(to be joined by granddaughter, Ali)
Eva Boyd is a keeper and teacher of the Salish language and some of the oldest and rarest cultural arts of the Selis and Qlispe people. She comes from a family and an upbringing rich in the cultural knowledge and traditions of the Selis and Ql̓ispe people. Born in Worley, Idaho, she was raised in Wellpinit, Washington until the age of five, when she was brought to Camas Prairie. She lived there with her yaya Mary Louise Paul–Mali Luwi–until she was 13 years old. Then she moved to Ronan, where she lived with her sxepe and qene, Masale and Sophie Red Horn.
From her yaya Mali Luwi, a grandmother of many of the Stanislaws, Eva learned the art of making sally bags, moccasins, gloves, and hide tanning. Mali Luwi would sit much of the day by the open well where they got their water, making bags and baskets. They would go to the dump to find discarded sweaters and extract the yarn used for imbricating baskets and making sally bags. Mali Luwi also made cedar baskets, but cedar was expensive or more difficult to get, so Mali Luwi would only allow Eva to watch, not to try herself.
Eva was sent to the Ursulines but soon ran away, and never returned. She left the reservation when she was 21, built a house in Wellpinit for a grand total of $5,000, and had four kids–Katherine, Junior, Robin, and Windy, who today is often seen helping Eva and bringing her to cultural events.
In 1981, Eva came back and began taking classes at Salish Kootenai College, graduating in 1983 with an A.A. degree in Secretarial Sciences. In the summers she would camp at Agnes Vanderburg’s camp, learning many things from her, including the cultural use of plants.
Eva then went on to teach classes at SKC, for almost thirty years now–covering many aspects of the culture, including language, basketry, sally-bags, and corn husk bags–beautiful art forms that hold within them deep aspects of our way of life and our connection to the ancestors. At one point, Anita Big Spring tried counting up her students, got to 600, and said it could only be an estimate. And that was a while ago. So it’s likely that well more than a thousand students have learned from Eva.
In addition to her decades of teaching classes, Eva has served for many years as a member of the Selis-Qlispe’ Elders Cultural Advisory Council, helping give guidance and direction to the Culture Committee’s work as well as countless other projects, proposals, issues, and concerns brought before the Elders Cultural Advisory Council. Eva has been recognized and the recipient of the Montana Circle of American Masters in Folk and Traditional Arts Award. She has been a part of the Northwest Native American Basketweaver’s Association since its incorporation. Recently, Eva’s baskets were exhibited in the Missoula Art Museum, as part of the show, “For the Good of All Things.”
She continues to create and share her important knowledge with students and community members of all ages every day. At this year’s festival, Eva will be joined by artist Alishon Kelly, a next-generation member of her family, who now preserves and practices the traditional techniques she learned at Eva’s side.