Chief Seattle Club’s story is Seattle’s story.
Chief Seattle Club was founded in 1970
by Father Raymond Talbot and members as a meal service. But CSC’s story is connected to a greater sea of stories across our region’s history. Thus, CSC has many beginnings, and each supporter, member, and relative is a bead on the loom that we weave in support of our urban Native community.
Chief Seattle Club was created to change this reality. We envision a future without Native homelessness, and we believe that Native values can create a world where nobody is homeless.
For over 50 years CSC has served the Native Seattle community, growing our capacity to support our relatives with hot meals, vocational rehabilitation, temporary and permanent housing, community arts, and more. In 2020, the Club served 1,374 unduplicated members from over 200 different tribal nations in Turtle Island. Our members trust us to provide holistic, culturally appropriate, and trauma-informed support, and we are open 365 days a year to provide those life-changing services.
Seattle currently reports that only 1% of the population identifies as American Indian/Alaska Native. This, of course, was not always the case. Thousands of years before white colonials arrived, people from dozens of tribes thrived in the Puget Sound region—including the Duwamish and Suquamish, whose Chief Si’ahl inspired our city’s name. Yet hundreds of years of colonization, systemic racism, broken treaties, forced reservations, and more have resulted in Native peoples making up a startling 15% of Seattle’s homeless population. Seattle has one of the most staggering homelessness crises in the US, and thousands of urban Native peoples are impacted by homelessness every day, right here in our backyard.