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2001 – 2014; 2022 – present
Native peoples have persevered as generations of Indigenous leaders and community members have worked tirelessly to protect their sovereignty, families, cultures, and homelands. Today, in tribal council chambers from Northern California to Southeast Alaska, this continuum of visionary leadership and care remains intact as contemporary Indigenous leaders continue to address the many political, cultural, environmental, economic, and social challenges facing them.
The desire to recognize the determination of Native peoples and the significant achievements of Indigenous leadership are the reasons the Indigenous Leadership Awards (ILA) were created. The awards are a public appreciation—a celebration—of each awardees’ unwavering dedication and impact.
2023 ILA Awardees
The 2023 Awardees to be honored this year represent Native homelands across the Pacific Northwest — the region where Ecotrust focuses its work as an organization — and includes seasoned as well as emerging leaders.
The Awardees will be celebrated at the Redd on Salmon Street in Portland on Wednesday, October 18, 2023.
Haida/Lingít | Director, Sustainable Southeast Partnership | Alaska
An emerging leader who is being honored for her dedication to Lingít culture and her leadership to uplift southeast Alaska Native communities and protect the Tongass rainforest.
Lingít | Herring Protectors | Alaska
In recognition of her collaborative efforts to protect Pacific herring through Herring Protectors and Herring Rock Water Protectors, which supports Indigenous harvesters, promotes Traditional Ecological Knowledge and the connection to traditional Tlingit ceremony in southeast Alaska.
Haida | Attorney, author, activist, artist, and musician | British Columbia
Honored for her abiding commitment to the perpetuation of Haida culture, language, and music and for her influential and substantial impact across Canada in the realm of Indigenous law.
Wasco/Navajo/Hopi | CEO, Washington Conservation Action | Washington
In recognition of her efforts to build strong relationships between Washington Conservation Action and Indigenous communities, her advocacy for salmon protection, and as a leader in Washington state’s environmental community.
Lower Elwha | Lower Elwha K’lallam Tribe Chairwoman | Washington
Honored for her outstanding leadership to remove two dams on the Elwha River and restore the Tribe’s connection to the riverscape and salmon and for her generosity as a mentor and role model to Indigenous women.
Oregon
A 21-member group in grades 6 to 12, along with 5 mentors and the council advisor, will be recognized as emerging leaders for their local community engagement, salmon protection petition and regional campaign, and COVID response. The youth leaders and mentors are
Cayuse/Walla Walla | Executive Director, Friends of Tryon Creek | Oregon
An emerging leader who will be honored for his efforts to decolonize environmental education, re-Indigenize landscapes, and advocate for Indigenous-led stewardship and First Foods protection.
Pomo | Master Artist in Basketry | Northern California
In celebration of her determined efforts to revive the basketweaving traditions of the Pomo people and for her community role as a knowledge holder, culture bearer, and land steward.
Full Awardee and Honoree List
Since 2001, the ILA has recognized 60 outstanding Indigenous leaders for their unwavering dedication to strengthen self-determination and their efforts to uplift their communities and lands. Nominated by their community and selected by their peers, these Indigenous leaders come from all walks of life and represent many different tribes, villages, First Nations, languages, cultures, and landscapes.
Sgaahl Siid Xyáahl Jaad
(Marina Anderson) (Haida/Tlingit)
Kh’asheechtlaa
(Louise Brady) (Tlingit)
Frances G. Charles (Lower Elwha)
Alyssa Macy (Wasco/Navajo/Hopi)
Corine Pearce (Pomo)
Gabe Sheoships (Cayuse/Walla Walla)
Terri-Lynn Williams-Davidson (Haida)
Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation Youth Leadership Council
Julie Kitka (Chugach Eskimo)
Paul Lumley (Yakama)
Spring Alaska Schreiner (Inupiaq, Chugach Alaska Native Corporation shareholder and Valdez Native Tribe)
Michelle Week (Sinixt)
Roberta Reyes Cordero (Chumash Nation), Awardee
Annita McPhee (Tahltan Nation)
Eric J. Quaempts (Yakama)
Roy Sampsel (Choctaw/Wyandotte)
Arthur Williams Sterritt (Gitga’at)
Brian Cladoosby (Swinomish), Awardee
Patience Andersen Faulkner (Chugach Eskimo)
Micah McCarty (Makah)
Gail Small (Northern Cheyenne)
Jonathan Waterhouse (S’Klallam/Chippewa/Cree)
Delores Ann Pigsley (Siletz), Awardee
Nora Dauenhauer (Tlingit) (1927 – 2017)
Chief Adam Dick (Kawadillikall Clan of the Dzawatainuk Tribe of the Kwakwaka’wakw Nation) (1929 – 2018)
Wayne Warren Don (Cup’ig/Yupik)
Chuck Sams (Cocopa)
Kim Recalma-Clutesi (Kwagiulth/Pentlatch), Awardee
Jessie Housty (Heiltsuk)
Terry L. Cross (Seneca)
Sandra Sunrising Osawa (Makah)
James Manion (Wasco), Awardee
Janeen Comenote (Hesquiaht/Kwakiutl/Oglala Lakota/Quinault)
Allen Pinkham, Sr. (Nez Perce)
Brian Wallace (Washoe)
Patricia L. Whitefoot (Yakama)
Roberta (Bobbie) Conner (Cayuse/Umatilla/Nez Perce), Awardee
Carol Craig (Yakama)
Alfred (Bud) Lane, III (Siletz)
Lillian Moyer (Tahltan)
Guujaaw (Haida), Awardee
Harold Gatensby (Danka Tlingit)
Ilarion Larry Merculieff (Aleut)
Tawna Sanchez (Shoshone Bannock/Ute)
Judith Sayers, PhD (Nuu-chah-nulth)
W. Ron Allen (Jamestown S’Klallam), Awardee
Robi Michelle Craig (Kiks.adi Clan, Steel House, Tlingit)
Leaf Hillman (Karuk)
Chief Robert Simeon Pasco (Nlaka’pamux Nation)
Shawn E. Yanity (Stillaguamish)
Sarah James (Neetasii Gwich’in), Awardee
Clarence Alexander (Dranjik Gwich’in)
Ivan Jackson, Sr. (Klamath/Modoc)
Teri Rofkar (Sitka Tribe of Alaska) (1936 – 2016)
Terry Williams (Tulalip Tribes)
Jeannette Armstrong (Okanagan), Awardee
Billy Frank, Jr. (Nisqually) (1931 – 2014)
Susan Masten (Yurok)
Chief Nathan Matthew (Shuswap Nation)
Agnes Pilgrim (Takelma Band of Siletz) (1924 – 2019)
Kelly Brown (Heiltsuk), Awardee
Carol Craig (Yakama)
Kathleen Hill (Klamath)
Robert Sam (Sitka Tribe of Alaska)
John Ward (Taku River Tlingit First Nation)
Phillip Cash Cash (Cayuse/Nez Perce), Awardee
Susan Burdick (Yurok)
David Hatch (Siletz) (1936 – 2016)
Dennis Martinez (Tohono O’odham)
Pauline Hilistis Waterfall (Heiltsuk)
Call for nominations
The nomination period for the 2023 Indigenous Leadership Awards is now closed.
Learn more about the 2023 eligibility, nomination requirements, and review process.
Featured
As a lead-up to the Indigenous Leadership Awards ceremony, our Indigenous Leadership Program curates a series of hour-long, online gatherings. This briefing series features tribal leaders from across the Pacific Northwest, who discuss the historical context of issues tribal communities have confronted over time and the ways Indigenous leaders responded. Attendees learn about little-known eras, issues, and subjects, all from an Indigenous perspective, and about the impact of Indigenous leadership on the well-being of tribal communities and beyond.
Ecotrust Project Team & Services
Want to learn more? Check out the full Ecotrust Staff & Board and all of our Tools for Building Collective Change.
We engage and communicate powerful stories at the intersection of equity, economy, and the environment.
“
Any attempt to chart a sustainable course for the future must include the traditions, knowledge, and aspirations of Native people.
—SPENCER B. BEEBE, ecotrust founder
Resources
PRESS RELEASE
July 17, 2023 | Eight awardees to be celebrated during October 18 ceremony at the Redd on Salmon Street
Blog post
IN MEMORIAM | On August 5, 2022, Alan R. Parker walked on
Blog post
STAFF VOICES | In place of a land acknowledgement, Ecotrust staff are asking you to support Indigenous communities by taking action
Blog post
INTERVIEW | An interview with Cody Desautel about the impacts of climate change on the Tribes’ forest and economy and how they are responding to threats
Blog post
INTERVIEW | An interview with Gabe Sheoships, the Executive Director of the Friends of Tryon Creek
Blog post
PARTNER VOICES | An interview with Mike Durglo, Jr., the Tribal Historic Preservation Office director for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.
Blog post
STAFF VOICES | Centering this region’s Indigenous peoples and traditional land and water management knowledges.
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STAFF VOICES | Centering this region’s Indigenous peoples and traditional land and water management knowledges.
Blog post
INTERVIEW | Jess Housty of the Heiltsuk First Nation shares the social and economic impacts following the grounding of the Nathan E. Stewart
Blog post
INTERVIEW | The story behind the Heiltsuk First Nation investigating and eventually litigating a 2016 diesel spill in unceded territorial waters
Blog post
INTERVIEW | Lisa J. Watt and Doe Hatfield interviewed Alan Parker following the publication of his recent book, Pathways to Indigenous Nation Sovereignty
Blog post
Tribes respond: Atlantics salmon in the Salish Sea 
PARTNER VOICES | Tribes around the Puget Sound have long objected to Atlantic salmon being farmed in the Salish Sea. An incident last August shows us why.
