Dahlahk Pahtahlngee Mountain Eagle of the Washoe Nation (Waší:šiw), ancestral guardians of Lake Tahoe (dáɁaw) in Nevada and California. Born in 1962 to Washoe parents, Dahlahk has dedicated his life to preserving Indigenous cultural identity and fulfilling inherent responsibilities to his ancestral homelands spanning the Sierra Nevada mountains and Great Basin region.

Living predominantly off-grid in the traditional territories of his people, the Lake Tahoe Basin and surrounding areas that the Washoe have inhabited for thousands of years as the original stewards of this sacred land, Dahlahk has maintained deep connections to traditional lifeways while engaging with contemporary challenges facing Indigenous peoples globally.

A retired heavy equipment operator with expertise in land design, he has traveled internationally with the Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers, a council of Indigenous women elders from around the world working for global peace and healing. In 2007, he co-authored Indigenous Identity Theft and Fraud: Technical Brief, addressing critical issues of cultural appropriation and false claims to Indigenous identity.

As founder of the Traditional Washoe Elders Congress (TWEC), Dahlahk works to preserve and transmit traditional knowledge while advocating for Washoe sovereignty and environmental stewardship. His work aligns with the Washoe Tribe’s ongoing role as environmental stewards of the Lake Tahoe Basin, continuing to “advocate for their homelands and to protect, respect, and take care of waší∙šiw ɁítdeɁ” (Washoe ancestral territories).

Author of Spirit of Our Nation, Dahlahk represents the continuing presence and resistance of the Washoe people, whose sovereignty as a nation includes “the inherent right to govern itself, creating its own laws, managing its lands, and carrying forward its traditions independent of state or federal authority.”