In an historic first, in March five women were elected to serve on the seven-person Tulalip Tribes’ Board of Directors. The Washington tribe has 1,200 members who voted in the election.
Debra Posey, one of the five women elected to the board, and the one elected chairwoman, observed, “It’s a pretty historic time for us.”
In board elections, candidates do not run against each other. Instead the five candidates with the highest number of votes are elected. Five seats were open this time, with the two remaining seats up for election next year.
Women being elected to the board is relatively rare. Since the first board came into existence in 1936 there have been 16. Today all of the tribe’s executive officers are women.
Historically, says Board Treasurer Pat Contraro, “in the past, women pretty much ran the tribe” she told Indian Country Today. “We’re just now coming back into what we’ve always been historically.”
