Ramona Bennett Named in Forbes 50 Over 50 List by Frank Hopper
Ramona Bennett Named in Forbes 50 Over 50 List
Ramona Bennett, the Puyallup elder who for nearly 60 years has been a leader of the Native rights movement in the Pacific Northwest, was listed last week in Forbes Magazine’s list of the 50 most impactful women over 50.
Forbes’ third annual “50 Over 50” list is broken into four categories: Impact, Lifestyle, Innovation, and Investment. Bennett tops the list in the “impact” category. Each category lists 50 women, “highlighting dynamic female leaders and entrepreneurs who have achieved significant success later in life, often overcoming formidable odds or barriers.”
Bennett, 84, is a frequent speaker at Native events, recounting her lifetime of struggle fighting for the rights of all Native people and in particular of her own Puyallup Tribe. She is a veteran of such pivotal direct actions as the 1970 takeover of Seattle’s old Fort Lawton army base, the 1970 Puyallup Fishing Camp Raid, the 1972 takeover and occupation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs building in Washington, D.C., and the 1973 Occupation of Wounded Knee.
After being elected to the Puyallup Tribal Council in 1968, she went on to become tribal chair in 1971, a position she held until 1978. During that time, the federal government had nearly terminated political recognition of the tribe. Bennett started with nothing, simply a typewriter, a phone, and a borrowed office in which to work. From there she helped build the tribe up to one of the most influential Native governments in the Pacific Northwest.
A Protector of Native Children
A fearless protector of Native children, Bennett worked for years as a social worker at the Seattle Indian Center. In 1976, she led a takeover and eight-day occupation of the Cascadia Juvenile Reception and Diagnostic Center, which was also known as the Cushman Indian Hospital originally owned by the Puyallup tribe.
In 1978, while at a National Tribal Chairman’s Conference, she fought to be admitted to the proceedings after being denied participation because she was a woman. As the first female chair of a federally recognized tribe, she refused to sit out in the lobby with the wives of other Native leaders.
At the time, the conference was making a list of endangered Native resources. Bennett made sure the conference included one vital Native resource in the list that the other leaders had neglected: Native children. She co-founded the Local Indian Child Welfare Act Committee to stop Native children from being removed from Native families and adopted by non-Native families. She co-authored the 1978 Indian Child Welfare Act, which was recently reaffirmed by the Supreme Court.
She served as an administrator of the Wa-He-Lut Indian School and co-founded Tacoma’s Rainbow Youth and Family Services.
Other Awards
Bennett received an honorary Doctorate of Public Affairs in 2000 from the University of Puget Sound. She had previously earned a Master’s degree in education from them in 1981.
In 2003, she received the Enduring Spirit Award from the Native Action Network. In 2018, she won the Bernie Whitebear Award from the United Indians of All Tribes Foundation.
On June 22, Bennett received Tacoma’s City of Destiny Lifetime Achievement Award that was presented to her at the Tacoma Dome. A video of that presentation along with Bennett's acceptance speech is included here.
Still Protecting
Bennett is still active as a Native rights protector. Her compassion for Native people knows no bounds. Countless people over the years have come to her for help and she has always greeted them with an open, non-judgmental heart. Her no-nonsense clarity of vision combined with her playful sense of humor make her the quintessential “grandma who gets things done.”
Bennett is currently helping organize a national rally next month in Washington, DC to call for the release from federal prison of Turtle Mountain Chippewa AIM warrior Leonard Peltier. Peltier fought alongside Bennett at direct actions such as the 1970 Fort Lawton takeover.
Bennett is currently working on compiling a detailed history of the Puyallup tribe to aid her children and other tribal members in remembering the nobility of their people. Bennett’s perspective encompasses decades of fighting the biggest threat the tribe has ever faced: the attempted systemic genocide by the federal government.
It’s impossible to know how many lives have been positively impacted by Bennett. The ripples of her compassion and influence extend outward to Native children, families, and tribes all over the country and across time. In one way or another, all Native people have been impacted by her.
A-ho! Ramona Bennett!
Author, Frank Hopper , Tlingit, is a freelance Native journalist born in Juneau, Alaska, now living in Tacoma, Washington. His work appears in Yes! Magazine, Last Real Indians, The Stranger, and Indian Country Today. His YouTube channel “The Tlingit Zone” features videos about Native issues.
Email: tigerskin62@gmail.com.
YouTube: /@TheTlingitZone