Rosalee Walz, Chairperson of the Chemakum Tribal Council. Photo by Brian Goodman

Rosalee Walz, as a Chemakum Elder, was inspired, pushed, to reclaim and weave into history the difficult story of the Chemakum by Howard Hansen, author of Twilight on the Thunderbird. She wrote the text for Still Here: Portraits (by Brian Goodman) of the Chemakum.

Indigenous to Chemakum Territory, she is a graduate of the University of Washington, and Antioch University, holding an M.A. In Whole Systems Design.

While she had a career in human resources; her passion was serving on the Seattle Indian Health Board for 20+ years with several years as its president. She has been an executive coach and is a writer.

November 2023 – Rosalee Walz speaker at AAUW PT branch event. “Walz says she was most influenced by her “father’s love of nature and his attention to details from tiny to huge”, and her love of nature is evident in her storytelling. As the tribal chairperson, she is working with others to re-learn the almost lost original language of her tribe, as well as creating a Chemakum dictionary.”