About Us

“Unkitawa” is the Lakota word meaning “ours,” “yours,” and “mine.” It embodies the concept that what belongs to each of us individually equally belongs to all living things.

What We Do

Unkitawa uses traditional art, culture, and ceremony to assist and support Indigenous communities in South King County, Washington State, and beyond. Our founders and supporters are dedicated, results-oriented people who came together to support efforts that protect and heal the Earth for the benefit of all.

Unkitawa is a 501c3 non-profit formed and operated by all-indigenous staff, senior staff, and board of directors.

Our Mission

Heal and educate indigenous peoples through culture and education. There are many ways of being human on this Earth. But no matter where we are from and how we live, life for every being depends on clean air and pure water.

Unkitawa is a unique organization because we welcome and support indigenous peoples of all tribes, including those not official members of a tribe.

Our Vision

Seven generations of ancestral healing

History

Indigenous Peoples and allies all over Turtle Island and around the world heard the movement of Water Protectors that rose in response to the direct attacks on the water and land on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota.

With support from family and friends, Kyle Schierbeck, a Standing Rock Lakota tribal member living in the Seattle area, sold t-shirts to raise money for the people camping at Standing Rock. His efforts brought firewood for the people, which continued strong through the end of the camps at Standing Rock. We are grateful to The Common Acre for their fiscal sponsorship when we needed to support the People financially.

Friendships and family formed among Indigenous Peoples and allies residing in Washington State during Standing Rock. Many came through and shared space. As a circle, we gather to sing, hold ceremony, visit, and share meals.

Although many come through, there is a core circle of this Tiyóspaye, which, over the years, has been at the heart of our ceremony family.

We formed Unkitawa in 2017 at a pivotal moment when the fiscal sponsorship with The Common Acre ended. Members of the original firewood project, ceremony family, and others decided to create an organization to access more resources for Indigenous communities. Some members of the ceremony family were working in the community before the Standing Rock movement. We have always centered our work on traditional values; these are the grounding values of Unkitawa.