Nisqually Tribe Archives - Northwest Public Broadcasting

Late tribal leader, Billy Frank Jr., honored at Washington capitol

By Lauren Gallup January 12, 2024

Nisqually Tribe Chairman Willie Frank III stands next to the maquette of his father, Billy Frank Jr., in the State Reception Room at the Washington State Capitol, Jan. 10. 2024. (Credit: WA Leg Photography)

Emotions flooded the State Reception Room in Olympia Jan. 10 as tribal leaders, Washington lawmakers, and community members came together to witness the unveiling of the maquette of Billy Frank Jr. The maquette, a smaller replica of a 9-foot tall statue of Frank that will go to the National Statuary Hall collection, honors the late champion for Native American treaty Read More

Bringing Indigenous languages into public schools

By Lauren Gallup July 3, 2023

A number of Washington state public schools are partnering with tribes to bring Indigenous languages into classrooms in an effort to rectify the marred history of Native American boarding schools. Rachael Barger is a teacher on special assignment with Bethel School District, one of the districts partnering with the Nisqually Tribe to bring its Southern Lushootseed Read More

Nisqually Tribe’s sovereignty summit focuses on MMIWP crisis

By Lauren Gallup May 5, 2023

Chay Squally and Sarah Colleen Sotomish at the Nisqually Indian Tribal Summit on May 4. Photo courtesy of Debbie Preston.

Washington state has one of the largest numbers of missing and murdered Indigenous peoples cases in the nation. On May 4, the Nisqually Indian Tribe’s Annual Protecting Our Sovereignty Tribal Summit focused on the missing and murdered Indigenous peoples crisis. Read More

New airport proposal for Pierce and Thurston counties met with opposition

By Lauren Gallup November 1, 2022

The Nisqually River between its headwaters on Mount Rainier and Puget Sound. CREDIT: WA STATE PARKS

Southeast of the Puget Sound, in rural Pierce and Thurston counties, there’s lots of open land. It’s the home of the Nisqually River Watershed and some of the last remaining prairie ecosystems in the state. The Nisqually Indian Tribe manages 90 miles of land, from Mount Rainier to the mouth of the Nisqually River — a fraction of the homelands of the tribe, said Willy Read More

Washington State Lawmakers Consider Banning Native-Themed Mascots In Schools

By NWPB News February 6, 2021

The Chieftains mascot at Columbia River High School in Vancouver, Washington, is on the way out following a unanimous vote of the school board. CREDIT: Molly Solomon/OPB

Public schools with Native American-themed mascots and logos would need to find new team names under a proposal that drew supportive testimony to the Washington Legislature on Friday. The pending phase-out bill hews closely to an earlier, hard-fought policy in Oregon to change names and mascots. Read More