Patricia Whitefoot facts for kids

Patricia 'Patsy' L. Whitefoot (born 1950) is a respected elder and activist from the Yakama Nation. She is also a professional educator and gathers traditional foods for her community's Toppenish Creek Longhouse. Patsy Whitefoot once led the National Indian Education Association. She was also chosen by President Obama to be part of the National Advisory Council on Indian Education. She is a strong voice for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) and for Indigenous rights.

Early Life and Learning

Patsy Whitefoot grew up on the Yakama Indian Reservation in southern Washington. Her grandparents, Elias and Lillie Whitefoot, raised her and her five sisters. As a child, Patsy learned how to gather and prepare traditional foods. She also fished along the Columbia River. These activities helped her feel connected to her people's land, nature, community, and culture.

When her grandmother became sick, Patsy and her sisters lived at the Yakima Indian Christian Mission. This was a boarding school on the reservation. Patsy saw how Native students were treated unfairly there. She rarely saw her grandparents, except during summer breaks. Her grandmother had a similar experience at the Fort Simcoe boarding school, which tried to make Native children forget their culture.

After finishing high school, Patsy earned a teaching certificate and a degree in Education from Central Washington University. Her grandmother encouraged her to continue her studies. Patsy then earned a Master's degree in Education from Fort Wright College.

Helping Through Education

Patsy Whitefoot has worked in many different roles as an educator. This has given her a lot of experience and knowledge. She has received many awards for her important work. She even taught in Arizona on the Navajo Nation.

Patsy has been a principal, counselor, superintendent, and program director. She also created many educational programs. She has worked at every level of Native education, even as the Supervisor of Indian Education for Washington State. Her goal was to make sure Indigenous students were learning well and also understood their culture and traditions. She also helped teachers provide this kind of learning.

Since 2004, Patsy Whitefoot has been the Indian Education Director for the Toppenish School District on the Yakama Reservation. She helps Indigenous students by working with groups like the Yakama Nation and other schools. She also partners with the University of Washington. In the Toppenish School District, Patsy has helped more Indigenous preschoolers get ready for reading. She has also helped more Indigenous students go to college. Patsy has also served on the Board of Directors for Heritage University, a private university in Toppenish on the Yakama Indian Reservation.

Patsy Whitefoot also helped research and publish two studies in 2015 and 2016. These studies looked at preventing certain health issues in Indigenous communities.

Besides her work in education, Patsy has been on the Yakama Nation Tribal Council. She was also the interim director for the Yakama Nation’s Department of Human Services. She used to be the President of the National Indian Education Association and the Washington State Indian Education Association. Patsy also helped start the Iksiks Washanal’a ("The Little Swans") dance group for girls in the Yakama Nation. This group creates dances based on old Yakama stories. They travel around the country, wearing red to honor Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW).

Patsy Whitefoot is now retired, but she still works hard for MMIW, Indigenous education, and Indigenous rights. She supports the Future Native Teachers Initiative. This group connects schools with tribes in Washington to help Indigenous students think about careers in teaching.

Standing Up for Others

Speaking for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women

In 1987, Patsy Whitefoot's younger sister, Daisy May Heath, went missing at age 29. Patsy was very close to her sister, who helped raise Patsy's children while Patsy was in college. At the time, Patsy was working in Olympia, Washington. Daisy was declared legally dead several years later, and the FBI believes she was likely murdered.

Her sister's disappearance made Patsy Whitefoot even more determined to speak out for MMIW. She has been key in bringing attention to this crisis. The chief research officer of the Seattle Indian Health Board said Patsy's work and passion were "instrumental" (meaning very important) to the MMIW movement in the area. As more people started paying attention to the MMIW crisis, Patsy was interviewed more often. In these interviews, she often talks about new laws for MMIW, the need for better laws, how the country isn't paying enough attention, and what justice means for these cases. She has met with many lawmakers to explain how the crisis affects Indigenous women and girls. In 2018, Patsy spoke at a "Women are Sacred" event put on by the National Indigenous Women's Resource Center.

Patsy Whitefoot co-hosts the War Cry Podcast. This podcast, based in the Pacific Northwest, shares stories of missing and murdered Indigenous people and explains the history behind these issues. In the spring of 2021, Patsy was a speaker at an MMIW event held by the Washington State Women's Commission.

Both state and federal governments have recognized Patsy Whitefoot's experiences and knowledge. She spoke to the Washington State Legislature about Senate House Bill 2951. This bill asked the Washington State Patrol to investigate MMIW cases in the state. The bill passed in 2018, and its findings were published in 2019. In 2021, Washington State created a special group to study missing Indigenous people, and Patsy was chosen as one of its twenty-three members. Patsy has also spoken to the Oregon State Legislature. She supported HB 2625, a bill that would ask the Department of State Police to study MMIW and resources for justice.

Fighting for Indigenous Rights

Patsy Whitefoot is also an activist for Indigenous rights and tribal sovereignty (the right of tribes to govern themselves). In 2020, she asked Washington state's Redistricting Commission to change district lines. She wanted the Yakama Nation to be in one legislative district. Before, the districts were split, which made it harder for state leaders to work with tribal leaders. It also made it harder for Yakama Nation members to win elections. These problems made things difficult for Yakama communities. Many people who are not part of the Yakama Nation do not understand its history or the importance of the treaties that created the Yakama Reservation.

In 2021, she spoke about the harm caused by boarding schools to Indigenous children. She said these schools were "one part of that policy of assimilation or to exterminate us as a people." Her ideas on teaching holistically (meaning teaching the whole person), bringing back Native languages, and protecting culture are mentioned in books like Yakama Rising. In 2023, she was featured in a National Geographic article about the lasting effects of boarding schools.

Patsy Whitefoot has also spoken to the United States Congress many times. Her national activism means she attends meetings and hearings in Washington D.C. In 2010, she spoke to the United States Senate Committee on Indian Affairs about the proposed budget for tribal programs. At that time, she was the President of the National Indian Education Association and asked for more funding. In 2015, she spoke again, asking for better funding for Indigenous education. She pointed out how much less money was spent on Indigenous students compared to non-Indigenous students. Patsy is currently on the board of the Confluence Project. This project focuses on Indigenous connections to the Columbia River basin and its environment.

Awards and Special Recognition

Patsy Whitefoot has received many awards and honors from different groups. Her work to create education that respects culture led the Potlatch Fund to create the Patricia Whitefoot Education Award. The Potlatch Fund is a nonprofit that works in Montana, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon. Patsy received their Education Leadership Award in 2005. Since then, this award has been named after her to honor her work.

In 2009, President Obama chose Patsy Whitefoot to be on the National Advisory Council on Indian Education. This council works with the Secretary of Education on issues related to Indian Education. It has fifteen members from all over the United States.

Patsy Whitefoot was also a finalist for the 2009 Ecotrust Indigenous Leadership Award and received 5,000 dollars.

More recently, Patsy Whitefoot received the Golden Tennis Shoe Award from Washington State Senator Patty Murray in 2021. She also received the Adeline Garcia Community Service Award from the Seattle Indian Health Board in 2019. These awards recognize her important work for MMIW in Washington State and across the country.

In the 2020 presidential election, Patsy Whitefoot was honored as an elector for the state of Washington. She used a special quill pen to cast Washington's Electoral College vote for Joe Biden.

Personal Life

Patsy Whitefoot still lives on the Yakama Indian Reservation. She has three children, ten grandchildren, and is a great-grandmother.