ALYNE TMINSH WATLAMET DECOTEAU is an enrolled member of the Yakama Nation who has dedicated much of her life to helping others reach their fullest potential. During her 32 years as an educator in the Yakima Valley, she taught generations of children, championing those facing challenges and recognizing potential they may not have seen in themselves. She understood that the obstacles students faced often extended beyond the classroom and went out of her way to provide the encouragement, understanding and advocacy they needed to move forward. Her passion for lifting others up extends to the arts, where she has been a longtime advocate for local artists and was involved with the annual Spilyay-Mi Native American and Western Art Show in Toppenish. Whether encouraging students or celebrating the talents of artists, Alyne has remained guided by a simple belief: everyone has gifts worth nurturing and a purpose worth pursuing.
LOREN CORPUZ BOGED GD, an enrolled member of the Yakama Nation, has spent a lifetime serving his community and his country. A tracked vehicle mechanic in the U.S. Marine Corps in the 1960s, he went on to work more than three decades as an electrician, helping build and maintain infrastructure throughout the region. He also devoted more than a decade to mentoring young people through boxing, sharing his skills while teaching discipline, confidence and perseverance. In retirement, Boged Gd found another way to serve, using his trumpet to honor veterans and their families. For more than 30 years, he has played for military honors, veterans’ organizations and community events while also sharing his music through his church. His dedication to veterans earned him recognition as Marine of the Year from the Yakima Marine Corps League. Whether mentoring young people or honoring those who served, Boged Gd has spent his life using his talents to lift up others and remind them that their lives and service matter.
For LAKHÓL-WIČHÓH’AŊ GLUHÁ MÁNI WIŊ, MAXINE BRINGS HIM BACK-JANIS, ED.D., an enrolled member of the Oglala Lakota (Sioux) Tribe, equity, inclusion and social justice are more than ideals. They are values she has put into practice throughout her life. As a dental healthcare professional, she worked to improve access to care for tribal communities across the country. As an educator at Northern Arizona University and Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences, she has helped prepare future healthcare professionals to serve their communities with knowledge, compassion and cultural understanding. At Heritage University, she championed Native students and strengthened the university’s connections with tribal communities. Across every role, Dr. Brings Him Back-Janis has remained rooted in the Lakota values instilled in her as a child: walk with humility, remember who you are, and use your gifts to lift others up.
ROSEMARY MILLER SKWINASH has devoted her life to educating young people and helping ensure the language and culture of the Yakama people are carried forward. Her path to teaching began more than 50 years ago at Yakama Nation Head Start, where working alongside children and teachers revealed a calling that would shape her life. She pursued her own education while building a career dedicated to generations of students, eventually earning a master’s degree from Heritage University. Since 1987, she has continued that work with the Toppenish School District as a Yakama language teacher, sharing Ichishkíin/Sahaptin with generations of young people. For Skwinash, passing on language, culture and traditional knowledge is more than education—it is a way to strengthen identity, uphold the treaty and ensure future generations understand and protect the cultural lifeways of the Yakama people.
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