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An Indigenous Woman’s Perspective with Patricia “Patsy” Whitefoot
Sunday, November 19, 2023
2:00PM - 3:00PM
Online: Free Zoom event. Registration Required.
An Indigenous Woman’s Perspective with Patricia “Patsy” Whitefoot: a noted elder, traditional food gatherer for the Yakama Nation, an activist for Indigenous rights, and professional educator. Sunday, Nov. 19th, 2pm via Zoom. No Charge, Registration Required.
Whitefoot has an incredible background. Beyond the brief biography above, she served as president of the National Indian Education Association and was appointed by President Obama as a member of the National Advisory Council on Indian Education. She is a prominent advocate for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and counts her own sister as one of the many victims of this crisis. Read this insightful article to learn more.
Join us for this important program. Whitefoot’s perspective goes way beyond “land acknowledgements.”
The Edmonds SnoKing Branch will join us for this presentation. Feel free to join us individually from your home or get together with others in your area to watch this interesting program and have a lively discussion on your own afterwards.
Whitefoot continues to live on the Yakama Indian Reservation and has three children, ten grandchildren, and is a great-grandmother.
She was raised by her maternal grandparents, Elias and Lillie Whitefoot, along with her five sisters, on the Yakama Indian Reservation in the southern part of Washington. Whitefoot grew up learning how to gather and prepare traditional foods and fished along the Columbia River. These activities connected her to the Yakama’s traditional lands, natural resources, community, and culture.
After her grandmother became sick, Whitefoot and her sisters lived at the Yakima Indian Christian Mission, a reservation boarding school where she experienced “discrimination toward native students.” While attending, she rarely saw her grandparents outside of summer break. Her experience was similar to that of her grandmother, who went to Fort Simcoe boarding school, which engaged in practices of ethnocide.
After graduating, Whitefoot earned both a Teacher’s Certificate and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Education from Central Washington University. At her grandmothers urging, she went on to earn a Master’s in Education from Fort Wright College.
