Biography
Bernie Whitebear (born Bernard Reyes, 1937–2000), a Colville (Sinixt) activist, was a central leader of Seattle's Red Power movement. On March 8, 1970 he co-led the occupation of Fort Lawton to reclaim federal land for urban Native people; he was arrested in the military's forceful response and released the next day, then kept organizing. The campaign won a 99-year lease in Discovery Park, where he founded the United Indians of All Tribes Foundation and the Daybreak Star Cultural Center.
Custody record
Whitebear’s firsthand account describes repeated stockade detentions and expulsions during the Fort Lawton campaign. Contemporary sources distinguish March 8 detention from later arrests; a blanket overnight release for every participant is not established.
