By Micheal Rios Tulalip News
The Tulalip Tribes annual General Council is quickly approaching. Scheduled for Saturday, March 19, the in-person gathering of Tulalip citizens may result in a record turnout for both attendance and total ballots cast. In preparation of such a momentous occasion, we thought it was an opportune time to hear from our Tulalip Elders who’ve been so gracious to share their thoughts and reflections in a variety of SeeYahtSub articles over the past couple years.
Hear now, the words of wisdom from our most precious resource. Let their words guide you in future decision making or simply reinvigorate you to feel connected to a generations’ worth of knowledge.
John McCoy…on listening to your Elders
“If you listen to the Elders, you will hear their visions. It’s good to listen to their mistakes and learn from them. I listen to them because they have no problem stopping me to tell me their stories and give me advice. In order to move forward as a Tribe, we need to listen to them.”
Inez Bill…on our shared responsibility
“Our cultural creations and artwork is a spiritual gift being shared with the people, all the tribes throughout the United States. It serves as an example of what we can do when we unite our hearts and minds in thanks for the blessings we’ve been given. It is a blessing to be stewards of this land. The natural environment is where our spirituality and traditions come from. Our ancestors thought about their future generations and fought to have their usual and accustomed areas accounted for in the treaties. We need to honor and respect our ancestors by taking care of these areas. The way of life of our people depends on the teachings and values that were laid out for us. It is our responsibility to carry them forward.”
Harold ‘Juju’ Joseph…on the medicine wheel
“My goal is to hold ceremony in our traditional ways, free of any politics, to honor the previous generations who were taken from their families, their land, their tribes and never made it home. What better symbolizes our connection to each other than the medicine wheel? It’s a symbol used by our people all across the United States and Canada to represent the natural cycles of life and are connection to Mother Earth. It means as much now as it did before colonization. Within this circle everyone, no matter your age or background, we can come together in ceremony and offer prayer.”
Donald ‘Penoke’ Hatch…on ending the drug epidemic
“When we say drug epidemic we are referring to the heroin, opioid-based pain pills, and cocaine that is sold to our people. It’s poison. The whole community has to help out to solve this problem. We continue to lose young tribal members to drugs. We need to take care of our young people a little bit more. That’s why we paraded around for the Get Drugs Off Our Rez rally; to show we’re here to uplift those who are down and pray for protection for who need it. It’s so important we continue to help each other a little bit more than we did yesterday, and help a little bit more tomorrow than we did today. That’s the path to fighting this drug epidemic that takes the lives of so many of our young people – togetherness.
If you see things in the neighborhoods, next door, or in your own house, then you have to be willing to talk about it and call the police. I worked hard with one of my children and still lost him, so I know how difficult it can be. Drugs and being an addict aren’t the traditional lifestyle of us as Native Americans. And in order to rid our reservation of those things we have to be willing to speak up and tell on those up to no good. If we’re not willing to do that, then we will continue to have drugs on our reservation. It takes the whole community being on the same page to end this epidemic.”
Judy Gobin …on education
“We are so fortunate as Tulalip because our kids have the opportunity to go to any school in the nation and excel. They can study to become whatever they want knowing our Tribe will pay for the vast majority of costs. We have so many great success stories because of the resources our tribal gaming allows us to access. Yet, so many of our children don’t do it. Stories like my grandson, Zues show our people what’s possible and can incentivize the next generation to take their education seriously. When they see Tulalips succeeding at college it breaks the stereotypes and lets them know they can accomplish great things in academics and sports.”
Mike Murphy…on all the support offered by Tulalip
“The pandemic has been life changing for sure, but it’s important to remember Tulalip jumped right on board with providing vaccines and focusing on our Elders first. I’m fortunate being the second person, Dale Jones being first, to have received the vaccine issued by our own Health Clinic. After having four strokes my health was in serious decline, but I’m slowly recuperating and getting my health back. It feels good to know the Tribe supports us. In my case, they helped find medical providers to get me right and physical therapist, cardiologists and neurologists to meet my needs.
We’re so fortunate that Tulalip leadership supports us in so many ways. For example, there are endless pathways to employment for our tribal members. My daughter worked at the Early Learning Academy, while my son went through the TERO construction training and now is certified to operate cranes, bulldozers, and all kinds of other heavy equipment. He’s a real life Bob the Builder now. Both my kids are able to provide for my grandkids and hopefully inspire them to be the change that keeps our Tribe getting better and better.”
Anita ‘Keeta’ Sheldon…on the importance of Cedar weaving
“Cedar weaving is a good hobby because there are so many styles and so much that can be made. You won’t ever be bored that’s for sure. I’ve passed on my passion for weaving to all of my daughters and together they teach classes in the local area, like our own Hibulb Cultural Center and even at the University of Washington. I’ve been teaching off and on now for 17-years at the college and museum. It’s important pass on our skills and cultural knowledge to the next generations so that these teachings stay in our culture.”
Terry Parker…on raising chickens
“Oh, I thoroughly enjoy keeping chickens. They give me a daily routine to adhere to and being able to watch them from my front porch, they bring me a peace of mind. The relationship is healing as well. By taking great care of the chickens and giving them good feed, they’ll lay many eggs. Their eggs are medicine. With my diabetes, eating eggs everyday helps keep my blood sugar down and improves insulin sensitivity. Keeping chickens is something my wife and I enjoy very much. We advise more of our people to consider raising chickens. It’s something you have to experience to know how wonderful it truly is.”
Virginia Carpenter…on routinely visiting Garden Treasurers organic u-pick farm
“It warms the heart to see so many happy people in one place. I just love gardening, and it’s so great to see the younger generation come out and be a part of this. Seeing families, parents with their kids, out here having a good time it reminds me of the olden days; when kids used to go with their parents everywhere and people were happy to be out of the house. I’d tell anyone in Tulalip, whether an Elder, youth or anything in between, the trip to this farm is worth it and you’ll really enjoy it. Just being able to walk around outside and be around all the fresh flowers and see all their goods, it really puts your mind at ease and makes you feel better with everything else going on in the world.”
Dale Jones…on the importance of eating fruits and vegetables
“Too many of our people are battling diabetes and obesity because they learned bad eating habits as kids. Making fruits and vegetables a priority at a young age can really make a lifetime’s worth of impact. My advise to any parent out there, especially the younger parents, is to not let your kids dictate what they eat. You are the parent and sure they’ll complain at first, but what are they going to do, not eat? Maybe for a meal or two, but then they’ll give in. They’ll eat fruits and vegetables and whatever else healthy you cook for them. Trust your Elder.”