Governor's Heritage Award - Cecilia Carpenter

Cecelia Svinth Carpenter of Tacoma, Washington grew up in rural Pierce County near the Nisqually Indian Reservation. During her youth, she was influenced by the Native American oral tradition of her mother’s culture and by the written word, through her father, a Danish-born Lutheran pastor. A member of the Nisqually Tribe, Carpenter served for many years as the Nisqually Tribal Historian and taught Washington history in the Tacoma public schools. Carpenter has witnessed how Indian tribes have had to produce historical data in order to prevail in their relations with federal and state governments. Carpenter has devoted many years to conducting research that has made historical Native information available to everyone. In 1976 Carpenter founded Tahoma Research Services to publish books and articles on Native American history and genealogy. Carpenter has researched and written seven books about Washington Native American history.