Washoe Tribe Secures Collaborative Funding for a Lake Tahoe Community Liaison

(Lake Tahoe, CA) – The Wá∙šiw (Washoe) are a sovereign tribal nation who are the original inhabitants of DáɁaw Ɂága (Lake Tahoe) and its surrounding areas. Lake Tahoe is the Tribe’s most sacred place, and they consider it a living entity that needs to be honored and protected. Now, The Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California, a formally recognized tribal government, has secured the funding it needs to establish a full-time Community Liaison. This liaison will represent its voice at community meetings and decision-making tables for the next three years.

“Having the Washoe Liaison will ensure the Washoe Tribe’s voice is consistently heard in the heart of our homelands. The Washoe Liaison ensures the best interest for the Washoe Tribal Members are being met in the Lake Tahoe Basin. This position is responsible for the development and maintains outreach with other governments and organizations within the Lake Tahoe Basin, with both California and Nevada,” said Serrell Smokey, Chairman of the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California.

A network of local funders (listed below) has come together to support the establishment of the Community Liaison position in a pivotal move towards enhancing community collaboration and ensuring Tribal voices are heard and integrated into the broader community planning and decision-making process. The Washoe have always acted as stewards and protectors of this area, petitioning the government to protect the natural resources, sacred sites, and peoples of their home since White settlers moved here. The Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California was formally recognized in 1937, and this tribal government has grown to include twelve council members with 1,550 official members. 

To be effective in its leadership of stewarding this land, the Tribe needs to be consistently represented and engaged. The Community Liaison role is crucial for fostering meaningful dialogue, knowledge-sharing, and deeper community resilience. Recognizing this need, local funders rallied together to collaboratively fund this position for three years– providing sufficient time to prove the effectiveness of this role and for the Tribe to raise additional public funding moving forward.

The Coalition of Funders Supporting the Wahoe Tribe Community Liaison

California Tahoe Conservancy, Community Foundation of Northern Nevada, League to Save Lake Tahoe, Nevada County Arts Council, North Tahoe Community Alliance, Parasol Tahoe Community Foundation, Tahoe Fund, Tahoe Prosperity Center, Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation, Travel North Tahoe Nevada, and Truckee Cultural District.