October 9, 2020
To our Cougar community:
Please join us Monday in celebrating WSU’s third Indigenous People’s Day.
The Office of Tribal Relations and Native American Programs will host a
series of events to mark the occasion.
On October 8, 2018, we declared through proclamation
that the second Monday of October would be Indigenous People’s Day
at Washington State University. We are committed to not only building
relationships comprised of trust, respect and reciprocity with
Indigenous Peoples, but also to ensure we honor the sovereignty of
Native American Tribes and peoples.
In 1997, Washington State University entered into a
MOU agreement with six
local tribes
and established a Native Advisory Board to the President. Since then,
six more tribes have signed the MOU agreement. As the President and Provost,
we are committed to meeting with the board bi‑annually to conduct meaningful tribal
consultation. These meetings will contribute to the finalization of an Executive
Policy on Tribal Consultation that will guide WSU’s policies and practices on
research and programs that impact Native American peoples or take place on tribal
lands. We are also committed to expanding MOU agreements with additional tribes.
To develop and maintain our vital relationship with Native American tribes and
peoples, we rely heavily on our Office of Tribal Relations and Native American
Programs. This work is led by our Executive Director of Tribal Relations, Dr. Zoe
Higheagle Strong, a Nez Perce Tribal member and Assistant Professor in the College
of Education. She works closely with tribes and other key positions across the
university to help ensure culturally revitalizing and sustaining (CRS) policies
and practices.
Last month, the Tribal Relations Office was awarded a “New Beginnings for Tribal
Students” grant, funded by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture‑USDA. This
grant will examine CRS strategies to improve Native American student recruitment and
retention at WSU and will expand the Tribal Nation Building Leadership Program to
serve Native American students at all WSU campuses. We also appreciate the
Asian American and Pacific Islander Student Center and Native American Health Sciences
for their extraordinary support and care for our Indigenous students.
As we celebrate Indigenous Peoples as the first peoples and caretakers of our
regional lands and waterways, we also need to acknowledge the tragic history of
the disposition of Indigenous lands by coercive and violent means, and disregarded
treaties. We wrestle with this past, and we must deeply question and consider our
current responsibilities as a land grant institution. The Morrill Act of 1862
established land‑grant institutions by providing each state with
“public” and federal lands, which are traced back to the disposition
of Indigenous lands. In 1890, the state of Washington
received 90,081 acres of Indigenous Lands designated to establish
Washington State University. WSU retains the majority of these lands to this day.
In response, we have updated our land acknowledgement statement. We will
also commission a team of WSU and tribal representatives to investigate this
matter further and determine the best plan for reconciliation.
As noted in the university’s statement, we acknowledge that the disposition
of Indigenous lands was often taken by coercive and violent acts, and the
disregard of treaties. For that, we extend our deepest apologies. We owe our
deepest gratitude to the Native peoples of this region and maintain our
commitment towards reconciliation.
Best regards,
Kirk Schulz
President
Elizabeth Chilton
Provost and Executive Vice President
