Patricia 'Patsy' L. Whitefoot (born 1950) is a member of Yakama Nation, is Indigenous elder, activist and professional educator along with being the traditional food gatherer for the Toppenish Creek Longhouse.
[5] After graduating, Whitefoot earned both a Teacher’s Certificate and a Bachelors of Art degree in Education from Central Washington University.
[8] In 2015 and 2016 Whitefoot helped to research and publish two peer-reviewed journals with subjects on HIV and Chlamydia prevention, risks and screening in Indigenous populations.
[6] Whitefoot is one of the founding members of the girls Iksiks Washanal’a (“The Little Swans”) dance group in Yakama Nation.
Daisy was declared legally dead several years after she went missing, and the FBI has described her disappearance as a suspected homicide.
[citation needed] As the MMIW crisis gained more widespread attention, Whitefoot began to be interviewed more frequently on the epidemic.
[16] Whitefoot is the co-host of the War Cry Podcast, which is based in the Pacific Northwest and discusses missing and murdered Indigenous people, their stories, and the historical context surrounding them.
[19] In 2021, Washington State created a task force on the topic of missing Indigenous people and Whitefoot was appointed one of the twenty-three members.
[22] In 2021, she advocated for the confrontation of boarding schools and what they did to Indigenous children, stating that they were “one part of that policy of assimilation or to exterminate us as a people.”[3] She has been directly cited in multiple books, including a section in Yakama Rising, where her views on educating holistically, language revitalization, and protecting culture are discussed.
[23] In 2023, she was one of the featured voices in a National Geographic article on the ongoing impact of boarding schools, which also shared stories from Wanda Garnier (Lakota), Eugene Herrod (Muscogee), Viola Gala (Hualapai), George Johnson (Yup'ik), Dawn Neptune Adams (Penobscot), Willie Stevens (Salish), Clarita Vargas (Colville), and Esther Nuqa'aq Green (Yup'ik).
[5] Whitefoot has testified before the United States Congress multiple times as well, and her activism on a national level requires her to attend legislative briefings and hearings in Washington DC.
[23] In 2010, she testified before the United States Senate Committee on Indian Affairs based on the proposed tribal programs and initiatives budget.
[25] Whitefoot is currently a board member for the Confluence Project, focused on Indigenous connections to the Columbia River basin and ecosystem.