Steven Gibeau

By Katie Manzanares, Puyallup Tribal News  The University of Washington Tacoma campus has two enrolled Puyallup Tribal Member professors who also work with Native American Students to help facilitate and cultivate a space where they can thrive. Danica Sterud-Miller started at UWT in 2014 as an assistant professor. She earned tenure, which grants professors additional job security and more freedom to express their scholarly opinions, in 2020. Sterud-Miller is currently the associate professor of American Indian studies and co-director of the UW Center for American Indian and Indigenous Studies. When she was in fourth grade, Sterud-Miller wanted to be a…

By Ernest A. Jasmin, Puyallup Tribal News Editor Environmentally minded people descended on the Canoe Landing Site dxʷłalilali on Marine View Drive on Saturday to help the Puyallup Tribe celebrate Earth Day with a beach cleanup and clam bake. More than a hundred revelers attended this year’s event, making it visibly bigger than last year’s. Cultural Center Assistant Director Clint McCloud delivered an opening prayer, followed by opening remarks from members of Puyallup Tribal Council, who each offered their unique perspectives on the ongoing climate crisis. (See excerpts at the end of this story.) “It is Mother Earth Day, and…

Storytelling night returned to Spirit House on Wednesday as the Language Department performed six traditional stories starring Bear, with participants dressed in fun furry costumes. Kids and their parents enjoyed the adventures of Black Bear, Grizzly Bear and other woodland creatures as passed down by Elders Jerry Kanim, Earnest Barr, Andrew Sanders and Annie Jack Daniels. They cracked up (especially when Rabbit unveiled her secret weapon) and occasionally called out the Lushootseed word, “habu,” to let storytellers and actors know “I’m listening.”  Visit the Language Department’s Facebook page @twulshootseedlanguage to watch livestream video from the event and to keep up…

By Ernest A. Jasmin, Puyallup Tribal News Editor Edie Holland fondly recalls making her first drum in third grade. “I think it’s cool that, in our culture, the first thing you make you’re supposed to give to somebody that you love,” says Holland, an enrolled Puyallup Tribal member. “So, I gifted my first drum to my sister. She gifted her first drum to me.” “So it was a win-win situation,” she adds, grinning broadly. “I still got a drum.” Tapping back into that childhood joy has helped her rebound from troubled times lately. Holland and some of her newest friends…