2022 TELS Recap

The 2022 Tribal Environmental Leaders Summit was a virtual conference hosted at the Norwest Museum of Arts and Culture (MAC) in Spokane, WA.

Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture had an exhibit  at the time called AWAKENINGS: TRADITIONAL CANOES AND CALLING THE SALMON HOME. The MAC, in collaboration with the United Tribes of the Upper Columbia (UCUT) tells the story of the annual Columbia River Canoe Journey – from the purchase of old growth cedar logs and carving the dugouts to the annual launch and landing at Kettle Falls – through contemporary and historic canoes supported by the words of those who have experienced it.

The theme of the 2022 TELS was “OG- Original Guardians”

2022 Presentations

2022 Tribal Environmental Excellence Award

This year’s Tribal environmental excellence award recipient is Dean Henry from Tulalip Tribes. Here is what Gillian Mittelstaedt wrote: 

I am honored to nominate Dean Henry, a Tribal leader, Tribal spiritual leader, and a man dedicated to helping Tribal children and families breathe easier. I have worked on indoor air quality and asthma issues with Dean since 2004 at the Tulalip Tribes. Though he leads the Occupational Health and Safety Program for Tulalip, Dean also spends time every week in the field, investigating complaints from people who are chronically ill in their home, and who suspect it is related to mold or other indoor airborne contaminants. Dean goes into Tulalip homes, schools, and offices to assess the indoor air concerns (often mold), then gets in his truck and usually goes right to staff offices to talk about safe and effective remediation. He is often seen heading to the Tribal boardroom as well, to talk with elected Tulalip leaders about addressing substandard housing issues.

As a child, Dean grew up in home with mold, and his lungs were permanently damaged. His mission, as he describes it, is to make it possible for the next generation to “not live on pills and sprays” as he does. For Dean, asthma and lung disease are linked to environmental exposures, but are also about Tribal history and justice. He remembers the stories of his family, one aunt in particular, who contracted Tuberculosis (TB) at the Tulalip Boarding School and was sent to the basement with other TB positive children, to be apart from others. While his aunt survived, many did not, and while TB was an infectious disease, Dean sees that insufficient HUD funding and inadequate Tribal housing has spawned new generations of chronic lung disease. And he wants to make things right.

As a long-time Tulalip employee and later contractor, I observed Dean’s work first-hand. It was not lost on me that Dean’s effectiveness in the Tulalip community is rooted in being connected within the community. Observing the impact that Dean has at Tulalip, I recruited him to be a spokesperson and indoor air quality advocate for the Tribal Healthy Homes Network (THHN), an organization that I established in 2008 to serve Tribes in EPA Region 10. I have highlighted Dean’s work and had Dean share his expertise with other Region 10 Tribes through THHN’s webinars, conference trainings and our circuit-rider trainings. I also ask Dean to share his knowledge with Tribal partners and Tribal indoor air advocates, as his work is a story of quiet persistence. This persistence has been necessary, as indoor air quality is still, to this day, a less visible issue within the environmental field (despite the many significant and potential harms to Tribal families.) To keep indoor air quality on the forefront, Dean takes it upon himself to educate new Board members and new Tribal staff, and to continually foster these relationships. It has been an honor to work with Dean and for Dean, and I can’t imagine anyone could be more deserving of this award. (This EPA video illustrates the power of Dean’s work and message.)