Episode 6 - Llyn De Danaan

Today's main contributor, Dr. LLyn De Danaan, emerita, The Evergreen State College, is an author and cultural anthropologist.

She was a speaker for Humanities Washington for four years and a faculty with Western Washington University’s Academy for Lifelong Learning. Her 2013 book, Katie Gale: A Coast Salish Woman’s Life on Oyster Bay, is called, “a masterpiece of creative interpretation…" She appeared throughout the Washington State to encourage conversations on historical research and the history of critical encounters between EuroAmerican and Native Americans. For many years, she consulted with Washington Tribes on treaty matters and was an expert witness in key cases. She produced curricula with Indian educators and the State Superintendent of Public Education’s office and consulted on the Washington State Tribal Sovereignty Curriculum, now in all Washington schools. She received the State Historical Society’s Peace and Friendship Award for furthering understanding of cultural diversity in Washington. She conducted research in Asia, Romania (Fulbright Scholar), and Yakima Valley. Her Mountain of Shell project focused on Japanese American labourers on Oyster Bay. She reviews for Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries and has contributed to Kithfolk, No Depression, the Oly Mountain Boys’ White Horse album, and Voice of the Wild Olympics. Her fiction and poetry has appeared in a Timberland Regional Library Collection and in an anthology produced by Washington State’s Poet Laureate, WA129. She was a founding member of the Mason County Historic Preservation Commission and was a member of Olympic Park Associates and Great Old Broads for Wilderness. She was also involved with Mason County March for Science and is a member of League of Women Voters. She worked as a beach naturalist with Puget Sound Estuarium for two years. Her most recent project focused on the life of the first Native American woman pilot, Mary Riddle, a Quinault allotted woman whose ancestors were among the first oyster farmers on Willapa Bay. 

 

Llyn’s book Recommendations:

Thich Nhat Hanh - Anger: Wisdom for Cooling the Flames

CS Lewis - Surprised by Joy / A Grief Observed

Francesca French and Mildred Cable - The Gobi Desert

Halldor Laxness - Independent People

Olga Tokarczuk - The Books of Jacob