Nineteen tribes were awarded funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services for Native American Library Services grants.

Native American Library Services Enhancement Grants

Native American Library Services Enhancement Grant projects may enhance existing library services or implement new library services, particularly as they relate to the goals in the updated Museum and Library Services Act (20 U.S.C. §9141):

Makah Tribal Council – Neah Bay, WA
Award Amount: $129,436

On behalf of the Makah Nation, the Makah Cultural and Research Center (MCRC) will undertake a multifaceted project that will include the research and development of lectures, information kits, a booklet, a traveling photo exhibit, and instructional videos documenting the important annual cultural celebration called Makah Days. It will also include a lecture series on Makah genealogy to assist tribal members in understanding their personal and family history and how they fit into the fabric of the tribe. The ongoing community need for enhanced technology skills will be addressed with a series of computer classes in partnership with the local high school that will be free to community members. Honors students will provide one-on-one mentoring alongside the instructor. Collections policy and preservation plans will also be developed for the ever-expanding manuscripts collection in the MCRC.

Suquamish Tribal Council – Suquamish, WA
Award Amount: $147,493

The Suquamish Tribe will provide programs, instruction, and resources that will foster positive relationships between the generations—youth and elders, students and teachers, and the community at large. The “Connections: Relationships, Resources & Reading Project” will bring together a team from the Suquamish Tribal Library, Chief Kitsap Academy, Tribal Education Department, Suquamish Museum, Elders Council, and Youth Council as well as the North Kitsap School District, to engage students with culturally relevant learning styles and rigorous academic curricula. An important component of the project will pair students with elders in a reciprocal mentoring program in which elders will share their cultural knowledge with students who will digitally record their stories and, in turn, share their technological expertise with the elders. The new resources developed with this grant will provide fresh and accurate materials for the new “Since Time Immemorial: Tribal Sovereignty in Washington State” statewide curriculum.

Native American Library Services Basic Grants

The Native American Library Services Basic Grant is noncompetitive and distributed in equal amounts among eligible applicants. Basic Grants are available to support existing library operations and to maintain core library services. The Education/Assessment Option is supplemental to the Basic Grants. It is also noncompetitive and must be requested. The purpose of the Education/Assessment Option is to provide funding for library staff to attend continuing education courses and training workshops on- or off-site, for library staff to attend or give presentations at conferences related to library services, and to hire a consultant for an on-site professional library assessment.

Quinault Indian Tribe – Taholah, WA
Amount: $7,000
Grant: Basic Grants with Education/Assessment Option

Stillaguamish Tribe of Washington – Arlington, WA
Amount: $7,000
Grant: Basic Grants with Education/Assessment Option

Kalispel Tribe of Indians – Usk, WA
Amount: $7,000
Grant: Basic Grants with Education/Assessment Option

Port Gamble Band of S’Klallam Indians – Kingston, WA
Year: 2013
Amount: $7,000
Grant: Basic Grants with Education/Assessment Option

Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe – Tokeland, WA
Year: 2013
Amount: $7,000
Grant: Basic Grants with Education/Assessment Option

Makah Tribal Council – Neah Bay, WA
Year: 2013
Amount: $7,000
Grant: Basic Grants with Education/Assessment Option

Spokane Tribe of Indians – Wellpinit, WA
Year: 2013
Amount: $7,000
Grant: Basic Grants with Education/Assessment Option

Upper Skagit Indian Tribe – Sedro Woolley, WA
Year: 2013
Amount: $7,000
Grant: Basic Grants with Education/Assessment Option

Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe – Sequim, WA
Year: 2013
Amount: $7,000
Grant: Basic Grants with Education/Assessment Option

Lummi Indian Business Council – Bellingham, WA
Year: 2013
Amount: $7,000
Grant: Basic Grants with Education/Assessment Option

Samish Indian Nation – Anacortes, WA
Year: 2013
Amount: $7,000
Grant: Basic Grants with Education/Assessment Option

Lower Elwha Tribal Community Council – Port Angeles, WA
Year: 2013
Amount: $7,000
Grant: Basic Grants with Education/Assessment Option

Suquamish Tribal Council – Suquamish, WA
Year: 2013
Amount: $7,000
Grant: Basic Grants with Education/Assessment Option

Squaxin Island Tribe – Shelton, WA
Year: 2013
Amount: $6,000
Grant: Basic Grants

Nisqually Indian Tribe – Olympia, WA
Year: 2013
Amount: $7,000
Grant: Basic Grants with Education/Assessment Option

Yakama Tribal Council – Toppenish, WA
Year: 2013
Amount: $7,000
Grant: Basic Grants with Education/Assessment Option

Nooksack Indian Tribe – Deming, WA
Year: 2013
Amount: $7,000
Grant: Basic Grants with Education/Assessment Option

Not long ago when I visited Judith Moses, the tribal librarian for the Colville Confederated tribes, she shared with me, a great way that she had come up with to promote foods which were the staples of the tribes before the white man arrived.  Judith produces a calendar which contains pictures of the food and recipes as to how to prepare them.

This calendar wasn’t cheap to produce so Judith reached out to the WSU extension service.  They were happy to partner with her tribe to promote healthy eating.  Judith not only found the 12 recipes, she staged and shot the mouth watering photos of each month’s food.  It doesn’t hurt that Judith has a background in art.  Kudos to Judith for a great idea and its superb execution.

Not long ago as the WSL tribal library consultant I facilitated the annual meeting of the Washington State tribal librarians.  One of the topics up for discussion was the native foods.  The tribes are making a concerted effort to reintroduce them into tribal members diets both as a way to preserve tribal culture and to promote healthy eating habits.

Tracy Hosselkuss, Lower Elwha tribe, talked about Ozette potatoes.  She said lots of folks in her area were growing this fingerling potatoes which  have a distinctive nutty taste.  Tracy said they are wonderful roasted in a fire pit which is the traditional way of preparing them.

As potatoes always play a starring role in my family’s Thanksgiving dinner I  asked Tracey to share some information about this food which the Makahs preserved and have been enjoying for 200 years.

It turns out that Jesuit Missionaries came up to the Olympic peninsula from Peru in the late 1700’s.  They brought the potatoes with them.  One rainy winter in the rain forest was enough for the missionaries and they left when their ship returned.  The potatoes remained and the Makahs just kept planting–and eating them.  WSU got interested in the the origin of the potatoes and ran some tests to verify the oral history of this breed.  Sure enough genetic tests revealed that the potato was indeed from Peru.

I have included links to recipes and to a place where you could order and grow these Northwest delicacies.

Weiser Family Farms

Recipe Ideas

Pan-fried Ozette Potatoes

Beef Tenderloin with Mushroom Brandy Cream Sauce & Roasted Truffled Fingerling Potatoes

Roast Chicken with red Fingerling Potatoes and Yellow Carrots

From the desk of Sean Lanksbury. PNW & Special Collections Librarian

Washington State Library Pacific Northwest and Special Collections compiled a selection of resources on the language, culture and intercultural connections of the first peoples of the Pacific Northwest, as part of the Washington State Heritage Center’s exhibit “We’re Still Here: The Survival of Washington Indians.”  In honor of the federally recognized Native American Heritage Month 2012, the State Library is highlighting this list in hopes that it will stoke your interest in the diversity of native peoples hailing from the State of Washington.

“We’re Still Here” is display at the lobby of the Office of the Secretary of State, inside the Washington State Legislative Building, until April of 2013.  Supported and vetted by many Washington Indians, this exhibit displays colorful artifacts to tell compelling and personal stories. Artifacts include rare baskets, tools, feather hats, ceremonial colorful clothing and drums.

View/Download the resource list: Washington State Library, First Peoples of Washington State: Selected Resources*

Read more on the exhibit: We’re Still Here: The Survival of Washington Indians

* The resource list has been published using Adobe’s Portable Document Format (PDF); you will need the free Adobe reader in order to read it, available for download at get.adobe.com/reader.