Washington State Truth and Reconciliation Tribal Advisory Committee

It is time for a genuine and robust conversation about equity and reconciliation for Indigenous communities and individuals in the United States.   

Washington State Truth and Reconciliation Tribal Advisory Committee Members are:

• Rebecca Black, Quinault Indian Nation
• Diana Bob, Lummi Nation
• Abriel Johnny, Tlingit/Cowichan First Nations
• Tamika LaMere, Anishinaabe/Little Shell Chippewa
• Edward Washines, Yakama Nation

Truth and Reconciliation is a process that provides space and time to investigate, name, honor and address generations of harm caused by state and federal wrongdoings that benefited and empowered the white dominant culture through unjust means.

The Truth and Reconciliation Tribal Advisory Committee (TAC) will conduct research and guide agency staff to ensure this process is done in a good way. The TAC will lead staff in the development of recommendations regarding how our state can address the harms caused by Indian boarding schools and other cultural and linguistic termination practices

Tribes and Tribal communities continue to experience issues at higher rates than other groups. To quantify the residual harm caused by removal, termination and assimilation era practices, we need only look to the symptoms present within modern Indigenous communities including: higher rates of incarceration, chronic disease, involvement in the child welfare system and the crisis of our missing and murdered Indigenous women and people. There is an intersection between these effects of colonization. That intersection is trauma. Trauma reverberates through time affecting generations as each new generation accepts the baton of survival passed to them by their ancestors- [i]“trauma not transformed is trauma transferred”.

Washington has made this commitment to create space and time to investigate our state’s history as it relates to the original inhabitants of our land. Termination, removal and assimilation practices brought death, starvation, theft and violence into the lives of Indigenous communities across our nation. Thankfully, these attempts to terminate Indigenous spirituality, culture and language were unsuccessful. It is with gratitude that we begin this healing journey.

Key goals for this work include:

• Bringing forth a truthful account of the policies and practices that existed throughout the boarding school era and others that lead to cultural and linguistic loss within Tribal communities;
• Conducting such work with the guidance of Tribes and Tribal people;
• Developing recommendations to direct Washington State in its work with Tribes and Tribal communities, in its efforts to redress hurtful policies and practices, and to correct verbiage that has and continues to be damaging to Tribes and Tribal people.
   

Upcoming meetings

Advisory Group Meetings

• May 30, 2024
  • https://atg-wa.zoom.us/j/84953769531?pwd=MjZ5c0o4OGZTTHN1Q3pGODZRUFNMUT09

TAC Subcommittees

The TAC has held several meetings and is looking to expand their work by adding subcommittees. The subcommittees will be:

1. Elders, Survivors and Descendants Subcommittee
2. Legal Subcommittee
3. Cultural and Resource Protection Subcommittee

Click here for more information.

Subcommittee Meetings

• Elders, Survivors and Descendants 
  • April 23, 2024 at 11:00 a.m.
  • https://atg-wa.zoom.us/j/84555946379?pwd=T1lBNy9rRjcwRkpzdUc1RkxGb1RuUT09
• Legal
  • April 23, 2024 at 3:00 p.m.
  • https://atg-wa.zoom.us/j/86107365322?pwd=SldrR1FxRnRuT211ODFKWFhjbWlPUT09
• Cultural and Resource Protection
  • April 23, 2024 at 4:00 p.m.
  • https://atg-wa.zoom.us/j/83087427999?pwd=YnRONmYzQ1dmVTEvT0VNUXFRUGFkZz09

Previous advisory committee meetings

• March 5, 2024
• February 20, 2024
• February 6, 2024
• January 23, 2024
• January 9, 2024
• December 12, 2023
• November 28, 2023 
• October 19, 2023 

Call for artists

The Washington State Attorney General’s Office Indian Boarding School Tribal Advisory Committee (TAC) is seeking artists to create project specific graphics to be used on various public reports, advertisements and other media. Click here for more information. 

Indian Boarding Schools identified as having operated in Washington State, as of 11/2023:

Additional Resources:

• Interactive map of Indian boarding schools: Interactive Digital Map of Indian Boarding Schools - The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition 
• List of Indian Boarding Schools:  List of Indian Boarding Schools in the United States - The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition
• Documentary from White Bison organization capturing testimony from survivors and their families:    https://youtu.be/vZwF9NnQbWM?si=cWyTPEKswvVal1bG 
• Interactive map showing lands ceded by Indigenous peoples:    Invasion of America (arcgis.com)