This folklife fieldwork internship was funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, Folk & Traditional Arts program, to document culture keepers in the southern Oregon counties of Josephine, Jackson, and Douglas. Olivia Wilkinson has been working with OFN’s folklore specialist and retired executive director, Riki Saltzman, to learn how to document traditional artists and culture keepers who carry on occupational, food, music, craft, and other cultural traditions. This work is part of an ongoing statewide survey that has so far interviewed over 400 folk and traditional artists among the state’s federally recognized Tribes and across 35 of its counties.
Intern Reflections on Southern Oregon Traditional Artists Folklife Fieldwork Survey
By Olivia Wilkinson
I interned for OFN’s folklore specialist, Dr. Riki Saltzman, during the Spring term 2022. I assisted with interviews and the resulting data collection for the 2021-22 Southern Oregon Folklife Survey for Douglas, Jackson, and Josephine counties. The experience laid bare the breadth of culture found in Oregon’s southern inland counties and the labor that goes into conducting fieldwork, even remotely.
I had the good fortune to have the opportunity to sit in on interviews with culture keepers Shannon Stutzman, Linda Danielson, and Andrea Luchese. These three women have a special ability to bring people together through their traditional art forms. I somehow found a way to relate to each of them, despite our coming from entirely different backgrounds.
Shannin Stutzman, whose heritage is Hanis Coos and Kalapuya, is enrolled with the Confederated Tribes of Siletz. She is a youth educator, drummer, and storyteller. Stutzman’s interview consisted of a wide range of experiences. She started with her childhood experiences living in Coos Bay and growing up immersed in the cultural traditions of the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians. More recently, Stutzman and her family have been involved in with others in the creation and publication of a dictionary of the Kalapuya language. She is one of few people learning this sleeping language. Her dedication to the preservation of culture for future generations is just one reason why, during the interview, I felt like I had known her all my life.
Screenshot of zoom meeting with Shannin Stutzman, April 13th, 2022.
Linda Danielson is a folklorist and local old time fiddler who offers instruction at camps and performs throughout the Pacific Northwest. She plays with Shannin Stutzman’s mother, Esther Stutzman, in Slow Ponies, an all-women’s group that features western standards and some original compositions. Riki and I were able to meet in person with Danielson, since we miraculously all live in South Eugene. Danielson has been involved with folklore as a discipline for decades longer than I have been alive. It was humbling to speak with her, to say the least. I caught a glimpse of a world in which I am only starting to become familiar.
Andrea Luchese is a hula instructor based in Ashland. Hula is an area in which the little knowledge I have has come to me recently. Our talk with Andrea helped me understand how vast the tradition is, from its roots in ancient Hawaiian history to its widespread celebration today. She spoke at length about what makes a good student and a good teacher, which both run deeper than just showing up to class. A good teacher is “living in accordance with that which we hold most sacred.”
Screenshot of zoom meeting with Andrea Luchese, May 17th, 2022.
There is a level of exhaustion that comes from remote work, but when the work rewards me with a deeper appreciation for Oregon, it is worth doing.