Lessons from a Tribal Elder – Tanna Engdahl
Tanna Engdahl is an Elder and Spiritual Leader in the Cowlitz Indian Tribe. At the beginning of her career, Tanna competed for a special scholarship to Columbia University and was hired by KIRO-TV as the first major-market American Indian TV news reporter in the U.S. At the same time, she served as the Tribe’s Vice-President.
She left the newsroom to engage in a thirty-year career in public land agencies: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management and the National Park Service. During that time, she was selected to a Federal Leadership Academy and spent many years in management positions.
In this role, she encouraged Federal sensitivity to tribal sacred sites and was in the forefront of a movement to establish Indian cultural committees within Government. Upon retirement, she has been actively presenting Cowlitz history to schools, colleges, community organizations, Federal and State agencies and other public venues. She teaches a more formal Cowlitz history class at Clark College in the Continuing Education Division. Tanna also champions conservation projects as well as health and substance abuse programs for which the Cowlitz Tribe is known.
Four Directions – Cultural Awareness and Healing Support Conference
September 18-21- 2023
Four Directions continues to grow and offer so much since it was first launched 15 years ago. This year’s Four Directions conference promises to be one of the best opportunities to combine evidence-based and culturally based treatment, prevention, and recovery practices yet!
