In case you missed it — last year, city-elected officials and leaders from multiple local Indigenous tribes convened for a government-to-government meeting for the first time in Seattle history.
The Tribal Nations Summit was intended as a way for Seattle to begin repairing relationships with local Tribes in order to better preserve the land and culture.
As a result of the summit, City leadership committed to 23 specific initiatives intended to strengthen this collaborative stewardship through four key focuses:
- Building effective Tribal relations and Indigenous engagement
- Increasing cultural visibility and vitality
- Fostering collaborative cultural resource stewardship
- Creating culturally attuned systems of care
Fifteen months in, the City has released an update on the progress it’s made towards keeping those commitments.
Let’s take a look at some of what’s been cooking:
- In January 2024, Seattle Parks and Recreation (SPR) hosted a Tribal Nations Gathering to discuss issues related to parks and open spaces.
- The Office of Emergency Management reached out to local Tribes about their involvement with the Regional Catastrophic Planning Grant resilience hub project.
- Tribal history, art, Lushootseed language, and traditional place names will be more intentionally incorporated into parks and public space names, signage, and information materials.
- The Office of Housing supported a Chief Seattle Club affordable housing project that added 120 units of culturally attuned permanent supportive housing to the local housing stock.
- The Office of Sustainability & Environment helped facilitate the purchase of over 3,000 pounds of wild-caught coho salmon from the Muckleshoot Seafood Products Tribal enterprise, connecting Muckleshoot Seafood staff to Seattle Public Schools and hunger relief program food purchasers.
Indian Advisory Councilmember Donny Stevenson of the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe + Tribal Relations Director Tim Reynon commented that significant work remains ahead, but these daily actions are a step toward long-term progress.
