A Nez Perce tribal member has been honored with a Washington State award for her work with children. Wendy Thomas received the Living Principles Award. A release from the Tribe says it celebrates the successes of Department of Children, Youth, and Families staff who achieve outcomes by embodying their operating principles.
Thomas is the department’s Early Learning Tribal Relations Administrator. She is responsible for all aspects of the partnership with all 29 federally recognized tribes in Washington in early intervention, education, and childcare.
For the 2023-2025 biennium, her team co-designed the $7.5 million Tribal Early Learning Fund grant, serving more than 4,100 tribal children, prenatal to age five, in early learning programs across Washington.
In the release, Thomas said “Upholding sovereignty is inherent to me as a Nimiipuu ayet. Tribal sovereignty is the recognition that we, as tribal nations, have an inherent right to self-govern. In the face of colonization, upholding sovereignty is a collective generational responsibility to protect our rights, culture, and traditions.”
