The Whitman massacre and a reckoning with Northwest history
Cassandra Tate’s recent book on the storied white missionaries sheds light on a poorly understood chapter of our state’s settler past.
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In “Unsettled Ground: The Whitman Massacre and Its Shifting Legacy in the American West,” author Cassandra Tate examines the death of Washington missionaries Marcus Whitman and his wife Narcissa, along with eleven others, on November 30, 1847, near Walla Walla, Washington. (Sasquatch Books)
The word “reckoning” has resounded throughout the country over the past year. It is a toting up of bills due, a settling of accounts. It is difficult to reckon without facts and figures. When it comes to race, history, cultural trauma and violence, a “reckoning” can ring out as a guilt-inducing charge with no real instruction on how to make things right, or how to proceed at all.
Jess Walter, left, and Emma Noyes
Let s be clear: 2020 absolutely sucked. For pretty much everyone. (I gather Jeff Bezos and some other billionaires did just fine, but I digress.) And it especially sucked for the arts community, a world that operates on a shoestring even during the best of times. We re obviously not close to the best of times, or even so-so times. The national response to the pandemic when it comes to arts organizations, artists and businesses dedicated to the things that make life worth living concert halls, theaters, clubs, etc. is an embarrassment. Anyone wanting to make the case for Americans being an uncultured mob with no regard for anything but money need look no further than how we ve treated artists during the pandemic. I d love to say the state response was better, but Washington s support in terms of CARES Act funding aimed at the arts pales compared to many states.