and celebrate the heritage of regional Indigenous communities. All festival events, taking place April 12 and 13, on Whitman’s campus, are free and open to the public.

Roger Amerman ’80 is a Choctaw beadworker who brought his expertise to the Marvel series "Echo." Now he's returning to Whitman as the O'Donnell Visiting Educator in Global Studies for Spring 2024. Amerman will teach a new course delving into the paleo-history, history and ethnogeology of salmon-centric Tribal Peoples in the southern Columbia River Plateau.

Whitman College, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) and Walla Walla Community College partnered to host the inaugural Pášx̣apa Powwow. More than 400 people came from three states and five tribal communities to attend this monumental event.

Whitman College sophomore Lindsey Pasena-Littlesky will be honored at the 2023 Indigenous Leadership Awards in Portland, Oregon in recognition of her significant contributions as a member of the CTUIR Youth Council.

Whitman College faculty and CTUIR partnered to provide STEM education to local Tribal youth in special summer school. During four weeks of immersion, students were very active in their science, technology, engineering and mathematics education. Classes took place in Pendleton, Oregon near the Umatilla Indian Reservation where the students could attend in their own school district.

Amber Ebarb ’03 addressed the Class of 2023 during the 137th Whitman College Commencement Ceremony. Ebarb is the Staff Director for the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs and spoke of the positive changes on campus since she graduated 20 years ago.

The artwork of Whitman College alum Roger Amerman ’80, enrolled member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, may soon be featured in one of the largest movie and television franchises in the world. Echo is an upcoming Marvel television show about a Choctaw superheroine. Amerman beaded a piece that may end up on Echo’s costume.

Whitman College recently appointed Jeanine Gordon to be the first First Special Assistant to the President for Native American Outreach

Amber Ebarb, Class of 2003, Minority Staff Director for the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, will deliver Whitman College’s 2023 Commencement address on Sunday, May 21.

Important NAGPRA work at Whitman College's Maxey Museum helps return Native American remains to their tribes.

The Long Tent: A unique collaboration brought ‘education without exploitation’ to Whitman College. For a week of listening and learning, April 18–24, 2022, Native American dignitaries and hosts greeted visitors to the Long Tent on Ankeny Field, the first such structure on a modern college campus.

Aiden Wolf ’26 and Lindsey Pasena-Littlesky ’26 are the first recipients of the Šináata Scholarship, created in recognition of the special relationship between the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and Whitman College.