United Indians of All Tribes (also known as the United Indians of All Tribes Foundation, or UIATF) is a

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

foundation that provides social and educational services to Native Americans in the

Seattle metropolitan area The Seattle metropolitan area is an urban conglomeration in the U.S. state of Washington that comprises Seattle, its surrounding satellites and suburbs. It contains the three most populous counties in the state—King, Snohomish, and Pierce ...

and aims to promote the well being of the Native American community of the area. The organization is based at the

Daybreak Star Cultural Center The Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center is a Native American cultural center in Seattle, Washington, described by its parent organization United Indians of All Tribes as "an urban base for Native Americans in the Seattle area." Located on 2 ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, Washington's Discovery Park. UIATF has an annual budget of approximately $4.5 million as of 2013.

History of Native Americans in the Seattle area

Many tribes historically inhabited the Seattle area and, to a greater extent, the surrounding

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ) is a sound of the Pacific Northwest, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. It is located along the northwestern coast of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected ma ...

area, because of the rich resources of food and fish. Major groups of local contemporary native peoples or tribes include the

Suquamish The Suquamish () are a Lushootseed language, Lushootseed-speaking Native Americans in the United States, Native American people, located in present-day Washington (state), Washington in the United States. They are a southern Coast Salish peopl ...

Duwamish Duwamish may refer to: * Duwamish tribe, a Native American tribe in Washington state * Duwamish River, in Washington state * ''Duwamish'' (fireboat) See also * Elliott Bay Elliott Bay is a part of the Central Basin region of Puget Sound. It is ...

, Nisqually, Snoqualmie, and

Muckleshoot The Muckleshoot ( lut, bəqəlšuł ) are a Lushootseed-speaking Native American tribe, part of the Coast Salish peoples of the Pacific Northwest. They are descendants of the Duwamish and Puyallup peoples whose traditional territory was located a ...

(Ilalkoamish, Stuckamish, and Skopamish) tribes. Many

Alaskan Natives Alaska Natives (also known as Alaskan Natives, Native Alaskans, Indigenous Alaskans, Aboriginal Alaskans or First Alaskans) are the indigenous peoples of Alaska and include Iñupiat, Yupik, Aleut, Eyak, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, and a numb ...

and Native Americans from the

Inland Northwest The Inland Northwest, historically and alternatively known as the Inland Empire, is a region of the American Northwest centered on the Greater Spokane, Washington Area, encompassing all of Eastern Washington and North Idaho. Under broader def ...

have also come to live in Seattle. As a result, the city has a large and very diverse

urban Indian Urban Indians are American Indians and Canadian First Nations peoples who live in urban areas. Urban Indians represent a growing proportion of the Native population in the United States. The National Urban Indian Family Coalition (NUIFC) consid ...

population. According to the

2000 U.S. Census The United States census of 2000, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2 percent over the 248,709,873 people enumerated during the 1990 cen ...

, there are 86,649 American Indians/Alaskan Natives living in the Seattle, Tacoma, and

Bremerton Bremerton is a city in Kitsap County, Washington. The population was 37,729 at the 2010 census and an estimated 41,405 in 2019, making it the largest city on the Kitsap Peninsula. Bremerton is home to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the Bremer ...

area. The

area has become a nexus of many different tribal cultures from all over the country, with large influences from

Coast Salish The Coast Salish is a group of ethnically and linguistically related Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, living in the Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. states of Washington and Oregon. They speak one of the Coa ...

Tlingit The Tlingit ( or ; also spelled Tlinkit) are indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. Their language is the Tlingit language (natively , pronounced ),

, Haida, and

Plateau Indian Indigenous peoples of the Northwest Plateau, also referred to by the phrase Indigenous peoples of the Plateau, and historically called the Plateau Indians (though comprising many groups) are indigenous peoples of the Interior of British Columbia ...

cultures.

History of Daybreak Star

UIATF was established in 1970 during the struggle by Northwest Natives to gain ownership or control of a portion of

Fort Lawton Fort Lawton was a United States Army post located in the Magnolia neighborhood of Seattle, Washington overlooking Puget Sound. In 1973 a large majority of the property, 534 acres of Fort Lawton, was given to the city of Seattle and dedicated as ...

, as the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

had shrunk its base there.

Bernie Whitebear Bernie Whitebear (September 27, 1937 – July 16, 2000), birth name Bernard Reyes, was an American Indian activist in Seattle, Washington, a co-founder of the Seattle Indian Health Board (SIHB), the United Indians of All Tribes Foundation, and ...

emerged as the group's CEO, a position he held until shortly before his death from cancer in 2000. After winning the concession of a renewable 99-year lease on 20 acres (81,000 square meters) in what was to become Discovery Park, Whitebear led the fund-raising for Daybreak Star. Whitebear's brother, the designer and sculptor

Lawney Reyes Lawney L. Reyes (1931 – August 10, 2022) was an American Sin-Aikst artist, curator, and memoirist, based in Seattle, Washington. Biography Lawney Reyes was born in 1931 to Mary Christian, Sin-Aikst (now known as the Sinixt). Historically ...

, set forth the "philosophy, nomenclature, and organizational needs of UIATF," working with Northwest architect Arai Jackson to design the center. Whitebear negotiated with then-governor Daniel J. Evans for a $1 million construction grant from Washington State; he also obtained an $80,000 grant for artwork for the building's interior from the

Seattle Arts Commission Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region of N ...

, of which he became a member. Further donations came from tribes and corporations, including many of the materials used in the building. UIATF Pow Wow 2009 - 006

Beginning in 1975 with the grant for artwork, the foundation opened the Sacred Circle Art Gallery at Daybreak Star. The Sacred Circle Art Gallery features both a permanent collection as well as a temporary exhibit space. Until 2001, the gallery featured contemporary art by renowned Native artists such as James Lavadour,

Edgar Heap of Birds Edgar Heap of Birds (Cheyenne name: Hock E Aye Vi) is a multi-disciplinary artist. His art contributions include public art messages, large scale drawings, Neuf Series acrylic paintings, prints, and monumental porcelain enamel on steel outdoor scu ...

, and Marvin Oliver. After Whitebear's death, a new group of leaders made changes to the gallery, such as changing its name from the Sacred Circle Art Gallery to the Daybreak Star Indian Art Gallery, whittling two viewing rooms down to one, and shifting the focus away from contemporary Native American art. The gallery carries some contemporary work and continues to rebrand itself. Daybreak has also put on several art markets throughout the year.

Other initiatives

The United Indians of all Tribes Foundation also provides programs such as Indian child welfare services, therapy, and treatment; elder services, including a lunch program; a

GED The General Educational Development (GED) tests are a group of four subject tests which, when passed, provide certification that the test taker has United States or Canadian high school-level academic skills. It is an alternative to the US high ...

education program; and youth services, including advocacy, substance abuse treatment, and housing for homeless youth. Other programs have included the Ina Maka family program, education and employment services, a child development center, and the ECEAP (Early Childhood Education & Assistance Program) preschool. The foundation also organizes the annual

Seafair Seafair is a summer festival in Seattle, Washington, that encompasses a wide variety of small neighborhood events leading up to several major citywide celebrations. While many small block parties and local parades occur under the auspices of S ...

Indian Days, one of the larger

pow-wow A powwow (also pow wow or pow-wow) is a gathering with dances held by many Native American and First Nations communities. Powwows today allow Indigenous people to socialize, dance, sing, and honor their cultures. Powwows may be private or pu ...

s in the Northwest, held in conjunction with the city's festival called Seafair. The pow-wow draws tribal members from across the state, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Canada. Youth services include the 25-bed home Labateyah Youth Home (sometimes written ''La-ba-te-yah'') at 9010 13th Avenue NW, near Holman Road in Seattle's Crown Hill neighborhood. Since 1992, Labateyah has offered transitional and state group housing to youth between the ages of 18 and 24. The name ''Labateyah'' is

Lushootseed Lushootseed (txʷəlšucid, dxʷləšúcid), also Puget Salish, Puget Sound Salish or Skagit-Nisqually, is a language made up of a dialect continuum of several Salish tribes of modern-day Washington state. Lushootseed is one of the Coast Salis ...

for "the transformer". The program is not exclusively for Native American youth, who compose about a quarter of the facility's clients. Another initiative contemplated by Whitebear was the People's Lodge at Daybreak Star, intended to include a Hall of Ancestors, a Potlatch House, a theater, and a museum,Reyes 2002, p. 190. later called the "Daybreak Star Village" proposal, a project now indefinitely postponed for financial reasons. There is also the Pacific Northwest Indian Canoe Center, intended as part of the ongoing development at

South Lake Union South Lake Union (sometimes SLU) is a neighborhood in Seattle, Washington, so named because it is at the southern tip of Lake Union. The official boundaries of the City of Seattle Urban Center are Denny Way on the south, beyond which is Den ...

, just north of downtown,—for which ground was broken February 28, 2007. Both the People's Lodge and the Canoe Center were conceived by Whitebear but left in the planning phases at the time of his death. Current UIATF initiatives include: *The Community Story, a program to facilitate assisting the local indigenous community through input from the Native community and integrating the input into the foundation's programming and to identify their needs. *Pathways to Prosperity, a program aimed to alleviate poverty by providing the necessary tools and knowledge to break this cycle in the Native community. Proposed UIATF initiatives include: *Daybreak Star College, a primary and secondary preparatory school. *Bernie Whitebear Center for Human and Community Development, in

White Center White Center is a census-designated place (CDP) in King County, Washington, United States. It lies between West Seattle and Burien. The population was 16,631 at the 2020 census. White Center is sometimes referred to by the nickname "Rat City" ...

, an unincorporated neighborhood between Seattle and Burien, an area where there are an increasing number of Native Americans. *Daybreak Star Youth Summer Camp. A $3.5 million grant received October 2007 from the Northwest Area Foundation should allow the Bernie Whitebear Center, Daybreak Star College—two of the proposed projects—and the Northwest Canoe Center to proceed. The Canoe Center will be on South Lake Union. The grant will also fund various economic development activities focused on employment and small business development.Northwest Area Foundation Awards $3.5 Million to United Indians of All Tribes Foundation
Northwest Area Foundation Press Release, 10 October 2007, posted by ''Philanthropy News Digest'', 15 October 2007. Accessed online 25 October 2007.

Notes

References

* Ruby de Luna
Phil Lane, Jr.: Profile of United Indians’ New Leader
KUOW, June 26, 2007. Transcript and recording. Accessed online 12 March 2007. *Lawney L. Reyes, ''White Grizzly Bear's Legacy: Learning to be Indian'', University of Washington Press, 2002. .

External links

United Indians of All Tribes
official site
United Indians of All Tribes
YouTube user page

map of proposed completion of Daybreak Star property.

Free online encyclopedia about Washington State history.
Urban Indians and Seattle's civil rights history
Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project, contains numerous oral histories, research reports, and other documents, many of which relate to UIATF. {{DEFAULTSORT:United Indians Of All Tribes Non-profit organizations based in Seattle Native American organizations Organizations established in 1970 1970 establishments in Washington (state)