Category: Local News

Who Wants Frybread?

Doe’z Onda Go is serving up a modern Native American classic

Frybread burger
Frybread burger. Photo/Niki Cleary

 

Indian taco
Indian taco. Photo/Niki Cleary

 

By Niki Cleary, Tulalip News

Boom City is over and you’re in between pow wows, what are you missing? Okay, besides all those opportunities for snagging. Frybread, of course! Don’t despair, you can still get your fix of that delicious, fluffy, awesomeness. Doe’z Onda Go serves frybread delicacies including Frybread burgers, Rez dogs, NLBs (Natives love bacon), and fried Oreos (Oreos wrapped in frybread), as well as the always classy frybread a la carte (which is a fancy French phrase that basically means ‘by itself’).

“Doe” is actually Nadene Foster (Klamath), also known by her nickname, Grandma DeeDee. Her frybread is made using a biscuit recipe that has been in her family for four generations, tweaked slightly to fry up crisp and light (in texture, not calories mind you).

According to Nadene, it’s not the ingredients that make her frybread special.

“It’s all made with love,” she said. “We pray every morning before we get started. We’re going to continue to produce awesome food.”

For Nadene, frybread is family tradition.

“When I moved to Southern Oregon I’d sell my bread to make a little extra money. I was always on the go. When I start making bread, all my granddaughters want to get their hands in that dough and fry their own piece!” she laughed, “They all take turns, even the boys, they all want to make their own piece.

“To go from that to where we are today is a dream come true,” said Nadene, her eyes sparkling. “It’s so exciting, I can hardly contain myself.”

Doe’z Onda Go. Photo/Niki Cleary
Doe’z Onda Go.
Photo/Niki Cleary

The magic all happens in a tiny building, located in the same lot as Off-Road Espresso on the corner of Marine Drive and 27th Avenue. Although the building is only About 140 square feet, it contains a full professional kitchen, including a griddle, deep fryer and a fire suppression system in case all that hot food gets out of hand.

Although the recipe is old, the business uses modern technology to make sure that orders are correct, and it’s easy to pay whether you’re using cash or a card. Orders, taken on an iPad, are quickly transformed into delicious meals.

Nadene and her business partner Eric Cortez (Tulalip), opened the business June 21st.

“This has always been a dream of Nadene’s. She showed me how to make the bread, and they had talked about going full-time,” said Eric. “I became part of the family, and I had the resources and funding to make it happen.

“My mom had the space, this empty building and the spot. By the taco stand (Tacos El Ray), Off-Road Espresso and the fruit stand.  Plus this is 100% authentic, modern Native American food. Tulalip owned with a twist of southern Oregon.”

The staff favorites?

Making a frybread Oreo. Photo/Niki Cleary
Making a frybread Oreo.
Photo/Niki Cleary

“Fried Oreos are popular,” said Eric. “I like just the frybread alone and the large Rez dog is my second favorite. We’re thinking about adding deep fried bananas as a dessert. I tried one of those and wow!”

“My favorite is probably just a piece of frybread with butter,” said Nadene. “But I also like the frybread burger.”

So, if you’re ready to fulfill your frybread fantasies, Doe’z Onda Go is the stop for you. Doe’z Onda Go is open Tusday through Saturday from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Short on time? Call in an order for quicker pick-up, 425-622-6289.

Click here to download a Menu

 

 

Being Frank: Listen to the Planet

Note: Being Frank is the monthly opinion column that was written for many years by the late Billy Frank Jr., NWIFC Chairman. To honor him, the treaty Indian tribes in western Washington will continue to share their perspectives on natural resources management through this column. This month’s writer is Ed Johnstone, treasurer of the NWIFC and Natural Resources Policy Spokesperson for the Quinault Indian Nation.   

 

Ed Johnstone 05ish_1

 

By Ed Johnstone, Quinault Indian Nation, NWIFC Treasurer

OLYMPIA – Our planet is talking to us, and we better pay attention. It’s telling us that our climate and oceans are changing for the worse and that every living thing will be affected. The signs are everywhere. The only solution is for all of us to work together harder to meet these challenges.

We are seeing many signs of climate change. Our polar ice caps and glaciers are melting and sea levels are rising. Winter storms are becoming more frequent and fierce, threatening our homes and lives.

It is believed that we are witnessing a fundamental change in ocean and wind circulation patterns. In the past, cold water full of nutrients would upwell from deep in the ocean, mix with oxygen-rich water near the surface, and aid the growth of phytoplankton that provides the foundation for a for a strong marine food chain that includes all of us.

The change in wind and ocean patterns is causing huge amounts of marine plants to die and decompose, rapidly using up available oxygen in the water. The result is a massive low oxygen dead zone of warmer waters off the coasts of Washington and Oregon that is steadily growing bigger, researchers say. Large fish kills caused by low oxygen levels are becoming common, at times leaving thousands of dead fish, crab and other forms of sea life lining our beaches.

Low oxygen levels and higher water temperatures are also contributing to a massive outbreak of sea star wasting syndrome all along the West Coast. It starts with white sores and ultimately causes the star fish to disintegrate. While outbreaks have been documented in the past, nothing on the scale we are seeing now has ever been recorded.

We are also seeing basic changes in the chemistry of our oceans. Our atmosphere has been steadily polluted with carbon dioxide for hundreds of years. When that carbon dioxide is absorbed by the ocean, those waters become more acidic and inhospitable to marine life. Young oysters, for example, are dying because the increasingly acidic water prevents them from growing shells. Researchers say that ocean acidification could also amplify the effects of climate change.

Because we live so closely with our natural world, indigenous people are on the front line of climate change and ocean acidification. That is part of the reason that native people from throughout the Pacific region will gather in Washington, D.C. in July for our second First Stewards Symposium. Tribal leaders, scientists and others will examine how native people and their cultures have adapted to climate change for  thousands of years, and what our future—and that of America—may hold as the impacts of climate change continue.

President Obama’s commitment to addressing adaptation to climate change in a real and substantive way is encouraging. Tribes stand ready to partner with the Administration and others any way we can to protect our homelands and the natural resources on which our cultures and economies depend. Only by all of us working together – supporting one another – will we be able to successfully face the challenges of ocean acidification and climate change.

Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe Finishes River Otter, American Dipper Study in Elwha River Watershed

A river otter rests on a log in the Elwha River. Click the photo for more pictures from the three-year study. Photo: Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe
A river otter rests on a log in the Elwha River. Click the photo for more pictures from the three-year study. Photo: Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe

 

Source: Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission

The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe is wrapping up its four-year study on river otters and American dippers in the Elwha River watershed.

The tribe has been studying how the animals use the river for food and habitat and how those needs have been impacted by the recent removal of the river’s Elwha and Glines Canyon dams.

Since the early 20th century, the dams prevented salmon from spawning beyond the first five miles of the river, denying wildlife an important food source. The upper watershed also was deprived of the marine-derived nutrients that salmon carcasses provide to the surrounding ecosystem.

As the dams have been removed and salmon have been able to move upriver, the otters and dippers have been taking advantage of the new resources, said Kim Sager-Fradkin, the tribe’s wildlife biologist.

Between 2011 and 2014, blood, feather, toenail and tissue samples were collected for genetic and diet analysis. The tribe also tagged 11 otters with radio tracking devices and tagged 246 dippers with small leg bands to track migration patterns.

“Despite disruptive dam removal activities, at least one tagged otter continued to frequent areas around Glines Canyon Dam,” said Sager-Fradkin. “Sediment loads in the river, however, appeared to impact which areas of the river that otters used, with otters using more side channel, tributary and saltwater habitats during periods of high sediment loads in the river channel.“Overall though, we found most of them moving throughout the Elwha watershed and Strait of Juan de Fuca, from as far south as the Glines Canyon dam when it was still fully intact, to as far north and east as Port Angeles harbor.”

Dippers also used tributary and side channel habitats during dam removal and increased sediment loads in the river, she added.

Analyses of the animals’ diets showed that both otters and dippers are eating more marine-derived nutrients now than before the dams started to come down.

“Presumably this is either through direct consumption of salmon or through consumption of aquatic macroinvertebrates that have become enriched with marine-derived nutrients,” she said.

In addition, female dippers breeding in areas without salmon had worse body conditions compared to dippers breeding in areas with salmon. Also, adult dippers found in areas with salmon migration had higher survival than those in areas without salmon.

The Elwha Dam has been fully removed since 2013 and the Glines Canyon is expected to be fully removed by the end of 2014.

A Wonky Decision That Will Define the Future of Our Food

Governor Inslee Is Now Weighing the Acceptable Cancer Rate for Fish Eaters Against Business Concerns

By Ansel Herz, The Stranger

 

Levi Hastings
Levi Hastings

 

Washington State has two choices: a 10-times-higher rate of cancer among its population, particularly those who eat a lot of fish, or a bedraggled economy. That is, assuming you believe big business in the long-running and little-noticed debate over our “fish consumption rate,” a debate that Governor Jay Inslee is expected to settle, with significant consequence, within the next few weeks.

The phrase “fish consumption rate” sounds arcane and nerdy, for sure, but it really matters, and here’s why: There are a plethora of toxic chemicals—things like PCBs, arsenic, and mercury—that run off from our streets, into our waters, and then into the bodies of fish. The presence of those pollutants puts anyone who eats fish (especially Native American tribes and immigrants with fish-heavy diets) at higher risk of developing cancer.

Knowing this, the state uses an assumed fish consumption rate (FCR) to determine how great cancer risks to the general population are and, in turn, to set water-cleanliness standards that could help lower cancer rates. Currently, Washington’s official fish consumption rate is just 6.5 grams per day—less than an ounce of fish. Picture a tiny chunk of salmon that could fit on your fingertip. That’s how much fish the state officially believes you eat each day. But that number is based on data from 40 years ago. Everyone admits it’s dangerously low and woefully out of date.

Three years ago, Oregon raised its FCR up to 175 grams (imagine a filet of salmon), the highest in the nation. Now it’s up to Governor Inslee to update Washington’s FCR. Jaime Smith, a spokesperson for the governor, says he’ll make the final call in the next few weeks. Meanwhile, as with anything else, there are groups lobbying Inslee on either side. The business community—including heavyweights like Boeing, the aerospace machinists, local paper mills, the Washington Truckers Association, and the Seattle Chamber of Commerce—want our FCR to be lower. In a letter to Inslee on April 1, they warned that a higher FCR would result in “immeasurable incremental health benefits, and predictable economic turmoil.” In other words, the letter says, a one-in-a-million cancer risk for people who eat a lot of fish would hurt the economy, while a one-in-a-hundred-thousand risk is more reasonable.

Smith, the governor’s spokesperson, says the governor wants to raise the FCR in a way “that won’t cause undue harm to businesses. Obviously business has a stake in this.”

But, Smith says, “at the same time, we have people who eat a lot of fish.” Businesses have hired consultants who’ve painted worst-case scenarios, she explains, “that probably aren’t realistic.”

At the end of the day, does the governor’s office have any evidence that raising the fish consumption rate would actually kill jobs? “Not necessarily,” Smith says. She hinted that Inslee will raise the rate to a number close to Oregon’s.

In fact, businesses like the Northwest Pulp and Paper Association made the same dire predictions before Oregon increased its FCR to 175 grams per day. What happened? “We are not aware of any business that has closed that was directly attributable to those rules,” says Jennifer Wigal, a water quality program manager for the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. Were there job losses? “Not that I’m aware of,” she says. Broadly, Oregon employment rates have continued to trend upward since the recession, while the job availability in the paper and pulp industry, she says, has long been slowly declining.

Opposite the business community are Native American tribes, environmental groups, public-health experts, and the Seattle Human Rights Commission. (In a strongly worded March resolution, the commission said the state should raise its fish consumption rate to same level as Oregon’s.) Jim Peters, of the Squaxin Island Tribe, says the waters of Puget Sound, where tribal members have always fished, need to be better protected from pollutants. “It’s part of our life,” he says. “It’s part of our culture.” The tribes are “pro jobs,” Peters says, but “Boeing has been unwilling to come and talk with us.”

This is a defining moment for Inslee: Where he sets this number, the FCR, will send another signal about his willingness to stand up to Boeing (after his support of $8.7 billion in taxpayer subsidies for the company last year). It will also show whether or not he’s serious about following through on his commitments to do battle on behalf of the environment, promises he ran on. So keep an eye out. And in the meantime, says University of Washington public-health professor Bill Daniell, don’t eat the fish near Gas Works Park.

The heart of a cedar

CedarPulling6-27-14A from Brandi Montreuil on Vimeo.

Sisters continue tradition of cedar harvesting

By Brandi N. Montreuil, Tulalip News

Tulalip tribal member Chelsea Craig separates the inner bark from the outer bark on a strip of red cedar she harvested during an annual cedar harvesting event organized by Tulalip Forestry on June 27-28.Photo/ Brandi N. Montreuil, Tulalip News
Tulalip tribal member Chelsea Craig separates the inner bark from the outer bark on a strip of red cedar she harvested during an annual cedar harvesting event organized by Tulalip Forestry on June 27-28.
Photo/ Brandi N. Montreuil, Tulalip News

Leaning over a long strip of red cedar placed on her lap, Tulalip tribal member Cerissa “Pipud” Gobin, asked her 4-year-old daughter, Emmy “Pipud” Ramsey, if she knew what was in the center of the cedar tree.

“What is in the center of you? That is right; it is your heart. So in the center of the cedar tree is a heart,” said Gobin, as she continued her methodical rhythm of peeling inner bark from the outer bark on a strip of cedar that was recently cut from a nearby group of trees.

“When I first started pulling I had no idea what I was doing,” said Gobin.  “I learned as I went along. I learned to get the little pieces of bark left on the inside off before you leave, otherwise you are going to spend a lot of time trying to get it off later,” she continued, occasionally looking up from the long strip on her lap to watch her son, Coen, pull another strip of bark off a tall red cedar.

Clustered around Gobin and her sister, Chelsea Craig, also a Tulalip tribal member, were long strips of cedar waiting to have their inner bark stripped, which will be used to make cultural items. Outer bark is left for the forest to reclaim. Both women are educators who plan to use the cedar for in-class projects next year.

Gobin, a high school art educator at Heritage High School, uses the cedar to teach students how to make traditional headbands or bracelets, some of which are later used during graduation ceremonies. Craig, a teacher at Quil Ceda & Tulalip Elementary, uses the cedar to teach youth to make baskets, hats, and pins for potlatch giveaways. Although they teach students how to weave different items, together they weave a cultural foundation for Tulalip youth.

These women are part of a large group of Tulalip tribal members participating in a cedar harvest organized by Tulalip Forestry

Cerissa 'Pipud' Gobin harvested nearly 3 dozen bundles of cedar during the harvesting event organized by Tulalip Forestry on June 27-28.
Cerissa ‘Pipud’ Gobin harvested nearly 3 dozen bundles of cedar during the harvesting event organized by Tulalip Forestry on June 27-28.

Department on June 27-28. The event, and others like it, is made possible by a growing partnership between the Tulalip Tribes and the Washington State Department of Natural Resources. The land is owned by DNR, with Sierra Pacific owning the timber. Department of Natural Resources notifies Tulalip Forestry when an area is scheduled to be cleared. This season, 83 acres were available for harvesting cedar.

“Tulalip Forestry worked in conjunction with both agencies’ representatives to coordinate the event and establish ground rules regarding allowable and non-allowable trees to be pulled,” explained Ross Fenton with the Tribe’s forestry department. “The relations Tulalip Forestry has established over the years for cultural cedar bark gathering has gone exceptionally well. Some tribal members base their sole incomes on products they make from cedar bark, so it’s very important we continue to maintain these positive relations.”

“Traditionally we would come out to harvest when the sap would run. That makes it easy to pull it off the tree. This stuff peels so nicely, I am loving it,” said Craig, pausing for a moment to survey the large expanse of trees swaying in the afternoon wind. “It is amazing to sit here and think about how our people used to do this. How they would all come together with their families and gather cedar. Of course they didn’t use the same tools we are using today, but they came out and gathered and made things, some of which we still have today.”

Many Tulalip youth participated in the two-day cedar-harvesting event, gathering strips for elders and learning techniques of separating the smooth inner bark from the rough outer bark. For many, this was their first trip gathering cedar.

“Do you know how the cedar is related to us?” asked Craig to her nephew and nieces, who were struggling to bring the long cedar strips up the steep incline. “She is our grandmother and she is giving us this gift of cedar and we need to thank her.”

“I love being out here,” said Gobin, as she tightly wound her cedar into a bundle tying it off with a scrap of thin cedar. “It is really addicting to be out here stripping the cedar, it is one of my favorite things to do.”

“Yes, grandpa would be proud of us,” remarked Craig.

For more information regarding future cedar harvesting events, please contact Tulalip Forestry at 360-716-4000.

 

Brandi N. Montreuil: 360-913-5402; bmontreuil@tulalipnews.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fireworks laws meant to keep people safe on July 4

Sales of fireworks have already begun at Boom City on the Tulalip Reservation. Other fireworks stands will begin sales off the reservation starting June 28.— image credit: Brandon Adam
Sales of fireworks have already begun at Boom City on the Tulalip Reservation. Other fireworks stands will begin sales off the reservation starting June 28.
— image credit: Brandon Adam

 

By Kirk Boxleitner, Arlington Times

While Arlington and Marysville encourage citizens to celebrate the Fourth of July, the cities’ police officers and firefighters want to make sure those who use fireworks do so safely and legally.

Arlington allows fireworks to be sold from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday, June 28, through Friday, July 4, whereas Marysville allows sales from noon to 11 p.m. on June 28 and from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. from Sunday, June 29, through July 4.

Marysville residents may discharge fireworks only between 9 a.m. and 11 p.m. July 4, while Arlington residents may discharge fireworks between 9 a.m. and midnight that day. Neither city allows residents to discharge fireworks any other day, outside of New Year’s, and both cities limit their legal fireworks to Class C, or “safe and sane” fireworks.

Native American reservations may sell fireworks that do not conform to those laws, but such fireworks must be detonated on reservation lands. The fireworks stands of “Boom City” on the Tulalip Tribal Reservation provide a lighting and detonation area on site for customers. Security personnel will monitor the area to ensure that children age 12 and younger have adults age 18 or older present.

Fireworks that are illegal off tribal lands include bottle rockets, skyrockets, missiles and firecrackers. M-80s and larger, as well as dynamite and any improvised, homemade or altered explosive devices, such as tennis balls, sparkler bombs or cherry bombs, are likewise illegal. Anyone who possesses or uses such illegal devices can expect to be charged with a felony.

State Fire Marshal Charles Duffy is reminding Washingtonians that the purchase of fireworks over the Internet is illegal. Fireworks must be purchased from a licensed retail fireworks stand during the legal sales period.

In its online list of tips to the public, the Arlington Fire Department noted that illegal fireworks are often unpackaged and wrapped in plain brown paper, and warned against purchasing any fireworks that are not in their original packages, or are in opened or damaged packages.

Marysville police are taking enforcement seriously. Up until two years ago, they mainly issued warnings to those caught with illegal fireworks. “Warnings weren’t effective in ending the activity,” Marysville Police Cmdr. Robb Lamoureux said. “Anyone caught with illegal fireworks will be cited, and the fireworks will be confiscated.”

Under state law, possession or discharge of illegal fireworks is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $1,000, up to a year in jail and a mandatory court appearance.

City Public Information Officer Doug Buell pointed out that Marysville police can issue criminal citations to violators or civil citations, the latter similar to a speeding ticket. Lamoureux explained that such civil infractions enable officers to spend more time on the streets responding to fireworks complaints, and less time processing paperwork.

He added that Marysville police plan to have more officers on duty during this year’s Fourth of July, and emphasized that the safety of individuals and property is of utmost concern. “We have seen too many instances elsewhere and over the years where celebrations quickly turned to tragedy for families, especially where children and teenagers are involved,” Lamoureux said.

Although Arlington Fire Deputy Chief Tom Cooper believes that Arlington police and fire personnel are more likely to try and educate those using illegal fireworks, he warned that they will likely be more proactive and visible in various neighborhoods that have experienced problems with fireworks before.

“As much as the Fourth of July is a patriotic holiday, there are more than a few veterans who have a hard time dealing with fireworks because of their experiences,” Cooper said. “If people limit their fireworks activities to the Fourth, it allows those folks, as well as those who own easily spooked pets, to make arrangements.”

Officials in both cities urge Fourth of July revelers to clean up their fireworks. “After you light it up, clean it up,” Buell said. “Discarded fireworks the days after the Fourth are a neighborhood and community eyesore, and smoldering fireworks can still pose a fire hazard if you don’t get rid of them properly.”

To dispose of spent fireworks properly, the Arlington Fire Department advises that people let their used fireworks lay on the ground until they are cool, and there is no chance that any residue will reignite, after which they should place all the expended firework cases in a bucket of water. Those who use fireworks should keep a bucket of water or a running water hose close by.

“We want people in our community to enjoy fireworks and the Fourth, but we want them to do so safely, which is why we’re encouraging them to attend public fireworks shows, like the one at the Arlington Boys & Girls Club,” Cooper said. “Those shows are professional, well-organized, safe and, at least in Arlington, free.”

Cooper cautioned against treating certain fireworks dismissively because of their size. “People tend to think that smaller fireworks are less dangerous,” Cooper said. “That’s how they get injured, from standing too close to those fireworks, or over them, or even by holding bottle rockets with their bare hands.”

Treat your dog to 8th Annual Marysville Poochapalooza July 12

Rescue dogs fashion show, wiener dog races, Flyball, contests and more!
 
MARYSVILLE – Marysville Dog Owners Group (M-DOG) invites you and your pooch to the 8th Annual Marysville Poochapalooza outdoor dog event 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, July 12 at Strawberry Fields Park, 6100 152nd St. NE in Marysville.
 
Snohomish County’s largest dog event has kept tails wagging with the Fashions and Rescues Runway Show, Running of the Wieners dachshund races, Flyball exhibitions, pie-eating and Best in Show contests to give dogs their moment to shine, event coordinators say. In addition, you can snoop for bargains among the dozens of pet-related vendors.
 
Poochapalooza is free, but a suggested minimum $5 donation per person is requested, with goodie-filled “wag bags” to the first 500 visitors. All proceeds support needs at Strawberry Fields for Rover Off-Leash Park, such as agility equipment, picnic tables and benches. The park is maintained year-round by M-DOG volunteers.  
 
Poochapalooza this year will again go high fashion with the popular Fashions and Rescues Runway Show, mixing country charm with urban chic. The show will feature adoptable dogs modeling the latest eye-catching fashions live on the catwalk…urr….dogwalk.
 
“This is one our favorite highlights at the event because we like helping pet adoption groups find loving homes for dogs,” says Leslie Buell, Poochapalooza founder and coordinator, and an owner of shelter adopted dogs for years.
 
Another favorite is the “Running of the Wieners” dachshund races. Watch as these low to the ground but high on energy pups show off their speed and cunning in races starting at 2 p.m., Buell says. The number of qualifier races will depend on how many dogs register, so make sure your dog is in the running! Day of event registration is $10 per dog to race. Top finishers will be invited to compete in wiener dog races at the halftime show of a Seattle Seahawks game at Century Link Field in the 2014 season.
 
Dogs with a hidden talent can enter fun “Best in Show” contests like Best Kisser, Best Voice, Wackiest Pet Trick, and Pooch Pie-Eating Contests. Contest donation cost is $5 for one contest, or $10 for unlimited contests (excluding the Pooch Pie-Eating Contest in big and small dog categories, which is $10.) Register at the event. Visit the Poochapalooza website at http://poochapalooza.org/ for forms and schedule. The pie-eating contests are sponsored and emceed by Dining Dog Café and Bakery of Edmonds and Owner Dorothy Moore. The fashion show is sponsored by Christy Bows LLC.
 
Among new events this year, DuTERRA Essential Oils and K9 Nosework will combine to provide a scent demonstration, at 1:30 p.m., and a Doggie Dessert Dash will occur at 3 p.m., courtesy of Pupcakes LLC.
 
Food and refreshments available for purchase. Parking is free.
  
For more information about Poochapalooza, contact Leslie Buell at (425) 268-5285, email labuell@frontier.com, or visit the website at http://poochapalooza.org/. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/poochapalooza.
 

Northwest Tribal Courts Using Cutting Edge Technology to Promote Access to Justice

 

Source: Northwest Intertribal Court System

The Northwest Intertribal Court System (NICS) today launched a powerful online database providing attorneys and the public free access to hundreds of tribal court appellate opinions from thirty Indian tribes in the Pacific Northwest, Alaska, and Northern California.

The new NICS platform features a “Boolean” search engine, hyperlinked subject matter and tribal indexes, U.S.-based technical support, and a mobile application. Until now, the opinions have been available only in print or on CD.

Other legal databases, like Westlaw and LexisNexis, charge a substantial fee for similar services. NICS can provide its database for free, in part because of grants from the charitable funds of the Tulalip, Muckleshoot, and Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribes, and ongoing support from NICS’ other member tribes.

“Publishing these appellate court opinions online with a powerful search engine and making it available for free puts NICS and the many tribes participating in this project on the cutting edge of using technology to promote access to justice,” said Michael Rossotto, the NICS Appellate Department Director. “While federal, state and many tribal courts publish their decisions online, we are not aware of any other court system, federal, state or tribal, that offers online access to its decisions with all of the features we are offering free of charge,” said Rossotto.

Formed in 1979, the Northwest Intertribal Court System (NICS) is a consortium of Indian tribes that have joined their resources to ensure that each tribe is able to have its own court by sharing judges, prosecutors, and court-related services. The database represents a new and important chapter in the development of tribal justice systems and demonstrates NICS’ dedication to its member tribes.

The new NICS database will support its member courts by increasing efficiency, promoting access, bolstering tribal court credibility, and demonstrating the inherent sovereignty of the tribal governments, tribal officials said.

“Published appellate decisions are a testimony of tribal sovereignty and our inherent right to govern our affairs according to Shoalwater Bay Tribal laws and customs,” said Lynn Clark, Court Administrator for the Shoalwater Bay Tribe. “It promotes the Tribal Court’s professional credibility and shares appellate judgments and precedents in tribal laws.”

Pro se litigants will especially benefit from the new system. For the first time, tribal members who represent themselves in the tribal courts administered by NICS can tap into the collective wisdom of hundreds of tribal court jurists with a free and easy-to-use online database. Legal scholars, judges, and tribal law practitioners throughout the U.S. will also benefit from being able to access and research this rich resource, which now spans over 27 years of court decisions and will be continually updated as new opinions are issued by NICS-administered courts.

“Making our Court of Appeals’ opinions available online will better enable our tribal members to represent themselves,” said Muckleshoot Tribal Council Chair Virginia Cross. “It should also reduce costs for those who are able to afford a spokesperson or attorney, and will reduce the overall cost of administering our justice system by making legal research quicker, easier and more effective.”

“The Tulalip Tribes have for many years published the opinions of our Court of Appeals with NICS, the Indian Law Reporter, and Westlaw. Making these opinions available and researchable for free through the NICS website is yet another example of Tulalip’s exercise of its sovereign authority and its leadership in implementing the federal Tribal Law and Order Act and Violence Against Women Act,” added Herman Williams, Chairman of the Tulalip Tribes.

NICS’ tribal court appellate opinions, previously compiled in books known as “appellate reporters,” are published online by Code Publishing Company, Inc., of Seattle, Washington.  NICS is also taking pre-orders for a library-quality bound reprint edition of the entire series of reporters.  To access the NICS Tribal Court Appellate Opinions database, view a list of the participating tribes, or order the library-quality print edition, visit NICS on the web at: www.nics.ws.

About the Northwest Intertribal Court System

NICS’ mission is to assist its member tribes, at their direction, in a manner that recognizes the sovereignty, individual character, and traditions of those tribes in the development of tribal courts that provide fair, equitable, and uniform justice for all who come within their jurisdiction. NICS promotes tribal sovereignty through the administration of professional, efficient and unbiased courts that provide a forum for the peaceful and fair resolution of disputes. NICS was formed in the late 1970s in direct response to the requirement of the “Boldt decision” that a tribe needed to have a comprehensive scheme for enforcing its fishing regulations before the federal court would give final authorization for a tribe to regulate its own fisheries free from interference by the State of Washington. As the federal government returned to a policy of promoting tribal self-governance during this period and tribal governments began to reassert their sovereignty and pass tribal ordinances in many areas besides fishing, NICS-administered tribal courts quickly grew from hearing fishing disputes to being courts with broad jurisdiction under the laws of their tribes. In 2002, NICS was recognized by Harvard University as one of the top 100 programs in its annual Innovations in American Government Awards competition. Many of the original NICS member tribes now administer their own courts, while NICS now provides services to numerous non-member tribes on a fee-for-service basis. NICS’ current member tribes include the Chehalis, Muckleshoot, Port Gamble S’Klallam, Sauk-Suiattle, Shoalwater Bay, and Tulalip Tribes. For more information, visit www.nics.ws.

About the Tulalip Tribes

The Tulalip Tribes are the successors in interest to the Snohomish, Snoqualmie, Skykomish and other tribes and bands signatory to the 1855 Treaty of Point Elliott.  The 22,000-acre Tulalip Indian Reservation is located north of Seattle in Snohomish County, Washington. Tribal government provides membership with health and dental clinics, family and senior housing, human services, utilities, police and courts, childcare, and higher education assistance. The Tribe maintains extensive environmental preservation and restoration programs to protect the Snohomish region’s rich natural resources, which includes marine waters, tidelands, fresh water rivers and lakes, wetlands and forests both on and off the reservation. Developable land and an economic development zone along the I-5 corridor provide revenue for tribal services. This economic development is managed through Quil Ceda Village, the first tribally chartered city in the United States, providing significant contributions and benefits tribal members and the surrounding communities. The Tribes have approximately 4,400 members. For more information, visit www.tulaliptribes-nsn.gov.

About the Muckleshoot Tribe

The Muckleshoot Indian Tribe is a federally recognized Indian tribe whose membership is composed of descendants of the Duwamish and Upper Puyallup people who inhabited Central Puget Sound for thousands of years before non-Indian settlement.  The Tribe’s name is derived from the native name for the prairie on which the Muckleshoot Reservation was established.  Following the Reservation’s establishment in 1857, the Tribe and its members came to be known as Muckleshoot, rather than by the historic tribal names of their Duwamish and Upper Puyallup ancestors.  Today, the United States recognizes the Muckleshoot Tribe as a tribal successor to the Duwamish and Upper Puyallup bands from which the Tribe’s membership descends.  For more information, visit the Muckleshoot Tribe at www.muckleshoot.nsn.us/.

About the Shoalwater Bay Tribe

The mission of the Shoalwater Bay Tribe is to become self-sufficient and provide for the spiritual, social, economic and physical health of tribal members, while honoring traditions of the past and leaving a responsible legacy for future generations. The Shoalwater Bay Indian Reservation is located on the shores of Willapa Bay in southwestern Washington at the southern end of the Tribe’s ancestral homeland. The Tribe draws its membership from the Lower Chehalis, Shoalwater Bay, and Chinookan peoples. A small but strong tribe, the Shoalwater Bay Tribe is deeply connected to its history, and works hard to preserve its language and culture. Meanwhile, the Tribe also strives to grow its reservation economy, which includes the Shoalwater Bay Casino, a tribally chartered construction firm called Willapa Bay Construction, LLC, and a number of other tribal enterprises. The Tribe is especially dedicated to improving the health and lifestyles of its members while also increasing awareness of Shoalwater Bay Tribe culture and expanding the Tribe’s influence. For more information, visit

www.shoalwaterbay-nsn.gov/.

About Code Publishing Company

Code Publishing Company (CPC) is an innovative, full-service publishing company.  CPC offers codification and electronic publishing services to help its customers keep pace with the information age. CPC uses the latest technology to provide customers with high quality print publications along with an electronic version of all documents published. CPC provides print on-demand services, Internet/Intranet access services, and technical and legal editing services and data conversion to a variety of organizations and Indian tribes. Visit CPC on the web at www.codepublishing.com.