Tyson Williams was born in Vernon, British Columbia. He was raised in the beautiful Kartar valley located on the Colville Reservation. Tyson’s tribal bands are Okanogan, Methow, Entiat, Moses- Columbia, and Wenatchee. He grew up on the backs of horses rodeoing, horse racing, and playing sports to keep busy until he graduated high school.

 

“After high school, I came ‘out of the closet’ and came to terms with who I am; I am a two-spirited human being. I was unsure on what my career path should be, so I started working at the mill, quickly realizing this wasn’t the business I wanted to be in. After a little soul-searching, I decided I wanted to be of service to the world. So with me being Indigenous and so many people needing help on the homelands.”

 

Tyson began to work with the tribe starting 2016 in various service jobs such as public works, public defender's office, housing authority, and currently, fish and wildlife. He learned a lot from working with and providing services to indigenous communities. It has given him the ability to be a voice for people who aren’t able to speak up for themselves and to be sure he is conveying what they want to be said.

More recently, Tyson faced an unexpected battle with cancer putting a lot of his community involvement on hold the past two years, but as of June 2022 he became cancer free and on surveillance for the next couple of years.

 

“Now that I am on the mend, I became interested in the work AO has been doing and reached out to Joy on becoming a board member. As a board member, I am going to use my life experience to use and get back to helping cultural revitalization, engaging with youth in outdoor activities that are equine-based, and also bringing indigenous representation in whatever I do so I can empower youth to believe they can do anything they set their mind to.”