Tribal elder Mueller receives Lee Ann Miller Award

Published 1:30 am Thursday, June 18, 2026

Liz Mueller, a Jamestown S’Klallam tribal elder and former Tribal Council vice chairman, is the recipient of the Children’s Justice Task Force’s 2025-2026 Lee Ann Miller Award.

Joined by family, staff and tribal leaders, Mueller accepted the award at the Children’s Justice Conference in Spokane in early May.

She is the first tribal citizen to receive the honor.

Among many of Mueller’s lasting impacts on Indian child welfare is her leadership and advocacy in the development and passage of the Washington State Indian Child Welfare Act in 2011. Her efforts directly led to Washington exercising its authority to pass its own state act in addition to the federal one, noted Carissa Greenberg, Attorney General for Children, Youth & Families Division, in her nomination letter.

In addition to her role on Tribal Council from 2002-2020, Mueller worked with the state’s child welfare agency (first DSHS, then DCYF) for more than three decades to improve its interactions and service to Indian children and families, and served as the chair of the federal Administration for Children & Families Tribal Advisory Committee.

The Children’s Justice Task Force named the award after Miller, who was the lead counsel of Children’s Administration at the time of her death from cancer at age 47 in early 1998.

She was a recognized expert in juvenile law and the field of child advocacy.

Mueller and Miller worked together to draft the first Washington State Indian Child Welfare Act memorandum of understanding.

Mueller (Geraldine Fitzgerald) graduated from Sequim High School in 1963. She is the daughter of Charles Fitzgerald and Ellen Boyd.