What Is At Stake For Washington's Native Nations Today

UW professors Jean Dennison (Osage) and Josh Reid (Snohomish) will lead a discussion with local Native leaders Lisa Wilson (Lummi) and Melvinjohn Ashue (Hoh) on Indigenous sovereignty, treaty rights, and urban planning.Jean Dennison is a citizen of the Osage Nation and an Associate Professor of anthropology at the University of Washington. Her book Colonial Entanglement: Constituting a Twenty-First-Century Osage Nation (UNC Press 2012) speaks directly to national revitalization, one of the most pressing issues facing American Indians today. She has also published widely, including pieces in Visual Anthropology, PoLAR, American Indian Quarterly, the American Indian Culture and Research Journal and American Ethnologist. Jean’s current research uses grounded ethnographic methods to study various accountability practices as they manifest throughout the current Osage Nation government. The primary goal of her academic endeavor is to explore how indigenous peoples negotiate and contest the ongoing settler colonial process in areas such as citizenship, governance, and sovereignty.Born and raised in Washington State, Josh Reid (Snohomish) is an associate professor of History and American Indian Studies at the University of Washington. In 2009, he earned his doctorate in history at the University of California, Davis. Yale University Press published his first monograph, The Sea Is My Country: The Maritime World of the Makahs (2015) in the Henry Roe Cloud Series on American Indians and Modernity. It has received awards and acknowledgements from the Organization for American Historians, American Society for Ethnohistory, the Western History Association, and the North American Society for Oceanic History. Dr. Reid currently directs the university’s Center for the Study of the Pacific Northwest and edits the Emil and Kathleen Sick Series on Western History and Biography with the University of Washington Press and the Roe Cloud Series on American Indians and Modernity. He serves on the editorial advisory board of the Pacific Northwest Quarterly and is a Distinguished Speaker for the Western History Association.Melvinjohn Ashue is of the Chalaat people who are part of the Hoh Indian Tribe and was born and raised on the Hoh Reservation. He earned his B.S. in Business and Administration from Haskell Indian Nations University. He has served his tribe and community in a wide variety of roles including ICW caseworker, Higher Education Director, Title VII para-educator, Vice-chairman, Interim Executive Director, Circles of Care Director, at large Council member, and Family services Director. He is currently the Chalaat Development CEO and President. Since he was elected to Council in 2012, he has focused his efforts on Economic Development and Gaming, but has also been actively involved in ICWA, Fishing, Natural Resources, Family Services, and many more committees. He has also participated in NCAI, ATNI, and the annual Centennial Accord.Lisa Wilson is a member of the Lummi Tribe. She is the ESA Manager and Policy Representative for Lummi Natural Resources. She received her Native Environmental Science Degree from the Northwest Indian College. Lisa is passionate about working for her tribe and strives to continue the work of her ancestors in protecting treaty rights.