Keynote 1
You Are My Very Breath: Ancient Tribal Values in Contemporary Child Welfare Work
Loni Greinger, Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe
The Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe has been active in many child welfare spaces since the 1980's. The Tribe's ancient cultural values have given life to the ways the work has evolved and adapted as new non-native governments, laws, and agencies were birthed. From the Tribe's own policies, and all the way to the federal level, Jamestown’s history and ways of being are unique. The Tribe believes in sharing the knowledge with others so that all tribal communities, and non-native societies can unite for the sake of pur future generations. "You are my very breath" is a sacred phrase in the S'Klallam language that is specifically communicated from an adult to a child. That phrase inhabits a deep value of why tribes work so diligently to keep our children and families together, and connected to our tribes.