Tulalip member Gayle Jones has worked for the tribe for 36 years. The first 32 years of her career she worked with Family Services in various positions, namely Clinical Supervisor and Chemical Dependency Counselor. In recent years, Gayle has taken on a new opportunity where she is able to help the people of her community on an entirely new level.
“It’s all from the spirit, it’s a gift,” states Gayle. Her new position as Spiritual Counselor with the Domestic Violence Program provides her the opportunity of doing what she is most passionate about, helping people who lost their way to find their path again.
“I always grew up around the Shaker religion because my grandpa and auntie were Shakers,” said Gayle, who at 15 years old had a friend invite her to join the Shaker Church. She decided to give it a chance and while in attendance she was so frightened, she left. “I was spooked, my auntie was shaking on me. I was scared I ran away.”
In her twenties, Gayle was still finding her footing in life. During those years of self-discovery, like many young adults, she experimented with alcohol. This turned into addiction. She struggled with that alcohol addiction until age 29, when she decided she needed spiritual healing and made a life change by getting sober and finding her faith again.
The Spiritual Counselor position sees Gayle assisting the entire community of Tulalip. She conducts cleansings and prayers at events as well as individual counseling and home visits. While working on people, she remains respectful of the individual’s personal beliefs. “On home visits, I tell people to pray to who they believe in. I am not here to force anything onto anybody. I am not a priest; I am a human”
When requested Gayle will often travel to hospitals to assist those who need spiritual support. “I pray for them and their families and ask for their strength and health.”
Part of the service that Gayle provides is candle-work. “It’s a blessing. The light of the candle is the light of the spirit, of who you believe in. For me personally, it’s God. The light of the spirit cleanses everything; I am only an instrument,” she explained. The cleansing practice uses a lit candle as a tool, much like cedar branches, to remove negative energy from a person’s aura while simultaneously providing relief and balance to their lives.
“A lot of it is getting rid of stress. People are like magnets, they carry stress from work and a lot of grief too. I can get all that off of them,” she explained. Gayle ultimately wants people who are struggling to know that it gets better. She is working to heal the community, one request at a time, by providing spiritual counseling and guidance.
She says, “Knowing there’s hope out there that’s a huge part of [recovery]. Somebody helped me when I was going through all of it. Somebody grabbed my hand, was there for me and said ‘Come on girl get it together.’ So, that’s what I’m doing in return. All of my chemical dependency work and all of my spiritual work is to make people feel better.”
For more information, contact Gayle Jones at 360-716-4981.
Talking to adolescents and teens about sensitive issues can be a daunting task, let alone trying to start a conversation about youth suicide. However, it is of vital importance that the conversation be had and the youth allowed to speak freely on the subject. It’s imperative there be no judgement, no pressure, and no expectation. The goal is to create a comfortable space where conversation flows naturally. During these times the youth can be very enlightening and provide insight to a topic we may not have considered before.
Over a period of weeks, this comfortable space where conversation could flow freely was created with several Tulalip youth who are highly vested in their community. These are youth who range in age from 8th grade to recent high school graduates, with the majority being current high schoolers. It was made clear that their perspective on suicide would remain anonymous and be contributed to a collaboration article with several of their peers. The focus of conversation was on the recent coverage and response to community suicides over the last few months, their thoughts on what leads Native youth to contemplate suicide, and what they feel would be effective programs and developments to prevent teen suicide.
“As Native youth, we have endured so much loss and pain when it comes to losing family members or close friends or even just stress within our family. We are still suffering from the impacts of the genocide to our ancestors. Even today, almost on a daily basis the outside world still tries to strip us of what’s left of our culture. We’re like 50 years behind on education, we are more prone to addiction, alcoholism and using drugs. Let the youth know that we don’t have to continue that cycle. We can break those cycles of being addicts and uneducated. We can focus more on education, sports, and being culturally and community oriented.”
“Often partying is glorified. We should try to have more programs to go against all the things considered cool to do as a high school students. The underage drinking, smoking, ditching school, and things like that. We need prevention programs that actually speak to us, keep us busy, and focused on what’s really important. Let’s teach the youth to aspire to something greater…than just being on the Rez living paycheck to paycheck.”
“When you’re a teen you think it’s cool to look older or act older or do adult things, but you’re still just a kid. You’re still in high school. Why not learn to be a cool kid but in different ways? We try so hard to fit in but really in the world after high school its cooler to stand out.”
“There are definitely cycles that have been created. We all know and are told everything about suicide. We’ve seen the statistics that show we are more likely than other cultures to commit suicide. We know that’s there. Even when you’re in the moment, you know that’s going to be passed on, you’re going to become another statistic, but it still happens anyway. It’s hard to get out of that thinking that life just isn’t worth it anymore. Creating programs that help us to aspire, to know that whatever it is we’re going through doesn’t have to define us, that this isn’t the end of our journey, but the beginning, is critical to us breaking those cycles.”
“There’s a program at Behavioral Health that’s so amazing, but not a lot of people know about it. They offer counseling, someone for you to talk to about anything. Even if it’s something as simple as wanting to voice your thoughts they’ll listen. It’s located in the old Montessori building. They offer transportation so they can pick you up from school, will take you to appointments if your parents can’t. This program is so readily available, you just have to take the first step of reaching out to them.”
“I have cousins whose parents try to deny the fact they need help, that they have depression, and are suicidal. They need help from people who can support them and help them with what they are thinking and feeling, but their parents want to push it all under the rug. That doesn’t help anyone. It’s that old style of thinking that some of our parents still have and we need help breaking that cycle, too.”
“There’s a slippery slope that comes when discussing overdoses and deaths related to drugs and alcohol. Suicides is a part of that. The lines get blurred when it comes to a teenager who is driving drunk or high, crashes, and dies as a result. To some that’s considered not a suicide, but to others it is. Sometimes those of us closer to the situation know the true intent even if people want to deny it. If we count some of the drug and alcohol related deaths as suicides then that statistic for Tulalip looks a lot worse.”
“We hear a lot about generational trauma and the importance of our culture. After Jaylen, there were a lot of outsiders brought in and our space was no longer ours. In a way the response to bring in those outside professionals triggered more trauma in us. What do they know about our generation? What do they know about our culture? It’s hard enough for us to talk about sensitive subjects with family and friends. How were we expected to talk about these subjects and our thoughts and feelings with people we never seen before and didn’t know? It happened again after Dontae. It’s hard to talk about sensitive issues with strangers. Bringing outsiders to our spaces isn’t effective and doesn’t help us to heal.”
“When they had people who we didn’t know posted at the Teen Center it’s like you guys are messing with somewhere we feel safe, where we feel like we don’t have to be afraid or sad. Having those people there made some of us be elsewhere because we go to the Teen Center to be comfortable around our friends, not to be judged by people who don’t know us. It’s our safe haven and for that time we weren’t allowed to feel safe there.”
“I think that people find comfort in those they know and are familiar with. Starting our own teen support group is a good start. We want a place to talk about our feelings with people who understand what we’re going through. If you’re feeling suicidal or feeling like you don’t have anywhere else to go, then a peer-to-peer support group would be there for you.”
“Over the last couple months, since Dontae, there has been an increase in teens attempting suicide. I know of four or five attempts and that most likely isn’t all that have tried. I know a lot of people who feel so lonely and have suicidal thoughts, but there’s nothing I can do to help them. It’s hard because our youth are so stubborn. Trying to help someone is really hard if they don’t want to be helped. So we, as a community, need to work together on finding out what the emptiness is and how we can fill it.”
“A lot of why we are so apart as a community is we’ve lost so much of our culture. We are so disconnected from values are ancestors had. We really need to push our culture, like to an extreme extent to make up for all that we’ve lost. We hear so much talk on the importance of family and community, but it seems we are more divided than ever. Families vs. families, old feuds, and people fighting over who gets what. It’s like we need to learn to be a true community again. At the end of the day, all of us are Tulalip family.”
“There are so many of us who don’t even know who their family is because everyone is so caught up in their own day to day life. The support that should be there isn’t and we don’t know who to turn to. It’s sad. That’s where the loneliness comes from.”
“It’s interesting that when threatened by outsiders our people band together like no other. The tribal mentality and need to protect one another is super strong then. So why don’t we have that mentality all the time? Something that has stuck with me is at a community potluck put together by Natosha Gobin and Malory Simpson, it was geared towards the youth but a lot of families came together, and they said we should come together in the good times, not only the bad times like funerals. I think there should be more of a push to go to community potlucks, community gatherings, and having the youth get together. We find comfort talking to people that we know. Having events or community dinners where the youth can come and have a good time then our parents would be able to catch up with their friends, too.”
“We know the odds are against us. It’s up to us to work against these stats and cycles we hear so much about. Suicides, lack of education, alcoholism, addiction…all these things are working against us, all the percentages are negatively in our favor. We can’t just get stuck in what we know, we have to be open to what we don’t know. We have all this possibility in front of us and in our future. Why not try to turn that possibility into something positive? There’s so much more out there for us than just the stats and cycles. There’s a whole world of possibility out there, beyond this Rez. It’s up to us to realize that and not be afraid to journey on our own path. We decide what our story will be.”
Halloween is a magical time filled with fun, make-believe and, of course, candy, candy, candy. Unfortunately, the delicious caramels, chocolates, gummy treats and hard candies are not necessarily good for you. Here’s how to avoid some of the worst offenders and minimize the candy crash after Halloween.
What is sugar?
Sugar is a simple carbohydrate. The white sugar that you buy at the store is usually taken from sugar cane or sugar beets and processed to remove the plant material and other substances, leaving only the sugar crystals. I want to make clear, sugar occurs naturally in fruits and vegetables. Any time a food tastes sweet (think bananas, sweet potatoes or pumpkin), it’s because the food contains a lot of naturally occurring sugar. However, with natural sugars, the fiber and other nutrients in the plant help your body process the sugar more slowly, which reduces its negative effects. Added sugars, which are simple or processed sugars, are the more dangerous sugars.
Diabetes, tooth decay and the sugar hangover
In Native America, one of the most common specters of sugar consumption is diabetes. Only slightly less publicity is given to tooth decay. For parents, probably the most common and least talked about aspect of sugar is the dreaded “sugar hangover”. Bodycology.com explains that the sugar affects the body in a way similar to alcohol. It’s processed by the liver, kidneys, stomach and small intestines, so dehydration, electrolyte imbalances and tummy troubles can result in ‘hangover’ like symptoms. Over eating sugar can cause fuzzy thinking, lethargy, headaches, joint pain, constipation or diarrhea, skin problems or allergy symptoms and mood swings. If you’ve ever given a toddler chocolate near bedtime, you can attest to the mood altering properties of sugar.
The best defense against the perils of sugar is moderation. Limit the amount of sugar that you consume, and if you do provide candy, stay away from sticky candies and hard candies. Sticky candies stay glued to your teeth longer, especially in the hard to reach areas between teeth, increasing the possibility of tooth decay. Hard candies can literally break teeth when chewed. Candies that dissolve quickly, soft candies and chocolates are a better dental choice than taffy, caramels and jawbreakers.
Don’t underestimate the power of brushing teeth, or just following candy with a glass of water to remove sugar residue from teeth. Halloween is also a great time to schedule your next dental check-up and talk to your dentist about strategies to keep teeth healthy and clean.
How to avoid the candy trap
One great strategy is to host a Halloween party instead of going trick or treating. Halloween parties allow you to maximizes the creepy décor and enjoy tasty and healthy treats that have all the fun of Halloween without the sugar.
Instead of bowls of candy, try scary appetizers and snacks. Spidery deviled eggs are an easy, high protein snack. Top your favorite deviled egg recipe with black olives. Use a half-olive for the body of the spider and slivers of olive for the legs. A name change and some food coloring can quickly revamped dinner into something scary. Spaghetti and meatballs can become worms and eyeballs. Add some green or blue food coloring to tomato soup and cut your bread and cheese with a “hand” cookie cutter for hand sandwiches and black sludge. Maybe try your hand at carving jack-o-lantern stuffed peppers.
Want to involve your kids in the food prep? Start a Halloween tradition of baking and decorating cookies. Roll out either store bought or homemade sugar cookie dough, cut with Halloween cookie cutters, bake then decorate with colorful icing. Again, you can make your own icing, or buy it for quicker, easier decorating.
Instead of sugar cookies, you might enjoy witches’ fingers. This works with any shortbread cookie recipe or even canned biscuits or breadsticks, add green food coloring or roll in ground almonds for a witchy skin tone. Roll the dough into cylinders, pinch the dough in two places to create skinny ‘fingers’ with arthritic knuckles, and slice the top of the ‘knuckles’ to add wrinkles, insert a slivered almond for the finger nail, and voila, enjoy a crunchy, creepy sweet.
If you do end up with tons of candy, consider relying on the Switch Witch. Legend has it that the Switch Witch will trade your candy for prizes and money if you leave it out for her (she must be related to the Tooth Fairy). Many dentists will also trade candy for toothbrushes, stickers and other fun dental health items. Another option is to donate your candy to service men and women who may not have access to their candy favorites while they serve oversees in the military.
Whatever you do this Halloween, don’t forget the costumes and lots and lots of fun!
Does your child refuse foods or insist on eating the same few foods? Picky eating often starts around one year of age when children start feeding themselves and are learning to talk and walk. With all of this developmental change going on, your child may feel comforted by familiar foods.
How can you help?
Create a mealtime routine. Serve snacks and meals at about the same times, in the same place, and with the same plate and utensils.
Offer 3 meals with 2-3 snacks in between, every day.
Keep mealtime short: 10-20 minutes
In one meal, offer 3-4 preferred foods, alongside 1 new food.
Provide small portions of “finger foods” that your child can feed himself.
Encourage your child to put foods that he chooses NOT to eat in a “no thank you” or
“maybe next time” bowl.
Include your child in preparing or serving foods. Let her wash the vegetable or fruit in a bowl of water or the sink; scoop the drained pasta or peas from pot or colander into serving bowl; place one pancake on each plate.
Talk about the color, shape, texture, and size of the food.
Encourage your child to smell, touch, serve (and maybe taste) the new food.
Picky eaters may need 15-20 exposures to new foods before the food becomes something they will eat consistently.
Teach your child to help clean up, by throwing napkin or paper plate in trash, carrying dish to sink, or wiping table.
Be careful!
Try not to bribe your child with sweets. This makes the sweet reward more desirable than the healthy food.
Don’t force your child to eat. This can result in a power struggle and cause stress for both of you.
Remember, your job is to offer healthy foods. Your child’s job is to decide what and how much she will eat. Appetites change from meal to meal and day to day. This is normal.
To read more about picky eaters and nutrition, search:
How to Handle Picky Eaters Zero to Three
Food Guide Pyramid for Young Children
ChildStrive has been partnering with Tulalip families for more than 30 years. For information about your child’s development contact Carol Good at ChildStrive at (425) 353-5656 x7223 or Carol.Good@ChildStrive.org. More information about ChildStrive can be found on our website at www.ChildStrive.org
Tulalip Tribal Chairman Mel Sheldon speaks about healing from addiction. Photo/Kalvin Valdillez
by Kalvin Valdillez, Tulalip News
“Out of curiosity, how many folks here have someone they know who has an opioid addiction?” asked Tulalip Tribes Chairman, Mel Sheldon, at the Opioids and Heroin in Snohomish County community forum. In response, nearly everybody in the Orca Ballroom of the Tulalip Resort and Casino raised their hands.
“I’ve been to too many funerals supporting families who lost a loved one due to an overdose,” Mel continued. The first time he saw the effects of heroin was in the service. Mel witnessed G.I.’s fall victim to ‘China White’ the popular street name for the drug at the time.
Mel stressed that the forum was designed to inform and heal. He understands the difficulties of addiction and spoke of his many years of sobriety from alcohol.
Dr. Gary Goldbaum
Before introducing guest speaker, Dr. Gary Goldbaum, Mel expressed that sharing is a part of the road to recovery and understanding, and that community is stronger by working as one. “When we share, we may hear something that inspires us, something that helps us. So when a friend says ‘I need some help’ we can give them the resources they need, and make a difference.”
Dr. Gary Goldbaum spoke about the epidemic that is destroying communities nationwide. He explained that is extremely difficult to quit once you have started using opioids. He showed side-by-side chemical structures of the prescription opioid OxyContin, prescribed for pain, and of heroin, revealing the two structures are nearly identical.
Because heroin produces the same effects to the human body as OxyContin, many people turn to heroin once their prescriptions run out. The price is cheaper and the demand is so high that the drug has become easily accessible. In recent years, deaths caused by heroin overdose have hit the community of Snohomish County extremely hard. For this reason Dr. Goldbaum believes that a major key in preventing people from trying opioids is education, and suggests that educating children at a young age would tremendously help stifle the epidemic. “This is beyond any one person,” he expressed. “This requires all of us.”
Goldbaum explained in detail what happens during the downward spiral of someone who is addicted to opioids. “Once a person becomes biologically dependent they are driven so hard to get the drug, that it comes at the expense of everything else in their life. Nothing is as important as getting the next fix, because withdrawal is painful.”
He went on to explain that the ‘miracle drug’, Naloxone, should be carried with addicts and friends and family members of addicts at all time. Naloxone saves lives by reversing an overdose in a matter of minutes.
Chief Carlos Echevarria of the Tulalip Police Department stated he shares the frustration and anger the community feels. He said that nearly every crime responded to is heroin related.
“It’s our number one concern,” Chief Echevarria said. “When I was about fifteen I lost two uncles. Last year I lost my brother due to an overdose, so I understand.” He shared that he felt the ‘what ifs’ and that he shared tears with parents in his office who were making funeral arrangements for their children.
Tulalip Health Program’s Annaliese Means and Tulalip community activist Rico Jones Fernandez both spoke of the epidemic ways to help the community.
The health clinic and community health program provides intake exams and counseling for recovering addicts, though treatment and most counseling takes place at Family Services. The program also helps expecting mothers who are using to get and stay clean during pregnancy.
Rico was instrumental in the passing of Tulalip’s Good Samaritan Law and he also worked hard to get the health clinic’s pharmacy to distribute Naloxone. Rico is also known for running Tulalip’s Clean Needle Exchange Program, where he personally walks throughout the Tulalip Community picking up used needles. The exchange also makes clean needles easily accessible, preventing diseases such as HIV for addicts who would otherwise share needles.
Two speakers, Debbie Warfield and Jim Hillaire, each shared their heartbreaking stories of how heroin stole their children at young ages.
Debbie described her son, Spencer, as a normal kid who loved sports but hated school. Before Spencer started high school they noticed he started to display more aggressive-like behavior. Thinking it was just a phase and the growing pains of adolescence, Debbie didn’t look too far into the behavior at first. However, by the time Spencer reached high school he was diagnosed with depression and ADHD and was prescribed medication. The medication caused him to become distant in both his home and social lives.
Spencer graduated and attended Washington State University where he was diagnosed with anxiety, and this time, opioids were prescribed. Spencer then tried heroin. He went to treatment for 28 days, but eventually died from an overdose.
Jim recently lost his daughter Angelina. She fought a long hard battle with her heroin addiction. She would often get clean for extended periods of time, and then relapse. Each time she relapsed she made strong efforts to get clean again by going back to treatment.
Hillaire stated the entire staff at one of the treatment facilities loved Angelina so much, they invited her to stay and work for them. Ultimately, Angelina decided against staying because she wanted to be with her family. Angelina lost her heroin battle this past summer. Jim stressed that this epidemic is a sickness, similar to a zombie apocalypse, and urged “these people are not dead but are valuable. They are worth our time and our help.”
The major keys that Jim stressed repeatedly are that the entire community needs to be more involved in each other’s lives in order for change to happen, to revisit some of the traditional teachings and practice them at home, and the community also needs to understand what addicts are going through. “I never met one person that wanted to continue to be an addict,” Jim stated.
Chief Carlos Echevarria of the Tulalip Police Department.
Chief Echevarria said the Tulalip Police Departments priority is to bust the small time dealers in the Tulalip community. The Chief will also continue to assist, in any way possible, with the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Department. Commander Pat Slack states that the Sheriff’s Department is focusing on catching the suppliers who are importing the heroin from Mexico.
The forum concluded with a Naloxone training to better equip attendees with the knowledge of how to revive a person who has overdosed.
Another forum will be held on October 13, starting at 6:30 p.m. at Edmonds Community College.
The Tulalip Tribes Family Services Women’s Healing Circle –Relapse Prevention Treatment Group, is a cultural based approach to supporting Native women in their efforts to address relapse prevention within the context of community, family and individual. The Women’s Healing Circle meets twice a week (10:00am-12noon) Tuesdays/Thursdays for 6 weeks at TFS. We include Native perspective, worldview and culture specific exercises and activities which build on strengths, and supports a holistic approach for wellness and health. Our Women’s Healing Circle group is designed to incorporate traditional universal Native values and beliefs for enhancing identity and fostering healthy relationships. You must be enrolled in TFS chemical dependency treatment program for participation in Women’s Healing Circle group. Please contact TFS for more information at 360-716-4400
With the assistance of WSU Beach Watchers volunteers, the quality of water at Mission Beach is being monitored weekly. So far this summer, the water has been sampled seven times. Samples are analyzed at the Tulalip Water Quality Lab.
From Valerie Streeter, Stormwater Planner in Tulalip Natural Resources:
“This year is the first time Tulalip Natural Resources with WSU Beach Watcher Volunteers have monitored the water at Mission Beach for safe swimming conditions so we weren’t sure what we would find. It’s great to see that beach water is clean so far! The weekly water monitoring will continue until August 30.”
The results show that bacteria levels in the water are below the threshold limit for swimming, which means that the water is clean. The graph below shows the average result from the three beach sampling stations. The red line shows the bacteria threshold limit and the blue line is the water quality data.
With the good news of Mission Beach having clean water with safe swimming conditions, be sure you make a trip before summer is over.
Native American Hip Hop Artist and Motivational Speaker Frank Waln performs wioth fellow activist and dancer, Micco.
“It comes down to the decisions you make in your life. Most of the time the right choice isn’t the easy one. It’s easy to run away. To run away to drugs and alcohol and I’m not judging, but I am here today because I’m always making the difficult choice,” stated Native American Hip Hop Artist and Motivational Speaker Frank Waln. Along with Tanaya Winder, Megan Red-Shirt Shaw, and The Sampson Bros, Frank closed out the final day of the Annual Community Wellness Conference at the Tulalip Resort and Casino on August 11.
Frank shared his entire life story with the future of the Tulalip Tribes for one reason: inspiration. The history of Native America isn’t well known to the rest of the world. Our story is often watered-down or not mentioned at all in schools throughout the United States. Growing up as a Native American in today’s society, we always had difficulties finding role models that weren’t appropriated by stereotypes. Frank easily flipped the script by actively advocating Native American rights, and is clearing up any misconceptions during the process.
Now in his mid-twenties, Frank spoke to the youth about everything he went through as a young Indigenous man. From a fatherless childhood to the culture shock of leaving his reservation for college, Frank has seen it all in only 27 years.
Frank spoke about his own experiences with drugs, alcohol, depression and suicide, so the youth can identify when they are caught up in one of those life-threatening cycles and can ask for help. More importantly, he shared those experiences so the youth, who might be going through a difficult time right now, could relate. He let them know that they aren’t alone, and how finding a healthy outlet is crucially important because it can break those cycles.
Before Frank took to the stage to perform his music, three of his colleagues and close friends shared their uplifting words with the conference attendees. Frank’s long time friend, fellow activist, dancer, and half of The Sampson Bros, Micco, encouraged the youth to follow their passion and to give it everything they got. Poetess, activist, and Frank’s manager, Tanaya Winder, performed poems from her new book Words Like Love and spoke about losing a loved one to suicide. And activist, writer, and founder of Natives In America, Megan Red-Shirt Shaw, talked with the community about finding and utilizing your voice while encouraging the youth to pursue higher education.
In between speeches, airbrush artists from Dzul Ink were at hand, making custom t-shirts for the youth with slogans such as Smoke Salmon Not Cigarettes and Pizza Rolls Not Gender Roles. Each person in attendance had the opportunity to choose a slogan they wanted to advocate for and the Dzul Ink artists created the t-shirt while the youth enjoyed the performance by Frank Waln and The Sampson Bros.
The perfect way to end any conference is with a musical performance. Frank and Company took it a step further by incorporating the message they were expressing with the most influential genre of music in the past three decades, hip-hop.
Frank performed some of his notable songs including AbOriginal and My Stone and debuted a new track, What Makes A Red Man Red, which samples dialogue from the Disney classic, Peter Pan. The inspiration for the new song came from the frustration of how Tiger Lily and Native Americans are portrayed in the movie.
While Frank passionately spit bars over beats he made on his own, the Sampson Bros performed along side him playing the flute and both fancy and hoop dancing. Micco shared the story of how he met Frank followed by spoken word poetry he wrote for his father, Will Sampson, who played Chief Bromden in the classic film adaptation of One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest.
The event was a success from the first day to the last. Each speaker gave the youth something to reflect upon and let them know they are loved, because sometimes when people get caught up in the everyday struggle it can be hard to overcome the overwhelming pressure of todays society. Sometimes we get lost in depression created by multi-generational trauma, and we desperately search for an escape. The wellness conference not only acknowledged that depression and anxiety are disorders that Native Americans are suffering from on every reservation, but also gave the Tulalip community healthy ways and the tools to help cope with those disorders.
Native American activism is the message that Ashley Tiedeman, Tobacco Cessation Program Coordinator, and her team delivered to the Tulalip youth during the second day of the Annual Community Wellness Conference. The three-day event, held July 28, August 4 and 11 in the Orca Ballroom at the Tulalip Resort and Casino, included a remarkable line-up of speakers. The second day’s focus, Exercising Our Rights, featured The 1491’s, Deborah Parker, and two Tulalip Board of Directors.
Comedy sketch group, The 1491’s
The 1491’s
“Everyday we wake up and think of our image. What clothes and what logos we wear, that’s part of how we define ourselves. We are not that stereotype, we are not mascots that is not how we want to be represented,” stated Bobby Wilson of the comedy sketch group, The 1491’s. The group, including members Migizi Pensoneau and Ryan Red Corn, were the keynote speakers for day two of the event.
The 1491’s YouTube channel has nearly seven million views and is filled with hilarious Indigenous satire. The group shared a few videos during the event including an episode from the popular series A Day in the Life of a Pow Wow Emcee. The 1491’s effortlessly filled the room with laughter and were able to naturally transition into serious topics such as racism, mascots, and politics.
Tulalip Tribal member and activist Deborah Parker
Deborah Parker
When you speak about activism for Native America in today’s society, one of the first names that come to mind is Tulalip’s own, Deborah Parker. As many know Deborah has done outstanding work for the community of Tulalip, starting both the Young Mothers Program and the Tribal Tobacco Program. Most recently Deborah played a large role in the Bernie Sanders campaign, and is an advocate for improved access for education and health care for Indigenous people.
A young Tulalip Native American woman with so many accomplishments is the perfect role model for activism. As she spoke, the entire ballroom listened intently. She touched on an array of topics including projects she is working on, and gave advice to the youth on where to start and how to make sure their voices are heard.
Deborah compared Native American activism to a battle stating, “It’s a fight unfortunately, for us to be acknowledged by the United States Government. For us as Native people to be seen on television for our voices to be heard, that’s what we are fighting for.”
Exercising Our Rights
Tulalip BOD member Theresa Sheldon shared motivating words on the importance of making sure your voice is heard through voting. With a moving story Bonnie Juneau, another member of the Tulalip BOD, spoke of the struggle of addiction.
Before the event shifted back to a light-hearted atmosphere with a fun run, Bonnie shared an extremely important message urging the Tulalip community to support and show love to our youth, stating, “We can get to a place that we can work through our emotions, where we can learn to deal with our pain in a healthy way. Let’s honor our children in life; lets encourage them in life. We can’t wait until it’s too late.”
