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Council President presents Portland State tribal‑relations certificate capstone; council backs follow‑up engagement
Summary
Council President described completing a Tribal Relations Certificate at Portland State, recommended land acknowledgments, MOUs with tribes and educational outreach, and council and staff agreed to schedule follow‑up discussions with tribal partners and incorporate the work into DEIB efforts.
Council President presented her capstone work from the Tribal Relations Certificate program at Portland State University and urged the council to strengthen city engagement with regional tribes on Sept. 16.
She said the cohort included trips to the National Congress of American Indians and regional tribal conferences, tribal‑nations tours, and meetings with tribal council members. She urged the city to treat land acknowledgments as a starting point and to consider formal tools such as memorandums of understanding and intergovernmental agreements to build relations with tribes.
"Land acknowledgments are a good way to start into learning more about the realities of tribes," the council president said in the presentation, while cautioning that acknowledgments should be used thoughtfully to avoid unintended erasure. She credited learning opportunities from the League of Oregon Cities program and named tribal members she had met during the course.
City Manager John Williams told the council the city is transitioning a staff DEIB task force into a permanent committee and offered staff support for follow‑up work. Williams suggested inviting tribal partners to meetings rather than conducting internal planning without tribal participation. Councilors expressed support for drafting a land acknowledgment and scheduling future agenda items to integrate the capstone recommendations with planning work on the waterfront project and other city assets.
What’s next: Council and staff agreed to schedule follow‑up discussions and consider a future agenda item to move the work forward, and the council president said she will share resources (books) and recommended the certificate course to interested councilors and staff.
