Despite one in 25 students in Washington identifying as American Indian or Alaska Native (AI/AN), many Indigenous students and families feel disconnected from the education system. Native students rarely see their identities, cultures, or histories reflected in established curricula. Further, traditional curricula often reinforce settler-colonial…

The passage of Washington State Senate Bill 5433 made the teaching of state tribal history, culture, and government mandatory in Washington's public schools and teacher preparation programs; requiring teacher candidates to show competence in demonstrating the intersection of cultural competence, equity, and pedagogy. This survey study aims to…

This article advocates for the necessity of Indigenous Knowledges in furthering Indigenous self-determination in public schools, as well as furthering the broad aims of public education. Drawing attention to past efforts across the United States to transform the public school curriculum and analyzing data from testimonies given at Oregon State…

Indigenous methodologies for guiding, advising, and educating children have been in place since time immemorial. Those well-honed approaches to education were built to support whole and healthy individual development while also establishing a lifelong awareness and reverence for community, connection, kinship, and reciprocity. In Western cultures,…

Focus group interviews were conducted with educators and stakeholders for American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) students, including teachers, elementary and high school principals, tribal community leaders, and parents, to determine a global definition of culture and ways of infusing culture into curriculum to better educate AI/AN students. Focus…

This article describes the activities of the Indigenous Wellness Research Institute (IWRI) at the University of Washington, Washington State, in collaborating with tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) to examine alcohol, drug, and mental health issues among Native students. The authors provide first steps for the development of culturally…

The Northwest Indian Treatment Center runs a 45-day inpatient treatment program in Elma, Washington. The Squaxin Island Tribe created the program to address an unmet need for culturally based drug and alcohol treatment centers for Indian people who grew up on reservations. The program specializes in treating people with chronic relapse patterns…

The Coast Salish people of British Columbia and Washington State inhabit a borderlands region where they have negotiated the sometimes contrasting policies of two empires. Families belong to more than one village and must travel across the Canada-USA border frequently for ceremonies and events that bind the Coast Salish world together. Both…

In this comprehensive effort to study Indian education policies, the report categorizes the policies of five Northwest Region states based on 13 key policies identified in the literature and describes the legal methods used to adopt them, such as statutes, regulations, and executive orders. The study found that six of the key policies had been…

In this paper, the author describes historic Coast Salish ritual practices and the concepts regarding wrongdoing and redemption that underlie them. He draws out the implications, particularly the associated dangers, derived from these existing rituals for ritual work conducted by outsiders engaging Coast Salish peoples. Finally, he considers the…

This article interrogates the politics of representation, expectation, and responsibility at the new National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) in Washington, DC. The authors explore the interpretive contests (between and among Natives and non-Natives) provoked by the museum's representational strategies. They think that NMAI has positioned…

Examines the cultural and spiritual significance of Snoqualmie Falls to two Snoqualmie groups who live within the traditional valley of the Falls or elsewhere in Washington. Summarizes controversy over plans by Puget Sound Power and Light Company to increase water use, thereby diminishing the Falls. (KS)

This narrative describes the author's visit to Washington DC to attend the opening of the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI). As a member of the Chickasaw, the author pondered what he would find in the museum that would represent the Chickasaw Nation. Would the museum reflect his people in all their diversity? Would he see something of…

The anthropologist notes that the book is flawed by awkward writing and careless recording of native terms, while the Indian observes that the book presents a colorless account of a vibrant people whose adjustment to an invading Caucasian culture still left them with a sense of humor. (Author/AM)

Traces the symbols, perceptions, and experiences that guided the Snoqualmie tribe in maintaining its cultural identity system from 1855 to the present. Discusses adaptation from subsistence to a modern commercial economy; tribal government; and the merging of traditional and Christian symbols and beliefs to form the Indian Shaker Church. (SV)