Vashon Island School District has entered into a new agreement with the Puyallup Tribe of Indians to provide curriculum and other consultation on Tribal culture and history.

The Tribe, for more than 20 years, has supported efforts in local classrooms to educate students about the history of the Tribe. The new agreement, signed by 13 school districts including Vashon at a ceremony on March 28, includes a plan to expand this work.

Other districts signing on to the agreement included Bethel, Chief Leschi, Clover Park, Franklin Pierce, Fife, Federal Way, Orting, Peninsula, Puyallup, Sumner-Bonney Lake, Tacoma and University Place.

According to a press release, these districts will work with the Tribe to “develop a plan for language, culture and oral traditions education pathways, provide a common framework for elective credit education opportunities in all high schools, and by 2034 offer a First People’s language online curriculum to high school students for language credit.”

Patricia Conway, the Tribe’s curriculum developer and school liaison, who works with the Tribe’s Heritage Division, said that the memorandum of understanding signed on March 28 extended beyond annual consultations and currently state-mandated Indigenous history as well as Puyallup Tribe curriculum.

“We are prioritizing teaching Lushootseed in the classroom, recruiting and retaining efforts for Native American staff across school campuses and programs for Native youth to work and receive high school credit,” Conway said.

Districts that signed the agreement will also consult the Tribe for appropriate language, art and materials to ensure they are respectful to Native history, culture and traditions, according to the press release. The Tribe will also consult on decision-making in the use of Native names, symbols and images within district facilities, names and mascots.

Vashon Island School District’s already collaborative relationship with the Tribe was demonstrated last September as a large mural was unveiled on the playground of Chautauqua Elementary School.

The towering mural, created by Puyallup artists Anthony Duenas and Daniel Baptista, colorfully depicts clams, ducks and herons swirling around a 14-foot-tall portrait of Lucy Gerand, an islander who is credited for her important role in preserving the history and culture of the s ̌xwəbabs, or Swiftwater People, who resided on Vashon for millennia.

Gerand was born near Burton in 1840 when the s ̌xwəbabs people had permanent settlements along Quartermaster Harbor and Tahlequah. She died in 1929 and is buried in Vashon Cemetery.

The mural project was led by VISD’s director of teaching and learning, Stephanie Spencer, working closely with Conway, of the Puyallup Tribe, and Brandon Reynon, the Tribe’s director of historic preservation.

At the time of the mural’s unveiling, Spencer said the district’s ongoing work with the tribe, over the next months and years, would include developing a full curriculum about Gerand for grades K-8, based on the mural.

Reached for comment by email, Vashon Superintendent Slade McSheehy said the district was honored to be part of the agreement with the Tribe.

“Signing this MOU is a meaningful step in strengthening our partnership with the Puyallup Tribe and ensuring that Native history, culture, and perspectives are woven into the fabric of our schools — not just in our curriculum, but in the experiences, relationships, and understanding we cultivate across our district,” he said.

He credited much of the district’s progress in this area to Spencer, who he said had been instrumental in expanding the district’s collaboration with the Tribe, including the mural project.