For those of you who do not know me my name is Jeff Ackerman. I've been enrolled in the Steilacoom Tribe for about 15 years now and have been on the Tribal Council for around 12 yrs. I started out by bringing things to the our Tribal Citizen’s meeting for a simple raffle to have a little fun after the meetings. I was voted onto the Council and have continued doing raffles at the meetings, which were carried into the 4th of July celebration with the Town of Steilacoom. I am thankful for the opportunity to serve our People.

haʔɬ sləx̌il tsi dsdaʔ (Good day, my name is) Dawn Hardison-Stevens. Donald Hardison ti dbad (father). Elizabeth Byrd tsi tudkayəʔ (grandmother). Martha (Bird/Byrd) tsi tudsč̓abiqʷ (great grandmother). My great-great grandmother was Elizabeth Bird (LeGard) and great-great grandfather Joseph Bird, who came down as a Canadian Indian with his parents to settle in Roy, WA. I acknowledge we are our Ancestor’s future, noting our Indigenous grandmothers and grandfathers carried stories from respective Ancestral lands since time immemorial. I’m currently Assistant Professor in Native American Education with the University of Washington. My professional field since 1987, centers on the commitment of inclusive and collective education with leadership views that prepare all peoples to live, learn, and strive to better understand their connections to self, family, community, culture, history, and worldviews. I understand individual life journeys create one’s own unique stories, noting our ideals should guide and lift other’s visions and dreams with a love of commitment to others. I believe in elevating Indigenous representation and cultivating Native people’s inspiration through intergenerational knowledges as Ancestors walk with us on our life paths. I am editor of the bi-annual č'tilqwɘbš ʔaciƚtalbixw Steilacoom Newsletters and enjoy sharing stories to our Tribal Museum visitors, acknowledging any opportunity to share  tux̌ʷ didiʔɫ čəɫ ʔa ʔal ti sləx̌il (we are still here today).  tigʷicid (Thank you)

Elder Steilacoom Tribal Citizen, Percy Hicks, has served on the Tribal Council since 2010. Percy was adopted to the Steilacoom Tribe from the Lummi Nation. Percy was raised on the Makah reservation because his folks were commercial fishermen. Percy has some great stories from his great uncles from Neah Bay. “My parents are Mary Ann (Jones) and Art Hicks. My Neah Bay great uncles and aunts talked about hunting the big elephants (Mastodons) with spears. I didn’t believe them because there were no elephants around here. Then a few years back they found the Mastodon skeleton near Sequim. Now I believe them. They also spoke about a big tsunami that washed through Neah Bay. Stories speak of the great floods and Native People tying their canoes to the tallest trees on the tallest mountains around Puget Sound. The flooding lasted quite awhile," they told Percy. "My aunt Jessie married into the Elwha Tribe, another aunt married a Whitener from Squaxin Island."

Hello everyone, I'm Diana Kilbourne. My parents were Nina Brown and William P Challender. That makes me a descendant from the Brown, Bloomfield, and Brownfield families. I am currently retired but in my years of working I used to be an CNA, custodian, and have worked other retail jobs. I been serving as part of the Election Committee and The Building Committee. With my knowledge and experience of being in these Committees, I volunteered to serve as a Council member at large beginning in 2023. On the days that we have volunteer work I help with cleaning up the outside of the building and gardening. One of the things I would like to achieve once the building is remodeled is planting Washington native flowers and shrubs around so we have representation of our natural environment. I regularly attend the Local Elders Luncheons in my free time, and learn stories of nearby Tribes and would love to be able to tell stories of our Tribe in return. Thank you for allowing me to serve, Diana

Jessica West is the granddaughter of current council member Percy Hicks. Watching his dedication to the tribe is what inspired her to follow in his footsteps and join the council. She is passionate in helping the younger generation be more involved in tribal events and ensure the teachings of our ancestors are carried forward. To help bridge any gaps she is currently the Liaison between Council and Junior council. She can be often found at tribal events to help in any way she can, especially if it involves cooking fry bread.