Category: News

By Kalvin Valdillez, Tulalip News

“Nobody in my family was a runner,” said Tulalip tribal member, Tyler Fryberg. “But once I was able to run my first three miles without stopping, that got me excited and I kept on running ever since.”

Tyler’s passion for running began during a big change in his life, when making the transition from middle school to high school. Knowing he wanted to participate in school sports, he signed up for cross country and track & field during his freshman year at Lake Stevens High School. He continued competing in both sports his sophomore year before transferring to Monroe High School where he completed his school career.

“When I left Lake Stevens and moved to Monroe, where I graduated, it was all new,” he said. “I started there my 11^th grade year and I did both cross country and track. I didn’t make varsity for cross country my first year there, but I did for track & field. After my 11^th grade year, I end up lettering in both sports during my senior year. That was my goal I had all along, even with knowing I had a disability and that it was going to be a lot harder than the normal person.”

After lettering in cross country as well as track & field, and also receiving his diploma, Tyler set new goals to crush and kept lacing up his running sneakers every single day to begin training for the Special Olympics. Due to his hard work, Tyler medaled nearly every year he competed at the Special Olympics and even carried the Special Olympics Torch of Hope for 18 miles in 2012. 

Now age 28, Tyler has run for over half of his life, with the exception of a one-year hiatus due to an injury, “that really got me thinking about my body, taking care of it better so I can run longer,” he expressed.

With countless miles under his belt and several accolades to show for his love of running, Tyler is constantly looking for new challenges, new opportunities to push his limits and exceed his own personal goals. When he learned about a former teacher, Jim Strickland, partnering with Tulalip-based non-profit, Leah’s Dream Foundation, to help raise money and promote awareness for children with disabilities, it was the perfect match.

“I was already involved with Leah’s Dream,” he stated. “So, when they decided to make the Miracle Mile Challenge, I said right away that I definitely wanted to be a part of it. When I signed-up, there was a lot of different miles you can choose from. For me, I like to make big goals so I picked 1,000 miles. That journey started January 1^st and was supposed to end on December 31^st, but I actually finished my 999^th mile a couple weeks ago.” 

Finishing months in advance, Tyler ran between 3.5–5 miles for six days every week of the year, making sure to take a rest day to recover and prepare for the upcoming week. On top of the Miracle Mile challenge, Tyler has competed in Special Olympic events such as virtual races, that are held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Tyler also created a Facebook page to keep his fans and supporters updated during the challenge and his upcoming running endeavors.

“Somedays I feel motivated, and there are times I don’t feel like running at all,” Tyler admitted. “But this challenge is for Leah’s Dream and knowing that, it gave me motivation to run every day and it was actually something I looked forward to and was excited to do.”

Leah’s Dream Foundation was established in 2015 with one major objective in mind, inclusion. The foundation was started by Deanna Sheldon and family when her daughter, Leah, was diagnosed with autism. The profits that the foundation raises go towards parties, gifts and activity packages for children and young adults living with autism and special needs, to help build a sense of community amongst the youth and their families. Some of their most popular events include the Leah’s Dream Foundation Annual Golf Tournament and the summertime Special Needs Field Day, complete with bouncy castles and a BBQ.

“Before the pandemic, we used to host community events where families all across our community would come together,” Deanna explained. “It was always a free event; we had food, arts and crafts, activities, and events. Last year around this time, Mr. Strickland said he wanted to raise money by running 1,000 miles in one year, and wanted to offer people the chance to do it with him. He’s a runner and is so inspirational.”

Added Amy Sheldon, Leah’s Dream Board Member and Deanna’s sister, “Mr. Strickland was actually Kelsey’s teacher. Kelsey’s my daughter, she’s 24 years old and has autism. He is the one teacher that she had a lot of comfort in, she only had two that she really liked in high school and he was one of those. He would think outside of the box to help her. He’s an inspiration and goes above and beyond for our community.”

Jim Strickland is an instructor at Marysville Getchell High School and has worked throughout the Marysville School District, assisting young adults with developmental disabilities transition to a life outside of high school. 

“I’ve worked with people with disabilities my entire career,” Jim said. “I teach the transition program at Marysville Getchell High School, helping people with disabilities transition from school to active roles in their community. I always had a passion for creating a community that was truly inclusive so that everybody has a place, is valued and is able to share their skills and abilities, whatever they might be. That’s my dream come true, and this played right into it. Leah’s Dream is really about that.”

He continued, “We were looking at a way to raise awareness for Leah’s Dream Foundation and to also raise funds. A lot of my students have been the beneficiaries of the projects that [Leah’s Dream Foundation] has done here in the community. Since Tyler and I both like running, we decided to do a running challenge and I set my sights high for 1,000 miles. Of course, Tyler’s an animal and he’s got other races he’s involved with, so his running went really fast. I had to pick up the pace. Turns out we were able to finish 999 miles sooner than we expected, so we wanted to have a celebratory last-mile-run together and hopefully put the word out and get some more contributions for Leah’s Dream.”

On the afternoon of September 19, upwards of forty people gathered at the Tulalip Sports Complex, located outside of the Tulalip Youth Center. The two participants readied themselves in a running position and the crowd began to count them down. At 1:00 p.m. on the dot, Tyler and Jim took off and began their final mile side-by-side. 

A young man practicing drills on the football field with his family learned about what was happening and immediately began jumping up and down, cheering on the runners, especially Tyler. The young man was so excited, he left his family during the middle of his training session and took a lap around the complex, hooting and hollering for the cause the entire way. Other friends of Tyler and Jim also joined in on the celebration, participating in the midday exercise by walking or running a few yards behind the 1,000 mile-dashers, including Leah herself who took her scooter for a spin along the track.

A big motivator for Tyler is when people recognize him while he is out running on Totem Beach Road. In fact, Tyler is known by many for his passion of running and has earned himself the nickname of the ‘Tulalip Marathon Man’ for the many years he dedicated to his sport. And of course, like almost every athlete will tell you, it’s all about the gear and looking stylish while you do your thing. After many years of trial and error, Tyler has found the perfect running shoe to withstand all the miles he tracks.

“These are them, the new ones,” he exclaimed while showcasing his kicks. “Everyone’s got to see the shoes. I like to wear Brooks because it’s the only shoe I found to help me be successful as a runner. They are the most comfortable – and I’ve tried all the brands.”

In addition to his fly feet apparel, Tyler unveiled his own personal brand during the Miracle Mile event. While making his strides towards his final mile, Tyler proudly displayed his new merch for all to see; a t-shirt, water bottle and a mask with his alias, ‘Tulalip Marathon Man’, in large text next to a silhouetted-logo of himself running. 

“Running is important to me because it’s something I enjoy doing,” Tyler expressed. “I think it motivates people to start exercising in general. When people see me on the side of the road, it brings me motivation and excitement and it’s actually really cool when it happens in your own community. It makes me feel good and it’s really important to me. My advice to new runners is find something that motivates you to run and don’t push yourself too hard, you have to take it easy at first when you are learning how to run. Take it one mile and one day at a time, and remember that anything is possible.”

With 1,000 miles in the books and smoke-free weather, Tyler is ready to get back on his grind and is already conjuring up his next personal goal. The partnership with Leah’s Dream helped raise over $1,200.00 and the non-profit is still accepting pledges for the runners, although the event finished earlier than anticipated. The foundation will now focus their efforts on creating a magical Christmas for their children and community, assembling gift-care packages that will be hand-delivered to their homes by none other than Santa Clause.   

“We want our families to know that we’re here, we care and we just generally want us all to be together again,” Deanna said. “We’re all within a community, we are all one and united, it doesn’t matter what disability or non-disability you have. Creating an inclusive environment is one of the biggest things we want, love and strive for.”

For more information about Leah’s Dream Foundation and the Tulalip Marathon Man, be sure to follow their journey on their respective Facebook pages.

By Micheal Rios, Tulalip News

Following night two of the Republican National Convention, many across Coast Salish territory were vexed, truly vexed, when they witnessed vice-president of Navajo Nation, Myron Lizer, address a largely conservative audience and endorse President Donald Trump for the 2020 election.

“Many of our ancestral leaders sought to govern and lead a nation within a nation,” Lizer said. “They sought to lead their people into the promises of a better way of life for their children’s children. It is also where they have not been as successful as the rest of America. 

“Our first nation’s people – the host people of the land – we are still here. Our creator placed us here and he knew that for such a time as this we would have the opportunity for an appeal to heaven. You see our people have never been invited into the America Dream. We for years fought past battles with congressmen and senators that were part of a broken system that ignored us. That is until President Trump took office.

“President Trump delivered the largest funding package ever to Indian Country. The $8 billion dollars in CARES Act funding was a great start in alleviated the devastating effects that the Covid-19 pandemic has affected on our tribes because of health disparities that previous administration failed to improve,” he continued. “I’m excited to endorse President Trump’s reelection.”

During Lizer’s eye-opening, two-and-a-half minute speech he praised the President for a number of policies instituted in the last few months that benefit Native American communities. Among them are the $8 billion dollars in CARES Act funding, $273 million to improve public safety and support victims of crimes on Native lands, and, most recently, the creation of a task force to address the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women crisis. Dubbed ‘Operation Lady Justice’, this task force intends to dedicate more crucial monies and man power to the MMIW movement by establishing an interagency task force charged with developing an aggressive, government-wide strategy to address the crisis.

“Our Native American people experience violence at a higher rate than any other nationality in the country,” explained Lizer when President Trump signed the executive order creating ‘Operation Lady Justice’. “The lack of reporting and investigation of missing and murdered Indigenous peoples needs to be taken seriously. The executive order gives hope to our tribal nations that justice is being sought and that there is a path for healing of our families, victims, and survivors.”

Without a doubt, self-identifying liberal, progressive, or Democrat tribal citizens may very well disagree with Lizer’s political allegiance and endorsement of President Trump for re-election. They may even go as far to call the recent legislative policies aimed at benefitting Native communities nothing more than political hogwash and moves only intended to garner political support. Even if that’s true, shouldn’t the mere spotlight on tribal issues and voices be considered a win? Regardless of which political party wrote or passed a particular policy, shouldn’t every resource gained by Indian Country be viewed as a step forward? 

When legislative policies are deemed good or bad, right or wrong, favorable or unfavorable simply based on whether they were created by team blue (Democrats) or team red (Republicans) then it only succeeds in dismissing the actions of half the voting electorate. In doing so, the voices of Native conservatives go unheard by Native progressives and vice-versa.

Quick piece of history trivia: Did you know a Native American has served as the Vice President of the United States? If you’re in disbelief, don’t be. It’s a super cool part of history that is often neglected or forgotten altogether because Charles Curtis (Kaw), the 31^st VP who served from 1929-1933 under President Herbert Hoover, was a Republican.

Currently, there are only four Native Americans members in Congress. Representatives Sharice Davids (Ho-Chunk) and Deb Haaland (Laguna Pueblo) both made history in 2018 when they won their seats and became the first Native women to reach the House of Representatives. They both are Democrats. They joined their fellow Native politicians Representative Tom Cole (Chickasaw) and Representative Markwayne Mullin (Cherokee), both Republicans, to bring the Native voice to each major political party. 

“If you look at our people nationally, there is no party who universally supports us,” explained O.J. Semans (Rosebud Sioux), executive director of the Native voter engagement organization Four Directions. “It really is dependent on region and the particulars of local state governments. I can guarantee you that you can have Democrats within your area and if the local Native interests are different from theirs, then you won’t have their support.

“I think we should support Native candidates running for both parties. There needs to be Native republicans and Native democrats in order to work together in advancing Native issues,” he added. “It’s never going to be about a particular party issue, it’s always going to be about our peoples’ issues. As Native Americans, let us not look at a party above our own issues, above our treaties and above our sovereignty.”

Today, Native voters represent an influential and unique population of voters in the United States. The Native vote influences outcomes of presidential and congressional elections, as well as state and local elections. While Native issues are complex and vary by region, tribe, and culture, most tribal citizens agree supporting tribal sovereignty and self-determination is the foundation to any successful Native platform, regardless of political affiliation.

By Kalvin Valdillez, Tulalip News

With the late August weather reaching the mid-70’s on a Friday afternoon, cars zoomed across the recently widened bridge that spans across Quil Ceda Creek, windows down and music blaring. On the side of the bridge, nearest to 27^th street, a group of volunteers were hard at work. With yellow vests and extendable trash grabbers, the crew spent four hours cleaning an area that is often frequented by the homeless and addicted populace. Once their blue bucket was filled to the top with rubbish, they transferred the trash to a large dumpster and began working on a new area. 

The members of the working crew are the very first participants of a new program called Tulalip Community Give Back, organized by the Tulalip Probation Office. And despite the physical work and warm weather, the participants wore smiles and shared stories and jokes while they worked.

“We’re picking up around the bridge on both sides, just cleaning up and picking up all the garbage and debris,” said volunteer, Yessenia Vega-Simpson. “This is the first day of the program and so far it’s a pretty cool program. There’s two groups, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, so you can pick and choose your time. I’m doing the full eight hours so I can hurry up and get my community service done. “

Like many new or redesigned programs, Tulalip Give Back was created in response to the novel coronavirus disease when clients of the Tulalip Justice Center could not fulfill their community service hours. 

“Our only structure pre-COVID was community service, essays, court observation, and unfortunately warrants or jail time,” said Tulalip Probation Officer, Angel Sotomayor. “Post-COVID (outbreak), of course we don’t want to put anyone behind bars if we can prevent it, but community service work is limited within the communities we used to send them to. So we wanted to try something different, a method of community service that is Tulalip specific and includes community involvement and interaction with other departments within the Tribe.”

Previously, Justice Center clients would normally volunteer their time at community service programs located in nearby cities such as Marysville and Everett. However, once the Stay Home, Stay Safe mandate went into effect, the need for community service workers decreased significantly to the point that Tulalip members were falling out of compliance due to limited work available. 

Angel stated, “We are working with those clients who need that extra structure, who have been out of compliance, who volunteer to opt-in and give back to the community in this aspect instead of warrants, jail time, or writing an essay. The Tulalip Community Give Back program will be two days a week, but at the start of it we’re only going to do it one day a week for eight hours. There are two crews, 7:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. and a 12:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m. on Fridays. This way, those who have children obligations during the first part of the day, can come to the second session or vice versa.”

  A common theme throughout the design of the Give Back program is rebuilding and strengthening that connection between the clients and the community. Angel and the Justice Center hope that by collaborating with other departments, their clients will become more familiarized with the people in a professional manner and acquire new skills that they could add to their resumes when job hunting. Angel hopes that as word about the Give Back program spreads, more departments will reach out when in need of any general assistance that can be entrusted to their clients. 

Out the gate, the program is receiving a huge boost from the Tulalip Public Works department that assigned a 12-passenger van to the program to transport the clients to each worksite every week. Public Works is also providing the Probation Office with work locations as well as any necessary tools or services required to get the job done. 

“We teamed up with Sam Davis and his staff and they agreed to provide us with all the tools we need – safety vests, glasses, first aid and training so they know how to properly deal with broken glass, and hazardous things they might find when cleaning up,” said Angel. “Hopefully down the road, as the program continues to develop, they’ll be able to add these tasks as an acquired skill; leaf blowing, power washing, mowing lawns, scanning documents or shredding documents. That’s our long term goal, to be able to give them the tools to build themselves up, to be a member of the community and not feel that they are different than anyone else. Yes, they are still on probation, but they are still a member of this community.”

It seems that with each day that passes, the program continues to grow. Already, the Tulalip Give Back program is slated to clean up the housing developments built on the reservation including Mission Highlands, Battle Creek, and Silver Village. 

“I believe this is very important work that is being done,” Sam Davis, Public Works Director of Operations stated. “Giving these community members the opportunity to give back in a good way [is] awesome to see. Also the impact these cleanups have in terms of community health, public safety, and environmentally are huge.” 

On the first day of the program, the morning of August 28, the Tulalip Tribal Court’s Chief Judge, Michelle Demmert, offered some inspiring words to the morning crew after they received their required COVID screenings. She applauded them for volunteering their time, while also expressing a desire to incorporate more Tulalip culture into the program. And with the possibility of more funding in the near future, the Give Back program is doing some tentative planning with ideas of weaving classes and other traditional teachings in mind. 

Angel also stated that the program is in talks with the Tulalip Fish Hatchery to put their volunteers to work and learn more about the salmon, its life cycle and significance to the Salish people. By adding a cultural aspect to the program, the clients get the chance to revisit the traditions and teaching of their people in addition to picking up trash and caring for the land. 

“We think that this is going to help build that relationship with the community, where they can interact and gain skills to give back to Tulalip, because most of our clients are Tulalip tribal members,” expressed Angel. “This gives them the opportunity to show that they’re volunteering to do this, they want to be a part of this community, they still want to get through these conditions, pay back those fines, stay out of jail and hopefully find their path.”

Staying true to the theme of strengthening relationships, Angel, and volunteers from the Justice Department, plan on being on site during each community service gathering, lending a hand as well as any guidance needed throughout the day. By rolling up their sleeves and working side-by-side, the court hopes to build trust, understanding, and meaningful, long-lasting relationships with their clients.

Nine participants showed up in total for the first day of the Tulalip Community Give Back program, many of whom spent the entire eight hours in the field, filling up an extra-large dumpster with garbage that was recovered from both sides of the Quil Ceda Creek bridge. In addition to all the trash collected, the participants flagged over 50 used needles that were scattered about, which Angel safely handled and disposed of. 

“We no longer have to rely on Marysville or surrounding communities, we can focus on what Tulalip needs,” Angel said. “It was motivating watching these clients work so hard today. It has given me the drive to continue to do what I am doing. Times have been difficult for everyone during this pandemic, across the entire Tribe we have had to develop new methods to better assist those which we serve. I commend everyone for their efforts during these trying times. Today really reminded me of how important it is to develop alternate methods of engagement with our clients. If anyone has a moment stop by and take a look at the area beside the bridge, adjacent to the QCC Casino, you will notice it looks night and day different. These clients did an outstanding job. I am excited to continue to work towards the growth and further development of this program.”

Eight hours closer to completing her community service hours, Yessenia reflected, “I thought it was just community service, but today I learned that this time could also be used as an opportunity to learn new skills to help people get a job. We’re not just picking up garbage; we’re going to be all over, at the fisheries, helping with housing, shredding papers somewhere. It feels pretty good giving back and helping clean up and take care of our rez.”

For more information, please contact the Tulalip Tribal Court Probation Office at (360) 716-4773.