Enduring Spirit Honorees 2024
2024 Honorees
Congratulations to our 2024 Enduring Spirit Award honorees, Norine Hill (Oneida Nation of the Thames), Sarah Sense-Wilson (Ogala/Lakota), Pam James (Colville), Sara Colleen Sotomish (Quinault), and Virginia Cross (Muckleshoot) were selected as the 2024 Enduring Spirit Honorees.
Norine Hill | Oneida Nation of the Thames
Norine Hill, CEO and Founder of Native Women In Need is from the Oneida Nation of the Thames bear clan. She has two sons and a daughter. Norine carries 30 years of Executive Management experience building cultural healing programs, creating non-profits, networking and collaborating with Tribal entities. Her twenty five years in grant management with local, state and federal level, and private foundations managed up to 15 million in Tribal/First Nation services over the years. Norine served on the Education Board and Council of her Nation.
Norine is a survivor of multi-abuse trauma, former unsheltered relative and in recovery from drugs and alcohol for 19 years. Her strong leadership and compassion for Native women and families has created one of the leading native women’s cultural healing organizations in the Pacific Northwest.
Norine Hill founded Native Women in Need in 2012, a vision to support the success of Native Sisters by way of advocacy, healing and mentorship through Sisterhood during times of crisis. The organization healed with its women and became Mother Nation in 2017 growing into one of the leading Native women’s cultural healing grassroots organizations in the Pacific Northwest. Mother Nation has over 30 Native American staff with the Yeha:wi Service Center, Waatunwan Street Outreach Team, Cultural Response Team and MMIR family advocacy all front-line responders serving Statewide. The original founding board members continue to guide the mission and carry the legacy of our Elders.
Sarah Sense-Wilson | Ogala Lakota
Sarah Sense-Wilson (Oglala Lakota) is the elected Chair of the Urban Native Education Alliance (UNEA) and a passionate advocate for the urban Native community in King County. She is dedicated to uplifting Native youth through education, organizing, and collaboration. Sarah emphasizes the importance of student voice, ensuring the organization remains focused on the academic, social, emotional, cultural, and spiritual needs of Native children.
Sarah holds a B.A. in Political Science, a Chemical Dependency License, and an MA in Applied Psychology, and she has over 20 years of experience in the chemical dependency field. As a licensed Mental Health Counselor and certified Problem Gambling Counselor, she currently serves as a Problem Gambling Coordinator for a local tribe.
A proud mother to a daughter pursuing a Doctorate in Indigenous Health and a grandmother, Sarah is committed to improving the future of urban Native youth. Her volunteer efforts and leadership have earned her numerous awards, including the UW MAP Distinguished Alumni Award, the Pramila Jayapal ‘Community Builder’ Award, and the Seattle Indian Health Board Adeline Garcia ‘Community Service’ Award.
Pam James | Colville
Pam “ Twoyah” James (Sinixt/Colville Confederated Tribes)
Currently serving part time as Tribal Liaison for the Washington State Historical Society, for over three decades Pam has provided administrative, training, and technical assistance expertise to successfully address varied social, cultural, governmental, and organizational needs of hundreds of tribal and non-tribal governments, organizations and communities throughout the United States, Canada, and the Territory of Guam.
Pam is Co-Owner of Culture2Culture, a training and consulting company specializing in government-to-government relations, historical trauma, curriculum development, cultural and traditional preservation, and interpersonal development. Pam is a master trainer in NEAR/ACES/Historical Trauma.
She co-designed the curriculum for the Washington State Governor’s Office of Indian Affairs, for their “Government-to-Government Training” to improve the governmental relationships of Washington State agencies and the federally recognized tribes. Since 2000 she and her husband have conducted numerous full-day trainings for thousands of administrators and staff of federal, state, and county agencies, non-profits organizations, education institutions, civic groups, tribes and many others.
Sara Colleen Sotomish | Quinault
Sarah Colleen is a citizen of the Quinault Nation, a direct descendent of treaty signers (1855 Treaty of Olympia) and belongs to one of the five traditional, hereditary leadership families at Quinault. She has a B.A. and Juris Doctor degrees from the University of Washington. She was her Nation’s first tribal member attorney graduating in 1979. For her entire career, she worked to bridge the gap between the tribal communities and the modern world and its bureaucracies. As her grandmother said when she was young “You will learn both cultures, have one foot in each world and will bring them together for the benefit of Indian people.” Sarah Colleen worked and continues to work directly with tribal leadership to bring tribes to the table as true partners.
From 1990 to 2010 she managed the statewide tribal child support and tribal TANF programs for the Department of Social & Health Services. She was known as the national expert on tribal child support. Upon retirement in 2010 from the state she went to work for the Tulalip Tribes as one of their reservation attorneys. She was recruited by the Pierce County Executive and is working government-to-government with tribal partners to develop and institutionalize a strong county/tribal relationship.
Sarah Colleen enjoys basketweaving and collecting indigenous earrings. She loves reading paperback books and eating traditional foods.
Virginia Cross | Muckleshoot
Virginia Cross was born into poverty on the Muckleshoot Indian Reservation in 1939. She shared a bed with four sisters, was in charge of fetching water from a nearby stream, and did migrant work with her family during the summer. She loved learning and realized at an early age the importance of education in moving her people forward. She became one of her Tribe’s first college grads, earning a Master’s Degree in Education from the University of Washington, went on to become Muckleshoot’s first Head Start Director in the 1960’s, and then the Auburn School District’s first Indian Education Coordinator. Virginia’s career in Tribal government is without parallel. She is in her 40th year as an elected member of the 9-member Muckleshoot Tribal Council, serving as Tribal Chairman for a record 19 of those years. Believing that education is the key to the future, Virginia Cross has focused on it throughout her career, and during her tenure the Muckleshoot Tribe has gone from being literally the poorest of the poor to a vibrant, well-educated cosmopolitan community. For many years, Virginia was one of just four college graduates in the Tribe, and now there are literally hundreds. In June 2024, Seattle University conferred an Honorary Doctorate to Virginia Cross in recognition of her leadership and many contributions to the region.
Kim Ironroad | Standing Rock Sioux Tribe
Kim Ironroad, of Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, is from Bismarck, North Dakota and currently resides in Seattle, WA. Kim is a member of the Gates Foundation’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion division supporting the work of the Strategy, Planning, and Management team. In addition to her role on the DEI team Kim also leads the foundation’s Native American Employee Resource Group, and deftly crafted the engagement strategy for the organization’s first official visits with local tribes. In just two years Kim has brought a powwow exhibition to the Gates Foundation, has facilitated multiple learning sessions, and has been a featured speaker and writer for the organization - providing critical insights on how to incorporate Native communities into our work to better achieve the organization’s social impact goals. Before joining the foundation Kim served as the Director of External Affairs for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and prior to her appointment Kim spent over a decade living in California leading operational teams to facilitate rapid organizational growth for ecommerce startups. Outside of her professional accomplishments Kim is a talented beadwork artist, enjoys attending powwows throughout the country, and is a dedicated dog mom to her canine companion Dray.
