by Luna Reyna

Seattle’s Indigenous Advisory Council presented its first strategic plan in the City Council’s Governance, Native Communities, and Tribal Governments Committee in July. The Indigenous Advisory Council was created by an ordinance sponsored by Council President Debora Juarez in 2021. Juarez commented that other than the liaison in the mayor’s office on the executive side, there were limited channels for Indigenous engagement on the legislative side.

“I merely wanted to create the body on the legislative side so my colleagues have a place to go from an Indigenous group that understands Indian country, and understands the political relationship between tribes and governments, the government-to-government (relationship), ” Juarez said at the Governance, Native Communities, and Tribal Governments Committee meeting. “It is not racial. It is political because we have treaties and a land base.”