#11 - Colleen Echohawk - Seattle Mayoral Candidate
00:00:00:05 - 00:00:31:05
Mark Titus
Welcome to Say What You Love. I'm Mark Titus. On today's show, we have a conversation with Seattle mayoral candidate Colleen Echohawk. If elected, Colleen would become the first indigenous woman ever to hold this title in a city that was named after an Indigenous leader. Chief Self Colleen is coming out of a role as the executive director of the Chiefs Seattle Club, where she shepherded programs for finding help and solutions for Indigenous people experiencing homelessness.
00:00:31:06 - 00:00:54:09
Mark Titus
It's a fascinating conversation. Can't wait for you to hear it all. Want to mention two other quick things. One is if you're liking this podcast, please consider giving us a rating on Apple Podcasts and a review. It really helps us keep bringing these shows to you. The second is we still have available in the merch shop some Rachel special edition Save What You Love T-shirts.
00:00:54:10 - 00:01:25:15
Mark Titus
$5 from every one of the T-shirts goes back to the Bristol Bay Heritage Land Trust devoted to preserving land forever in Bristol Bay. Thank you for listening to the show. Hope you enjoyed this episode. We'll see you next week.
How do you say to Burning down? How do you say what you love? She's going to show us how to.
00:01:25:15 - 00:01:45:20
Music
How do you save what you love?
When the world is burning down?
How do you save what you love?
When pushes come to shove.
How do you say what you love?
When things are upside down.
How do you say what you love?
When times are getting tough.
00:01:45:22 - 00:01:50:19
Mark Titus
Colleen Echohawk. Welcome. What a time to be alive in Seattle,
00:01:50:21 - 00:02:02:04
Colleen Echohawk
my goodness. This is an exciting time. It's time full of opportunity, and I'm ready to go. It's, what, 830 something here? I've had lots of coffee. Excited to talk to you today.
00:02:02:05 - 00:02:23:09
Mark Titus
Me too. I am so thrilled. I've been. I. You know, I think I was telling you earlier, I've been so excited about this for over a week. I've been coming up with questions in the shower. I mean, it's just been I've just, you know. Okay, fanboy, stop. And here's what happened when you announced your candidacy for the mayoral race in the city of Seattle.
00:02:23:09 - 00:02:48:14
Mark Titus
My heart actually leapt a little bit and I was very happy because I know the work that you do. And we're going to get into all of that here in a second. But I'm going to quickly first jump clear back to your roots and the beginnings of things. And, you know, in in researching how you came to us here in Seattle, I can identify you have a very American story.
00:02:48:16 - 00:03:07:10
Mark Titus
I was born in Wisconsin, but my folks moved out here when I was six months old. And this place has always been my home. You have roots in the Midwest as a member of the Pawnee Nation. We're born in Alaska. Have made your home here in the Pacific Northwest. So why is this place home for you?
00:03:07:12 - 00:03:28:19
Colleen Echohawk
It is a good question. And I think I have this really vivid, vivid memory of visiting Seattle when I was 16 years old. At the time, my aunt still working at the Pike Place Market Senior Center, which is still a vibrant, beautiful senior center. And we were in the market and it was a beautiful Seattle day. Don't tell anybody else.
00:03:28:19 - 00:03:46:14
Colleen Echohawk
We all know how it is. Right. And I just like looked at the Puget Sound and looked at the market and I just felt so rooted and connected somehow at 16. And I remember telling my mom like, I want to live here, I want to move here. And then, you know, I was doing other things Right out of high school.
00:03:46:14 - 00:04:06:04
Colleen Echohawk
I met my husband who had gotten into you, Dad. And we and I was like, Fabulous, This is the place I want to be. And here we came back and I've been here for over 20 to 24 years, but it's been a couple of years in Hawaii because my husband is from there and we tried it out, but I was the person on the plane when we moved to Hawaii.
00:04:06:05 - 00:04:18:13
Colleen Echohawk
He was just crying about moving Hawaii because I love this place and think it's one of the more beautiful cities in the whole world. And I just feel very rooted here.
00:04:18:15 - 00:04:34:10
Mark Titus
I couldn't agree with you more. It is. And we've got lots to talk about, Seattle coming up. But there's something that really struck me. You never forget where your roots are from. What was it your dad said to you all the time about your roots and how to do this for me?
00:04:34:10 - 00:04:56:12
Colleen Echohawk
Yeah. So my dad always felt a little, I think, dissonance because he was raising kids in Alaska, but he grew up in Oklahoma and is very rooted in our tribe upon our nation. So he would say to us every single day, he was so good about it. He would say, You are Pawnee, you are an echo hawk. You can do anything.
00:04:56:14 - 00:05:21:02
Colleen Echohawk
And then he would give me a chore to do or something, curse and love him and my mom. Or so we were raised in a very incredibly loving environment where we were told every day how much they loved this and how much they believed in our dreams and how they thought that we were so cool and unique because we were and are Pawnee citizens.
00:05:21:02 - 00:05:41:22
Colleen Echohawk
But living in Alaska and just so very fortunate to have parents that continued to root us in in who we are as native people and also as individuals, like they just continue to to pour tons of positivity and belief into us as individuals. So it was really great upbringing.
00:05:42:00 - 00:06:01:21
Mark Titus
Well, and you also this is, you know, certainly an American story, but it's very much, in my understanding, an indigenous story. You had other wonderful influences, influencers in your life from an early age. Sean, tell us about growing up next door to the John family and what you learned from Katey.
00:06:01:21 - 00:06:27:05
Colleen Echohawk
John Yeah, so I was so lucky that and I keep saying lucky because truly I think about, you know, native people in this, in this world. And it's not always easy for Native people, right? Like we haven't we're so overcoming historical and ongoing trauma and we have a lot of resilience in the community, but there's a lot of hard things that happened for the native community as well.
00:06:27:05 - 00:06:52:04
Colleen Echohawk
And we moved into this little tiny town in Delta Junction, Alaska, and our next door neighbors. And I say that in air quotes because it was like, I don't know, half a mile about in Alaska. That's next door to me. And they were this incredible native family. Again, a native dad and a white mom. And Fred, John Junior is one of the folks that raised me.
00:06:52:06 - 00:07:25:16
Colleen Echohawk
I saw him almost every day. And because he was and is an incredible giving person, him, his wife, Linnea, they just adopted us into their family and then formally adoptions into their tribal community. I think his mom, Katey John, became my grandma. And we would go and visit her multiple, multiple times of the year and, and, and just really got to grow up with the beauty and strength of the upper middle class and community and Itasca Lake.
00:07:25:16 - 00:07:45:22
Colleen Echohawk
And that's one of my favorite places in the world. It's really again, that sense of home is rooted in impetus and with that community that helped raise me and for me. And even when I when I was thinking about running for office here in Seattle, I called up Uncle John and I said, you know, what do you think?
00:07:45:22 - 00:08:11:08
Colleen Echohawk
And he was so like, this is the right time. You need to do this and give me a lot of good lessons. And then I also called the tribal council up there, too, and said, you know, what do you what do you think? And they gave me their blessing and encouragement and prayers. And so very, very fortunate to have to grow up with Fred, John Junior and Katey John and all the other folks in house like.
00:08:11:10 - 00:08:20:20
Mark Titus
And Katie, Katey, John is a paragon of saving what she loved. And yeah, how how did that influence you?
00:08:20:22 - 00:08:49:12
Colleen Echohawk
so huge. Like, you know, I grew up with her and then but I would hear her tell the stories of, you know, the first black man she saw in her world. I'm sorry. The first white person she ever met was actually a black soldier who was working on the Alaska Highway. We had heard about white people but didn't really, you know, just knew that they were a different group.
00:08:49:12 - 00:09:22:16
Colleen Echohawk
And so she would tell stories like that and would laugh and joke. And she just was an incredibly resilient person. And she she experienced a ton of loss, just tons and tons of loss. Like she she she she remembers an experience. Colonization happened at an incredibly rapid rate in Alaska, like it just sort of just pouring in. And all of a sudden the lifestyle was completely changed, including her kids being taken away to go to boarding schools.
00:09:22:18 - 00:09:48:04
Colleen Echohawk
And and she just continued to adapt and change and then also fight. So she was is very well known internationally for fighting for subsistence rights. And I got to grow up watching that and and seeing her graciousness and her partner, her willingness to look at all sides of things and to partner with people and to make things happen.
00:09:48:06 - 00:10:08:16
Mark Titus
And for our listeners, I've spent a a great deal of time in Alaska, and subsistence is a word that means actually using the resources from the land to live your daily life. So in salmon, it would be, you know, folks like in Bristol Bay taking their allotment of salmon for the year to be able to actually live on it.
00:10:08:16 - 00:10:31:17
Mark Titus
And that that happens still today. By the way, Bristol Bay, which is amazing. So, yeah, Katie's Katie's hero. And it's pretty incredible to have a role model like that. Do you think from growing up in Delta Junction, growing up around in that kind of community and that that luminosity, is that where your lifelong commitment to helping people in need began?
00:10:31:19 - 00:10:57:20
Colleen Echohawk
Yeah, absolutely. You know, my parents really just raised us like that, you know, and I think it goes back even further. My dad would tell stories about his dad, who would be driving down a street in a city and he would see someone who was obviously experiencing homelessness or some kind of distress. And he would stop the car and he would go and help that person and he would give them, you know, literally the coat off of his back.
00:10:57:20 - 00:11:16:16
Colleen Echohawk
And and my dad, you know, those were the stories he told me about his dad who who died sadly, before I was ever born. So I never met my grandfather on my on my dad's side, my my other in traditional planning language. And so that was a story I heard in the my dad, a mom practiced that as well.
00:11:16:16 - 00:11:34:18
Colleen Echohawk
Like, we have hilarious memories and also it was, you know, an unusual way to grow up. But we would see a hitchhiker in the middle of Alaska, up in Alaska, and you can see like way down the road, because there's no one else on the road and and my dad would like see like a hitchhiker. And he would say to us, We're going to pick him up.
00:11:34:20 - 00:11:53:06
Colleen Echohawk
He could not resist picking up hitchhikers because he himself had hitchhiked before when he didn't have any money, he didn't have any resources or family to call out in Alaska. And he just felt so much concern for them. And we would pick up people and we would have people who would come back to our home with us and stayed with us.
00:11:53:06 - 00:12:15:08
Colleen Echohawk
And some stayed for three and four and six years because they needed the help. And that's just the way we grew up, is you get in there and help one in the Midwest. And I brought my Athabascan traditions to, you know, we learn how to serve at Potlatch and serve the elders and serve the children and get in there and do that work.
00:12:15:08 - 00:12:38:02
Colleen Echohawk
And that's just the way we grew up. And that's the way when I when I moved here to Seattle, I think one of the one of the very first things that my husband and I did because we were going to a church that had like a little like a homeless shelter, like hanging out for our youth, I was one of the first things we did is get to know the homeless community here in Seattle.
00:12:38:02 - 00:12:59:08
Colleen Echohawk
So it's just been a part of my life and and it's not at all like like I'm so great or, you know, any kind of minor ism. It truly is joyful and fun. I feel so blessed to get to serve the community and and do it in a way that, you know, when you give back to community, it comes back to you.
00:12:59:10 - 00:13:11:01
Colleen Echohawk
And that is a blessing. And I I've just been able I've been so lucky in my life to to serve and to and to be friends with community.
00:13:11:03 - 00:13:31:01
Mark Titus
You know, I couldn't agree with you more. It's it is a blessing. And there's one other part of that for me, at least in terms of Alaska, you know, I lived I lived in Alaska for a while and where I lived, we were in the wilderness in southeast. So taking care of each other was literally a matter of life.
00:13:31:01 - 00:13:49:21
Mark Titus
And death. If your boat broke down and you're out in the middle of the beam canal and there's four foot seas, yeah, you better believe that. You know, your neighbor is going to come to your, you know, your aid and you're going to do the same. Yeah. So I love that I missed that about Alaska. I miss that about not living there.
00:13:49:23 - 00:13:56:22
Mark Titus
And I, you know, certainly hope that something to we can incorporate, you know, that forward in our city which brings.
00:13:56:22 - 00:14:17:21
Colleen Echohawk
Us lately and I want to run back real quick online because you brought it up a subsistence. I've been thinking a lot about that. You know, we grew up hunting, fishing. One of our favorite things in the in the summer for us was berry picking. We spent, you know, hundreds of hours cherry picking. And it was also joyful and it was a community event.
00:14:17:21 - 00:14:40:05
Colleen Echohawk
And I think a lot about subsistence in my own leadership and what I figured out with the city, like how do we become a city and a community where we're not only are we subsisting off the land and and finding ways to be better about climate justice, but also how do we bring about doing that with each other?
00:14:40:05 - 00:15:11:15
Colleen Echohawk
How are we like building relationships that bring goodness into our lives and are community oriented? Like the thing about like fishing and within the fish camp in Alaska or in other native communities is that it's it's done with your neighbors, it's done with your family, and and you're taking care of each other. And and I just think that that's such a cool opportunity here in Seattle.
00:15:11:15 - 00:15:37:02
Colleen Echohawk
I look forward to finding ways to resource neighborhoods, to build better relationships, to, you know, find ways to file the Seattle, freeze a little bit and give give us opportunity to know each other better. I think we went through this pandemic and we realized and we are realizing still, because we're not out of it, that our neighbors mean something and we know our neighbors.
00:15:37:03 - 00:15:43:16
Colleen Echohawk
And how are we how do we come out of this pandemic? I hope it's with stronger relationships with each other.
00:15:43:18 - 00:16:18:03
Mark Titus
Here, here and shameless plug here for the podcast if you haven't already. Our very first episode was with my friend Byock Moore, who is Yupik and lives in Lake Electric up in Bristol Bay, talks extensively about that sense of community and around fish camp. It's it's pretty cool. I bet you dig it. Well, look, that brings us kind of I think here now to current day and yeah can you get us a little bit of backstory here on what is the chief Seattle club and how does your how has your role grown there.
00:16:18:05 - 00:16:42:22
Colleen Echohawk
Yeah. I just love talking about how come. So thank you. It is this incredible organization right in Pioneer Square and it was started in 1970 by a priest who saw that Native people were becoming homeless. And the reason we were becoming homeless at that time was there was a federal relocation act called the Urban Indian Relocation Act.
00:16:42:22 - 00:17:06:10
Colleen Echohawk
And it move people through to many different urban centers out of reservations, including Seattle and Native people throughout the country started becoming homeless because you literally if you lost your housing and you lost your job, that the Bureau of Indian Affairs should have provided to. Some did and some didn't. But if you lost that, then you didn't have anyone to call and to fall back on.
00:17:06:10 - 00:17:31:01
Colleen Echohawk
So a lot of folks became homeless. We're still dealing with that reverberation today. And so the Seattle club started because of that. And when I was a board member first and we were a day center, we had our own building in Pioneer Square and then I became the executive director and we had a hard first year, I'll say that we had a lot of stabilizing of the organizations do.
00:17:31:01 - 00:17:53:11
Colleen Echohawk
And then I sort of kind of looking at the what was going on. And I noticed that Native people were experiencing homelessness at much higher rates than anyone else in the city. And it broke my heart, honestly. And I saw my own relatives, people that I grew up with who were experiencing homelessness here in Seattle and and saw how much they needed culturally attuned services.
00:17:53:11 - 00:18:28:14
Colleen Echohawk
And we started growing our program. So I remember the 2016, we opened seven days a week and that really started some momentum of where we're at now. So we grew our agency from a budget of about 500,000 to this year, it's 17 million plus about 186 million in housing development. We became housing developers because I saw that the main stream housing was just not working for our folks and we needed to build housing that was owned by Native Community and run by Native community and for native community.
00:18:28:14 - 00:18:39:19
Colleen Echohawk
And so it's been quite the journey. I'm so proud of our agency. I'm so proud of our staff and glad to do this work. It's one of the some of the most fulfilling work I've ever experienced.
00:18:39:21 - 00:19:02:11
Mark Titus
Well, I think for our listeners who are paying attention, they can thread the needle here and kind of answer this for themselves, but to to really shine a light on it. How has your sense of leadership and your commitment to community been shaped by the Indigenous wisdom that you've been blessed and formed with?
00:19:02:13 - 00:19:32:15
Colleen Echohawk
You know, I think the the number one thing that comes to mind is just seeing people for people like putting down your assumptions, letting go of what you might think of someone who is experiencing homelessness or homelessness, or someone who's, you know, a multi multimillionaire in the city and just letting those assumptions go and seeing that person as a person, because that's what that's what I was taught when I was growing up.
00:19:32:15 - 00:20:01:15
Colleen Echohawk
And and that that has truly helped me be able to bridge a lot of different places. It's just saying you're you're a human being just like me. And and that has been just instrumental in my life. And then I think also like finding ways to prioritize the most vulnerable to, you know, in our in the village and, and Tessa, you know, if you were hungry or you were cold, no sleep place to sleep.
00:20:01:17 - 00:20:25:07
Colleen Echohawk
You know, Grandma Katie's house was going to be there for you or someone else's house, like they were going to have some soup for you and some tea, and you're going to be able to sleep on the couch, you know, and and and that's the kind of value system that I have brought to my work in Seattle to to say to our larger community, the most vulnerable person here, we need to pay attention and we need to look them up.
00:20:25:07 - 00:20:46:08
Colleen Echohawk
And we also need to listen to their wisdom. I think about it all the time with our homeless community as we have so many people experiencing homelessness in Seattle. It's it's so it's so remarkably horrible that we that we have this in a city like Seattle and and, you know, there's around 12,000 people and three or 4000 people sleep outside every night.
00:20:46:10 - 00:21:15:05
Colleen Echohawk
What are we missing when this is this community is just struggling to stay alive. Right? What kind of solutions to our city problems are playing in the hands of this community? And once they have the opportunity to get stable, to get that housing to to have their mind rest for a minute and not be so stressed, they they have so much to offer us.
00:21:15:05 - 00:21:39:10
Colleen Echohawk
And so that is what I have learned to continue to learn. And then I can talk about this for a long time and here comes my puppy. Hi. I'll. But also the the wisdom of of our elders. If I'm elected mayor, when I'm elected mayor, I will establish an elder council that I'll be meeting with every month and to listen to them.
00:21:39:12 - 00:21:56:00
Colleen Echohawk
And I don't think I'll have a presentation or anything. I'm just going to be there to listen and say, Tell me about what's going on in the city and what you think needs needs to happen. And I think that's just just a part of who I am. And I will be a part of my practice.
00:21:56:02 - 00:22:26:13
Mark Titus
Well, listen, Colleen, I observed we met at a couple of the Chiefs Seattle club luncheons over the past couple of years, and I just paid attention to how you paid attention to people in the room. And I completely agree that I think one of your gifts is to be present. You were present with me, and I know there was a lot of people in that room from all walks of life, all colors, all backgrounds, all socios.com, comic profiles.
00:22:26:15 - 00:22:52:04
Mark Titus
And I really completely agree with you that that is a key to moving forward in this city. That said, I think we got to bring up the the fact that, you know, you're running for mayor in a city that 150 years ago enacted an ordinance to ban indigenous people from its city limits. It's the only city named after an indigenous leader.
00:22:52:04 - 00:23:17:11
Mark Titus
And yet there's there's just one small statue on Cedar Street that you have to know to go find in chief self the damage people on whose traditional lands were speaking right now to each other are still not a federally recognized tribe. With all this as a backdrop, what what are you feeling? You've got to have some incredible mix of emotions as you ponder this idea of becoming the first indigenous.
00:23:17:11 - 00:23:29:06
Mark Titus
And by the way, female leader of this city, one of the biggest and best cities in the country, if not the world, especially in the light of Deb Haaland's recent confirmation as secretary of the Interior.
00:23:29:08 - 00:23:54:04
Colleen Echohawk
Now it's starting to kind of dawn on me more. You know, I originally just jumped into this race because I felt like it was the right thing to do, that I had the solutions. Like I feel like I'm uniquely situated right now for to be able to address some of the biggest issues in our city police accountability and equitable recovery from COVID and homelessness, like homelessness.
00:23:54:04 - 00:24:23:07
Colleen Echohawk
We have to fix this. It's a fixable thing. And I was as frustrated and felt like I, I if I continue my life of service, this is this is the next thing. And then it started to like kind of be like, well, Colleen, you're a native woman. And then what is that going to mean for the city and it's overwhelming in many ways because I want to to represent in the right way.
00:24:23:09 - 00:24:54:18
Colleen Echohawk
I want to recognize that I am not a Coast Salish community member. I am not Suquamish to omission. Michael Shoup by Tulalip, who all kind of claim this area and and I. I just have to be I'm just I'm just humbled by it and feel like I have a responsibility to do the to do the very best that I can and to work hard and to live out the resilience of my my ancestors.
00:24:54:18 - 00:25:01:07
Colleen Echohawk
And at the Chiefs Seattle Club, we have one of our programs. We print print shirts, and.
00:25:01:09 - 00:25:02:03
Mark Titus
I have to.
00:25:02:05 - 00:25:49:16
Colleen Echohawk
We have been shirts that say I'm the wildest dreams of my ancestors and my ancestors, you know, endured and and pushed through so many things so that I could be here today. And I feel their presence and I feel their guidance as I'm on this journey. And I believe that they are with me, that they are leading me forward, and that even though I feel that this weight of responsibility, I as long as I'm as long as I stay true to my values, stay true to their guidance, then then it's going to be okay no matter what, because this is I have found, Mark, that running for mayor is hard.
00:25:49:18 - 00:25:51:12
Colleen Echohawk
My brain really.
00:25:51:14 - 00:26:08:11
Mark Titus
I can't imagine that she's. That's a good segway, actually. Yeah, well, you've got good guidance and I'm I applaud you for for turning to that. And here's a newsflash. We have challenges in the city.
00:26:08:13 - 00:26:10:11
Colleen Echohawk
That's right. Yeah.
00:26:10:13 - 00:26:27:23
Mark Titus
I don't think anyone we've touched on it here a bit, but I don't think anyone would argue that homelessness and economic disparity are at the top of our list of challenges. Can you dig a little deeper into why you are uniquely qualified to take this on?
00:26:28:01 - 00:27:05:06
Colleen Echohawk
Yeah, well, I mentioned this a minute ago that the work of of solving homelessness is is not rocket science. It's going to take political will. It's going to take courageous leadership and decisive leadership to to make us get into the to the right space of actually doing it. I have the experience of building housing, of getting making programs that that will work for our homeless community to get them into wellness and to stability.
00:27:05:08 - 00:27:52:17
Colleen Echohawk
So I feel like I'm very uniquely qualified in solving the crisis of of of homelessness in our city. And then I've also been working on police accountability for the past four years as a community police commissioner. And even before that, I was in in community with our Seattle community who was struggling after the murder of Jonty Williams. And so I am I am dedicated to the reform of our Seattle Police Department and dedicated to the reform of policing in this country, which has impacted our communities and native community and our black community in in really horrific ways.
00:27:52:17 - 00:28:23:09
Colleen Echohawk
So we have to hold them accountable and become the kind of city that we say we are, that we are progressive and that we believe in the sanctity and humanity of every every single life. So and then and then the final thing is equitable recovery from COVID. We have to be so clear that that prior to COVID, we were not an we are not an equitable city, that we had disparities that were remarkable.
00:28:23:09 - 00:29:03:15
Colleen Echohawk
We have an infant mortality rate for native babies. That's 11% that was that was stunning. Wow. We have, you know, our black and indigenous and other people of color, community is our Pacific Islander community who when we when we look down at COVID, not only where we, you know, we have greater I'm sorry, I'm just overwhelmed by it right now is that we found and discovered that Native people were going to die at a much higher rate of COVID.
00:29:03:15 - 00:29:43:06
Colleen Echohawk
We are much more likely to be hospitalized. And then it's not just native people. It was the black community was our next community, it was our Pacific Islander communities. And so we can't go back to where we were before COVID. We have to envision and hope and plan and work for a new future that is truly equitable for our city and that means finding ways to support business owners and finding ways to revitalize their downtown, finding ways to build more housing and doing with the lens of equity and racial justice.
00:29:43:06 - 00:30:04:18
Colleen Echohawk
So it's it's a unprecedented opportunity, right? This is a gem, a time, a chance for generational shift and change. And that's why I'm in this. That's why I'm in this race. It's it's it's got and it's got to have that perspective or we're going to go back to places that we don't want to go back to.
00:30:04:20 - 00:30:30:00
Mark Titus
Yeah, I couldn't agree with you more. This is a moment of opportunity and it is a generational moment. I'm going to stay on this thread that we're sharing. I didn't choose to be born a white straight male in America in 1972 any more than you chose to be born an indigenous woman. But I was an all I have to do is wake up and look around, understand the privilege I've been blessed with.
00:30:30:02 - 00:30:45:10
Mark Titus
How can those of us in, let's face it, a pretty white city, United States, how can those of us in inherent privilege truly listen and be best allies for Bipoc and LGBTQ and non-binary communities?
00:30:45:12 - 00:31:11:06
Colleen Echohawk
Thank you for asking that question, and thank you for really identifying your own privilege in this city. You know, I think that we've had enough of allyship. I think that because it is it's still it's a weak idea in many ways. I think it was a starting idea, and I think that it helped people kind of like. But it also continued to place the power in.
00:31:11:06 - 00:31:34:06
Colleen Echohawk
And are folks like you who are white or male and privileged, you know, and and and so we have to have what I have been using. We and I'm sure that this is going to evolve this phrase, but we have the coconspirators in the work. We have to have people who are saying, listen, Colleen, or listen to other leaders in their community.
00:31:34:06 - 00:32:03:20
Colleen Echohawk
Listen to you now, Estella from El Centro de La Raza or Michelle from Urban League and say, what can I do to support your vision? What can I how can I what kind of resources do you need? What kind of money can I raise so that I can put it back into your vision? And I'm here to to listen to your leadership that has been so under, you know, under the radar so far for far too long.
00:32:03:20 - 00:32:35:10
Colleen Echohawk
And I think that there is that coconspirator role of of of stepping stepping in stepping back, but also stepping into I'm here to to support to support the work that you're doing in a way that honors your leadership and honors honors what you've been doing. So I think that resources is a big deal. Money. If you could get that money into the hands of the community, that is essential.
00:32:35:10 - 00:33:02:06
Colleen Echohawk
I think that we look at the opportunities for our black, indigenous and people, color communities to be owning and building our own housing. I think that land is a big deal when we think about redlining and gentrification that happened in the city. We have to be purposeful about that and we have three balls to. I think often I hear people say to me like, I don't really know what I could be doing or should be doing.
00:33:02:06 - 00:33:28:04
Colleen Echohawk
I think just going to the community and asking, How can I help you? How can I support you? And I am and truly I'm here coming from a place of wanting to follow your leadership. So it's an evolving question. And the answer here. And I think that we have to dive into it as a community and and discover those answers together.
00:33:28:06 - 00:33:55:10
Mark Titus
I think that's a really brilliant answer. Honestly, I felt a bit of the word ally as being somewhat passive as well, that, good, you're an ally now. Call it good and assuage your whatever you're dealing with. And there does need to be action. And I think having that coconspirator spirit or idea definitely moves us in that direction.
00:33:55:14 - 00:34:06:15
Mark Titus
And I really appreciate that answer. I love this city. I grew up here. I saw Star Wars at Cinerama in 1977.
00:34:06:17 - 00:34:07:03
Colleen Echohawk
I love.
00:34:07:03 - 00:34:34:00
Mark Titus
It. I did. And I also had those redolent memories like you talked about, about going to the market and going to the waterfront and smelling the salts from the Salish Sea and just like, wow, this is this is big and cool and it's home and I'm proud of it. I went to high school on Capitol Hill and my my little cohort there, we used to roam around after school downtown and play video games at this little videogame parlor called Iris back in the day.
00:34:34:02 - 00:35:01:09
Mark Titus
Right now, I'm not sure I'd let my ten nieces and nephews roam around downtown alone. It it's it's tough. It's tough sledding out there. And, you know, there's needles, there's erratic behavior, There's violence. My you know, God bless some Tyler who's in this room somewhere in a digital world. He on his first week of work to work for me here in Seattle.
00:35:01:11 - 00:35:26:09
Mark Titus
He got jumped on the bus by some folks that and beaten and Tyler Yeah and so look I think we all want the same thing what's your take on you know obviously this is a huge picture and it's a huge answer but what is your current take on how to how do we create a safe city for all Seattleites from this point forward?
00:35:26:10 - 00:35:57:21
Colleen Echohawk
Well, this is a huge priority for me. And we are in my campaign working on a public safety or community safety plan. And I think one thing that I want to say is that it looks like it has meant different things for people in this community. I think that, you know, there are indigenous people that I know who to 44, 20, you know, for the past 20, 30 years have not felt safe in our city.
00:35:57:23 - 00:36:32:23
Colleen Echohawk
I have homeless relatives right now who do not feel safe and and haven't felt safe in our downtown corridor. We know that our our black and our black relatives, our black men have have been unsafe for a long time. And so that is that's important lens to remember and to think about. And and I think as we move forward as a city, as we think about this generational opportunity, I hope that we think about safety for everyone as as as a priority.
00:36:32:23 - 00:37:03:23
Colleen Echohawk
And what I hope to do is create opportunities for the community to become. I have to create a lot of jobs around public safety. I think that, if you will, to I'm very, very fortunate to want to go to Japan, see the year 2018. And if you go to Japan and you are in one of their incredibly busy transit centers, you will see ambassadors for I don't know if they call them them ambassadors, people standing there looking to see if anyone needs help or support.
00:37:04:01 - 00:37:23:23
Colleen Echohawk
And I love that idea. Like, what if we had that in Seattle? I think we need more more of those kinds of people on the street. And I think that's part of the reason we're seeing such an uptick in in violence in our city and in Tyler. Man, my heart goes out to you on that. But part of it is that people have been in desperate situations.
00:37:24:01 - 00:37:58:10
Colleen Echohawk
We have not been taking care of our community in the way that we should we have people who were are have been hungry and have become homeless in the send them and people who who are afraid and are acting out and and I'm not I'm not condoning that in any way that is wrong. We have to have community responsibilities and we have to make sure that, you know, I believe that we need to be holding the police accountable for when a violent crime is happening, that they that they should be there in two or 3 minutes, not 15 or 17 minutes.
00:37:58:10 - 00:38:23:12
Colleen Echohawk
Right. That's a kind of police accountability I'm looking forward to implementing in the city as well, because that's that is that is when they should be involved. But we can do much better about creating safety in our streets. And the final thing I'll say about this is that we you know, I was in Pioneer Square couple week last week and, you know, I'm I'm trained in how to support people as they're going through a mental health crisis.
00:38:23:14 - 00:38:51:04
Colleen Echohawk
I'm trained to help them to know what to do when someone's having an extreme reaction to a substance that they might have been beaten, used. And I was walking along and there was like hardly anyone in like Occidental. There was, you know, someone like probably a block off and then someone who was clearly high came kind of racing towards me pretty quickly and screaming.
00:38:51:05 - 00:39:16:05
Colleen Echohawk
And I felt a moment of kind of panic because there was no one else around. And and I am I am paying close attention to that. That should not be the norm in our city. We have to find ways to support our community who's experiencing those kind of crises or is is is struggling like that they should that should not be that the the norm.
00:39:16:05 - 00:39:48:03
Colleen Echohawk
When someone is a city and is jumped on a bus, we have to do better about supporting our community, offering solutions, offering community led solutions around supporting our youth who have struggled also through this pandemic and find ways to have prevention programs that have in the past and be funded by the city of Seattle. If elected mayor, I would absolutely encourage those programs and public safety and public and community safety is it's just a huge priority for me.
00:39:48:05 - 00:39:54:21
Mark Titus
Well, I love the image of Japan. I've been there, too, and it's you can eat off the street.
00:39:54:23 - 00:39:56:09
Colleen Echohawk
I mean, you know, it's great.
00:39:56:10 - 00:40:24:19
Mark Titus
It's immaculate. There are people there to help you. I love that. That's an influence. And look, you know, I'm a person in recovery and I understand what it's like to go down to your very bottom and how in addiction, you you are not the person that you truly are. Right. And we we ultimately have to find better solutions for this.
00:40:24:21 - 00:40:26:02
Mark Titus
I'd like to work with you on that.
00:40:26:07 - 00:40:27:17
Colleen Echohawk
I guess my guess is.
00:40:27:19 - 00:41:07:22
Mark Titus
Behind the scenes. Yeah, I have some ideas, but I want to be mindful our time because I know you're so busy. I want to just move on now to some economic thoughts. So I'm going to just start with this disclaimer. I don't think this is fair. I don't think this is a fair assessment of Mayor Durkan or the City Council necessarily, but the yesterday in the Seattle Business Journal or sorry, Puget Sound Business Journal, a writer named Mark Stiles quoted a real estate broker named Dave Spears who said investors and developers formerly considering Seattle at the top of their must have cities list now won't consider risking capital into this dystopian nightmare.
00:41:08:00 - 00:41:40:17
Mark Titus
Thanks to Seattle's massively incompetent mayor and the Star Wars bar scene called Seattle City Council. Now, I'm not condoning the flippant nature of this language, but I will say just being out in the real world, there is a perception and it goes nationally of our current city government being incredibly economically unfriendly and tilted one way radically for social justice.
00:41:40:18 - 00:42:06:05
Mark Titus
I'm 100% sure behind the soul of our social justice in this city. But part of this perception I think, is that there is a vendetta against large business to do what they do here and to further people's political agendas. How are you going to address this and work with this city council and the private sector so our economy can thrive here in Seattle?
00:42:06:07 - 00:42:36:05
Colleen Echohawk
Let me be really clear that I think that a thriving economy in Seattle is absolutely essential, and I want business to succeed here. I want our small businesses to succeed here. I want us to to be a city that continues to be known for our values of entrepreneurship and and building innovative companies that change the world. Do I think that we could do that in a way that incorporates a lens of equity?
00:42:36:07 - 00:43:08:20
Colleen Echohawk
Absolutely. And we have to. And so that's what my lens would be. I look forward to partnering with business to partner with our council members. And, you know, one thing I did learn from my grandma Katie, is, is what it doesn't mean to see the different sides and find us find ways for us to come together. I think that this again, this is part of the reason I'm in this race is that this is an opportunity for us to look at our our our business community and find ways to help them live out their values.
00:43:08:20 - 00:43:31:09
Colleen Echohawk
I saw over the summer and ongoing many of our business community saying, I believe that Black Lives matter. Well, if you believe that Black lives matter, then that means that you are going to have to flex in and grow and evolve your practice of the way you treat your employees or the way that you that you see your hiring practices.
00:43:31:09 - 00:44:05:08
Colleen Echohawk
I mean, there's there's many ways that that that can be evaluated. And I look forward to helping people see vision for that because I believe that an equitable economy is an efficient and a great economy, that it works and that we should be a city that continues to thrive for business. And again, I think one of the things I love about the city is that it's an entrepreneur, rural city that offers creative space for people to do new things and to change the world.
00:44:05:08 - 00:44:12:23
Colleen Echohawk
And I think that we should be changing the world in a way that is equitable and lives out. Our passion for.
00:44:13:02 - 00:44:13:12
Mark Titus
This video.
00:44:13:13 - 00:44:34:00
Colleen Echohawk
Justice for for everyone. So that's the way I hope to do. And then and then I also, you know, one of the things I'm good at is getting along with people and finding ways for us to come together. And I think we need that. We need someone who willing to be that, you know, I don't even know if consensus builder is the right thing.
00:44:34:00 - 00:44:54:22
Colleen Echohawk
I think someone who's going to say, I look at you, I see your values, we're not going to agree on this, but we're going to we're going to we're going to push through it together. We're going to find enough common ground for us to to get moving forward. And I just look forward to seeing the city thriving for our whole community.
00:44:54:22 - 00:45:22:00
Colleen Echohawk
And it's it's a really interesting opportunity. The final thing I'll say is that I want people to know that I come from small business. I actually I saw this as now. I grew up working in my grandma's little hotel and gas station later, and I believe in small business. I understand it and I want to make our our our, our businesses in this in this region.
00:45:22:02 - 00:45:27:04
Colleen Echohawk
I want to find ways to help make them thrive and look forward to working with people and doing that.
00:45:27:06 - 00:45:59:10
Mark Titus
That I know that is music to a lot of our viewers. I'm a small business owner, too, and want to make it work here. So we are we are flagging in time. But I want to get to one more question on accountability. Great. Jump in back to the Tyler example. Yeah. You know, there's no question our police force needs accountability and we are in a transition and we are in a place of growth and I really applaud your your answer earlier about how to start tackling that.
00:45:59:12 - 00:46:09:09
Mark Titus
I think that, too, that, you know, there's a sense that a lot of people living in this city want to see accountability from our unhoused neighbors as well. Yeah.
00:46:09:15 - 00:46:10:05
Colleen Echohawk
Yeah.
00:46:10:07 - 00:46:29:22
Mark Titus
And there has been a lack of that. And so complete understanding and compassion for the the the struggles that our unhoused neighbors are going through. What in your mind, does accountability look like at this point in in terms of every citizen being accountable in our own right.
00:46:30:00 - 00:47:09:15
Colleen Echohawk
Yeah. You know, I, I appreciate that question Mark, because I want people to know that I believe in community accountability, including our own house, ourselves. And I and, you know, we all understand and sort of love about the city. We understand what our unhoused and homeless relatives have been experiencing. We understand that it's hard and it's traumatic. But you know, when someone's encampment is hurting someone's business, then that just that just can't be like we have to find ways to ensure that they are that they are moving along to somewhere where it's not like having such an impact on their business.
00:47:09:15 - 00:47:34:19
Colleen Echohawk
For instance, if a community member is is harming someone, is attacking someone, then they have to be held accountable to that. I mean I drove that in in our in in them I my uncle Fred John always talks about how when he was in a as a young person was you know, drinking too much and and was not treating the community the way he should be.
00:47:35:00 - 00:48:07:17
Colleen Echohawk
My grandma Katie Mike was was the village judge at the time and she said you're not allowed in the village for a whole month, you know. And so so we have to find ways to help our homeless community and also hold all of us accountable. And so it's a it's a tough balance. But I think, again, something that I have great experience when we do that at the Seattle club, what we always say, like if you are being toxic in this space and you are hurting other people, then you have to leave.
00:48:07:19 - 00:48:27:20
Colleen Echohawk
And I have that experience and I will I will do that. And I and I, you know, thinking about what happened with Tyler, thinking what happened even with me down in Pioneer Square, where I just felt like, you know, what's going to happen right now? Am I about be hurt or attacked? That that can't be. We have to find ways for this for us to come back.
00:48:27:20 - 00:48:54:20
Colleen Echohawk
And I also want to I want to just finalize the thing. Like we got to recognize that this is a really weird time we're in. You know, it's there's there's not the amount of people that are normally on the streets. There's not that accountability of just like there being a lot of a lot of people now in our folks who were who are so stressed because of, you know, all the things we've talked about earlier, they're acting in ways that are are really harmful to community.
00:48:54:20 - 00:49:17:21
Colleen Echohawk
And I just look forward to us kind of getting back to a little bit more normal, the normal behavior in normal like societal ways. And we're not going to go all the way back. Right. You know, we got to create new ways as well. But I guess what I mean by that is, is having like more people around you now, being able to be together is going to be really important.
00:49:17:21 - 00:49:32:05
Colleen Echohawk
Totally. And I love our homeless community. I love this city. And I want to see us find ways to bring them into housing and stability and and do good. So that's why I'm here.
00:49:32:05 - 00:49:55:18
Mark Titus
We're going to we're going to wrap this up. I'm I'm stoked about that. And look, I'm going to ask you one more question and then we'll do a quick rapid fire and we'll turn you loose with the rest of your busy day. But the with the bedrock of your upbringing and especially with an indigenous excellent dose of wisdom, What what is your northstar?
00:49:55:20 - 00:50:18:09
Colleen Echohawk
my northstar. Number one is my family. I have an amazing partner who has been working on this campaign with me and it's such a wonderful way. And so it's my family. My family is my North star. I am so blessed and and I'm in this with with them.
00:50:18:11 - 00:50:30:01
Mark Titus
Okay, Here's the rapid fire. Three things. First, things that pop in your head. The building's on fire. You get your loved ones out first, obviously. But what's the one physical thing you take with you?
00:50:30:03 - 00:50:44:17
Colleen Echohawk
my puppy. Of course. I got to get my my lovely little Rizzo out of there to. And then I think he'll be like my I have a albums of old family pictures that I would want. I want to grab and save those.
00:50:44:19 - 00:50:53:09
Mark Titus
Indeed. Okay, let's call it your spiritual house. Now, what are the two most important things about your life and about your personality that you take with you?
00:50:53:11 - 00:51:15:19
Colleen Echohawk
I think number one is like the guidance from my ancestors. Like I. I feel that. I see that I feel them around me in the work that I'm doing. And and I'm just really aware of of that responsibility to them and how and how much they have suffered for me to be in this space. So, so that's that.
00:51:15:19 - 00:51:48:16
Colleen Echohawk
And then I think the other thing and it is just a such a good question, just my belief in human beings like I just believe that we have this is that humans are good. I believe that humans are good and we have to look and ensure that we see the goodness in every human and find ways to amplify that goodness and and help people bring help people understand that and each other.
00:51:48:18 - 00:51:56:21
Mark Titus
Lastly, is there one thing you would leave behind to be purified in a fire burned up.
00:51:56:23 - 00:51:57:19
Colleen Echohawk
Here by the fire?
00:51:57:20 - 00:51:58:16
Mark Titus
No mass.
00:51:58:18 - 00:52:22:00
Colleen Echohawk
I'll go back to like the spiritual theoretical health is is my is is just fear or, you know, I in this journey I'm in right now it is it's hard and I and I have to push back the fear of you know, of the of the being the imposter in this world because I don't there's no other I don't have the other role models as a method to look at.
00:52:22:00 - 00:52:46:18
Colleen Echohawk
Right. So I'm grateful for Deb Holland and Davis and Deborah Suarez. But you know, it's hard to be in this space and and I'm just it's just it's just a very strange thing to be in and I have to push back that fear and anxiety. So that's what I would leave behind as any fear. I'm moving on. I want to be courageous.
00:52:46:18 - 00:52:52:14
Colleen Echohawk
I want to be bold and I want to I want to serve our community.
00:52:52:16 - 00:53:04:08
Mark Titus
Colleen Echohawk, Seattle mayoral candidate. And I thank you for your courage and your vulnerability. I'm grateful for you. And how can people get involved with your work?
00:53:04:10 - 00:53:26:05
Colleen Echohawk
thank you so much for asking. You can find us at Echohawk for Seattle dot com. We are just doing so well in our fundraising and the democracy marchers are just making a huge impact on us. So democracy vouchers are huge and you can find out tons about what we're doing at our website. We also have we're doing Echo hot talks on all kinds of different topics.
00:53:26:05 - 00:53:34:16
Colleen Echohawk
So watch out for those. We just put up a separate one on our homelessness plan and much more to come. So thank you so much, Mark, for this opportunity to thank.
00:53:34:20 - 00:53:35:14
Mark Titus
You for.
00:53:35:15 - 00:53:36:15
Colleen Echohawk
Hanging out with you.
00:53:36:16 - 00:53:49:15
Mark Titus
I know. Look, I've got some ideas we got to talk about and let's let's catch up more down the trail for now. Okay. Good luck on this campaign rooting for you. And let's stay in touch and so long for now.
00:53:49:17 - 00:53:51:14
Colleen Echohawk
All right. Thank you so much, Mark.
00:53:51:16 - 00:53:56:14
Mark Titus
Thanks. Colleen.
00:53:56:14 - 00:54:03:10
Music
How do you save what you love? How do you save what you love?
00:54:03:10 - 00:54:34:08
Mark Titus
What you thank you for listening to say what you love. If you like what you're hearing, you can help keep these conversations coming your way by giving us a rating on Apple Podcasts. You can check out photos and links from this episode at Eva's Wild dot com. While there, you can join our growing community by subscribing to our newsletter, you'll get exclusive offers on wild salmon shipped to your door and notifications about upcoming guests and more great content on the way.
00:54:34:10 - 00:55:13:10
Mark Titus
That's it. evaswild.com. That's the word save spelled backwards Wild dot com. This episode was produced by Tyler White and edited by Patrick Troll Original music was created by Whiskey Class. This podcast is a collaboration between Ava's Wild Stories and Salmon Nation and was recorded on the homelands of the duo Amish people. We'd like to recognize these lands and waters and their significance for the people who lived and continue to live in this region whose practices and spiritualities were and are tied to the land in the water and whose lives continue to enrich and develop in relationship to the land waters and other inhabitants today.
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