NNABA -- Board Members

Board Members:

Laura Wong
Interim Executive Director, Colville Tribe

Laura is the Director of Elders Services Program for the United Indians of All Tribes, which provides meals, transportations, referrals to health service providers, health-related classes, and arts and crafts activities to Native American Elders. She is an accomplished weaver and involved in many other Native American causes and activities.

Bud Lane
Siletz, OR President

Mr. Lane works for the Siletz Tribe's Cultural Resource Department as a language and cultural arts instructor. He has been honored as a featured weaver at several Annual Gatherings and was the primary organizer of the 2005 event. He is the recipient of a Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Award from the Oregon Historical Society's Folklife Program. His dance group was recognized as the highlight of the Native American Art Studies Association 2001 annual convention in Portland. He has studied the Athabascan language and cultural traditions and led the effort to build the Siletz Dancehouse using the traditional plankhouse method.

Theresa Parker
Vice President, Makah/Lummi Tribe

Theresa is the Educational Curator for the Makah Nation Museum and was the Chairperson for the 2000 Gathering. She has been weaving baskets for over 35 years. She credits her grandmother’s patience for her own success, as the skill was hard won. She incorporated her grandmother’s philosophy into her own teaching; breaking the techniques down into small steps that are easy to remember.

Judith "Titto" Moses
Secretary, Cayuse/Nez Perce/Yakama Tribes

Titto works with the Executive Director of the Umatilla Tribes and assists with the Board of Trustees. An accomplished Tule Mat weaver, she is also learning to weave Root Bags of hemp and Corn Husk weaving. She is teaching her Grand daughter to weave Root Bags as well. She has been involved with NNABA since 2001 and has a strong belief in Indian culture and basketry tradition. She admires those with the talent to teach and those with the desire to learn.

Cindy Andy
Board of Director, Chehalis/Quinalt Tribes

Cindy has worked for the Puyallup School District for over 28 years. She is a founding member of NNABA’s Board. As a small child, Cindy learned to weave from her mother, “not knowing I was getting educated.” She now teaches to her daughter and granddaughter and classes in grade schools, colleges, and senior centers.

Ramona Rae
Yakama/Oklahoma Choctaw Black Diamond, WA Treasurer

As a child, Ramona Town Rae learned to respect and honor the expertise of her great-grandmother as a cedar root basketweaver. Through the adoption of her great-grandmother's values, she gained a foundation for her own basketry and is pleased to be able to promote the preservation of her culture through this art. She balances her time between family, basket weaving, beadwork, and other arts and brings her experience as an accountant to the Basketweavers Association as its Treasurer.

Elaine Grinnell
Board of Director, Jamestown S'Klallam

Elaine recently retired from the Port Angeles School District where she worked with Native American students. She is now working in the S’Klallam Language Program, teaching many of the same students. She is a master storyteller, basketweaver, drum maker, fisher, and teacher.

Nettie Jackson
Board of Director, Yakama

Nettie is author of the book, “The Heritage of Klickitat Basketry,” and film, “And Woman Wove it in a Basket”. She weaves Klickitat baskets for the Yakama Heritage Center Museum, where she also performs demonstrations. She also created the NNABA’s logo image.

Carmen Shone
Board of Director, Upper Skagit Tribe

Carmen Shone of Upper Skagit tribes, is a NNABA Board member and the Gathering Co-chair for the 2003 Gathering. She teaches Lushootseed language, culture, and craft classes for Upper Skagit, Swinomish, Sauk-Suiattle, and Stillaguamish tribes. She has an MBA degree and is a part-time business faculty member for Northwest Indian College. Her passion is working with the Lushootseed Language and culture, of which basketry is a key component.

Norma Joseph
M.A. Sauk Suiattle Pullman, WA

The Native American Student Retention Counselor at Washington State University, Ms. Joseph wove her first cedar bark basket at the 1998 Annual Gathering. She has participated in each Gathering since, often sharing information about gathering materials and her involvement in the growing discussions with the U.S. Forest Service on Native gathering rights. For over 20 years she has been a Sauk Suiattle Historian and Cultural Research Specialist. Norma recently completed the basic coursework necessary to teach the Lushootseed Language through Skagit Valley College.