Barbara Ann Lawrence is a Suquamish Tribal Elder and a traditional storyteller.  She was raised on the Suquamish Port Madison Indian Reservation to her Suquamish Tribal member father, and Chairman of the Suquamish Tribe, Charles Russell Lawrence and her first-generation Norwegian American mother, Anne Roselynn (Berg) Lawrence.   

She serves on the Suquamish Tribal Higher Education Board. She holds a BA from The Evergreen State College and an MBA in Sustainable Business from Bainbridge Graduate Institute AKA Pinchot University (recently Pinchot University merged with Presidio University in California).  

Suquamish storytelling is a traditional way of teaching and Barbara uses this form of education with all ages from preschoolers to the elderly. She has a passion for and deep knowledge of, Suquamish and Coast Salish history, culture, politics, and archaeology, social justice, environmental racism, and contemporary issues.  

She was involved in the conception of the Canoe Journeys through her appointment to the Washington State Centennial Commission in 1985.  Barbara has served on several Washington State Advisory Boards, committees, commissions, and task forces that bridge tribal/state governmental interests.  

She currently works for the Suquamish Tribal Education Administration Department as an Education Outreach Specialist and Since Time Immemorial curriculum project staff.  Barbara is the mother of 4 adult children and the Kiyah (grandmother) to 12 grandchildren and 1 great-grandchild.   Storytelling to her offspring is her favorite pass time.