What Does Tribal Leadership Really Mean?

In this episode of All My Relations, guest host Dallas Goldtooth sits down with Theresa Sheldon, citizen and elected Secretary of the Tulalip Tribes, for an unfiltered conversation about sovereignty, leadership, and the responsibilities Native nations carry today.

Drawing on more than two decades of experience in tribal policy and governance, Theresa challenges conventional ideas about power and leadership. Together, they discuss tribal responses to immigration enforcement, the limits of colonial government structures, the ongoing fight for jurisdiction and sovereignty, and why elected officials are not always the same as community leaders.

The conversation also explores intergenerational trauma, healing, and what it means to move beyond survival. Theresa reflects on the importance of protecting Native children, rebuilding community wellness, and a question that resonates throughout the episode:

If we're all willing to die for our nations, who is living for them?

This episode is a powerful reflection on Indigenous leadership, accountability, healing, and the work of building strong nations for future generations.

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Produced by Matika Wilbur

Hosted by Dallas Goldtooth

AV Production by Pancho Francisco Sánchez

Scoring: Mato Wayuhi

Artwork by Kitana Connelly

Social Media Strategy by Mandy Yeahpau

Episode Transcript:

This is all my relations.

I'm Matika Wilbur.

No, this is all my relations, and I'm Dallas Goldtooth.

I'm so excited for today's conversation with Teresa Sheldon, the secretary of the Tulalip tribes, my homelands, my sister, my relative, my good friend. I've been wanting her to come on the podcast a number of times, and it just so happened to work out that she gets to be with you, Dallas Goldtooth.

Yeah, I am so excited to have gotten a chance to talk to Teresa. I've known Teresa for a long

time, and I've seen her in so many different ways. Every time she shows up, she shows up in

leadership, not just as an elected official, but also as a community leader. That's what we explore today is, what does leadership mean? When we talk about the future of tribal... of Native communities, what does governance mean? What does it actually mean to be a leader?

And sometimes elected leaders aren't the leaders that we need them to be. And I think Teresa in this interview really kind of dives into that.

It's such a critical conversation, Dallas, because...caught functioning in this system that wasn't made for us, and so there's so much conflict around tribal leadership. I don't know what it's like on your res, but in Tulalip, you know, it could be pretty rugged, Dallas, the way that elections go.

We actually had an election recently where there was a tie, and the only precedence for a tie was a coin toss. I'm not joking.

I love it. And here we are at general council doing a coin toss for a five-year elected official

position. You know, I mean. That's traditional.

Well, let me tell you, I remember some years ago, about 20 years ago, my tribe, I'm from the Lower Sioux Indian community, South Minnesota. It was the first year, the first year that candidates ran. the party platform, like as a party, as like a unified block. So there was like three seats up for grabs. And rather than people running for them individually, one group of folks say, hey, how about we all just form a block and run? And then, of course, other people are like, well, we need to form a block.

Long story short, a couple of days before the election, someone firebombed our tribal

offices, like literally threw a Molotov cocktail into the window of our tribal offices.

And we never found out who did it. Of course, everyone blamed the uncle who's a Vietnam vet.

I kid you not, just because he's a Vietnam vet.

And he also liked to do a lot of political commentary. They're like, oh, he did it. And he was

like, you would know if I was trying to destroy something.

I'm like, all right, I believe him. I believe him. So that is the world of tribal politics that we...

have lived in. It's the world that we currently live in. And Teresa helps us explore that a little

bit in this really quick episode that we have with her. So I'm looking forward to people to hear

it. It's a quickie, but it's well worth it. I know you all are going to love it.

Matika's held that in her pocket for a minute. Sometimes it's the best way, Dallas. Oh,

I've raised my hands to you.

Welcome back to All My Relations. This is Dallas Goldtooth. I'm here with...

I'm Teresa Sheldon from Tulalip Tribes. You're an elected official, yeah. that too. I serve as the

secretary of the Tulalip tribes. My history though in state work started in 2005, 2006. I went right into policy work for the Tulalip tribes.

A lot of that mentoring and growing of get out the vote and different areas that I got to work in started from being a policy analyst.

And then I served for 20 years for my tribe in different capacities. I just have to add Clayton's

mother and Tony Sheldon's daughter. And I carry the name of my great grandmother, Teresa Young from Tulalip tribes, and then have survived a little bit of genocide from my great-great-grandma, Ruth Wakeman Heminger from Sisseton, Wapiton, Oyate, so that's the full picture.

How big is Tulalip? We have 5,392 citizens. Our land base is 22,000 square acres,

but we just bought a mountain. So we just increased by 17,000 acres.

You just bought a mountain.

We did.

I don't know how to comprehend that. I want a t-shirt. What mountain did you buy?

It has a waterfall. It's actually one of our traditional areas. The Timberland, they were selling it to each other. That's what they do. And we got in there and were able to secure it.

What do you call it?

Yeah, we're going to give it a Lushootseed name, which is our language. It's all super sacred.

Dallas is a Lushootseed word for greatness. I just let you know. Yeah. I'm happy to have you here because you do not hold back your thoughts and opinions, which is what you want from anybody, especially from tribal leaders.

Well, I have HR file complaints that say I say a lot of stuff. So just saying. I don't think I have an FBI file. I don't think I'm there yet. I'm still young.

We have a whole range of things to talk about. But the first thing is pinche migra. You have ICE.

operating all across the country, kidnapping people, ripping people from their families, ripping

children from their families. Tough guys. Anyone who has a different feeling of, oh no, do it the

right way. Oh no, do this. You're talking to a Native person who's born here,

lived here, and bred here. I can go back nine generations just on paper.

And then it goes into oral history after that. And so you want to debate to Native people who

should and shouldn't be here. Just because you came over at an earlier time, you're a better

immigrant. You're a legal immigrant. How can we have legal and illegal human beings?

Why aren’t tribes doing more?

One, because of capacity, because we're in crisis. And I can't function

as a native person and be like Free Palestine, FICE, MMIP, VAWA,

like all the isms, right? Because there's a lot. Especially because I believe the people that are

willing to take on the fights are also taking on all the fights. And we get mad at each other.

How dare you care about an issue outside of tribes?

Oh man, I've encountered so many people who are like, that's not our fight. Why are you worrying about that? You should worry about our own people.

Is it not in our teachings to care about? our relatives and is it not in our teachings to care

about the murder of children and illegally locking people up? How is that not a crisis for us?

How are we at... AT&I and NCAI not demanding ICE agents have no authority on reservation,

cannot come out on reservation. Look at South Dakota tribes. They did it with the governor. They kicked her off their reservations. They've done it, right? We have shown leadership in other places. I get frustrated with organizations like NCAI, and folks don't know that's National

Congress of American Indians. One is I didn't even know that not all tribes are a part of the NCAI.

But I don't want to single them out solely. I think that there's just a frustration at times. When

we're going through some heavy ish, or we're fighting something, or we're advocating for some

policy changes. I'm a lifelong member of NCAI, have been, I think, since 2007.

When we look at national leadership, we have to acknowledge a couple... things. One, the delegates for NCAA. are elected officials. If you think about an election, so national elections have absolute impact on tribal elections. So when Orange Dude gets elected, you're seeing people elected in tribal elections, you would never get elected. The white supremacy, the colonization, the Proud Boys, all of the talking points impact our community.

And number two, the work that's done at NCAI is resolutions. You have to really look at AT&I. So affiliate tribes are Northwest Indians. Now that represents tribal... the region. 12 BIA regions all go to NCAI.

So our local one is AT&I. We have 56 member tribes based in seven states.

We're taking like colonized systems and trying to make them fit us. And so I served at AT&I for

five years on the executive council. And so firsthand experience of trying to push a region who's

ready and willing to fight against a nation who's like. Maybe we can wait till next administration.

There's a good neighbor attitude that happens on the national level because we have systematically devalued AIM attitude and behaviors. And we don't recognize AIM for getting us to where we are.

And so one, we have to acknowledge the treaty and sovereignty fighters. They were fighting like

literally with their bodies right on the line. And then there became a time where it was like, no,

you can't be an angry Indian anymore. You've got to get sophisticated. Go get your college degree.

Talk appropriately. Argue in English, their language, and be able to negotiate on our behalf.

So you're taught the angry Native doesn't get to sit at the table. But I'm still angry.

I'm still mad. Like, I got some things to say. I renegade named NCAI.

I don't want to hang on this idea of like... our own. I firmly believe that a lot of our folks who

work at a national level, their tribal leaders or their folks who work for tribal councils have

their people's best interests in mind. And I think we all get frustrated is that it's so hard to

keep that energy going in a space where you're battered down and you're told that you have to

compromise in that journey. A really good example is the 1970 Oliphant case that took away our

authority to be able to protect our people on our reservation. So that case law from 1978, we're

literally piecemealing it. Look back to 2012, 2013, when the Violence Against Women Act came out and they had tribal provisions for the first time. All the tribal provisions did was say, let's do

a pilot case that if tribes take on jurisdiction, we can prosecute non-tribals for sexually and

physically abusing tribal people.

Tulalip became one of three pilot tribes to implement this special provision, very narrow. We have a law right now, the Protect Act.

All the Protect Act is so we can prosecute non-tribals who have drugs on our reservation. Because we can't have full authority, because what are we going to do with it? We're going to make ourselves safe, and we're going to stop getting murdered and killed. Letting others know, non-natives know, don't worry, we're not coming for you, we're coming from the bad guys. So we

literally have to repeat white supremacist. talking points to why we should have authority and why we should be able to have laws to protect our own people on our own lands. We have to go for these slivers of sovereignty because everyone's like, you have to have a plan. We can't go for all of it.

Why? Why can't we have a bill that says we want a full Oliphant fix? Why? We've never even put it forward. With that in mind, where do we have power? Do we have power?

There's a question. Like, what is the power that we operate on a national level? When we talk about sovereignty, you're born sovereign. You know, you're born political. So any Native person who's like, I ain't into politics, I ain't got time for that, blah, blah, blah, you're a political class

of people. Like, you are sovereign. You are born as a citizen of your nation. If you believe in the

core of your sovereignty, meaning the right to control your own body, your own mind, your own spirit, your own teachings, your education, your food, your water, all of... things, then the power absolutely comes from within. And so there's no asking.

I'm not going to name mother, may I? I'm doing. And then if something doesn't work out, I might

apologize. I might not. I'm just going to keep going because I'm sovereign. And so you have to act it and be it, right? And so what do they always say, our elders? It's a muscle. And if you're not flexing it, you're not doing it. And so how are we growing ourselves as independent nations and how are we taking care of our food source and our children and our people as independent nations, not as a tribal government? Because I think a tribal government will never meet the need because really our programs are dictated by the federal government. It's with their criteria.

You have to meet this income eligibility. You have to have this many people. You have to have this age group to get that service. And so it is just not possible to meet that.

A lot of tribal nations are colonial structures that have been placed upon us. How can we go to

that colonial structure to find wellness and well-being? when it's not designed to provide that,

right?

So if you look at tribal governments, our constitution outlines how we do business, right?

So Tulalip's constitution of 1936 outlines the authority I have as an elected official.

That's how we still operate. All of those were just templates. Everybody who got the same

constitution and we can be like, oh, yours is the same as us. And then you're going, oh, and yours doesn't work either, right? And so if we could acknowledge the fact that our tribal governments aren't functioning. because they're not addressing the actual core. If you're looking for love, for security, and for comfort in your tribal government, you're not going to get it. Like, we're not built that way. That's not even how a government's structured. Now, is safety and, like, actual tangible things like education and those responsible for the government? 100%. There's been a number of times where I've been to events, like Native events back home, where people are like, something's not working because the tribal nation, the government, isn't doing their job. And there's people in council who are like, I can't do this. My hands are tied.

Elected officials don't equal leadership in tribal communities. And I think

elected... have displaced traditional leadership. So then you've completely lost your traditional

leadership and your traditional ones who would naturally be a leader who will gladly stand up and people naturally follow. It really goes back to what were you taught? My granny always said,

we've only been poor since we were put on a reservation. Before that, we were rich. We knew how to go to each other and how to take care of ourselves. We've only been poor a short amount of time.

And so that scarcity mindset that we carry has been placed onto tribal council.

Tribal council, you need to fix my refrigerator. You need to fix my roof. Why is my toilet falling

in, right?

Now, don't get me wrong. There's HUD standards that suck. I hate HUD and so sick.

that we have to be in poverty to have a home that is dishy. That's not where I'm going with this.

What I'm saying is, where does that fall? Our number one job as a tribal government, like if I

could overextend my authority, is that every child knows they're loved.

You should get that on your enrollment paper. You're an enrolled citizen of the Tulalip tribes, and

your rights are to be loved. And if you're not loved, then someone's getting in trouble.

Somebody's being held accountable. Because if we can base our children's wellness, our emotional intelligence off our children, it will tell us how we're doing, if we're doing it right or wrong.

Our children are getting left out. Our children's protection and safety and wellness is based in

love. And you can't give them love if you're always in chaos, pain, and turmoil.

We deserve to find healing in a way that is thriving. Puts aside guilt, puts aside shame, puts aside all of these things that were given to us from boarding school that were never ours. You realize that in our governments. And so Tulalip, our constitution was 1936.

Our boarding school closed in 1931-32. That same BIA agent just switched over from the boarding school to our government. We're doing the same thing, but we've known it so long,

it's ours and we own it. Taking responsibility for ourselves in our current moments and not say,

okay, well, I don't have any responsibility for me lashing out at you and being all mean to you.

How does that show up in your life, that dynamic?

Well, I've spent half my life being a mean person because anger is appropriate. In my family, you can either be okay or you can be angry, and those are the two emotions. It's all valid, right?

We've been in such a survival mode since genocide, since the occupation, since the creation of the United States. When do we get a moment to take a breath and say, I'm going to realign, and I'm going to take a moment to find out who I am without trauma and who I am without pain and who am I without carrying the brokenness of the collective. There is a hard reality of many not feeling like they can because if they're not suffering and if they're not hurt and they're not broken, what are they?

And so when we talk about wellness, we love to say it like self-care, like, oh, spa day. That's not wellness in Indian country. You have to go seven generations deep to deal with the pain you're carrying in your hips and your shoulders for your mother and your grandmother and your great grandmother. And the fear of Native women that we carry for. trying to protect our children, that our children will not be murdered or stolen or killed or all of these things that we carry, the fear we have, constant fear. And then we're like, wow, our life expectancy is 57 years old at Tulalip because we're carrying all of it.

So then the responsibility is on me. to find healing. So being able to go to EMDR therapy, being able to go and finding ceremony, finding prayer, connecting, what does that mean? And it's not the yoga things like breathe. Because you can't breathe when you're in fight or flight. You can't breathe and be like, oh, yeah, why didn't I take a moment? You can't rest when you're in chaos.

If all of us are always willing to die for our nation, who's living for it?

We all have our warrior stance of I will die for my nation. I will be arrested for Tulalip.

I will go down for our people, for our fish, for our children, for protection. But where do we live

for them? I just want to say I'm so appreciative of tribal leaders, anyone who stands up and says, I want to help. I want to make my people better. I want to make myself better. I want to just contribute to the vision that we all have for the next seven generations of life. And I appreciate you. Thank you. Yeah, I appreciate it.

Thank you for allowing me to be here and to share my unfiltered thoughts and opinions. Right on.

Also, I'm really immensely grateful to the All My Relations podcast for having me be a part of this journey to take over the microphone. Please stay tuned. We have a couple more episodes in my run here at the All My Relations, and I hope you enjoy what we have around the corner.

See you later. Have a good day.