Ask freshman Lisa Renee “Waptas” Olney about how old she was when she first came to Heritage, and you might be surprised by her answer.

“I think I was 12,” she said with a smile. “My mom used to bring me with her when she went to class. She’d set me up on a computer or have me follow along with the class, working on math problems. Sometimes, my sister and I would wait outside the Harry Kent Building while she was in class or meeting with her advisor.”

Her mom is HU alumna “Takiisha” Tamara Stevens, and her sister is Heritage sophomore Lateet Olney. Together, these three Yakama women are living proof of Heritage’s mission: empowering students to overcome obstacles and create lives filled with opportunity.

TAKIISHA: THE MATRIARCH
Takiisha has always been candid about her rebellious teenage years. “I was a bit of a defiant teenager,” she said. “It took me two years longer than most to graduate from high school. My dad was sick at the time, and he kept telling me, ‘Go to school. With an education, you can live in the traditional world and work in the non-traditional world. An education will allow you to create your own legacy.’”

But her adventurous spirit had other plans. Instead of heading straight to college, she joined the Army after high school and served in the Middle East. When her military service ended, she returned to the Yakama Nation and lived a life similar to many of her peers. She worked for the Yakama Nation, moved between positions, fell in love, started a family, and eventually left the workforce to raise her five children. When that relationship ended, she returned to work as a single mom.

It wasn’t until her late 30s that Takiisha decided it was time to return to school. Two key things made her decision clear: First, her aunt, Martha Yallup, a founder of Heritage and Takiisha’s supervisor, gave her some advice that stuck. “I was in my first supervisory role at Camp Chaparral,” Takiisha recalled. “Martha sat me down and explained why education was so important. She told me to imagine a stack of job applications. ‘The ones without education go straight to the bottom.’”

The second was a call from the Veterans Administration, reminding her of the GI Bill she signed up for when she joined the Army, which covered her tuition.

“They called me three times before I finally listened,” Takiisha said. “I kept thinking about my dad’s words about legacy. And then I thought, ‘It’s time.’ I enrolled at Heritage as a freshman.”

Despite the GI Bill covering her tuition, Takiisha’s journey wasn’t easy. She juggled being a full-time mom, a full-time student, and a full- time employee, all while ensuring her kids didn’t miss out on childhood moments because of her busy schedule.

“Waptas is the youngest. There were days when I wouldn’t see her until the evening,” she said. “I’d wake her up for school, and then, when I got home from class, I’d bring dinner and snacks. We’d spend as much time together as I could, even if it meant doing homework late at night.”

Takiisha’s efforts paid off, as her kids never saw her struggle as anything out of the ordinary. “We’d go to class with Mom sometimes or see her doing homework late at night. We didn’t think it was any different from what other families experienced,” said Lateet.

In 2012, after years of hard work, Takiisha graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration. She went on to work at the Yakama Nation’s Tribal Employment Rights Office (TERO), a program dedicated to creating employment and training opportunities for Yakama tribal members and other Indigenous peoples, where she eventually became the program director.

“TERO is vital for our community,” she explained. “It connects us with opportunities, and I even got my kids involved. Waptas became a laborer, my son William, an ironworker, and Lateet joined the carpenters’ union and became an authorized OSHA instructor.”

After many years at TERO, Takiisha decided it was time for the next chapter in her life. “Graduate school was always my goal. But over time, it became harder and harder to leave my job,” she said. “But after a difficult divorce and a conversation with my daughter, I realized it was time to follow through on my dreams. She told me, ‘What about you, Mom? ‘When are you going to stop talking about getting your master’s and just go do it?’”

Today, Takiisha is just three classes away from earning her M.B.A. in Business Administration with a specialization in marketing from Washington State University.

THE OLNEY SISTERS

There’s an often-heard truth in higher education: children of college graduates are more likely to attend college. But the Olney sisters’ path proves this doesn’t always follow a straight line.

Waptas was a bright teen who took college prep courses and earned good grades. But life had other plans, and she found herself pregnant with her first daughter at a young age. A serious illness kept her out of school for two months, which caused her to fall behind. She ended up dropping out of school.

Over the next few years, Waptas moved between White Swan, Tacoma, and Montana, working off and on while raising her daughter. Four years ago, she had her second daughter. But the idea of returning to school always lingered in the back of her mind.

“I used to tell my mom, ‘When Baby is in Head Start, I’ll go back to school,’” Waptas said. “Then, Lateet started going to Heritage, and I ran into a friend who got her GED through Heritage’s HEP program. My mom said, ‘Baby is in Head Start. You have no excuses.’ She was right. I enrolled in the HEP program.”

Waptas’s goal was clear: get her GED, then continue to Heritage. She started HEP in April 2024, completed it in June, and began her freshman year at Heritage in August. Like her mother, she’s pursuing a degree in business administration.

“I want to make an impact in my community,” she said. “I live in White Swan, and it’s neglected. Most programs are based in Toppenish. I want to help my community, the place and the people I care about.”

Lateet’s path to Heritage was similarly non- linear. She, too, dropped out of high school as a teenager after becoming a mom. When her daughter was a few years old, Lateet got her GED and began working as a laborer in traffic control. She later joined the labor union and became a journeyman.

“I had so many people telling me, ‘What are you going to do? Swing a sledgehammer all your life?’ I knew they were right. I needed something more,” she said. After working for a while, Lateet decided to travel the powwow trail and see how other tribes were flourishing. She wanted to help her tribe do the same.

In the fall of 2023, Lateet enrolled at Heritage, declaring a major in American Indian Studies. Next year, she plans to add business classes to her schedule.

EDUCATION: THE TIE THAT BINDS

It’s not every day you find two generations and three family members in college at the same time. For the Olney family, being academic peers has kept them all focused and motivated.

“When things get tough, we lean on each other for support,” Takiisha said. “We study together, or send each other texts saying, ‘You’ve got this.’”

The family sees their journey as an inspiration for the next generation, especially Lateet and Waptas’s daughters, who are around the same age as they were when they accompanied their mother to Heritage.

“My daughter loves coming to Heritage. She tells her friends, ‘I’ve been to college.’ She gets so excited. For her, being on campus means she’s been to college,” said Lateet. “I love that she can see herself in college and is curious and excited. I feel like we’re lighting the way for them.”

Waptas shares a similar sentiment: “My oldest had a school assignment where she had to write a letter to a college. She wrote to Heritage, listing why she should be accepted. She said she wanted to study ‘ELA’—English Language Arts.

She’s only 12 but already thinking about college. I love that!”

As the Olney family works toward their degrees and returns to the workforce, their hard work and sacrifice will ultimately benefit the Yakama Nation. As Takiisha’s father and grandfather used to say, “Get an education so you can come back and take care of your nation.” Takiisha hopes their example will inspire young people to follow their own paths to college and create their own legacies.