These Pierce County schools vowed to teach more comprehensive Native American history
Thirteen school districts in Pierce and King counties signed a memorandum of understanding with the Puyallup Tribe of Indians on Friday afternoon, promising to support efforts to educate students about the history and culture of local Native American tribes.
The memorandum of understanding covers curricula for school districts including Tacoma, Puyallup, Peninsula, Franklin Pierce, Clover Park, Fife, University Place, Sumner-Bonney Lake, Bethel, Vashon Island, Orting, Federal Way and Chief Leschi.
Under the agreement, the school districts will work with the Puyallup Tribe to develop a plan to incorporate language, culture and oral traditions into education curricula, provide a common framework for elective credit education in all high schools and by 2034 offer a First People’s language online class to high school students for language credit, according to a news release shared by the Tribe.
Patricia Conway is the Tribe’s curriculum developer, school liaison and member of the Heritage Division. Conway said the MOU goes beyond existing annual consultations and Since Time Immemorial requirements about tribally-developed curriculum from the Washington Office of Public Instruction. Schools will consult with the Tribe to make sure language, art and materials are respectful to Native history, culture and traditions, according to the news release. The Tribe will be consulted on the use of Native names, symbols and images within district facilities, names and mascots.
“We are prioritizing teaching Lushootseed in the classroom, recruiting and retaining efforts for Native American staff across school campuses and programs for Native youth to work and receive high school credit,” Conway said.
‘Today we begin to write a new chapter’
School officials crowded a room in the Puyallup Tribal Administration building Friday afternoon to celebrate and sign the agreement. Before the signing began, elder and director of the Tribe’s heritage division Connie McCloud spoke about the importance of the moment.
“I hope that all of you are aware that you are standing on grounds that was our Puyallup tribal residential boarding school. At about 29th and Portland Avenue was the very first site, but right here on this hillside was the Cushman Trade School where children were brought here to live, to be decolonized, cut their hair, change their clothes, removed them from their homes, their families,” she said. “Our children were told not to speak their language, sing their songs, talk about things with one another and were punished.”
McCloud said those experiences were so damaging to children and their families that many refused to talk about what happened to them.
“Because what they were taught was, ‘To be Indian is no longer going to be useful to you,’” McCloud said. “And those are words directly from my mother and my relatives.”
McCloud said the Tribe’s ancestors “had the foresight to put education in our treaties” and said Friday was a great day, creating new opportunities for children and their families to heal those scars and create new places of learning, “so that we see our children laughing and playing, learning, excelling, playing sports, traveling, the things that all of our young people aim to do, wherever they are, wherever they live, in our neighborhoods and in our community.”
Tacoma Public School board president Korey Strozier said he was proud to stand with the Puyallup Tribe and other school districts to sign the agreement.
“This agreement, I think, is a pure depiction of partnership. It represents a joint commitment to center truth, culture and belonging in the lives of every student that we serve. Through meaningful consultation, shared curriculum and development and cultural acknowledgment, we’re affirming the value of Native voices in shaping our schools,” he said. “This is also about healing. Even for decades where histories were erased, traditions dismissed and students marginalized, today we begin to write a new chapter, one that acknowledges the harm, honors the resilience and lays the groundwork for a more just and educational future. This partnership should serve as a model, not only in Pierce County, but across the state of Washington.”
This story was originally published March 29, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
