{"id":3288,"date":"2025-01-10T19:00:47","date_gmt":"2025-01-10T19:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/test-www.ewu.edu\/magazine\/?post_type=stories&p=3288"},"modified":"2025-05-02T15:35:47","modified_gmt":"2025-05-02T15:35:47","slug":"a-lasting-legacy","status":"publish","type":"stories","link":"https:\/\/test-www.ewu.edu\/magazine\/news\/a-lasting-legacy\/","title":{"rendered":"A Lasting Legacy"},"content":{"rendered":"

E<\/span>lizabeth Cook-Lynn<\/span><\/strong>, a professor emeritus<\/strong> of English and Native American studies at EWU, wasn\u2019t just <\/span>an influential novelist, short-story writer and poet \u2014 though her literary legacy speaks for itself \u2014 she was also a tireless advocate in support of research and instruction centered on tribal histories and cultures. Among her lasting contributions was a lengthy catalog of scholarly publications and a prominent role in establishing Eastern\u2019s first Indian Education Program, where she introduced hundreds of students to the emerging field of Native American studies.<\/p>\n

Working to establish Native studies wasn\u2019t easy. Back in the early 1970s, even as Eastern Athletics finally moved on from its \u201cSavages\u201d nickname, tensions with administrators over the nature and scope of the new program were rife.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is my opinion,\u201d Cook-Lynn wrote in 1973 to Emerson Shuck, then Eastern\u2019s president, \u201cthat we must no longer do just what is expedient in Indian Education\u2014we must define our basic philosophy, come to a reasonable agreement on that and get about working within the realities of that definition. There is a difference between the supportive services for Native American students, and Native American Education\/Studies as an academic venture. The former is likely to be clutched quickly to the bosoms of all of us, the latter is less instantaneously gratifying and much more hard work.\u201d In the end, it was Cook-Lynn\u2019s vision that prevailed, and her \u201chard work\u201d that moved it forward.<\/p>\n

Another notable milestone in Cook-Lynn\u2019s career was her service as founder and editor of the nationally prominent Wicazo Sa Review<\/i>, a \u201cjournal devoted to the mission of assisting Indigenous peoples of the Americas in taking possession of their own intellectual and creative pursuits.\u201d The Wicazo Sa Review<\/i> remains in print, now published by the University of Minnesota Press.<\/p>\n

Cook-Lynn retired in 1990 after 19 years of service. \u201cIt is difficult to imagine what Eastern would be like,\u201d wrote a colleague after she stepped down, \u201cif it were not for her enormous contributions of intelligence and care.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elizabeth Cook-Lynn died on July 5, 2023. She was 92 years old.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Elizabeth Cook-Lynn, a professor emeritus of English and Native American studies at EWU, wasn\u2019t just an influential novelist, short-story writer and poet \u2014 though her literary legacy speaks for itself \u2014 she was also a tireless advocate in support of research and instruction centered on tribal histories and cultures. Among her lasting contributions was a…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":484,"featured_media":3290,"menu_order":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-3288","stories","type-stories","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","stories_categories-in-memoriam","stories_tags-american-indian-studies","stories_tags-fall-winter-2024-25"],"acf":{"subheading":"EWU\u2019s Elizabeth Cook-Lynn was one of the nation\u2019s most important Native American scholars.","featured_image_format":"cover","display_featured_image":true,"display_byline":false,"display_date_published":false,"featured_video":"","Links":false,"Resources":false,"page_override_title":"","page_hide_sidebar":false,"page_enable_page_nav":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test-www.ewu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/stories\/3288","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test-www.ewu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/stories"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test-www.ewu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/stories"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test-www.ewu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/484"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/test-www.ewu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/stories\/3288\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3292,"href":"https:\/\/test-www.ewu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/stories\/3288\/revisions\/3292"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test-www.ewu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test-www.ewu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}