Twa-le Abrahamson is Spokane, Coeur d’ Alene, Colville and Dineh and currently lives on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Washington State.

She received a Bachelors of Arts degree from the University of Washington, majoring in Environmental Studies with a minor in Restoration Ecology.

Twa-le is the Youth Coordinator and a founding member of SHAWL (Sovereignty, Health, Air, Water, Land) : a grassroots organization whose major focus involves developing community education and strategies to address impacts of radiation exposure due to 50 plus years of uranium mining and milling on the Spokane Reservation. SHAWL works to help local tribal members come together and work toward developing a healthy, culturally empowered, environmentally sustainable future for the generations to come.

Twa-le has traveled extensively, speaking about uranium, environmental injustice, nuclear, and indigenous issues. She has actively participated in the Youth Leadership Training Initiative and Indigenous Mining Campaign for the Indigenous Environmental Network (www.ienearth.org) and served as the youth representative on the Steering Committee for the Western Mining Action Network (www.wman-info.org).

Past Speaking Engagements and Workshops:

• United Nations

• National Gathering for Youth Organizing (www.youthactionnet.org)

• Think Outside the Bomb (www.thinkoutsidethebomb.org)

• North American Indigenous Mining Summit

• Indigenous World Uranium Summit

• International Indigenous Youth Conference

• National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit

To engage youth in the community, Twa-le has led a youth media program—exposing Tribal youth to various forms of media including digital video and television production, radio programming, digital photography and print journalism. She has taught native film courses at the Spokane Tribal College (www.spokanetribalcollege.org).

Twa-le currently serves on the Board of Directors for Thin Air Community Radio (www.kyrs.org). Thin Air serves the Spokane area with progressive perspectives, providing programming to diverse communities and underserved groups. She is also on the Peer Review Board for the Youth Media Reporter (www.youthmediareporter.org), an online journal that serves media professionals in the youth media field.

"It's what I dedicate my life to now and I am always where I need to be, meeting the right people and on the path of defending our rights.", Twa-le.

Contact Twa-le:  shawlyouth@gmail.com