byMPA Alum and Evergreen Adjunct Faculty Kris Peters

November 19, 2020

Kristopher Klabsch Peters, Steh-Chass, MPA, was Recently Elected Chair of the Squaxin Island Tribal Council. Kris also Co-Authored with Amy Gould, PhD a Chapter in the First Ever Tribal Administration and Governance Handbook.

Kris Peters, MPA Tribal Governance ’16 and Evergreen Adjunct Faculty has direct familial lineage with the Steh-Chass Band of people whom lived on the land, what is now the City of Olympia. The Steh-Chass are one of the seven bands who were brought together to make the Squaxin Island Tribe in the 1854 Treaty of Medicine Creek. Kris was named Chair of Tribal Council by the Squaxin Island Tribe in August, 2020.

In addition to his Evergreen Tribal Governance Master’s of Public Administration degree, Kris has an Evergreen Bachelor of Arts degree with an emphasis on Federal Indian Law and Tribal Governance. Kris comes from a family of Evergreen graduates. His father Michael Peters, is an Evergreen MPA graduate; his mother Linda Peters, is an Evergreen Bachelor of Arts Horticulture graduate; his brother Joseph is an Evergreen Bachelor of Science Biology graduate; his niece Ki Peters is an Evergreen Bachelor of Arts graduate; and his other niece, Neve, is a current student at Evergreen.

He also co-authored with MPA Faculty Member, Amy Gould, PhD, a chapter for the soon to be published first ever “Tribal Administration & Governance Handbook”. Details of the book chapter are below:

Authorizing Environment:

Making Decisions with People and Governments

Kris Peters & Amy Gould

Executive Summary

What are the extent and limitations of your authority to act? Our authority to act comes from teachings, lifeways, traditions and the mantle of responsibility for governing with our peoples. However, as tribal administrators swimming in multiple parallel government streams, we are simultaneously both constrained and reassured in our authority to act by our “operating environments”: bureaucracies, tribal constitutions, laws, codes, and agreements. This chapter cannot get into the deep nuances of the operating environments established by each sovereign government. Instead, we will explore the meaning of our “authority to act” as tribal administrators from 3 leadership lenses: relationality, change, roles and abilities.      

Best Practices

  • Situational Awareness
  • Ask the Right Questions, to the Right People
  • Know your role (not just your position)
  • Know your ability: Authority to say “no”, but maybe not “yes”
  • Humility: Who are you working for?