Emmett Oliver, Founder of Paddle to Seattle, Walks On at 102
Emmett Oliver was a lot of things in his life. A U.S. Coast Guard officer. An educator. A policy maker. An advocate.
But it is, perhaps, the Paddle to Seattle that he organized in 1989 that has had the greatest impact on the lives of Indigenous Peoples鈥攏ot just in the Pacific Northwest, but around the Pacific Rim.
Oliver, a citizen of the Quinault Nation, was a member of the committee planning the State of Washington鈥檚 centennial celebration when he organized the Paddle to Seattle to ensure the state鈥檚 First Peoples were represented.