Randy Lewis

Randy Lewis - K’ayaxan is a co-founder of IRRF. He was born on the Colville Indian reservation, but lived “on and off the reservation” because his parents fished at Celilo Falls, Oregon before that traditional Indian fishing place was flooded by the Dalles Dam in 1957. He is a member of the Colville Confederate Tribe or the Wenatchi/p’squosa, Methow and Okanagan bands. Randy is a storyteller, teacher, civil rights organizer and historian, his work draws deeply from traditional knowledge and oral traditions.

Lewis and a number of Indians then living in the Puget Sound participated in the invasion and occupation of Alcatraz Island in San Francisco in November, 1969. While there, he met Bernie Whitebear, and a few months later would join Whitebear in occupying Fort Lawton and demanding that the soon-to-be surplus military base be returned to all of Seattle’s “urban Indians.” Lewis has served a longtime board member for the United Indians of All Tribes Foundation— the group he helped create to fulfill Indians’ victory at Fort Lawton, and transform the 20 acres they received by building the Daybreak Star Cultural Center and People’s Lodge.