SPEAKER_11

Good morning.

The September 18th, 2024 Finance Native Communities and Tribal Governments Committee meeting will come to order.

It is 9.30 a.m.

I'm Dan Strauss, Chair of the Committee.

Clerk, would you please call the roll?

SPEAKER_08

Councilmember Kettle?

SPEAKER_11

Here.

SPEAKER_08

Councilmember Morales?

Here.

Vice Chair Rivera?

Chair Strauss?

Present.

Three present, two excused.

SPEAKER_11

Thank you.

We have one briefing and one policy item on the agenda today.

First, we will have public comment.

The agenda today is Council Bill 120815, an update to the priority hire legislation.

And the second is an informational item, a presentation on the City of Seattle Tribal Nations Summit one-year update report.

Before we begin, if there is no objection, the agenda will be adopted.

Hearing no objection, the agenda is adopted.

And at this time, we will move into public comment.

the hybrid public comment.

Currently we have three people in person and no one signed up remotely.

So clerk will have, I guess I already told you how many speakers we have.

I didn't read that script appropriately.

Each speaker will have two minutes to speak.

We'll start with the in-person speakers first.

The public comment period is up to 20 minutes.

Speakers will be called in the order in which they registered.

We'll begin with the in-person speakers.

Everyone has two minutes.

When you hear a chime, it leaves 10 seconds remaining in your time.

Councilmember Kettle notified me that we might want to do interpretation today.

If not, totally okay.

But if you do, you have as much time.

You have the two minutes to speak and then two minutes for interpretation.

So that's...

how we're gonna do that.

So the public comment period is now open.

And when we begin, we'll call the first speaker on the list.

Up first is Councilmember Ken Workman, followed by Jake, and then Kate.

And Maggie, if you'd like to speak, you're more than welcome to.

Good morning, Ken.

Whichever's most comfortable for you.

We're getting it turned on as we speak.

Hang on, let's just make sure this mic's working first.

SPEAKER_02

My name is Ken Workman.

I'm a Seattle resident.

I'm a council member of the Duwamish Tribe and president of the Duwamish Tribe's 501c3 Duwamish Tribal Services Organization.

It's an honor to be here before the council once again today.

It's good to see you.

This is what this means.

It's good to be here once again.

And I would like to emphasize, if I may, the Indigenous Advisory Committee and how the Duwamish tribe are not a member of that committee.

And so really what we are asking for is simply to have a place at the table.

I would remind you that back in 1851 when my grandfather, this person whose emblem you have sitting behind you on the wall, Chief Seattle, welcomed residents to this place called Seattle.

And he says, which simply means, come ashore, my friends.

Come ashore onto this land of the Duwamish that you are invited here.

And we invited people to our table and yet here we sit today and we don't have that same privilege.

So I would ask the council to once again look into the Indigenous Advisory Council and see if there's a position for a Duwamish member on this.

Thank you.

Thank you.

SPEAKER_11

Up next is Jake.

And whenever you're ready, we'll start the time.

SPEAKER_05

Hello, my name is Jake Danis.

I live in District 2, work in District 1 at Duwamish Tribal Services.

As a longtime Seattle resident, it is disappointing to see the city continue to systematically exclude the Duwamish Tribe from public policies, projects, and a literal seat at the table.

This is discrimination at best and effectively results in cultural erasure.

The Duwamish Tribe operates a federally recognized 501 nonprofit called Duwamish Tribal Services that provides critical services to Seattle's urban Indian communities.

At the very least, the council can take immediate action to create a spot for DTS to participate in the democratic process on the Indigenous Advisory Council and at the next Tribal Nations Summit.

The city has created the rules to exclude, so it's also within your power to correct them to be inclusive of all impacted communities.

Finally, we thank the council members that have initially met with us in person, and we will continue to invite Vice Chair Rivera and Council President Nelson to visit us at the Duwamish Longhouse and Cultural Center.

Thank you.

Thank you, Jake.

SPEAKER_11

Up next is Kate.

Kate, welcome.

SPEAKER_00

Hello, my name is Kate Clark.

I'm a resident in District 3 of Seattle.

And I'm here, first of all, to recognize the work that has been done with the Tribal Nations Summit.

And I hope that all of us in the room can recognize that we are in a better place than we were even 50 years ago between building positive relationships between sovereign nations and US cities and governments within this area.

And we know that no government is perfect and that also the shadow cast by colonization is long and still touches us today.

And that some of the work of that summit is to heal those harms.

And in that effort, there still is residual harm within not including the Duwamish and other non-federally recognized tribes.

in the region in those conversations.

I know that government to government relations are sticky, but in working beyond that stickiness and laying out commitments for the future with this summit, consider the flexibility, goodwill, and mutual respect reflected in the very document about the inclusion of urban Indian organizations that represent the ongoing trust obligations to tribal citizens regardless of where they live.

So in this spirit, please include the Duwamish tribe in these ongoing planning efforts as well as other non-federally recognized tribes in the region.

Thanks very much.

SPEAKER_11

Thank you.

We have concluded with everyone who has signed up to speak.

I will make a last call if anyone else is interested.

Now is the time.

Seeing no interest or no desire at this point, thank you all for speaking.

Public comment period is now closed.

We will move on to the first agenda item, although I am not seeing finance and administrative services here.

Well, I hope they show up.

We're gonna move on to the second agenda item and we'll take that up when they show up.

So clerk, we're gonna move on to our second, I guess I have to, clerk, do I have to amend the agenda?

No, we're gonna just move on to the second item.

Item two on this item on the agenda is the presentation on the city of Seattle.

And please come on up to anyone joining for this presentation.

This is the presentation on the City of Seattle Tribal Nations Summit One Year Update Report.

Clerk, will you please read the short title into the record?

SPEAKER_08

Informational item, City of Seattle Tribal Nations Summit One Year Report for Briefing and Discussion.

SPEAKER_11

Thank you.

Colleagues, this is the second time that we have discussed the Tribal Nations Summit in our committee.

And Vice Chair Rivera has joined us as well, for the record.

The first time we had Director Tim Raynon and Francesca Mertan with us, it was an introduction to what had occurred.

This is a bit of a different report out.

This is the one year look back and we are joined today by Chairman Leonard Forsman and Councilmember Donnie Stevenson.

Thank you for being here today.

What is different about today as compared to the last time we had this, the last time it was a bit more of an introduction, so it was a conversation.

Today, as it's a report out, I will turn it over to Chairman Forsman and Councilmember Stevenson and let you all take it from there, and we'll hold our questions until the end.

And so with that...

Chairman Forsman, thank you for joining us today, and thank you for letting us be your guest.

SPEAKER_10

I'm Shaleel Leonard Forsman.

I'm chairman of the Squamish Tribe, and my ancestor name is Gwee.

And thank you for the opportunity to say a few words about the progress that's being made with the outreach and government-to-government relationship between the City of Seattle and the tribes, and especially from my perspective, of course, the Squamish Tribe.

As you may know, Squamish Tribe lives on the Port Madison Reservation.

A little closer?

Yes, please.

Okay.

And that reservation was established by the Treaty of Point Elliott, 1855. Our primary signatory was Chief Seattle.

who's a great, great, great, great uncle of mine.

And the reservation was established for the Suquamish.

And initially, all the tribes pretty much were tribal villages that were in King County.

And many of them did come over here, but Donnie will add on to the further history of that, I'm sure.

But we're primarily Squamish, Duwamish people that live on a reservation nearby.

And we're a fishing tribe, and we rely on the harvest of salmon and clams and shellfish, and then also the land, water, and air.

And so that's a very important part of our...

our values and traditions.

And we see that the city is making strides towards including more of that in there as well.

And we also, of course, have a lot of other priorities regarding education, cultural preservation, and also public education.

I was glad to hear that that was in part of the takeaways from the report.

So I'm not sure if I was supposed to just do an introduction or not, or if you wanted a longer statement.

SPEAKER_11

The floor is yours.

SPEAKER_10

The floor is mine.

SPEAKER_11

I'm just going to let the team take it away.

SPEAKER_10

I've got a reputation for trying to get to the point.

But as you know, Chief Seattle is buried on a reservation, was born in Blake Island, and His father and Chief Kitsap built the Old Man House, and the city of Seattle was named for him.

And he gave his speech right down here at the foot of Main Street, outside of Doc Maynard's office, right before the treaty, where he talked about where all this, his belief system and his tribe's belief system and his concerns.

And he said, every part of this soil is sacred to my people.

And we really hold that to heart.

And so we really look forward to trying to preserve our fishing rights of Elliott Bay and at the mouth of the Duwamish River, and also work with the city on educating the public about our culture and history, which of course, we're the survivors of an intense assimilation process.

And including giving up our ceded lands, living on the reservation, having our reservation allotted, most of it sold off without our permission, and our children forced to go to boarding school.

and then also a lot of the racism that we experienced and do experience to some degree today.

It's not as open as it used to be, but we're really concerned about that.

And so we've found that public education through our museum programs, through educating our youth about our culture and history, getting involved in cultural activities, try to preserve our language has been good for combating that.

So we really look to the city to help us in that mission of trying to educate the public about our people.

and our values and traditions and making that front and center in people's lives in the city.

I had one elder when we were going through a really tough time with a lot of lawsuits and trying to reclaim some of our lands and our Tidelands.

And she had been sent off to the Riverside boarding school in California.

And she came home to retire on the reservation.

And I asked her, you know, I said I was really upset at the time.

We were both on tribal council at the time.

And I was upset at some of the things we were facing.

This was in the late 1980s.

And she just looked at me and goes, Leonard, I don't understand why these people are this way.

Don't they know this is Indian country?

And, you know, that's the thing is that we can all embrace that and those values, taking care of our elders, educating our youth, taking care of the natural resources around us, thinking seven generations back, seven generations forward is a place I hope we can all land.

So with that, I'll just say ahoy with Chet, which means I am finished.

SPEAKER_09

My name is Donnie Stevenson, and I am a member of the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe, elected member of the Muckleshoot Tribal Council.

Good day to you all, my friends.

It's an incredible honor and privilege to be here this morning and to be able to speak to some of the incredible work that's gone on within the city over the last year.

So in hindsight, sort of offering some perspective to the important work that has played out, particularly talking about the Tribal Nations Summit.

I think the first thing that is vitally important to note is that that's the first time that there's been a formal meeting and discussion between the city and its officials and the independent sovereign tribal nations of this land since treaty times.

And just taking a step back from that and really getting some perspective of what a vitally important step that is to acknowledge that ability to come together and to talk about the shared interests that we as leaders and people have.

In our language, there's an expression that carries a weight that has a meaning beyond just its literal translation.

And that expression is, and that means for all our people, for all our relations.

And the...

Tribal Nations Summit is something that fits right within the realm of that expression, that for the first time as modern intergovernmental agencies, we have the ability to come together, to put our minds together, to talk about the things that impact the people that we all serve, the shared interests we have like the, beautiful Salish Sea and surrounding area that is a staple to all of our ways of life.

As a tribal person, a Muckleshoot tribal member, it's important for me to note that This region is indispensable to my people, that this is our homeland.

This is where we're from, and we don't exist without this place and the bounty of resources that exist herein, that we've been here for literally hundreds of generations and thousands of years.

and that we've found a way to live in harmony and in balance with all things that Creator has placed here along with us, including all of the other peoples.

And the work that we've done over the last year as a result of the Tribal Nations Summit and in combination with the...

Indigenous Advisory Council, which I am also a member of, is fundamentally what it's all about to be Indian and to be Indigenous and, in fact, to be a leader.

That the work that we're doing and the promises that we are making are at times understood that we may not as individuals see the benefits of the work that we're doing.

That it may, as Leonard beautifully said, be impacts that are felt into the seventh generation and beyond.

But we may never sit in the shade of the tree that we're planting, so to speak.

but that is okay.

And fundamentally, the work that we do today has far-reaching and long-lasting impacts, and that those are intended to reach beyond that which we have the ability to see on a day-to-day basis.

Now, don't get me wrong.

The work that we can do that can be seen on a day-to-day basis is just as important.

And it's exciting to be able to talk about the commitments that the city has made as a result of the...

the meeting held with tribal leadership.

And it's exciting to talk about the fact that those commitments have been quantified, that they've been codified, and that there is progress that's being measured towards their success.

I've been a tribal leader for a long time.

I've worked for my tribe for a long time.

almost 30 years.

And I've served as an elected member of our council, including as the vice chair of the tribe for the better part of the last decade.

And the reality is, is that commitments that are made in tangible ways that are measured, that have quantifiables, measurables and achievables are things that we don't get to see as often as we would like to as tribal leaders.

And so to have a commitment like that, that results from the work that we're doing is, something meaningful.

It's something tangible.

And I think that taking a moment out to just sort of point that out, to acknowledge it, to raise our hands to all the people who came together to make that happen is something that's fundamentally important to do.

Sort of lastly, I'd just like to share a little bit about the sort of history of my people.

So we're also a treaty tribe.

We're subject to the same treaty that Leonard referenced in his opening.

But we're also subject to a second treaty that took place the following year in 1855. It's in neither one of those where you see the Muckleshoot tribe referenced.

And it's important to talk about why that is.

So historically, our people came from the very region which we're sitting in.

You can look down the hill to a historical village site, which has recently been formally renamed by the city of Seattle to reflect that traditional name that along the waterfront, what's now Alaskan and combination of Alaskan and Elliott Way.

has been renamed Dzidzalalich Way.

Dzidzalalich is the name of the historical village that sat at that location at roughly the corner of Yesler and Washington where they come together at the ferry terminal.

And that spot, that very specific point on the map is the area that was traditionally and originally known as Dzidzalalich.

That name came to refer to the entirety of the city.

And our people referred to the city of Seattle by that name.

That has a very specific meaning.

So roughly translated, Dzidzalalich means a place to cross over or the little crossing over place.

And that reference is a very specific sort of process that took place there.

You look at the waterfront, and it's very different today than it was hundreds of years ago.

that it's built out and much of the shoreline that exists today is manmade.

Historically, there was a spit of dry land that ran from that location along the waterfront, which is now the ferry terminal, all the way up into Pioneer Square to Occidental Park.

And on the outside, you had the saltwater and the bay.

And on the inside, you had freshwater lagoons.

And that spit of land, you could literally cross from one side to the other and traverse the landway.

And so...

The name Little Crossing Over Place is very literal.

It also, that same corner, if you took a look up what is Washington Street, you could use that same basic pathway to cross from the saltwater shores all the way over to the freshwater, which is the shores of Lake Washington.

And so when you talk about a place to cross over, a little crossing over place, it was literally that.

It was the places where you could traverse the shoreline and stay dry, or you could cross the mainland and get from saltwater to freshwater.

And it's important for me to know our people lived in all of those locations.

So Muckleshoot, excuse me, Muckleshoot is not the traditional name of our people.

What Muckleshoot is an anglicized pronunciation of a location, it's a place name on what is today our reservation.

So our reservation, which is a 5.5 square mile track of land that sits about 23 miles to the south of here on the I-5 corridor.

We run, we sit adjacent between the Green and the White Rivers that once upon a time you could step out onto the plateau on which the reservation exists today to the very point and look northward here towards the city.

And you could see where the Green and the White River converged in the valley.

And that specific spot was known as Muckleshoot, or better pronounced in our language, Buckleshoot.

And what that translates to is a lookout point, or a point from which to look out.

And it carries the connotation of almost like a nose on a face.

So that place name ultimately came to refer to all of the people of this region who from each of the salt waterways, the fresh waterways, the lakes, the rivers, anywhere waterways converge basically, who ultimately ended up as a result of those treaties and a number of armed conflicts that played out being relocated to what is today the Muckleshoot Reservation.

I sort of share that story with you because it's relevant to the formation of this region and it is the direct story of the people who lived here since time immemorial.

I think it's also important to note some of that story because the work that we're talking about is ensuring that that history is carried forward into the future of this city.

Chief Seattle, who the city is named after, one of those villages that I'm talking about, the freshwater villages, what was then known as the White River, his mother is from one of those villages.

That's one of our ancestors, one of our people.

and telling that story is important because it's ingrained and it's braided into the weave of, uh, uh, the entirety of the fabric that makes Seattle, the city it is and our communities, uh, the people we are.

Um, I thank you for the opportunity to be here to, to, to share.

Um, my, my hands are raised to you, uh, each and every one of you.

Um,

SPEAKER_07

in our language, thank you.

Good day, honorable, noble people, my dear people.

My name's Tim Raynon, and I'm a member of the Puyallup tribe, and I'm honored to be here with you today, and I'm joined by Francesca Murnan, and I'll have her introduce herself.

SPEAKER_01

Thank you.

Hello, everyone.

My name is Francesca Murnan.

I'm a citizen of the Shawnee Tribe and of the Cherokee Nation, and I work in the city's Department of Neighborhoods.

I provide staff support to a public commission called the Indigenous Advisory Council, of which Councilmember Stevenson is one of nine members.

It's nice to be before you again.

SPEAKER_07

Before we get started, I just want to thank Chairman Forsman and Councilmember Stevenson for providing the setting for the work that the city is doing and a little bit of background as to why this work is so important.

I appreciate their time in coming down here to meet with us, to share their perspective, and we're especially grateful for their continued guidance as we move this work forward here at the city in the Tribal Relations and Indigenous Advisory Council.

We're going to start our presentation with just a short refresher.

You've heard a little bit about it already, but I thought we would start off with a little bit of a refresher from our meeting earlier this year.

You know, back in May of 2023, the Office of Intergovernmental Relations, along with Department of Neighborhoods, the Mayor's Office, support from the City Council, we convened the inaugural City of Seattle Tribal Nations Summit.

The summit was an exercise of the government-to-government relationship between the city and the 29 federally recognized tribes located in Washington state, and was modeled after best practices from the federal and state governments.

These best practices includes the President's Tribal Nations Summit and the Washington State Centennial Accord meetings that occur each fall in coordination with the Governor's Office of Indian Affairs.

The City Summit had two key goals.

One, identify actions and desired outcomes that uphold the sovereignty and treaty rights of federally recognized tribes.

And two, build partnerships, strengthen collaborations, and enhance diplomacy.

As a city, this gathering marked the beginning of our journey to better honor and respect tribal sovereignty in local governance and engage tribal nations as sovereign governments and regional partners.

Now, a little over one year later, we're holding ourselves accountable as partners to tribal nations and to the conversations and commitments shared between city and tribal and urban native leaders during the inaugural summit.

The summit resulted in 23 initial commitments across these four core areas that you see on the screen.

And today we will share a few highlights from our progress in these areas.

The updates we will share today are helping to lay the groundwork for growing trusted partnerships and fostering greater collaboration.

Yet we also acknowledge that significant work remains ahead for us.

SPEAKER_01

Get my mic on.

You can now access the full report by visiting the Office of Intergovernmental Relations webpage, and we've provided print copies for staff today.

We'd also like to name that today's updates and those in the report only represent a fraction of the funding and engagement that supports American Indian Alaska Native people in Seattle.

As you all are aware, the city fosters relationships and provides funding to many urban Indian organizations and indigenous groups in the region and throughout Seattle that are not fully captured in this progress update.

The items in this report really focus on and are reflective of the engagements with federally recognized tribes and statutorily recognized American Indian and Alaskan Native service providers.

and advisory bodies that serve tribal citizens regardless of where we reside.

And that is a reflection of the scope and structure of the summit as an exercise of the political relationships.

We recognize that native people, we have a responsibility to support the political and the racial equity needs of our communities and we thank the city for continuing to engage tribal and urban native communities through many pathways.

And before we dive into specific examples from the 17 departmental partners that are highlighted in the report, we wanted to reflect on the past year as a whole and share some of the key takeaways.

First, we're hearing from city and tribal partners that we've made significant strides in our commitment to tribal engagement.

We also understand that developing a systematized and a standardized protocol through a government to government framework is a critical step and a priority action.

Second, we understand that tribal consultation has become more consistent and frequent, with many departments engaging with tribes on policies, projects, and initiatives.

In the last year, we've increased tribal representation in major city planning efforts, and we've increased requests for tribal engagement on a range of issues, from cultural and natural resources to food systems and city planning.

At the same time, we often see that tribal engagement can still be grouped with generalized community engagement, which can fail to recognize and honor tribal sovereignty.

Tribal representatives have expressed the need for direct city-tribal relationships, and they continue to stress the importance of early and often consultation on anything that may impact tribal interests and affect tribal nations.

Third, we've seen a demonstrated commitment to reflecting indigenous values, cultures, and priorities throughout city projects and policies.

We'll show you a few examples of that in the coming slides.

In the final bullet here, the city is making a more collaborative approach to cultural resource stewardship by expanding our outreach across many environmental projects, programs, and initiatives, and demonstrating a commitment to environmental justice, which again will be featured in some of the upcoming slides.

In this next set of key takeaways, we've seen that city departments continue to invest in the partnerships that support culturally responsive housing and emergency shelter services, as well as gender-based violence and other services that support the community resilience for tribal citizens and all urban native residents.

And the city has made strides in increasing education and understanding of tribal histories, governments, and priorities by visiting tribal communities, hosting gatherings, developing and attending trainings and events, and engaging in regional conferences and summits that are hosted by our tribal partners and tribal organizations.

We have also seen foundational and critical steps to more effective tribal relations to the formation of a city tribal work group and the development of tools to better track our engagement across our city partners so that we're in good coordination and communication as a city family.

And finally, we see that building staff skills and capacity for this work across the departments is a critical step in moving this forward, and it needs to be adequately planned for, budgeted and resourced.

In the next couple of slides, we're going to spotlight some of the key activities that happened with tribal nations and native partners over the last year.

These examples are gonna span many departments and demonstrate that commitment to ensuring that tribal relations and native engagement are citywide.

SPEAKER_07

So regardless of the topic, we have heard loud and clear from tribal leaders and urban native leaders the call for clear and consistent communication with city leaders and staff.

Tribal leaders have stressed the importance of early and often consultation and collaboration on anything affecting tribal nations and tribal interests.

In the past year, the city coordinated several visits to tribal communities or areas of significance to tribal partners.

These meetings included tribal leadership and staff from the mayor's office, city council, and various city departments.

These meetings demonstrated our ongoing commitment to improving our relationship with tribal nations.

We would like to take a moment to thank the many tribal leaders and staff that helped coordinate these site visits to help our city leaders and our staff get to know our tribal partners and develop a better understanding of tribal priorities.

The pictures on the slide here depict recent visits that the mayor's office, city council members, and city staff took to the Upper Skagit, the Soxwaddle, and the Swinomish tribes as part of the...

FERC relicensing process up there.

We're grateful that, you know, city leaders were able to go up there and visit with tribal leaders, tribal council members and staff and learn more about their priorities up there.

In addition to these visits, the city also coordinated visits with other tribes in the Swinomish tribal leaders and staff tour of the Skagit hydro projects.

Chair Strauss' visit to canoe journey landing at Alki last summer, where he had the opportunity of meeting with some of our Muckleshoot partners.

The mayor's visit to Muckleshoot ancestral territory last year to learn more about Red Barn Ranch.

And we've had...

had city leaders attend the recent Ancestral Waterways event that the Squamish tribe hosted here just last week, as well as many virtual meetings with other tribes throughout the region.

We have seen the number of tribal consultation requests increase citywide over the past year.

And I might just say I'm sure that our tribal leaders are maybe getting sick of getting emails from me because I'm constantly sending requests their way, as well as other departments.

And so we really have seen an uptick over the last year, year and a half or so, in the outreach that the city departments and leadership are making to tribes.

The most common consultation topics include cultural resources management, tribal treaty rights, environmental stewardship, the hydro projects, urban planning, public art and cultural placemaking, and economic development.

In our efforts to ensure we are increasing our awareness and understanding of tribal priorities, we have invited many tribal nations to collaborate and consult on state and federal policy priorities to better understand areas of mutual interest.

As many of you on this committee know, the city has also met with tribal leaders and tribal youth delegates to better understand and support tribal nations efforts to address the opioid and fentanyl crisis and increase inter-jurisdictional communication and joint advocacy.

This is a shared area of interest that we plan to continue to engage in going forward.

SPEAKER_01

The Office of Planning and Community Development offers one example of some improved approaches to tribal and urban native engagement.

Over two years, OPCD coordinated indigenous engagement for the Draft 1 Seattle plan update, and this included engagement with federally recognized tribes and contracting with urban Indian community groups for a listening session.

Additional engagements included a couple of feedback sessions with the Indigenous Advisory Council.

And for reference, the last comprehensive plan, native people were largely referenced as a people of the past.

While we know that more engagement is needed, this effort resulted in an initial set of tribal and urban native priorities in several parts of the plan, including community involvement, land use, housing, climate change, and environment and arts and cultural elements.

And notably, government to government relationships with regional tribal governments are now called out and defined as a priority within the draft plan, which is also reflective of the state.

In another example, the Office of Sustainability and Environment increased tribal and urban native engagement in the recently released Food Action Plan.

Those efforts included outreach and engagement with tribal nations, contracting with Native women-owned consulting firms, and partnerships with urban Native groups to inform those priorities.

As a result, the recently released plan includes numerous references to tribal and urban Native priorities that have not appeared in the last version.

This includes references to the protection and enhancement of tribal treaty rights, traditional foods, and land stewardship by Coast Salish and urban native communities.

And moving forward, OSC has plans for additional indigenous engagement as they move towards implementation of the plan.

SPEAKER_07

Tribal leaders have expressed the desire to revitalize local Coast Salish values.

culture, history, stories, language, and art that generate a sense of belonging and connection among native people to the natural and built environment in the city of Seattle, as you've heard from our tribal leaders today.

In the past year, the city has increased tribal engagement on public art, infrastructure, and capital projects.

For example, Seattle Parks and Recreation and the Office of Arts and Culture are coordinating with tribal nations to incorporate tribal history, tribal art, Lushootseed language, and traditional place names into parks and public space names, signage, and information materials.

One example is the upcoming artwork that will add to the native cultural placemaking efforts at Licton Springs Park.

The images on the slides showcase a new effort for traditional Lushootseed place names on park signs and a group photo from the Seattle Parks and Recreation Tribal Nations Gathering held earlier this year.

Over the past decade, the city has engaged tribal nations and native artists in the redevelopment of the Seattle waterfront, as you can see.

In the near future, many projects will come online, including a tribal interpretive center and several art pieces along the waterfront.

Public art will include welcome figures and other carvings and Coast Salish-inspired installation pieces.

The Office of Waterfront and Office of Arts and Culture are key partners in facilitating this long-term tribal engagement and coordination of city resources to support this work.

SPEAKER_01

In January, the Seattle Parks and Recreation was the first city department to convene a tribal nations gathering to dig deeper into issues of mutual concern to tribal government and city government.

The gathering engaged tribal leaders and staff in relationship building and dialogue with city leaders and staff on issues of cultural resources, habitat restoration and management, park development, and park programming.

You can access the full summary report of the gathering on the Office of Intergovernmental Relations website.

It includes concrete action steps and findings from tribal leaders that emerged from the summit.

And some of the next steps included increased outreach and engagement of tribal partners and the formation of an internal work group to begin systematizing tribal relations within the departmental process.

SPEAKER_07

Earlier this year, Seattle Department of Transportation was awarded a U.S.

Department of Agriculture Urban Forestry Grant to work with the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe on land and habitat restoration in the Longfellow Creek Basin.

The collaborative project includes $900,000 for the Delridge Native Forest Garden that will enhance approximately four acres of city owned parcels and unimproved rights of way in the basin in West Seattle.

The project will remove invasive species and plant native conifers and understory plants with cultural significance to tribes throughout the region.

The project will include a footpath and planting will be coordinated with local communities to provide educational and volunteer opportunities.

SPEAKER_01

For several years, the Office of Housing and the Human Services Department have made efforts to engage and invest in urban Indian organizations to provide culturally attuned housing and human services to native people in Seattle.

And over the last two years, the Human Services Department worked with both the King County Regional Homelessness Authority and two urban Indian organizations to support 93 units of culturally attuned emergency shelter.

And the Office of Housing has supported the recent Chief Seattle Club affordable housing project that added 120 units of culturally attuned permanent supportive housing in North Seattle in early 2024. And the Human Services Department will soon resume contract administration of the Homelessness Prevention Program in partnership with four urban Indian organizations to provide critical financial assistance to prevent homelessness.

In the area of culturally-attuned food systems, the Office of Sustainability and Environment connected the Muckleshoot Seafood Enterprise with Seattle Public Schools and local hunger relief programs last year.

This resulted in the purchase of salmon from the tribal enterprise for the Seattle Public Schools Lunch Program.

This partnership was profiled in the International Examiner earlier this year.

Seattle Public Schools is planning to feature the Muckleshoot salmon in future dishes throughout the 2024 and 2025 school year.

In addition, the hunger relief partners, including Northwest Harvest, Food Lifeline, Operation Sack Lunch, and the Meals Partnership Coalition also placed salmon orders with the tribal enterprise.

SPEAKER_07

We're grateful for the opportunity to share a few highlights of our progress from the past year.

We encourage you to dig deeper into the report to learn about other ongoing efforts.

While these highlights include big and small activities, it is clear that the daily actions of city leadership and staff are contributing to progress that will inform long-term policy and system change.

We also understand that significant work remains ahead.

There are four areas that our office will lead moving forward.

Collectively, these efforts aim to improve our internal process and capacity for tribal relations citywide.

This year, we launched a work group and tracking tool to improve our data and interdepartmental communication and coordination of tribal engagement.

We also understand that there is a need to systematize and standardize protocols for tribal and urban native engagement.

Therefore, later this month, we will convene a work group to explore best practices.

We are continuing our commitment to build staff capacity for tribal and urban native engagement through relationship building and advisory support at the Office of Intergovernmental Relations and the Indigenous Advisory Council.

And we're working with Seattle Human Resources Department to develop a tribal nations training that will be available to all staff, all leadership in Cornerstone beginning later this year and throughout next year.

And we are beginning planning for our next, our second Tribal Nations Summit to be hosted next year.

Again, I just wanna thank you for the opportunity to reaffirm our commitments to and relationships with federally recognized tribes and native communities.

We look forward to continuing this important work in the months and years ahead.

And before we close our presentation, we would like to provide one more opportunity to our tribal leaders here, now that they've heard our report, to provide any observations, any last words to close out our presentation.

Chairman Foxman.

SPEAKER_10

I'd just like to thank the staff here for all their hard work and thank the council members, committee members for your attention.

Tim and Francesca have done a great job, and we really appreciate their effort in doing this work.

And it's not easy work to do.

There's a lot of challenges related to it.

There's a lot of obviously complex history about our relationship since contact.

The first contact for Chief Seattle was when he was six years old and came out to see Vancouver's ship just across the water here in 1792. And since then, we've seen a lot of changes and adaptations and we really are seeing a cultural political resurgence and I think that's good for the whole city and the region because sovereign tribal treaty tribes are an asset to this region as I said before our values and traditions and also our our commitments and priorities I think really do align.

I think that many times when I talk to local governments, we all have similar priorities.

I think everybody wants clean water, everybody wants to improve education systems we want the truth told in the schools about our particular backgrounds and we don't want to exclude people's opportunities to learn those we don't want to you know eliminate curriculum or anything like that we want to add to it and that's one thing I do a lot of work on is introducing tribal curriculum into the schools for all students to learn more, because what better way to learn about civics than learning about the history of the tribes, the federal government, local government.

So with that, I'll just say and that means I am finished.

SPEAKER_09

I would echo Chairman Forsman's sentiment that Thank you to the city staff that as a intergovernmental representative, as a tribal council member for the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe, as well as being blessed and lucky and privileged to serve as a member of the Indigenous Advisory Council for the city of Seattle.

the energy and the effort that the, staff who serve Indian country, both internally and externally within the city here, world class.

That Tim and Francesca do an amazing job.

And I think that much of the institutional change that is underway can be directly attributed to their contributions.

So I really do thank you guys very much for all of your hard work.

Just sort of stepping back and sharing sort of big picture.

So the Muckleshoot tribe's relation to the land that we occupy here is something that can't be, that relationship and its importance can't be overstated.

that it's at the core of our identity and it's really fundamental to who we are as a people.

It forms the core of our identity and is the fundamental building block for the culture that's developed over hundreds of generations and thousands of years.

And really directly stated, we are a water people that we're tied to the waterways of this region.

And Muckleshoot is both a saltwater and a freshwater people.

And in looking at sort of our history in this region and the waterways that have shaped our tribe, there's a number of river systems that have been fundamentally important to us.

The Duwamish, which is ultimately the same as the Green River system when it hits.

Our reservation is a river and a fishery that we've sustained since time immemorial.

The White River system.

And then what was once the Black River system.

So let me talk a little bit about those three systems that are core to who we are.

So the Black, let's start with the Black.

that as a result of the Ballard Locks and the water table changing when that went in, the Black River no longer exists.

It's dried up, it's gone.

All of the resources and the fisheries that were sustained within that water system are gone with it.

The White River system.

So the White River system, I talked a little bit about Muckleshoot and what that means, Buckleshoot and a lookout point.

And I talked about, you could see where the White and the Green River converged.

So that used to be the case, that the White River and the Green River were a part of the same system, ultimately the Duwamish, which empties here into Elliott Bay.

As a result of colonization and farming in what is now the Auburn Valley and the flood plains that were manipulated, the White River, which once flowed south to north up here to Elliott Bay, today flows the opposite direction.

It's been redirected and it now flows north to south and empties into the Puyallup River into Commencement Bay.

And then you have the remaining Green and Duwamish River system, which there's a super fund in terms of having to take care of that waterway and the pollution that impacts all of the resources within the system.

So of the three vital river systems that have formed and shaped the identity of our people's lives throughout history.

One is gone.

The other now flows the opposite direction of what was intended.

And the last one has to be monitored to ensure that the fish we take from it are safe for our people's consumption.

It took a heck of a lot of hard work, commitment, ingenuity, and a real decision to make those changes for those things to happen, to drive mass change, to get rid of one river system, to reverse the flow of another, and to impact one beyond anything that the natural world has ever seen or known.

that's the same type of commitment that it's gonna take for us as leaders, tribal leaders, city leaders, working together to ensure the future of our shared communities.

So I know that's a...

a high watermark and a big ask.

But I know that if we come together and we put the institutional knowledge of our two sort of great histories together, that we can find a way to make sure that we're paying forward to the future that which we've been provided by our ancestors and by our elders.

I really put that task forward to each of us sitting around this table.

As leaders, that's what it's all about.

It's about making sure that we keep the perspective that we don't inherit from our elders.

We don't inherit from our ancestors.

We, in fact, borrow from our children.

And with that, I raise my hands.

I offer thanks.

I wish you all farewell and to take care of yourselves.

SPEAKER_11

Thank you, Chairman.

Thank you, Councilmember.

Thank you, Tim and Francesca.

I'm gonna just click through a couple highlights here, and then I'll pass it off to committee members to ask questions.

I'm gonna try to manipulate technology, which is never a good idea.

But if I could share screen, I just wanted, well, before I do that, Chairman Forsman, I think the last time I saw you in these chambers, you were swearing in Deborah Juarez, if I could recall, if that's correct.

SPEAKER_10

That's true.

That was a great day in the history of the city.

SPEAKER_11

And I just, you know, I didn't think about that until I saw you in here.

And this committee is really working and keeping the legacy of Deborah working.

Not a lot, but working.

And as I reflected on what you've shared, this was last year's one, the Tribal Summit was the first government-to-government communication with the City of Seattle.

And since treaty time, just in the time that Seattle's been a city, that's 154 years.

And I know that there was an impulse to say, well, let's have another tribal summit next year.

And the realization that if we're just going to have conversations every year, we're not going to get the work done.

And that it is more important to take the time in between these government-to-government consultations and engagements to do work so that we have something more to talk about.

And it is nice to have you here in the chambers, Chairman, because This committee, I was tasked by Deborah to keep the legacy working, and I believe this is the first time we've had in chambers elected leaders from multiple federally recognized tribes here in chambers with council members.

I didn't realize that until we were here sitting today.

It's a big moment, and this is just us continuing to do the work.

There's a lot more to do.

Also, I want to thank you for not throwing me in the water at Canoe Journey.

I am a paddler and I misnamed one of the canoes.

I won't say what I called it.

I said that word, yes.

I'm a paddler myself, and one of the things that I did a number of years ago in training for a long race from Tacoma to Port Townsend was I went and kayaked around Bainbridge Island.

And what I noticed, Chairman, is that it took me about an hour and 15 minutes to make it from Ballard, a traditional village, to Suquamish Reservation, which was faster than taking the ferry and driving.

But we talk about the connectivity of our waterways.

and they were our super highways.

And I think folks forget because of how much traffic there is, how quick it is to paddle.

Now I'm gonna try to play with technology, and I'm getting off script, but Councilmember Stevenson, I'm gonna get used to not calling you vice chair, Let's try this out.

You were mentioning, and I've got a photo of one of the early maps of Seattle that talks about this place that you were describing.

Because I think it's hard for people to visualize what you were saying.

And so here you have, and so I'll turn it back to you if you want to describe this map a little bit more.

I'll just say that just right where Yesler and that little lagoon is, there's a little X now, and that's where All All House is, the Chief Seattle Club.

Over to you, Councilmember.

SPEAKER_09

Yeah, I think a beautiful representation of kind of the...

verbal image that I was trying to paint a little earlier in the discussion.

And it's always a powerful thing to be able to sort of quantify that and see it in a meaningful way.

And I also think the opportunity to talk in terms of the real history, the great history of this city, that it is just like the city is today.

It's dramatic, it's meaningful, it's very powerful.

All of that comes together in a way which is a true reflection of, I think the city as it exists within our environment today, that it's a part of not only who we are, it's a part of who we are, the global and the royal we.

And that indigeneity really is at the root of the entirety of every foundation that's laid here in Seattle.

without sort of the indigenous history of the city, you can't talk about the history of the city.

As a tribal leader, as a tribal person, that's an important part of the message that I look to share.

And it's an important part of the work that I think this indigenous people working within this environment try to do.

And yeah, I thank you for having and making that available and quantifying it in such a tangible way.

SPEAKER_11

Yeah, just to kind of repeat back what I heard you say, there on Main Street, there's that little sand spit, the little crossing over.

And then you said along Yesler, Washington there, that gets you over to the freshwater across the way.

Some things that we still need to work on.

noting some things that we still need to work on.

The USS Decatur is also pictured in this map, and there are still some cannonballs in City Hall Park that need to be taken to a different place than a park.

I note that as often as possible until somebody does something about it.

I'll pass the sharing back over to you, Francesca.

Let me check my notes here.

On the key takeaways, slide five, as you're getting there, I know my colleagues have heard me say this probably 100 times this year.

I really appreciate how Tim and Francesca, you have shared that engagement is different than consultation.

Engagement can happen at a staff-to-staff level.

It can happen between two people.

It can happen in those ways.

But government-to-government consultation, our elected leaders...

from a government to an elected federally recognized tribes government.

That is the government to government consultation different than engagement and as well pulling out, grouping this type of engagement away from generalized community engagement because it's completely different.

Stop, yeah, full period.

There on slide Just noting, when we went up to Soxhuatl, we were also joined by Councilmember Wu.

On slide 11, if you look, I was alerted to this by my colleague from District 7, if you look at that in the little, there's a man with a green hat, and that's actually Councilmember Kettle.

Nicely done, Councilmember Kettle, flipping in.

And I've got some other comments and questions, but I'll turn it over to my colleagues to see if they've got questions, because I know we've spent a lot of time together.

Councilmember Kettle, I see you've got your hand raised.

Hopefully I didn't steal all of your thunder.

SPEAKER_12

Well, thank you, Chair, a little bit.

Can you put that slide back up, please?

I was going to ask Mr. Reenan to have it up, or the clerk, whoever's got our union.

Yes, we've, Council Member Stevenson, we've not met officially.

But as it turns out, since I did crash the May 6th Zalich ceremony on Elliott, I did meet you there.

And I was just a recently declared candidate.

And less than a year and a half later, here we are talking.

So I just wanted to note that.

We have met before.

It was at that ceremony that, admittedly, I crashed.

I was not invited.

But it was a great opportunity and a great event.

And it highlights what I want to turn to.

But first, Chairman Forsman, also, it would be very good to meet you, too, although we've not formally met the way we had a year and a half ago, although you probably don't remember that.

So I just wanted to pick up on two points.

And from the book, the cultural visibility, vitality, and then the resource stewardship piece, the first, and I've said this like our first meeting that we had, You know, I believe in the power of language.

That's why I always recommend like in public comment, a full in native language and then can be translated.

That's the reference that the chair made at the very beginning.

So not just little pieces, but to say it fully, you know, just to hear the flower of the language, if you will.

So I definitely encourage that, whether it's in public comment or here at the table, because it's so important.

And speaking of the table, and I'm still relatively new as a council member, so I trust my chair, but who knows, maybe next year that we could be, and I don't know if there's rules against it, but if the committee could be sitting on that side of the table so we can look directly across from each other, I think that would be very, it would show that kind of respect as opposed to us sitting up on the dais.

I think it would be, And again, it may not be possible.

I may be speaking out of turn, but I think it's something to consider because I think it shows respect between the city and the tribal governments.

But back to the language piece and Dzalich using those terms.

I recently met with Director Hashami from the OIR and I talked about, hey, I have a lot of international experience and And then also, it's really important to me in terms of the tribal government, native community side.

And everything in between will be very public safety focused, but I'll leave that to the side.

But from my international experience of my previous career, and as also mentioned as part of my introduction in that first committee meeting where I talked about my Britishness and Irishness and where I came from is, Sadly, if you look at the British Empire, there's, you know, some sad stories in terms of the colonization, you know, and then speaking of language, like Bombay, and now the Indian government is Mumbai, or the country of Turkey in English.

They don't spell it T-U-R-K-E-Y.

It's T-U-R-K-I-Y-E.

And so as listening to your testimony in terms of where the rivers meet...

you know, the original spelling based on the pronunciation and then what that spelling should be, I would embrace, and I think it's important to embrace, you know, those pieces because the language is so key to the cultural visibility and vitality, and that's just something I think is fantastic.

And speaking of cultural visibility, I really appreciate like what the executive is doing, parks, and on that front, if I've mentioned many times to the team here, you know, Portal Park, you know, having that early, you know, DISCUSSION INVOLVEMENT AND IT'S A BROWN SITE SO IT'S GOING TO TAKE TIME BUT I DID TALK TO MEMBERS OF THE EXECUTIVE.

WE'RE GOING TO MOVE FORWARD ON THIS AND WE'RE GOING TO HAVE A VERY SEQUENCED PROCESS AS YOU KNOW AND IT'S GETTING INTO THE SYSTEM BUT TO INCLUDE ALL THESE PIECES INTO THAT BUT NOT JUST PORTAL PARK THERE IN BELLTOWN.

from our new waterfront all the way up to Smith Cove.

Smith Cove is going to be starting now.

And I know it's late in the game on this.

Trust me, Smith Cove has been around for a long time.

But what can we do, you know, in terms of like what Parks is doing, in terms of place names, any little history pieces, and then everything in between to include, you know, the great gift that we're receiving from Linda French Gates and Mackenzie Scott, you know, those connecting pieces between Smith Cove and the waterfront is so important.

And how can we bring in the native community aspects of it, because that's what makes Seattle different.

The native community pieces and the evergreen trees, which I love, you know, to highlight what we have with our mountains and our sea.

And I think that that is super important.

And speaking of the sea, as a retired naval officer, the port is very important to me.

And I think it's important to the city because international trade is maritime trade.

We cannot create another deep water port that we have been blessed with from time immemorial.

And it's important to protect it, A, from the functions of it, but importantly, from the environmental aspects of it.

So I think that is a commitment that we need to press.

I speak to this.

I've met with the Coast Guard, for example, and we talked about some of their plans, but the need also to do it environmentally smart.

Again, the waterfront project, the seawall, doing that.

We have to do everything environmentally smart in terms of protecting the Salish Sea.

I'll skip over Elliott Bay and just go Sailor Sea and Puget Sound.

And that's because I think it's important there.

And I think that's an area where the Indigenous Advisory Council and the city can, in addition to the federal and state, can really do some great work.

So those are just some pieces as I reflect on this and our way ahead and the fact that we did meet.

You were sitting against the wall and I came up to you and said, oh, by the way, I'm a candidate.

So it's good to meet you again, Council Member Stevenson.

SPEAKER_09

I actually remember that.

SPEAKER_12

And I will note that it was a very sunny, beautiful day, and I will admit that green hat protected the top of my head.

Thank you, Chair.

SPEAKER_11

Thank you, Council Member Kettle.

Vice Chair, anything right now?

SPEAKER_06

I mean, just in general, really appreciate the collaboration, the partnership, the importance and significance and meaning of this.

You know, really great to see that, to Chair's point earlier, we're not just meeting, but we're taking the time to meaningfully engage.

And I know that as I talk to some of the departments, for instance, I sit on land use committee, I know that the comp plan has engaged people.

the tribal nations as part of their work, as they very much should.

And I will also say that I was encouraged because I sit on the Puget Sound Regional Council's Growth Management Committee.

That's a mouthful.

But other cities are also ensuring that as they are developing their comp plans, that there is meaningful engagement with the tribes.

And so I'm very encouraged by not just the work at the city, but the work of other cities in the region as well.

And then I'll also say I sit on the WIRA 8 Salmon Recovery Committee, and we have conversations about engagement with the tribes also as we're doing the salmon recovery work.

And just please know that as I'm engaging in these committees, I'm keeping my ear out to make sure that that engagement is there as folks are doing the work and making sure that I can lend also a voice to further support the engagement, as I said, as we're doing the work across the city.

Because so often, and we've said this, Sometimes we have an initial engagement, and this is not what I like to call a check the box.

This is really something that is important.

We have to do, we are doing, and we need to continue to do in a very meaningful way.

And so I know we've met, Donnie.

I continue to engage with our staff.

The fact that we have staff at the city that our liaisons with the tribes is really important and shows the city's commitment in this very meaningful way.

And it's meaningful to me personally.

So just know that really appreciate having the update on the summit and all the work that's gone into it.

And I look forward to the continuing engagement and hearing more and hearing about more ways that we as the council can support the work that is being done at the department level.

So thank you for being here today.

SPEAKER_11

Well said.

Just noting that Director Ranon, you have been asked so many times in so many different ways to engage with so many different departments that you've now created a tracker.

This is a good step.

We are here on a pathway from, and Francesca have created a tracker, and I'll tell this story of Debra's legacy and the pathway to getting here today, which when I came onto council, I had a great interest in this work, and basically for a year and a half, she told me wait until Tim gets hired, and then wait until Francesca gets hired.

And I waited and now you've been hired and we did the tribal summit.

She, you know, really had strong hand in the tribal summit last year.

And now you've got action items more than you expected.

And I think that this is a good thing.

Chairman, do I, so you'd like to jump in?

Green is on.

SPEAKER_10

There we go.

Yeah, you noticed.

You're getting, you're pretty good at this, my friend.

I was just going to talk about some of the work that I've done and the tribes been engaged in, kind of following along with some of the comments.

As far as language is concerned, there's a real big push in my tribes to, you know, reclaim our language.

As Donna can attest to, it's most of the younger generation that's really engaged becoming fluent in trying to bridge that up to our generation.

So I'm also President of the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians.

And at our conference at the end of the month, we're working on a panel to talk about restoration in native languages.

So we're looking forward to that.

And the Interior Department's come out with a couple reports on boarding schools.

I think volume one's especially important to read.

And it's on their website.

And it's where the Department of Interior looks at the boarding school initiative and their assimilation initiatives and state that this was all a strategy to dispossess us of our lands.

So we really look forward to working stronger with them.

federal government to help us restore the language that were lost as a big risk as a consequence of that and how important that language is as it's attached to our land and as mentioned earlier about the place names and in a language being part of the landscape of the cultural spiritual landscape and that kind of leads into my other comment about The Friends of Waterfront Park, which I've been involved in quite a bit, and we're making a lot of progress.

And, you know, the fact that the water is so important to us culturally, spiritually, it's very powerful.

And as you know, can be efficient for transportation as well.

And the fact that we're getting the city more connected to the water is important.

And, you know, the Habitat Beach down here by the ferry dock there is a really good step forward.

I stop by there quite frequently now that it's there when I'm waiting on a ferry.

It's a good place to wait for the ferry.

And then I just wanted to kind of finish with...

talking about climate change and its impacts.

And we all are very familiar.

I know you guys are committed.

We need to tell more people about the importance of addressing that because that came up in a discussion we had with our Shellfish Enterprise.

And one of the questions our council member says, what are we planning for, you know, if things start to deteriorate?

We're trying to stop it, but...

We're really dependent upon that.

Our people are very dependent on that, culturally, spiritually, economically, on shellfish harvesting, let alone salmon recovery.

And we continue to try to work on strategies for us to gather together to make this an effective response.

SPEAKER_11

Fantastic, and while we're, oh, I see the slide drop down.

If you want to pull, I'm going to keep chatting about slides, and then I'll pass it over to you, Council Member Morales, if you'd like to share anything.

We were on slide 11, and Chairman, you brought up the waterfront, and I know that the city is behind in delivering the back-end building, but I was wondering if either or both of you could speak a little bit about the city's commitment regarding the back-end building and the interpretive center on the waterfront as part of the waterfront redevelopment.

SPEAKER_09

Yeah, so I think the last time I was in this chamber was actually in relation to presenting the back-end building being sort of the resulting facility to mitigation and was here with our chairman, Jason Elkins.

And that was sort of a celebratory day that the plan had been agreed to and we were being sort of awarded that resource.

And with all of, as Chairman Forsman talks about, sort of the development and excitement of what's going on with the Seattle waterfront, the timing on that, Couldn't have been better.

You know, I think the opportunity for the tribe to have a presence on the waterfront here within the cityscape to have a permanent home and building located at that location, which allows us to.

have a forward facing opportunity to engage with residents and tourists and anybody who may sort of visit the Seattle waterfront on a given day.

It's incredibly meaningful.

I think it's taking our rightful place on what I've already talked about as a historic village site for us that really is meaningful and something that we're very excited about the opportunity for.

So I think at that time, we had a plan where we were hoping to be in the building this year, and there's been some complications and some realities that we have to face in terms of the development and kind of getting the city, getting it up to code.

So it's taken a little longer than we had hoped, but at the end of the day, the plan is still in place, and we're still excited about the opportunity to be able to get there, hoping in time for the World Cup, when the Seattle hosts the World Cup here, that we'll be able to have that presence and be in town and be a part of that worldwide celebration.

So, you know, in a perfect world, I think, What you'll see is a Realistically, it's a long house On the Seattle waterfront visually Right across from the the Seattle Aquarium there the new land bridge located to the just to the left of the current stairwell that that goes up to the market and I that location couldn't be any...

And there were a number of different other options that had been discussed that we'd worked through that looked like we were going to land somewhere else.

And, you know, everything comes together the way that it's supposed to and when it's supposed to.

And that ultimately is a perfect sort of location.

Um...

And yeah, we're excited about getting in there and can't wait for the reality of being able to open that interpretive center, to be forward facing, to be engaging the public and be representing the tribe in a natural place of our homeland and a natural place of our village that's existed hundreds of generations, thousands of years since time immemorial.

So we don't look at it as taking a new spot, we look at it as retaking an original spot.

SPEAKER_11

Well said.

We're on notice.

Thank you.

We got a timeline that we got to get it delivered by.

I appreciate that.

That's great.

Council Member Morales, I was just making sure everyone had an opportunity.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, sure.

I appreciate it.

I am excited that this work has begun.

I think it's important that we actually meaningfully continue commit to real relationships.

So I'm glad that it's begun.

I do note that there is a lot more work to do.

There are key takeaways.

There are still barriers to how we have these consultations.

So I will say as the chair of the Land Use Committee, you mentioned planning and climate and waterways and housing.

There are a lot of issues.

that we probably need to have some conversations about.

So maybe I'll reach out to Tim about trying to schedule some time to begin those consultations.

We will have an initial briefing in the Land Use Committee about overall the comprehensive plan process for the review next year, and then in January.

So it would be great if we could begin our own consultation.

Thank you.

SPEAKER_11

And Francesca, if you could go to slide nine.

Francesca and Tim Raynon are not the only ones here working on indigenous work within the city of Seattle.

I just wanted to highlight Tim Lehman, who is an indigenous planner in Office of Planning and Community Development in that bottom slide with the black shirt on, just as we're calling folks out as we're going through these slides.

And then if...

I did have a note on the work ahead.

If we could go to slide 16 and then I'll be wrapping up my questions and comments here.

You mentioned cornerstone training within Seattle Department of Human Resources as an internal training for us.

Director Ranon, have we been able to make that a required training or is it still an optional training at this time?

SPEAKER_07

At this point, we're still finalizing the development of the training.

The goal is to start rolling it out later this year.

The first couple of modules should be ready by the end of the year.

And we're still in conversation about whether to have that mandatory or not.

SPEAKER_11

and hopefully we'll have some language aspects in there so that I can get a little brushed up.

So I see Council Member Kettle's already outpaced me on pronunciation.

Well done, Bob.

And then also just work ahead.

I know that we still need to update our disposition policy, disposition of surplus properties within the city of Seattle.

We have a policy currently on the books that says that housing is the first recipient and there has been a large push to make sure that federally recognized tribes are included in that as well as other community organizations of many different shapes and sizes.

And so I know that this work is on my to-do list as well as Some of the water safety work, Chairman, I keep trying to call you Vice Chairman, and then I just go to the sea.

Anyhow, Councilmember Stevenson, thank you for having me, having the visit last month.

It was amazing.

We came into the conversation just continuing the conversation.

There wasn't really an official agenda.

And the number of topics, the breadth of those topics, and the depth that we got into was really helpful.

And it demonstrated to me that just coming and sitting and having a cup of coffee or having a lunch can get a lot done.

We were quickly able to connect you and Kenmore Air with their water safety work.

So water safety work that I've been doing for a couple years has resulted in having essentially an oversized load boat in Lake Union for the Kenmore landings.

And maybe if you could speak a little bit about the fishing that you do in Lake Union.

And Chairman, if you want to speak about the rights that you have that are different than others in Lake Union and in our waterways.

SPEAKER_10

As soon as Donnie can get those sockeye to return at a harvestable level.

SPEAKER_09

We're working on it.

SPEAKER_10

I know you are.

SPEAKER_09

We're working on it.

Yeah, so I think Chairman Forsman hit the nail on the head early on in the conversation when he referenced treaties so that our elders and ancestors had the foresight to to ensure our ability to sustain our way of life in trade for what at the time was 99% Indian, quote unquote, owned land here in the region.

And part of that was the retained gathering of the salmon species of the region.

And so part of our treaty guarantees are inherent rights to continue to gather those resources and those species in our usual and accustomed areas.

So for us, that certainly includes the salt waters of the bay here, the fresh waters of the lake.

You know, a number of different species exist within the city of Seattle, and the tribe looks to harvest each and every one of those, even including the ones that aren't at harvestable rates yet.

Number one priority is the sustenance of those resources.

I talked a little bit earlier about the fact that as tribal people, indigenous people, we're the only people in the history of the world who have shown the ability to live sustainably within an environment over the course of millennia.

So for thousands of years, we've been able to live in an environment in balance, in harmony, to retain that ability and to not adversely impact the environment in which we live.

And ultimately...

the protection and maintenance of the resources that we have the ability to tap into is a part of that.

And for a lot of different reasons, the salmon species in this region have had a very difficult time and have been in peril for a very long time.

And the tribes are committed to protecting to their protection.

Bottom line is that those species have provided for us since time immemorial and we consider the trade for taking care of us in that way is for us to act as their voice now that they're in a position where they need protection and don't have the ability to speak for themselves.

So there is no end to the commitment that tribes have shown to retaining those resources, to protecting those resources, the commitment, the investment, the resources that are provided.

You know, we have a program within Muckleshoot where we are literally trucking fish around dams that will pick them up on one side, we put them in a truck, we drive them up the highway, and we let them go on the other side.

That's the type of commitment that goes into protecting the resource and ensuring its future.

And so...

Yeah, there may be nights this time of year where you'll see a number of tribal fishery boats out on the water, and that's what they're doing.

They're engaging in practicing those treaty rights that they're sustaining.

their families and loved ones through that practice.

And they're also engaging in commercial fishery when the fishery has the right and ability to sustain a fishery of that nature.

And thankfully, because of some of the work that we've done over recent decades, some of our fisheries are in a position where we're able to do that today.

I think I can say with confidence, and I'm sure Leonard would agree, that without the work that tribes do, that would not be the case.

We would not be there.

And I think that's fundamentally and vitally important.

When you take a step back in time here, the Seattle, area and region, we've been known for our salmon.

That's a staple.

It's a keystone species of where we live and where we're from.

Before all of the dot-coms and the tech companies came into town, Pacific Northwest and Seattle salmon is what this town was known for.

And making sure that that continues to be the case well into the future and long after we're gone is one of the greatest goals of the tribe.

We enjoy the opportunity to gather those resources guaranteed via our treaties.

But we also work just as hard to protect those resources and are the first to be on the front line to make sure that everything we can do to sustain them is being undertaken.

SPEAKER_10

Yeah, we have a pretty active coho fishery at Salmon Bay Social that's been pretty successful this year.

There's been a good return of coho this year.

Muckleshoot and Suquamish operate on that pen in Elliott Bay to try to supplement the...

natural runs with enhanced runs through these efforts.

We run a hatchery, most of the tribes run hatcheries and invest in them quite heavily in order to first preserve the species, second, have fish for ceremonial and subsistence purposes, and then ultimately a commercial harvest where people can continue to be engaged in salmon fishing as a way of supporting themselves, at least partially.

and also maintain the tradition.

And it was interesting, you mentioned the Ancestral Waterways event that we had.

One of the young people came down.

He's actually got a museum background and is in a collaboration with the Burke Museum.

um he had just come down to the party from uh salmon bay he says oh we caught over 150 fish today so he was multitasking in a in a way that is very impressive and we're really proud of him and um also um we're able to um work really hard on protecting our habitat and protecting our treaty rights.

And we invest heavily in this as well, where we're reviewing permits and challenging permits that will damage our fishing grounds or access to fishing grounds or both.

Uh, both tribes have been very engaged in that.

And as, you know, as Donnie said, you know, we've been the sentinels here, um, to push back and, um, to try to prevent the industrialization of the Salish Sea.

And we've both been at it for decades, and we're really proud of that, and we're proud of the people that support us.

And I think it's important that we will continue to do that as we look forward to preserving this place as Jay Mills, who's on the Indigenous Committee as well would say when my fellow council members that this is his you know food source.

It's his It's his pantry.

It's his refrigerator.

It's where he gets his food and he's very good at preparing it as well and so we look forward to continue to continue to do that work and in collaboration with local governments and I also remember I'm actually the co-chair of the West Sound Partners for Ecosystem Recovery just had a meeting yesterday and talking about water quality, you know trying to improve septic tanks.

I don't know if you sell septic tanks in the city.

I imagine you have a few.

Probably not many.

SPEAKER_11

I think there's about 15.

SPEAKER_10

Okay.

Yeah, we have those in the county and we try to manage and get those hooked up or at least monitored because that does affect water quality which affects our ability to harvest our clams, oysters, etc.

So We continue to really work and try to be creative in addressing this important role that we've inherited from our ancestors as they signed the treaty.

SPEAKER_11

I'll just say a couple things, then I'll pass it back to both of you for closing, because we were just talking about the salmon fishing and Salmon Bay in particular.

I can tell you, we had about 30 people out on the water paddling this last Monday.

Right as we were coming up, members were setting the nets, and it was a really welcome and beautiful sight.

And we all took a moment to step back and recognize what was going on, because as we share the water, there...

for those of us who spend a lot of time on the water, you know.

But with that, I will say that it is important for us to standardize and embed these processes of communication, engagement, and consultation into all of our work.

And to Council Member Kettle's point, there have been some discussion about sitting at the table.

I think it got lost in, we were focused on other things yesterday.

And I would also say that we had discussions at the beginning of the year about taking this committee to tribal reservations to have that government to government consultation there.

That's something that we'll continue to explore next year.

It really centers around having a purpose and an agenda for the conversation.

Any of us can go down and have coffee anytime we want, but if we're gonna have a formal meeting, we need to have something very important to talk about.

Colleagues, we'll be doing that next year.

This year in this committee, we spent a lot of time talking about the budget because we're facing a structural budget deficit that will start taking up next week.

In future years, we're gonna be spending the majority of the time between January and June talking about native communities and tribal governments content.

So just flagging that next year, we're not gonna spend as much time doing the budget deep dive review and examination, and we'll be spending more time on these issues.

With that, I'll pass it back to Tim Francesca, chairman, council member, for closing thoughts.

SPEAKER_09

I did just want to echo something that Leonard had referenced.

You know, so for the first time, I think, as a species, we as human beings have shown the ability to adversely impact the environment we live in on a global scale.

And I think when it comes to the resources within the Salish Sea, there's some real clear knowledge and understanding that we already have.

And that's that cool, clean water produces an ideal environment for all of the species that live there.

That's true whether we're talking the shellfish, the salmon, the orca.

The reality is that there are some really simple sort of decisions that we can make to ensure the water stays clean, the water stays cool, and that therefore the species that live within that environment are protected.

And as tribal people, as the first people of this region and the people who are tied directly to the health of the Salish Sea, and the subsequent freshwater ways, the rivers, the lakes of this region.

Inherently, I'll say that the health of our nation is tied to the health of our water.

And I think that that's not only true of us as tribal people, I think that's true of all people who live in this region.

And I do know as indigenous people, we have the inherent responsibility to speak up for relatives and relations who don't have the ability to speak for themselves, whether that be the salmon, whether that be the shellfish, whether that be the orca.

and we take that responsibility to heart.

And it's something that's tangible and very real, uh, to us that if we are not going to be the ones to take on, um, that responsibility and to speak on behalf of all of those relations, um, who will.

And so, um, I am thankful for the opportunity to engage and to talk about that a little bit while we were here today, because it is such a vitally important and core piece of our identity as tribal people.

So thank you for the opportunity to follow up on that point.

Just in closing, I am incredibly moved and thankful for the opportunity to spend time together this morning talking about work and decisions and plans that have the ability to have an inherently positive impact in all of our communities.

So the truth is that we all live here and we do so together, whether that's on an intergovernmental, government to government way, whether that references urban tribal organizations, whether we're representing the city of Seattle, that we all live here, and I may be highly biased, and I'm the first to admit it, but I think this is one of the most beautiful places in the entire world, that whenever I travel anywhere else, I can't wait to return home.

And it's because of the natural bounty and beauty of the place that we're from.

As a Muckleshoot tribal member, my homelands consist from the shores of the Salish Sea to the base of the Cascade Range, so that where my people live, I can literally go from Mount Tahoma or Rainier uh, all the way here to Elliott Bay and I'm at home.

I can go to, um, uh, from any one of those locations and, and feel, uh, at home and, and in touch with, uh, with this place.

And when you think of the diversity that that represents and, um, the shared responsibility that we have as residents of such a wonderful and beautiful place.

and that we have the ability to positively impact the work that happens on a day-to-day basis, but also really far-reaching and long-lasting into the future.

Our people, when you're selected as a leader, or SIAB, SIAB is what, the sort of tribal vernacular, leader or chief, some people will call it, it's recognized as a role of service.

It's recognized as really a role of humility.

It means that you're the first to offer help and service, and you're the last to receive it.

It really is a...

profound responsibility when you're asked to play a role of leadership and I know that that's true of Each and every one of you as leaders within the city The flip side of that from within the tribal teachings is what an incredible honor it is to represent the legacy of your people that we get to wake up every day and act as living representatives of a proud cultural tradition that stretches back to time immemorial, that we get to make decisions about how we represent that and what we do to shape the future.

Those both sides of the coin are fundamentally important to the work we do.

Remembering what a huge responsibility it is, but also acknowledging with humility the honor that it represents.

I'm proud to be able to do that every day for my people.

I'm proud to be able to share in this work with people like Chairman Forsman.

Um, I'm also proud to be able to share in this work with, um, with people and bodies, uh, like you.

So thank you for the chance to be here.

I look forward to continued collaboration and sharing in that profound responsibility, but also, uh, sharing in that honor.

So, uh, hands raised, uh, Haiska, um, again, um, uh, I wish you hoy, uh, lab sabut, um, farewell, take care of yourselves.

SPEAKER_10

Well done.

I'd like to kind of build upon what Donnie said in that this week's been a busy week for me. wedged between this meeting and, you know, we met with the United States Army Corps of Engineers yesterday, and we had the Centennial Accord in Suquamish with Governor Inslee tomorrow and Friday, and the tribal leaders will come together.

And the tribal leaders don't always agree.

I don't think you guys are not unaware of that.

But the one thing we always agree upon, and I know Donnie's with me, is our culture and our spirituality.

And we really have a strong commitment to our culture and our traditions and our spirituality.

And I think that's why you see Canoe Journey be such a successful collaboration amongst the tribal nations in that we really are proud and happy to invest in that.

And the Muckleshoot Tribe, of course, has hosted that.

recently, and we're gonna host in 2029. And it's a big, big investment, but it's one that has great returns.

So you know how important it is, spending the time you do on the water, how important that is to your psyche and your soul and your mental health, I guess we could call it a technical term.

And I'd just like to invite any of you who are interested to come to Chief Seattle Day's third weekend of August.

We do want to honor Chief Seattle's legacy at his gravesite on the Saturday of that weekend, and we'd like to be able to honor any of you that might be willing to come along and represent the city.

As you may be aware, there's a monument there that was placed on his gravesite in...

It was 1891, and it's a marble monument that some of the descendants of the original members of the Seattle community put there to honor the chief's legacy.

So as you know, he was...

He started out as a warrior, he turned into a diplomat, and worked a lot with the British at the Hudson's Bay Company, and also worked with the Americans as we were kind of you know, in the middle of an international competition over this area.

And he, of course, was good friends with many of the original city leaders like Yesler and Maynard, et cetera, and actually started a salmon harvest and processing business here in the city before he passed away in 1866. And of course, the only known photograph of him was taken on First Avenue just before he died.

So we're really happy to have that image of him.

So just want to once again extend that invitation and thank you for the opportunity to say a few words about our people.

Let's join.

SPEAKER_11

Thank you, and I never like having the last word, but I have to move, this is that awkwardness of moving the committee along.

So everything that I'm saying right now is for the next item, but just wanna thank, because you all need to have that last word.

So thank you for being here today.

Very moved, very stunned.

SPEAKER_04

Thank you.

Thank you.

SPEAKER_11

With that, colleagues, I will own the mistakes that I make in life.

And I told the Finance and Administrative Services that the committee was at 2 p.m.

today, not at 9.30.

And so I am going to, the benefit here is that I do my homework.

I can run their presentation.

I would like to move the priority hire legislation out of committee today.

but just so that we can take it up at full council, otherwise it'll be stuck in committee until December.

Clerk, can you read the short title of item one into the record?

SPEAKER_08

Council Bill 120815, an ordinance relating to City Public Works and the Priority Hire Program, modifying the methodology for determining which zip codes are economically distressed areas, authorizing the creation of the Regional Priority Hire Implementation and Advisory Committee, and amending sections 20.37.001 and 20.37.004 of the Seattle Municipal Code.

SPEAKER_11

Thank you.

Colleagues, as you remember, priority hire legislation, this presentation was brought to us in July.

I'll quickly go over that the intent here is to be able to hire Seattleites for projects in the King County area for projects occurring in Seattle.

As you see, this project was...

on two different, the individuals on two different projects.

Here's the waterfront overlook that we were just talking about.

Priority hire recruits diverse workers, trains workers, helps them get hired and gives them ongoing support.

The requirements are workers living in an economically distressed zip code, registered apprentices and graduates of pre-apprenticeship with the aspirational goals of hiring more women and people of color.

I'M GOING TO SKIP DOWN HERE TO THE PRIORITY HIRE ADVISORY COMMITTEE RECOMMENDS UPDATING THE PRIORITY HIRE ADVISORY COMMITTEE.

I'M GOING TO MOVE DOWN TO THIS.

THIS IS THE LARGEST CHANGE IN THIS LEGISLATION.

YOU CAN SEE THE EXISTING LIST ON THE LEFT WITH THE PROPOSED LIST ON THE RIGHT IN PARTICULAR WITHIN SEATTLE UPDATING THE ZIP CODES TO INCLUDE AURORA, THE UNIVERSITY DISTRICT AND THE INDUSTRIAL DISTRICT.

Colleagues, I'm gonna ask if there's any questions at this time regarding this legislation.

I know that we've had, I had multiple briefings, we went pretty in depth, which is why I feel comfortable running the presentation for them today.

Any questions?

I'm seeing none, so I'm gonna move.

Sorry, I'm gonna move Council Bill Sorry, I was...

815. There you go.

I move the committee recommend passage of Council Bill 120815. Is there a second?

SPEAKER_06

Second.

SPEAKER_11

It is moved and seconded.

We recommend passage of Council Bill 120815. Will the clerk please call the roll?

SPEAKER_08

Council Member Kettle?

SPEAKER_11

Aye.

SPEAKER_08

Council Member Morales?

Yes.

Council Member Rivera?

Aye.

Chair Strauss?

SPEAKER_11

Yes.

SPEAKER_08

There are four ayes and zero nos.

SPEAKER_11

Thank you, the motion carries.

Council Bill 120815 has a do pass recommendation, will be sent to the full city council on September 24th, city council meeting.

That was the final item of the agenda today.

Council colleagues, we did end five minutes early.

Appreciate you being here.

This is the last Finance Native Communities and Tribal Governments Committee of the year.

We will move straight into the Select Budget Committee next week.

Thank you for being here, and I look forward to seeing you soon.

This concludes the...