"I consider this a sacred summit, because we're talking about natural resources," said Dr. Naomi Bender, Spokane Colleges Director of Tribal Relations and organizer of the 2025 Government-to-Government Natural Resources Summit. "Animals, land management, water conservation, forestry, food sovereignty, all these pieces matter . . . things we take for granted that our Tribes simply have never taken for granted."
Spokane Colleges is committed to developing workforce talent and to solving challenges of access wherever they arise. Developing workforce solutions with Tribes is an opportunity for government-to-government dialogue with specific legal, cultural, and historical elements that deserve special attention.
To create solutions together with Tribes, the Washington State Board of Community and Technical Colleges began sponsoring annual summits in 2024 to bring together higher education and Tribal leaders, as well as Tribal students. The summits are designed to advance local Indigenous knowledge and improve pathways to post-secondary education in ways that serve Indigenous communities.
The 2025 summit, hosted by Spokane Colleges, the Spokane Tribe of Indians, and the State Board of Community and Technical Colleges, brought together Tribal leaders and higher education institutions on June 2 to address a critical workforce challenge: connecting Tribal students with careers in natural resource management within their own communities.
Developing Talent at Home
Native American Tribes collectively rank among the largest land managers in North America. In the Inland Northwest alone, Tribes employ hundreds of natural resource staff specializing in everything from wildlife biology and forestry to fire management and recreation. While the need for talent is great and growing, finding qualified candidates to fill these positions remains difficult, often forcing Tribes to hire from outside the region.
Warren Seyler of the Spokane Tribe of Indians outlined his vision for change: "What I hope to accomplish is to help us grow our own students that can come home and work for the tribes and fulfill their dream of having a career with their Tribe and our wildlife and our fisheries and our water resources and all the other programs."
Seyler set the backdrop for the summit in his keynote address, which offered an overview of the modern history of Native American Tribes and the how the Tribes of the Inland Northwest fit into that context. He detailed the influence of US government policies on the employment and residence of Tribal members, including long-lasting effects of policies of urban relocation in the mid 20th century.
“Scatter them to the wind,” Seyler said, characterizing the attitude behind urban relocation. “If there’s nobody home on the reservation, there’s nobody home to be a Tribe in the government.”
Breaking Down Barriers
While Tribes including the Spokane Tribe of Indians want to hire more Tribal members and other locals for natural resource positions, significant barriers prevent prospective workers from accessing required education and training. Tribal students who have navigated the system and found success in natural resource careers shared their perspectives at the summit.
"We're first generation often, and so we don't necessarily have all the skills. It took me two or three times just to register for my first classes," explained one Tribal student panelist.
Other barriers Tribal student panelists identified included the cultural shock of moving from small, tightknit school communities like Wellpinit High School on the Spokane Tribe Reservation to much larger higher education institutions.
Nurturing Tribal Talent
Strengthening relationships with faculty, promoting involvement in professional clubs, and providing comprehensive support systems were all identified by current Tribal students as critical components to their success.
Daniel Peone of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe, a former student of the Spokane Community College Natural Resource Program currently employed by the Coeur d’Alene Tribe, identified clear pathways between higher education training and career outcomes as central to his success. “For me, it was the opportunity [my mentor] Ralph gave me... he's done it and he's been through the same program. He's been the inspiration, like it's doable,” said Peone.
Partnering for Tribal Student Success
To meet the region’s need for expertise in natural resource management across governments and agencies, Spokane Community College (SCC, a component of Spokane Colleges) offers programs including Associate Degrees in Forestry, Water Science, and Wildlife and Fisheries, among others. Some of these programs are offered through SCC’s rural campuses in Colville, Inchelium, Newport and Republic, helping to break down travel barriers and offer students an accessible taste of success close to home.
The summit demonstrated that there are changes colleges and universities in the Inland Northwest can make to improve access and pathways for Tribal students. The promise of community colleges with open enrollment, including Spokane Colleges’ two component schools, is that higher education is open and accessible to all. However, engaging prospective students with that promise requires effort. Higher education institutions must demonstrate that promise through positive outcomes for Tribal students and for Tribal natural resource programs.
Higher education institutions must also do a better job at learning and listening to Tribal Nations about their unique needs. Integrating Tribal perspectives and methodologies for land management honors the students and communities served by colleges and universities. It is also necessary on a practical level to equip students to work within the unique structures of Tribal government and administration.
Community colleges are in a key position in this effort. As an entry point to higher education for many, community colleges form an important bridge to further study as well as offering practical workforce training that students and employers can benefit from quickly. The summit revealed that community colleges’ existing pathways for students, rural campuses, and experience in outreach and providing access to education for many different groups offer a unique opportunity to bridge the gap to natural resources educations for Tribal students.