Fredericks, Oswald White Bear.

White Bear (Oswald Fredericks) spent most of his life as a Hopi artist and story teller working for various youth organizations. One of his accomplishments was the carving of the Goldwater Kachina Collection which now resides at the Heard Museum in Phoenix. His second major accomplishment was collecting oral histories of Hopi people. These oral histories were the basis of Frank Waters', Book of the Hopi.

White Bear was born in Old Oraibi on February 6, 1905 to Charles and Anna Fredericks. He was christened Kacha Honowah (White Bear) after his father's Bear clan and was born into the Isngyan (Coyote) clan which was his mother=s. As a child, White Bear was initiated into one of the four societies which all Hopi belonged, however he was never initiated into one of the major four Kiva groups. White Bear attended the Oraibi Day School, was sent to the Phoenix Indian School then on to Haskell Institute in Lawrence, Kansas, and Bacone College in Muskogee, Oklahoma. It was at this latter institution, in 1930, he became a devout Christian. From this point he moved to New York, where he taught Indian Lore to the Boy Scouts. He then became the head instructor for arts and crafts for the YMCA in New Jersey and spent time at Shawnee-on-the-Delaware as a workshop instructor in Indian music.

In 1950 he married Naomi Meltamore (Brown Bear), a German American, from Waukegan, Illinois. After their marriage, they moved to New Oraibi and stayed in the home of his clan aunt, Elizabeth White. Here they took over his Aunt's business of boarding visitors and researchers. Unfortunately, very few visitors came to lodge with the Bears, so White Bear and Naomi returned to Phoenix in 1952. He returned to work as an instructor of arts and crafts for the Phoenix Boys Club. Because of his talent, he was in great demand for Hopi crafts, especially his Kachina dolls. White Bear remained an instructor until 1959.

It was during the late 1950s that White Bear convinced Fredrick Howell, director of the Charles Ulrick and Josephine Bay Foundation, to underwrite a history of the Hopi people. Howell approved the idea and eventually, Frank Waters was chosen as the writer to work with White Bear.

White Bear's role in the project was to record and transcribe oral histories gathered from Hopi elders. It is from this information that Frank Waters compiled his "Book of the Hopi" in 1963. The book was quite popular, drawing interest from the public and Hopi alike. Within the book was the myths of the Hopi and general information on their clans and rituals. This book became quite popular with the alternative movements of the 1960's and led to many pilgrimages to Hopi, and even unwanted settlement. Today, the book still holds favor with the New Age crowd, stimulating pilgrimages to Hopi from all over the world, especially German.

In his later years, White Bear continued his reputation as a top artist and as a teacher of Hopi culture. He shared his art and his knowledge with the world through public presentations in the United States and Europe. For many years he could be found exploring the backcountry of Hopi and the Verde Valley in search of answers to Hopi prophecy. White Bear died on February 6th, 1996.

From the guide to the White Bear Fredericks Collection, 1953-1965., (Cline Library. Special Collections and Archives Department.)