By Sasha Bently, Director, LWV of Washington (Klickitat-Skamania Unit-At-Large member)
What we learn in school shapes how we understand our communities, our neighbors, and ourselves. But perhaps just as important is recognizing what we don't learn along the way.
That's one reason the League of Women Voters of Washington continues to invest in civic education through its “The State We're In: WA” civics textbook.
With two editions, one for youngsters in grades 3-5, and the other for middle school and older students, the book goes beyond explaining how government works. It helps students understand the history of the state, the relationship between local, state, and tribal governments, and the role each of us plays in civic life.
Fully integrating information about tribal governments and Native history into the history of the state, it reflects the League's commitment to civic education, serving as a vital tool to empower voters and defend democracy.
Recently, Beth Pellicciotti, with the Spokane League’s Civic Education project, secured a LWVWA Civic Education grant to provide classroom sets of the textbook to Salish School of Spokane↗️ or, in the language, Sƛ̓x̌atkʷ N̓səl̓xčin̓ Sn̓maʔmáyaʔtn̓. Their school motto is: kʷu haʔnwixʷ, kʷu kʷułnwixʷ, kʷu txət̓nwixʷ, which translates into English as “We respect each other, we share with each other, we take care of each other.”
The Native-language immersion school, incorporated in 2009 by five Salish women as a nonprofit organization, is dedicated to revitalizing the four Southern Interior Salish languages: n̓səl̓xčin̓ (Colville Salish), n̓xaʔm̓xčín̓ (Wenatchee-Columbian Salish), n̓sélišcn̓ (Spokane-Kalispel Salish), and sn̓čicʷúʔum̓c̓n̓ (Coeur d’Alene Salish).
Pellicciotti learned about the school from fellow Spokane League member Suzi Hokonson, who serves on the LWVWA committee updating the League's Tribal Study.
As Salish School of Spokane builds a new campus on the Spokane River for its pre-kindergarten through ninth-grade programs, its mission is a reminder that history isn't just something we study. Rather, history is something we choose to preserve and pass on to the future.
As she presented the textbooks to the school in late May, Pellicciotti reflected on how her own education left important stories untold.
Growing up near Seneca Falls, New York (the birthplace of the women's rights movement), Pellicciotti learned all about the 1848 Women's Rights Convention↗️, but not the influence Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) women had on many of the movement's earliest leaders.
Later in life, she discovered how much history she hadn’t been taught. Beyond the native women themselves, they were inspired by their way of living in equal partnership and participation in tribal government and society. Unfortunately, women suffragists turned that inspiration into appropriation and erasure, actively excluding Native women from their movement↗️.
Pellicciotti and the teachers also discussed how understanding Native history and government will grow as we learn more, making room for voices and perspectives that have too often been overlooked.
This spring, the KSPS Civics Bowl in Spokane↗️ included questions from the League textbook about Native American history and government. Doing so helped even more students and viewers develop a broader understanding of Washington's past and present.
Pellicciotti also noted that Spokane Public Schools purchased 1,700 copies of “The State We’re In: WA” for all seventh graders in July 2025, with students in the dual-language program receiving copies in both English and Spanish. By using the textbook, Pellicciotti said, “students are learning a history of Native tribes and government in Washington state that is important and not to be lost.”
LaRae Wiley, Salish School of Spokane co-founder and elder linguist, shared similar sentiments. "It took many hands to push our language and our culture down, and it will take many hands to lift it back up again,” she said. “We invite you to partner with us to restore what was nearly lost."
