Item

Philip H. Red Eagle

• 2017 (Creation)

Oral history interview with Philip H. Red Eagle by Jordan Woolston conducted 05/02/2017. Philip H. Red Eagle was born in 1945 in Tacoma, Washington. His mother, Marian Steilacoom, of Salish decent, was born near Port Angeles, Washington. Philip's father, Philip Red Eagle, a member of the Dakota Tribe, was born near the Missouri River on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in Montana. Phillip spent the first fourteen years of his life in Tacoma, attending Stanley and McCarver schools before moving to Sitka, Alaska with his family in 1959. Philip joined the Navy shortly after graduating from high school, serving in Vietnam for five years from 1969-1973. After Vietnam, Philip returned to Washington and began undergraduate studies at the University of Washington where he earned two bachelor's degrees. The return to civilian life after the war affected Philip and he struggled with PTSD and related issues like depression and insomnia. Philip found that art, writing, and taking part in the revival of his culture helped him confront his PTSD and over the last 30 years Philip has contributed greatly to the revival and expansion of Indigenous culture in the Pacific Northwest.

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This oral history is a part of the University of Washington Tacoma Community History Project. To access additional content related to this interview, see the UWT Digital Collections.