Meet The Team

Colette August, Canku Duta Win (Red Road Woman) Tla’amin First Nation Citizen (Coast Salish), Little Shell Chippewa (Anishinaabe) and has family ties to Lower Sioux Community (Dakota) Colette has worked at Tahoma Indian Center since 2017. She is the lead liaison to the board of directors, volunteers and staff. She has started an Overdose Awareness Day for Tahoma Indian Center and participated in Na'ah Illahee Fund Neighborhood Capacity Building.   Colette has a bachelor’s degree from The Evergreen State College (TESC) and is currently enrolled in TESC Master of Public Administration- Tribal Governance. She has worked in human services for over 15 years. She has volunteered at Bridges- A Center for Grieving Children since 2012. She has also started a Survivors of Suicide group in her hometown of Tacoma. Her drive and passion for community and healing derives from her love of family. She has 5 sons and a granddaughter that motivate her to ensure the community they live in will be a safe and healthy place. Colette loves roller skating, bike riding, hiking, Muay Thai training and photography in her spare time as a way to rejuvenate her to be able to provide her best self to her family and community.

Anesia Smith, an exuberant community member and enthusiastic mother, was born in the vibrant city of Bellingham and now resides and works in Tacoma WA. She graduated from Pierce College and has gained both valuable experience across various job sectors and a strong commitment to improving the holistic health of her community. Anesia's most fulfilling work has been as a compassionate home care aid, tending to the elderly, and more currently serving as the Assistant Director at Tahoma Indian Center, assisting in running a day shelter and community center for Native people. Her unwavering dedication lies in helping others enhance their mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being.

Frank Gonzales is a Mexican Apache hailing from Phoenix, Arizona. With over two decades of expertise as a commercial cook, he has honed his culinary skills to cook great meals for lots of people. Relocating to Washington in 2016, Frank is a dedicated professional who takes pride in his work. Outside the kitchen, he finds joy in hiking, indulging in games, and creating art.

Introduction being worked on

Muckleshoot/Warm Springs "I am very honored to be the Board President of the Tahoma Indian Center." Jeffrey's lifetime of cultural ties to salmon resources led him to becoming a local fisheries biologist in 1983. He started with the Point No Point Treaty Council, and worked for other tribal fisheries organiations after that, until becoming the director of the Puyallup Tribal Timber, Fish & Wildlife Program (August 1989), where he has been implementing the 1987 Washington State Timber/Fish/Wildlife Agreement for the Puyallup tribal community ever since. Jeffrey's recent professional work includes: Developing a Tribal/Salmonids Social-Ecological Systems Model (to earn a 2016 University of Washington Marine Affairs M.S degree)- Designing and instructing the 3-quarter series of cultural sovereignty courses required by the NW Indian College/Muckleshoot Campus (2018-present) - and/or, Facilitating the newly established Medicine Creek- as well as Point Elliot- Urban Forestry Councils now (2021-present).

At the age of 55, John Halliday became legally blind. As a Muckleshoot Tribal member of Duwamish ancestry, Halliday says his Native American world view, cultural traditions, and values, which have sustained Native tribes throughout history, long before colonization, have helped him overcome the challenges associated with losing his sight.  Too often, our understanding of American history begins with foreign European powers “settling” the land—as though no thriving human communities existed here. Woven in with John’s personal story, audiences will learn Washington State history from a Native American perspective, and how that history can teach resilience.  John Halliday (he/him) is a legally blind Native American artist of Muckleshoot, “Duwamish,” Yakama, and Warm Springs Indian descent. Halliday recently retired from the Bureau of Indian Affairs as Deputy Regional Director for the Navajo Region after serving as CEO for both the Muckleshoot and Snoqualmie tribes. Halliday has shown his art at Lakewold Gardens, ANT Gallery, and the Sacred Circle Galleries of American Indian Art under the artist name “Coyote”. Halliday lives in Steilacoom.

I am an enrolled Turtle Mountain Chippewa, I am also Little Shell. My father was Turtle Mountain and my mother Little Shell. I have 7 brothers and 3 sisters. I have 3 children of my own. I was divorced at 21 and raised my children and many more. I became a foster mother in my 20's and I have raised 17 children on my own. My main interest in being on this board is to encourage youth programs designed to promote native culture and keep kids off drugs and lead productive lives. I also would like good programs for elders. There should be meals on wheels, transportation to and from Dr. Appts. In the past I worked as a home, school coordinator and in the foster care system. I took care of my parents until the day they died, dad at 96 died in my home. My mother died at 93 in the hospital, because of poor medical treatment for the elderly.