Report Details Progress, Challenges In City Of Seattle Tribal Partnerships

Seattle city officials are highlighting progress and ongoing challenges in the city’s effort to strengthen relationships with Tribal Nations and Native communities, following the release of the 2025 Tribal Nations Summit Summary Report.

Mayor Katie Wilson released the report following the September 2025 City of Seattle Tribal Nations Summit, a biannual gathering intended to identify actions that uphold Tribal sovereignty and treaty rights while expanding government-to-government collaboration with federally recognized Tribes and partnerships with urban Native communities. Representatives from 10 Tribal Nations, five urban Indian organizations, 23 city departments and regional partners attended the summit.

The report builds on work that began with the city’s first Tribal Nations Summit in 2023, which Seattle described as its first intertribal government-to-government meeting. Since then, the city has tracked progress across four broad areas: effective Tribal relations and Indigenous engagement, cultural visibility and vitality, collaborative cultural resource stewardship and culturally attuned systems of care.

“We are proud to be among the few cities nationwide that are meaningfully working on strengthening City-Tribal relations,” said Wilson. “Through our work with Tribal governments and Native communities the City is committed better serving the diverse interests of Indigenous people.”

The report places the city’s current efforts within a broader historical and social context, noting that Seattle’s lands and waters were dramatically altered through colonization and development, and that Native people were barred from residing in the city under an 1865 ordinance. It also underscores the continued importance of treaty rights, which Tribal Nations continue to exercise in and around Seattle today.

According to the report, more than 14,000 American Indian and Alaska Native people and about 5,000 Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander people live in Seattle. In King County, nearly one in six Native families lives in poverty, and Native households are 2.6 times more likely to live below 200 percent of the poverty level than non-Hispanic white households.

City and Tribal leaders used the 2025 summit to focus on community safety, housing and homelessness, and natural and cultural resources. Discussions highlighted the need for earlier and more consistent Tribal consultation, stronger coordination across jurisdictions in public safety matters, greater respect for Tribal data sovereignty and expanded education within city government about the legal and political status of Tribal Nations.

“When we take time to listen and learn from one another, we see the immense opportunity before us,” said Seattle City Council President Joy Hollingsworth. “We are grateful for the opportunity to discuss, debate, collaborate, and partner across a range of issues. What is clear is that this must be work that we commit to each and every day.”

The city’s progress report details a mix of expanded partnerships, policy coordination and department-level initiatives since the first summit. Seattle reported meeting with leadership from at least six Tribal Nations, completing 14 visits to Tribal communities or areas of significance and increasing engagement with at least 10 Tribal Nations on issues affecting Tribal interests. The city also launched a new workgroup and tracking tool to improve coordination across departments and expanded training on Tribal histories, governments and priorities.

The Indigenous Advisory Council has played a growing role in that work, completing six briefings to Seattle City Council committees and advising eight departments on 16 city plans, programs and services since 2023.

City departments also reported progress in cultural visibility and planning efforts. The Office of Planning and Community Development expanded engagement with Tribal Nations and Native communities in shaping the One Seattle Comprehensive Plan, while the city supported 18 public art opportunities involving Tribal and Native artists and produced nine Seattle Channel videos highlighting Native stories.

Efforts to strengthen cultural and natural resource stewardship included collaboration on salmon recovery, fish passage barriers and environmental restoration, as well as coordination with Tribal Nations on hydroelectric relicensing and cleanup work along the Lower Duwamish Waterway. The city also reported a $5 million Indigenous-Led Climate Initiatives Fund supporting Tribal and Native-led environmental work.

Housing and homelessness remain key priorities. The report states that the Human Services Department, working with regional partners and urban Indian organizations, supported 93 units of culturally attuned shelter since 2023, while the Office of Housing helped create 120 units of permanent supportive housing. The city also reported about $6.9 million in 2025 investments supporting services for Native communities.

City officials also highlighted growth in Native-centered services, including youth and family programs. Participation in certain Human Services Department programs increased from 11 Native participants in 2023 to 414 in 2024, according to the report.

“The Tribal Nations Summit is a meaningful step forward and a genuine demonstration of good governance by the City of Seattle,” said Seattle City Councilmember Debora Juarez. “But to move beyond performative land acknowledgments, we must continue to cultivate a foundation of trust and collaboration with our local tribal governments.”

“The Suquamish Tribe was pleased to share our priorities and perspectives, our concerns and commitments at the 2025 Tribal Nations Summit,” said Suquamish Chairman Leonard Forsman. “These kinds of annual gatherings in our traditional territory in Seattle serve as a good renewal of focus for the real, ongoing work set before us.”

City officials said the next phase of the work will focus on strengthening consultation practices, improving coordination across departments and continuing engagement with Tribal Nations and Native organizations as priorities identified in the 2025 summit move toward implementation.