An Indigenous Woman’s Perspective with Patricia ‘Patsy’ Whitefoot
December 3, 2023
Using photographs and videos, Yakama Nation elder Patricia (Patsy) Whitefoot shared some of her memories growing up in the eastern foothills of the Cascade Mountain Range and along the Columbia River. The large Zoom audience included members of the Seattle and Edmonds Sno/King AAUW branches, as well as many guests. The beauty of that area was impressive and calming to see. It is remarkable how attached and connected they are to their land, considering what little of it is left to them.
Whitefoot and her family have endured the generational trauma visited upon many Indigenous people, including time in Christian boarding schools that engaged in what she called ethnocide (such as punishing students for using their native languages), having women in the family taken and disappeared, and working to have her people’s history taught in Washington schools.
She drew attention to some events resulting from years of advocacy. Advocates for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) had their first meeting with law enforcement, a cold case unit has been created, and its manager is from the Lower Elwha group. The website of the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI) includes a list of resolutions people can support. Legislation permitting the use of a curriculum, “Since Time Immemorial,” prepared by Indigenous educators like Whitefoot, has been introduced in the Washington Legislature though it hasn’t yet been adopted.
ATNI is a coalition of many Indigenous tribes and, as a large group, they have had better success than individual tribes in getting legislation passed and progress made. The ATNI website features a ten-minute video on the homepage that is very informative to watch.
Whitefoot is also passionate about preserving the Yakama language. Here’s a short video she recommended, entitled The Way We Speak.