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Council to refine land acknowledgement draft and seek tribal feedback
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Summary
PCJJ staff reported outreach to five tribes and said OJJ drafted an updated land acknowledgement; the draft will be shared with the Squaxin Island Tribe for review after council members requested wording changes, including whether to describe the statement as a 'first step' and alternatives to 'millennia' phrasing.
The Partnership Council reviewed an updated draft of its land acknowledgement and agreed to redraft several phrases before sending the language to the Squaxin Island Tribe for review.
Jennifer Redmond (S4), assistant secretary for DCYF juvenile rehabilitation, read the draft aloud for council members: “We acknowledge the native nations upon whose ancestral lands we reside and express perpetual gratitude to those who have stewarded these lands since time immemorial and whose histories precede European American settlement by millennia.”
Members raised concerns about a few phrases. Eric Troopin (S9), who co‑chairs a behavioral health committee, questioned the line that calls the acknowledgment "a first step." “Is it really a first step?” he asked, suggesting alternatives such as "an initial step" or "an important step" to avoid understating subsequent obligations.
Other members asked staff to find preferred wording for the phrase “precede European American settlement by millennia” and suggested alternatives such as "since time immemorial" or language that explicitly references colonization. OJJ staff said they would work on redrafting the sentence, share the revisions with the Executive Committee in May and then forward the updated language to the Squaxin Island Council Chair for review.
Council members also discussed process: staff reported they had consulted five tribes, were using the council’s office location to determine which tribes to name, and were following tribal recommendations to draft internally and then seek tribal feedback. The chair asked staff to notify the council once the Squaxin Island Tribe responds and to circulate further edits for comment.
