Dale Ann Frye Sherman
September 26, 1949 – October 2, 2026

Dale Ann Frye Sherman (Yurok/Howonquet) passed away peacefully on October 2, 2026. She was a leader, walking in the middle, and leaves behind a community of people she mentored and influenced. She served Indigenous Peoples on the Redwood Coast, statewide and nationally.

Dale Ann (aka Pan, Aunt Pan, Panny, Babe and Annie Aardvark) was born in Crescent City to mother Dorothy Lopez Frye (Howonquet) and father Bill Frye (Yurok). She was raised on her family’s ranch on what was then the Resighini Rancheria on the Klamath River just south of Klamath.

Dale Ann left behind her husband, Marlon Sherman, her daughter, Victoria Martin, granddaughter Arietty Frye, sister Connie Baker, much-loved nieces and nephews, valued cousins from three rivers, beloved in-laws and good-hearted friends.

Dale Ann attended grade school in Klamath and high school in Crescent City, where two teachers bluntly told her she would never go to college because Indians don’t go to college, and because she just wasn’t capable of doing the schoolwork anyway. Strangely enough, she ended up earning a master’s from the University of Denver in 1996, concentrating on Native American museum issues, with a 4.92 grade point average. She had earned a BA in Museum Studies from the University of California at Santa Cruz, graduating with Highest Honors in 1992. Before that, she had studied Interior Design at California State University, Fresno. Almost two decades prior to that, she had earned an AA at Hartnell College in Salinas (where she met her partner/husband of 55 years).

While she was a student at UC Santa Cruz, Dale Ann (along with a few other women) planned, organized and facilitated the first (and maybe only?) California Indigenous Women’s Conference, with 500 attendees and 50+ speakers from at least 38 different California tribes. Men were not allowed to speak and the rooms were monitored so they wouldn’t.

Also, while at UCSC, Dale Ann traveled home and interviewed family members, recording and transcribing their experiences as Native Peoples of the Redwood Coast. Her manuscript took second place in a national Native literary competition. The University of Nebraska signed a contract with her to publish it, but when the chief editor told her they wanted to see more of her in the writing, she basically said, “It’s not about me. It’s about family. It’s about community.” When they disagreed, she tore up the contract. The manuscript has gone unpublished for 34 years.

Later, while working days in Boulder and driving to night classes at Denver University masters’ program, she advised and assisted University of Colorado School of Law professor Charles Wilkinson in drafting the first Yurok Constitution.

Again, when studying at Denver University, at the request of United Indian Health Services’ executive director and board, Dale Ann worked with a Seattle-based architectural firm in designing Potawot Health Village, all while attending DU at night, working days and interning at two Denver museums. She said, “It was my responsibility to see that the building reflected the integrity of the land and the spirit and culture of the local Native Peoples.” Her consulting with UIHS continued until the completion of Potawot. The next time you visit Potawot, remember that it is the result of Dale Ann’s dream, vision and creative spirit.

After college, Dale Ann kept developing professional skills through advanced training involving mediation, negotiation and cross-cultural communication; heritage tourism; collaborations for tribal museums; managing small museums; and in-depth training in the Native American Graves and Repatriation Act.

Dale Ann’s professional life was one of deep commitment to her community. After completing her Master’s, Dale Ann worked for UC Santa Cruz EOP, the Yurok Tribe as the NAGPRA Coordinator, the Clarke Museum as Nealis Hall curator, and Humboldt State University, teaching in the Native American Studies department, all while contracting as a design, museum and cultural consultant.

The time spent teaching NAS courses was one of Dale Ann’s most rewarding jobs. She taught inside and outside of the classroom, by lecture and discussion and by setting an example. Dale Ann taught the truth and lived the truth. She never lied. She became a friend and mentor to many students, both Native and non-Native. This is what she taught:

“I know we must be in harmony with the land, the animals, plants and the climate. We must not overpower the land or environment but be in harmony with them.

“There must be a heart and spirituality to our communications and our efforts to produce great ideas and plans. With heart and spirituality enfolding them, people can expect more of themselves. People must be given permission to dream, not in contentious surroundings, but in peace and harmony. All of our thinking should acknowledge the gifts of earth, water and sky.

“Life is a story and needs to be celebrated.”

Dale Ann’s work touched countless lives across education, museum stewardship, and tribal governance. She will be deeply missed by her family, friends, colleagues, and the many communities she served. Finally, more of her words:

“We are water people. There is spirit in the water and spirit in our lives. Our art, our ceremonies and our communities — all are based on water. Water, and the spirit in that water, are our identity. We drink the water and we eat the salmon. They are both are in our DNA.

“The tears of the Creator made Blue Creek; the most important of our salmon runs comes from Blue Creek. We Yurok People come from Blue Creek. So it’s in the salmon and in us – in our bodies and in our DNA - the Creator’s tears and the need to return home. We return…

“In my childhood, I stood on the banks of the River near Blue Creek and I could hear Blue Creek meeting the Klamath River. The moon was out — it was full moon. The Salmon were coming up the River. They were splashing and swimming, they were jumping in the River. It was a clear night sky of deep blue and the water was shiny, a different shiny, from the silver of the salmon. They were like a silver moving ribbon going upriver. Swimming, jumping, moving, twisting, all going in one direction. Going home.”

On Saturday, October 24, Dale Ann’s ashes will be given to the River at Blue Creek. That same day, at noon, there will be tributes and songs at the awok Ada Waukell Charles Community Center across from the Yurok Tribe offices in Klamath. Following that, there will be sharing of food, starting at 1 p.m.

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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Dale Ann Sherman’s loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here. Email news@lostcoastoutpost.com.