Students from Highland Hall Waldorf School visit Ute Mountain Tribal Park in Towaoc, Colorado at the end of their studies. (Image courtesy UteMountainUte.com)
Indian Country Today Media Network Staff
The school’s website says it’s a place “where education is a journey” and Noah Williams, who teaches history at Highland Hall Waldorf School in Northridge, California takes that seriously.
When he teaches his students about Native American history, they don’t just read out of books, they listen to the oral histories of the Inuit, Ute Mountain, Cheyenne and Pomo and end their studies with a trip to Ute Mountain Tribal Park in Towaoc, Colorado.
“Reading the myths and legends of the Pomos and Cheyennes isn’t just about introducing literature; these are stories handed down through an oral tradition. They were told and heard. So retelling them is really a lesson in listening,” Williams explains in a press release. “I ask the students to put down their pens, be present, and live in the words.”
After various lectures the students travel 15 hours by train and bus for a 3-and-a-half-day camping trip in a remote canyon where they go without electricity and running water. The students gather wood, make fires, learn cooking skills and experience a star-filled night sky surrounded by silence.
“The experience that made the deepest impression on me was when we visited one of many ancient cliff-dwelling ruins,” says Highland Hall 10th grader Casey Gardner. “First we hiked a steep path up the side of [the] canyon. The weather was hot, the rocks were unstable, and we all carried weighted backpacks filled with our belongings. Finally, we reached the ruin. It sat strong and resolute on a thin ledge overlooking the abyss. After lunch, our Ute Indian guide Rick encouraged us to have a moment of silence and take in the astounding view. To me, the silence became a living thing; one could hear and indeed even feel the silence. It made me think of an ancient Native American, probably sitting in the same spot, marveling at the same sight that I was taking in. We usually associate silence with aloneness, but being with my class, people I’ve known for most of my life, made the quiet a shared experience.”
Zumba instructor Ossha Williams teaches the kids some dance moves.
By Jeannie Briones and Kim Kalliber, Tulalip News staff
Tulalip Tribes Youth Services are working to educate elementary grade kids about the importance of eating healthy and staying active, along with the devastating affects that smoking cigarettes can have on the body.
The Healthy Lungs, Healthy Lifestyle after-school program provides kids with information on tobacco and overall health, along with teaching them that in order to stay active in daily living and to participate in sports, they need to have clean, healthy lungs.
Over a dozen kids danced, exercised and laughed in the Quil Ceda Elementary School Gym during the Healthy Lungs, Healthy Lifestyle gathering on February 6th.
The kids learned basic dance moves with help from the host of the day, Zumba instructor Ossha Williams, of Health Quest Fitness Studio. Once the music started, the electrifying beat filled the gym with contagious energy that made the kids move their bodies to a combination of hip-hop, salsa, soca, and mambo music, while incorporating martial arts and aerobic elements into their workout.
“This program is a great thing because it gives the kids something do and shows them ways to stay healthy. It sends a positive message, because there is a high smoking rate among Native Americans,” said Rachel Steeve, Youth Services Smoking Cessation Specialist.
Kids are also treated to a healthy snack and drink, and can participate in hands-on projects and crafts.
Healthy Lungs, Healthy Lifestyle program will be held every other day in the Quil Ceda and Tulalip Elementary gym after school.Monday 3:35-5:00 p.m., Wednesday 1:05-3:00 p.m. and Friday from 3:35-5:00 p.m.
To enroll your child in this fun, education program contact Rachel Steeve, Youth Services Smoking Cessation Specialist, at 360-716-4936; email rsteeve@tulaliptribes-nsn.gov, or stop by Youth Services at 3107 Reuben Shelton Dr, Tulalip, WA 98271.
By Kim Kalliber and Jeannie Briones, Tulalip News Staff
Eighteen year-old Tulalip tribal member Braulio Ramos took an unexpected journey into self-discovery during his senior year at high school. What did he learn? That he’s pretty darn good at public speaking, and reciting poetry.
With no real interest in learning poetry, Braulio, a student at the Bio Academy at Maryville’s Getchell High School campus, joined the Poetry Out Loud nationwide recital contest. His natural charisma, topped with mad memorization skills, won him first place in the high school level competition in December 2012.
That win landed him in Burlington, Washington where he took part in the regional poetry recital competition on January 30th.
Over 50 audience members, including four judges, filled the Burlington Library to watch 13 contestants from high schools around the northwest, do their thing. Each contestant had to recite two poems of their choosing from the Poetry Out Loud pre-approved list of poetry. Their performance is judged on physical presence, voice articulation, dramatic appropriateness, level of difficulty, evidence of understanding, and overall performance.
Braulio spent hours rehearsing lines to ‘Bilingual/Bilingue’ by Rhina P. Espaillat and ‘Jabberwocky’ by Lewis Carroll.
“The first one [I read], I was kind of scared, for the second one I was more confident and playful,” said Braulio.
Though Braulio did not place in the regional competition, he’s confident that he put on a good performance.
Numerous audience members thanked Braulio for his performance, praising his strong voice, and the originality and flare that he lent to his poems.
Kayla Dowd, 16, a junior at the International School of Communications at Marysville Getchell High School, is the volunteer public relations organizer for the upcoming Marysville-Tulalip Relay for Life fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. The event will be held the last weekend of June. Photo: Genna Martin, The Herald
Marysville student is organizing fundraising event for her community
MARYSVILLE — Raising money for the American Cancer Society is a major focus of volunteer efforts in Snohomish County. During May, June and July, there are 10 Relay For Life fundraisers scheduled.
Marysville Getchell High School junior Kayla Dowd is one of the hundreds of people planning the Marysville-Tulalip event and those elsewhere.
Kayla, 16, is the public relations chairwoman for the relay. As a student in the International School of Communications at Marysville Getchell, Kayla hopes to use some of her new-found writing and speaking skills to let people know about the fundraiser.
The Marysville-Tulalip Relay for Life, like all the other relays, is an overnight event during which teams of people take turns walking or running laps around the field. Each team keeps a member on the track at all times. Relay for Life celebrates those who have survived cancer, helps people whose loved ones have died from cancer, raises money for cancer research and encourages people to fight cancer in their own lives, Kayla said.
Last year, the Marysville-Tulalip relay had 50 teams, honored 100 survivors and raised about $155,000. This year, organizers have set a goal to honor 150 survivors, involve 80 teams and raise $200,000.
“I think we can do it,” Kayla said. “Interest is growing each year. I’m involved because I’m one of those people whose life has been touched by cancer.”
A few years ago, Kayla lost her maternal great-grandmother to cervical cancer. Then her grandfather, Pat Dowd, 67, of Smokey Point, was diagnosed with stage-four lung cancer.
“He overcame that, but two months ago we learned that my grandpa has brain cancer. Recently we found out that his tumor has gotten a little smaller,” she said. “So, this has been a journey of ups and downs for my family. Grandpa is so dear to my heart. He is a go-getter and a role model for me. The money we raise at this remarkable event can help keep alive mothers, fathers, grandparents, sisters, brothers and friends.”
Kayla leads her own Relay for Life team of elementary school-age students, who raised $1,200 last year. When not working on fundraising, Kayla spends Tuesdays after school helping at the food bank in Marysville. She hopes to attend Washington State University and would like to study to be a nurse.
Raising awareness about cancer research in the state and Cancer Society services to cancer patients is big part of her job, Kayla said.
And Kayla’s just right for the task, said Kristin Banfield, the chairwoman of the Marysville-Tulalip Relay for Life. In her day job, Banfield is the public information officer for the city of Arlington.
“It’s really exciting to see a young woman, a teenager, stepping up in her community,” Banfield said. “This is a great experience for Kayla and we’re already getting a lot of good work out of her.”
Kayla said she is happy to help with Relay for Life.
“It’s a worthwhile thing, because everywhere you look, there is cancer,” Kayla said.
Kyle Thiessen, the state of Washington’s code reviser, looks at a shelf of pending legislation in his office on Jan. 30 at the Capitol in Olympia. Photo: Ted S. Warren, Associated Press
By Rachel La Corte, Associated Press
OLYMPIA — In Washington state, dairymen, freshmen and even penmanship could soon be things of the past.
Over the past six years, state officials have engaged in the onerous task of changing the language used in the state’s copious laws, including thousands of words and phrases, many written more than a century ago when the idea of women working on police forces or on fishing boats wasn’t a consideration.
That process is slated to draw to a close this year. So while the state has already welcomed “firefighters,” “clergy” and “police officers” into its lexicon, “ombuds” (in place of ombudsman) and “security guards” (previously “watchmen,”) appear to be next, along with “dairy farmers,” “first-year students” and “handwriting.”
“Some people would say ‘oh, it’s not a big thing, do you really have to go through the process of changing the language,”‘ said Seattle Councilmember Sally Clark who was one of the catalysts for the change. “But language matters. It’s how we signal a level of respect for each other.”
About half of all U.S. states have moved toward such gender-neutral language at varying levels, from drafting bills to changing state constitutions, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Florida and Minnesota have already completely revised their laws as Washington state is doing.
The final installment of Washington state’s bill already has sailed through the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee with unanimous approval. The nearly 500-page bill has one more committee stop scheduled before full Senate debate.
Crispin Thurlow, a sociolinguist and associate professor of language and communication at the University of Washington-Bothell, said the project was admirable.
He said that as language evolves, such efforts are more than symbolic.
“Changing words can change what we think about the world around us,” he said. “These tiny moments accrue and become big movements.”
Clark and former councilmember Jan Drago — the Seattle City Council has long eschewed the terms councilwoman or councilman — brought the issue to Sen. Jeannie Kohl-Welles in 2006 after they came across references to firemen and policemen in the mayor’s proposed budget, as well as in state law dealing with local-government pensions.
Clark and Drago’s findings sparked the initial gender-neutral language law that was passed in 2007, immediately changing those terms and directing the state code reviser’s office to do a full revision of the rest of the code. A 1983 Washington state law had already required all new statutes to be written in gender-neutral terms, so state officials were tasked with going through the rest of state statutes dating back to 1854 to revise the rest.
As in past bills on the issue that have tackled sections of the state code, some revisions were as simple as adding “or her” after “his.” Others required a little more scrutiny. Phrases like “man’s past” changes to “humankind’s past” and a “prudent man or woman” is simply a “prudent person.”
Kyle Thiessen, the state’s code reviser who has been working on the project along with two attorneys since 2008, said that the work was not without obstacles.
Words like “manhole” and “manlock” aren’t so easily replaced, he said. Substitutes have been suggested — “utility hole” and “air lock serving as a decompression chamber for workers.” But Thiessen said those references will be left alone to avoid confusion.
Republican state Rep. Shelly Short, of Addy, has voted against earlier gender-neutral language bills and said she plans to do the same this year.
“I don’t see the need to do gender neutrality,” she said, adding that her constituents want her to focus on jobs and the economy. “We’re women and we’re men.”
Kohl-Welles, who has sponsored each of the gender-neutral language bills, said that while this project hasn’t been her top legislation every year, “overall, it has important significance.”
“I believe,” she said, “that the culture has changed.”
OLYMPIA — Here’s a look at terms being considered in a final installment of a move to revise more than 3,500 Washington state statutes in order to make them gender-neutral.
Brakeman: brake operator
Chairmanship: position of chair
Dairymen: dairy farmers
Draughtsman: drafter
Ex-servicemen: add “or ex-servicewomen”
Fireman (The 2007 bill took care of the firefighters who work for fire departments and put out fires. This fireman reference is for railway employees who tend fires in steam engines): fire tender
Please join us in the “2013 Watch D.O.G. Orientation, Recognition and Desert Meeting” February 6th Wednesday, 6 to 6:30pm Totem Library
Overview
WATCH D.O.G.S.® (Dads Of Great S tudents) is an innovative program of the National Center for Fathering focusing on preventing violence in our nation’s schools by using the positive influence of fathers and father-figures. WATCH D.O.G.S.® was founded by Jim Moore and joined with the National Center for Fathering in 2006. It serves to inspire and equip men to be the involved fathers, grandfathers and father-figures their students need. For more information, visit the website at www.fathers.com/watchdogs
Who are WatchDOGS?
WatchDOGS are fathers, grandfathers, uncles, and other father-figures who volunteer for at least one day each year at an official WATCH D.O.G.S.® school. During the day, WatchDOGS may read and work on flash cards with students, play at recess, eat lunch with students, watch the school entrances and hallways, assist with traffic flow, mentor students, and any other assigned activities where they actively engage with not only their own students, but other students as well. Their mere presence and assistance is appreciated every day!
Program Recognition
The WATCH D.O.G.S.® program has been recognized by the United States Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and has been involved in the U.S. Department of Education’s P.F.I.E. (Partnership For Family Involvement In Education). The program has been recognized on the floor of Congress as a program that “can be a great tool in our efforts to prevent school violence and the improve student performance because it can increase parental initiative and involvement in their children’s education. (Congressional Record, February 7, 2000 page S392)
What Totem WatchDOGS Are Saying?
• 90% thought their experiences in the school was rewarding.
• 90% thought the students were excited to see them in the building.
• Selected comments
o “I participated in one-to-one reading in first grade and liked being with the kids at recess”
o “Seeing my child at school and getting to know her friends.”
o “I gained a new appreciation of what teachers do every day.”
Get Involved and be a WatchDOG today!
• Talk to one of the WatchDOGS at the Dad/Deserts Event. You can also contact Timothy Hall 657-6231 or timothy_hall@msvl.k12.wa.us, Daniel_Natividad@msvl.k12.wa.us
• Commit to one day or more at Totem Middle School during the school year
• Complete the Registration form & Background Check for the district
Bring your calendar and Line Up and Sign Upfor your day.
RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Scholars of Native American history will gather at the University of California, Riverside and Sherman Indian High School in Riverside for a two-day symposium, “Sherman Institute: The American Indian Boarding School Experience,” on Feb. 7 and 8, beginning at 9 a.m.
The symposium is free and open to the public. Feb. 7 activities will take place in Costo Library, located on the fourth floor of the Tomás Rivera Library at UCR. Parking is $6. The symposium will move to the Sherman Indian High School auditorium, 9010 Magnolia Ave., Riverside, on Feb. 8.
Scholars will address a variety of topics specific to the experience of Native Americans at Sherman Institute — which became Sherman Indian High School in 1970 — as well as the boarding school experience more generally.
“We want people to understand about the attempted assimilation of American Indian children by taking them out of their homes and putting them in boarding schools,” explained Clifford E. Trafzer, Rupert Costo Chair in American Indian Affairs at UC Riverside and co-editor of the recently published book “The Indian School on Magnolia Avenue: Voices and Images from Sherman Institute.” The book was written and edited by historians connected to UC Riverside and Lorene Sisquoc, curator of the Sherman Indian Museum and a UCR master’s degree site supervisor. “In spite of that, many children used their education and experiences — sometimes positive, sometimes bitter — to help their tribes understand U.S. government, business and culture.”
Presenting research in the UCR portion of the event will be: David Adams of Cleveland State University, “What We Don’t Know about the History of Indian Boarding Schools”; Robert McCoy, Washington State University, “Building to Assimilate: Mission Architecture of Sherman Institute”; Diana Bahr, UCLA, “Robert Kennedy and Sherman Institute, A Promise Fulfilled”; Leleua Loupe, California State University, Fullerton, “A Network of Control: Exploiting Indigenous Labor in the West”; Kevin Whalen, UCR, “Indian School and Company Town: Sherman Student-Laborers at Fontana Farms Company, 1907-1930″; Jason Davis, CSU San Bernardino, “Paradigm Shift: Assimilation to Preservation at Sherman Indian School”; Matthew Sakiestewa Gilbert, University of Illinois, “Hopi Runner Harry Chaca and the 1929 Vallejo Pre-Olympic National Marathon”; William O. Medina, Riverside Community College, “Patriotic Indians at Sherman Institute”; Kathleen Bartosh, UCLA, “Domesticity and Defense: The Female Experience at the Sherman Institute, 1930-1960”; Jean Keller, Palomar College, “Before Sherman Institute: The Perris Indian School.” Trafzer and Sisquoc will serve as moderators.
At Sherman Indian High School, current and former students, staff and faculty as well as Sherman scholars and historians will convene for three panel discussions in the morning. The museum will be open from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., and a visit to the off-site school cemetery is planned from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m.
The symposium is sponsored by the Sherman Indian School Museum and UCR Costo Chair, California Center for Native Nations, Native American Educational Program, and Native American Student Programs of UC Riverside.
The Marysville school board has begun the process of finding a new superintendent by contracting with Northwest Leadership Associates to help conduct the selection process.
After nine years of serving as Marysville’s superintendent, Dr. Larry Nyland announced on Jan. 3 he will retire at the end of this school year.
The school board said they appreciated the weight of the decision and that this process isn’t being taken lightly.
“We know this is a major assignment for the school board. It is the one thing we do that matters the most,” said school board member Cindy Erickson.
The board wants to find a replacement who will be as successful for the district as Nyland was during his nine years.
“I hope we only have to make this decision every nine or ten years,” said school board member Tom Albright.
The school board hired Northwest Leadership Associates during its Jan. 7 meeting.
Northwest Leadership Associates is a consulting firm that has specialized in screening and selecting superintendents and other school system leaders since 1999.
“We’re certain that Northwest Leadership Associates is going to deliver on their promise to not only find a great new leader to follow Dr. Nyland but also to involve the community,” said school board member Pete Lundberg.
The school board is anxious for input from the Marysville community about what they want from a superintendent and hired Northwest Leadership Associates in part because of their experience in gathering community opinions.
Lundberg hopes that a full cross-section of the community comes out to express their desire and looks forward to hearing opinions “from people of all walks of life.”
The board has wanted to reach out to the community for more than just the superintendent issue and hopes that this public process will help jumpstart that.
Nyland said he is encouraged that this will help get community members motivated to engage with the school district and hopefully, he said, this will be just the first round of community engagement.
Community relations are important because the superintendent not only runs a school district, but has to maintain and build its relationships with the community, said school board president Chris Nation.
Which is why, Erickson said, the new superintendent needs to be “somebody we believe in that can move the district forward. Someone who can continue to build relationships both within the community, within our school and within our partnerships.”
The school district has been improving steadily over the last decade, said board members, and they want to find someone who can continue that progress.
“We have a lot of things that seem to be headed in the right direction. We have a very motivated staff and it’s important we continue in that direction,” Lundberg noted.
Board members expressed that Nyland will be remembered and that whoever replaces him will have a tough act to follow.
“Larry, I wanted to say, you will be missed. You’ve proven yourself, not just in education, but also in who you are and how you’ve taken things that have not always been easy to take,” said Erickson.
“[Nyland]’s here in the morning. He’s here in the evening. He’s always sending me e-mails about new educational programs he’s found on the Internet. It’s 24/7 to him, and it truly pushes me to do more,” said Nation.
Nyland’s retirement announcement and personal message to the community are available at www.msvl.k12.wa.us.
Northwest Leadership Associates will be conducting surveys and public meetings to collect community opinions over the coming months.
Upcoming meetings:
The Marysville School District will hold two meetings for district parents, Marysville and Tulalip community members and district partners learn about, and provide input, for the new superintendent search process.
Meetings will be held at the Marysville School District Service Center Board Room, located at 4220 80th Street NE, Marysville, 98270, on Tuesday, 1/29/13 at 7:00 PM and Thursday, 1/31/13 at 6:00 PM. Both meetings are open to the public.
An electronic survey is available on the district website at www.msvl.k12.wa.us.
For more information on the search process, contact Jodi Runyon at jodi_runyon@msvl.k12.wa.us or (360) 653-0800.
Please join us for Lushootseed Family Nights where you can gather with loved ones and learn to speak the words off our ancestors. Scheduled for every Tuesday in February and March 20113 at the Hibulb Cultural Center from 5pm-7pm.
A: It’s a small school in the Marysville School District with about 100 students. Our teachers are really engaged. They know you and what you are doing. They want you to succeed. Each student gets attention. Like any high school, we have six periods a day of the usual subjects. The only thing different is that we focus a lot on Native American culture. We don’t have it right now, but one of the classes offered is our native Coast Salish language, Lushootseed.
Q: What is your tribal heritage?
A: My dad is Tulalip, my mom and grandmother are Rosebud Sioux, and my grandpa is Alaska Native. I spent a lot of my childhood in Tacoma with my grandparents and went to Chief Leschi Schools, which are operated by the Puyallup Tribe.
Q: Why is cultural education important?
A: For me, what we learn at Heritage is another perspective, another way of looking at the world. We focus on the oral history of native people, not just what you get in classroom history books. I am thankful for the elders who have passed down the stories, and I’m glad we are a culturally active school.
Q: The staff at Heritage say you are very helpful and hard-working. Why is this important to you?
A: I like to take time to help people and it gives me something to do.
Q: What are your regular school-related activities?
A: I like to help in the school office. I’m the ASB treasurer, and I help with concessions at our school basketball games. The money we raise goes to our student body. Basketball is very popular in the community, especially when we play the Lummi Nation School, Muckleshoot Tribal School or Neah Bay High School. Then it’s about pride in our tribes.
Q: Do you have a job?
A: I’ve worked for Tulalip Tribes. This past summer, I got experience working with the Quil Ceda Village grounds maintenance crew. It gave me an understanding of how that department works. And I pulled a lot of weeds from 88th up to 116th Street.
Q: What do you want to do next year?
A: I hope to enlist in the Coast Guard. I would like to make a career of it and hope that I can work in Washington. I’ve already talked to a recruiter. My other idea is to become a member of the State Patrol or the Tulalip Police. Something like that. Just so I can help people. For me, it’s all about giving back to the community.
Q: Have other people in your family been in the service?
A: My dad was in the Marine Corps, my grandma in the Air Force, my grandpa in the Army and my cousin in the Coast Guard. My dad is encouraging me to go into the Coast Guard.
Q: It sounds like your family is important to you.
A: Yes, I help my sister by taking care of my 3-year-old nephew. I take him to the park and stuff like that. We have fun.
Q: What else do you do outside of school?
A: I like to ski, golf, play tennis and basketball and work out at the Marysville YMCA. I played football at Lake Stevens High School when I first moved up here. I miss football.
I also listen to music. All kinds. I like rap, country, classic rock and when I worked as a prep cook in the kitchen at the casino, I learned to like the Mexican music that the Hispanic guys played.
Q: What’s keeping you busy right now?
A: That would be my senior project. We have to answer the questions of, Who am I? Where am I going? How will I get there?
Q: What is your favorite class this year?
A: For me, that’s easy. It’s humanities with my teacher Maria Benally. She pushes me to excel in my work. We’ve been talking a lot about the issue of sovereignty. For example, we learned that Hawaii’s indigenous people were taken over by the United States.
Q: What is your favorite book?
A: It’s “Night” by Elie Wiesel about his experience in the Nazi concentration camps. That was a good book.
