“Our Hands Are Out”: Building Partnerships for the Future by Remembering the Past

Kurt Grinnell is a Jamestown S’Klallam Tribal member and has served on the Jamestown Tribal Council since 2004.  As the Tribe's Policy Representative for the Natural Resources department, he brings to the Council a unique perspective on natural resource conservation. He represents the natural resource interests of the Tribe as the Vice Chairman of the Point No Point Treaty Council Board and as a Commissioner on the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission (NWIFC). The NWIFC is a consortium of 20 Western Washington Treaty Tribes that deal with treaty rights issues that the tribes have in common. As the Tribe's representative he participates on the legal technical team at a policy level, on which the Tribe relies to manage its natural resources. He represents the Tribe on all fisheries issues that require policy involvement, co-management discussion, or tribe-to-tribe discussions. He is also the Chairman of our Tribe's Natural Resource Committee.

Loni Grinnell-Greninger (“yúčciʔə”) was appointed to be the interim Tribal Vice Chair in January 2020. She graduated with her Bachelors of Science in Psychology from Pacific Lutheran University in 2012, and her Masters of Public Administration with an emphasis in Tribal Governance from The Evergreen State College in 2016. Her professional experience includes four years of working with the Washington State Department of Social & Health Services (DSHS) as an Office of Indian Policy Regional Manager, and then as a Statewide Tribal Liaison. Both positions led to help create systems and policy that increases access to state services for American Indians and Alaska Natives. She currently sits on the Governor’s Oversight Board for the Department of Children, Youth, and Families, is an Alternative Delegate to the Washington State DSHS Indian Policy Advisory Committee, and participates in local workgroups to further education and resources between the State and Tribe. Loni also received her Klallam Language Certification, in June 2019, to bring the Klallam language back to Jamestown.