Members of the Puyallup Tribe of Indians will be riding in style this year with the announcement of new official license plates for tribal members.
Plates are available through the Washington State Department of Licensing at no extra cost beyond standard license plate fees ($117.25 for cars & trucks, $35.25 for motorcycles) via mail-in application alongside a copy of the vehicle owner’s tribal ID. Applications can also be taken in person to a licensing office, but will still be delivered by mail. Custom plates are available as well, however standard fees apply.
The Puyallup Tribe plate is a simple black on white design featuring the Tribe’s official salmon logo. The plates do not feature raised numbering or lettering.
The issuance of these new plates comes in response to a piece of 2020 legislation signed into law by then governor Jay Inslee. House Bill 2491 authorized the governor to “enter into compacts with federally recognized Indian tribes principally located within Washington state for the issuance of tribal license plates and vehicle registration.”
Currently, the Chehalis and Muckleshoot tribes are the only other indigenous groups within Washington to offer official license plates.
Coincidentally, this new design is arriving at a moment when the state is otherwise looking to cut back on specialty plates. Senate Bill 5444 introduced several new specialty plates on offer for Fall of 2025, including Smokey the Bear, Mount St. Helens, and pickleball among 13 total designs. That batch, however, may be the last for some time.
Alongside these new offerings, SB5444 also bans the Department of Licensing, from creating or issuing any new plate designs until January 1st, 2029. That ban likely would not hold true for other tribal governments looking to issue their own license plates through WSDOT, but it might mean that the Puyallup Tribe plates are the last new design drivers will be seeing hit the road for the next few years.
