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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
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Spokane City Council acknowledges Spokane Tribe as ancestral stewards of Spokane Falls, surrounding land

This is a 1907 photo of the Spokane River Lower Falls. View is looking to the west with downtown Spokane in the left side of the photo. The Cascade Steam laundry is the prominent structure on the north bank of the river. Cascade was established in Spokane in 1890. Photo archive/The Spokesman-Review (PHOTO ARCHIVE)
By Adam Shanks adams@spokesman.com(509) 459-5136

More than two centuries after the first white settlers descended on what is now Eastern Washington, city of Spokane leaders have formally recognized its original inhabitants.

The Spokane City Council unanimously adopted a land acknowledgment resolution on Monday that recognizes the Spokane Tribe of Indians as the ancestral stewards of the Spokane Falls and surrounding land.

The resolution also calls for the appointment of an official liaison between the local indigenous tribes and city of Spokane.

“We are grateful to be on the shared lands of the Spokane people and ask for the support of their ancestors and all relations,” the land acknowledgment states. “We ask that you recognize these injustices that forever changed the lives of the Spokane people and all their relatives.”

Spokane City Councilwoman Karen Stratton, a granddaughter of a Spokane Tribal member and co-sponsor of the resolution, said it’s a “is a first step in a publicly committed relationship to the tribes.”

“This is a very heartfelt proclamation to publicly honor and respect not only the Spokane Tribe, but all tribal people, and to respect the land that we inhabit, which is Spokane Tribal land,” Stratton said.

The Spokane Tribal Business Council approved the land acknowledgment prior to its adoption by the Spokane City Council. The resolution was written in collaboration with Spokane Tribal Members.

Jennifer LeBret, a Spokane Tribal Member who helped craft the acknowledgment, said “it is time to recognize and act upon the truth” and take actions “toward restorative justice.”

The seven-story Spokane City Hall building is just feet away from the Spokane Falls, which were the epicenter of the Spokane Tribe’s livelihood.

The falls were mostly impassable to salmon, thus serving as the terminus of their annual run – and a source of spiritual and nutritional bounty for Native Americans. But that way of life changed in the 19th century as whites swiftly settled the area and pushed out Native Americans, often through brute force or the threat of it.

The resolution adopted on Monday is nonbinding and there is no specific description of the duties of a tribal liaison in City Hall. City Council President Breean Beggs said the council will now negotiate with Mayor Nadine Woodward to appoint a liaison in City Hall.

Beggs said that as long as he is City Council president, the Spokane Tribe will be invited to give a report on the land, air and water to the council every Earth Day. Urban Native Americans will be asked to provide a report on Indigenous People’s Day.

Stratton said she is “proud that it supports and encourages a stronger and more productive relationship with the tribe.” She noted that “we’ve been close a lot of times,” but that the partnership has usually been centered on events like powwows.

The land acknowledgment is the second gesture the city has made in recent months to reconcile with the history of Native American displacement in the Spokane region.

Last December, the City Council voted to change the name of Fort George Wright Drive to Whistalks Way. The road previously bore the name of Fort George Wright, named after the army colonel who led a violent campaign against Native Americans in 1858. Whist-alks was a Spokane Indian woman warrior who participated in the resistance against Wright.