Prep girls basketball: Orcas Island 70, Tulalip Heritage 66 (OT)

Source: The Herald

DARRINGTON — Katia Brown and Kaela Tyler made a combined 10 3-pointers as Tulalip Heritage nearly overcame a 23 point halftime deficit to fall to Orcas Island in overtime of a Darrington Holiday Tournament game.

At Darrington H.S.

Orcas Island 12 21 17 8 12 — 70

Tulalip Heritage 4 6 23 25 8 — 66

Orcas Island–A. Susol 15, V. Nigretto 12, K. Rogers 8, E. Minnis 0, A. Dean 11, S. Rogers 18, L. Miller 0, H. Gayles 6, H. Thompson 0. Tulalip Heritage–Katia Brown 22, Adiya Jones 17, Shania Moses 0, Paris Verda 0, Desirae Williams 2, Aliya Jones 3, Deztiny White 0, Kaela Tyler 21, Santana Shopbell 1. 3-point goals–Brown 6, Tyler 4, Susol, Nigretto, K. Rogers. Records–Orcas Island not reported. Tulalip Heritage 5-2.

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Wisconsin Gov. Walker Takes ‘Big Step Backward’ With Mascot Bill

On Thursday, Governor Scott Walker (R-WI) signed a controversial “mascot” bill making it harder to force public schools to drop tribal, Native nicknames.

The law requires at least 10 percent of a school district board members to sign a complaint which would be reviewed by the Department of Public Instruction, with hearings in front of an administrative law judge. The new law also places the burden on those who file a complaint to prove that a race-based mascot or team name promotes discrimination, pupil harassment or stereotyping. Under the old law, the burden of proof was on the school district.

Many Native groups are outraged.

“[The bill] is an example of institutionalized racism in content and process,” Barbara Munson, an Oneida Indian who chairs the Wisconsin Indian Education Association’s mascots and logos task force. She also told the Associated Press, “It’s a poke in the eye with a sharp stick to all Wisconsin tribes, and it is an act of discrimination leveled directly at our children.”

Brian Cladoosby, president of the National Congress of American Indians said in a press release that these mascots do not honor Native people. “I was deeply saddened to hear that Wisconsin Governor Walker signed a misguided bill that protects racist stereotypes reinforced by using Native American names and images as school mascots,” Cladoosby said. “Wisconsin just took a big step backward in the journey toward a more inclusive and respectful society.”

The bill, which was proposed by state Republicans, passed the Wisconsin legislature in November, but sat on Walker’s desk for several weeks. It officially became law yesterday despite challenges from state Democrats and many other groups that the law was “racist.”

In a statement, Walker said that he signed the law because he didn’t want to stifle speech by preventing schools from choosing their mascots. He also said that a person’s right to speak doesn’t end just because what they say is offensive. “Instead of trying to legislate free speech, a better alternative is to educate people about how certain phrases and symbols that are used as nicknames and mascots are offensive to many of our fellow citizens.”

The new law repeals a measure passed by a majority-Democrat legislature in 2010. That law was signed into law by former Democratic Governor Jim Doyle.

The 2010 law was the first of its kind in the United States to set up a process that allowed a single school district resident opposed to a race-based mascot, nickname, logo or team name to file a complaint with the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, which would decide whether to take action against the district.

 

Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/12/23/gov-walker-takes-wisconsin-big-step-backward-mascot-bill-152841

Native 8-man Football Teams Dominate in Washington

Andy Bronson/Bellingham HeraldLummi's Deion Hoskins misses Neah Bay's Josiah Greene in the 1B Washington State Football semifinal game at the Tacoma Dome last month.
Andy Bronson/Bellingham Herald
Lummi’s Deion Hoskins misses Neah Bay’s Josiah Greene in the 1B Washington State Football semifinal game at the Tacoma Dome last month.

Neah Bay High School and Lummi Nation High School are rival Native high schools in Washington State. But they have a few more things in common.

Neah Bay won the Washington State 1A Football Championship this fall for the second time in three years; Lummi Nation won it in 2010, and has made it to State several years in a row.

Lummi High has about 100 students and Neah Bay Jr./Sr. High has about 168 and because of these small enrollment numbers, 8-man football is preferred for these rival schools over the traditional version of that varsity sport.

“There is no difference as far as the rules,” said Lummi Nation Head Coach Jim Sandusky. “There are three less guys on the field, so instead of seven guys on the line, you have to have at least five. That’s pretty much it.”

Lummi Nation is a tribal school located just a few miles from the Canadian line. Neah Bay, a state school, is located on the northwestern tip of Washington. Both football teams came into prominence in recent years and their proximity to each other has created a friendly rivalry.

And arguably, the success at each school can be traced back to the two coaches: Tony McCaulley at Neah Bay and Sandusky at Lummi Nation.

Sandusky, a Colville descendent, coached Ferndale youth football. He built a football field on his own property because there was no place for the football players to practice. His son Rocky was on the youth team that he coached, as well as Jake Locker, now quarterback for the Tennessee Titans in the NFL.

In 2003, Sandusky was hired as Lummi’s coach and athletic director. That year, they went 4-5 and missed the playoffs in the last game of the season. “Ever since [2004], we’ve made it,” said Sandusky, explaining that the team has made it to the playoffs every year since then.

McCaulley’s coaching career was somewhat  similar to Sandusky’s. His son Ty started youth football and McCaulley coached him. He coached and played at Clallam Bay, a rival school just down the road from Neah Bay. He’s been coaching Red Devils for six years.

“We’ve been to the state semi-finals five of the six years. The worst year I had [was when] we lost in the state quarter-finals,” McCaulley said. But, Neah Bay was dominant this year. “We were undefeated and blew a lot of teams out,” McCaulley said.

Many of the Red Devils players have played together since eighth grade and all but one of the 39 players are Makah tribal members. Two players in particular are looking to play college football next year. One is the coach’s son, Ty, who plays fullback and the other is Josiah Greene, the quarterback.

At Lummi, only a few players have been on that team since 8th grade. “Dean Hoskins started for me ever since he was an 8th grader,” Sandusky said. “He just got All-State selection along with two other of our kids.”

Note the similarities: Each community had youth football programs with fathers coaching the kids. Sandusky and McCaulley were then hired by the schools to coach high school football. Since those two coaches have taken over, each program has had rather remarkable success: high ratios of wins to losses, and state championship wins with teams made up almost entirely of Native American players.

If Jake Locker can make it to the pros, then why not Ty or Josiah or Dean or Rocky or one of the other outstanding 8-man Native American high school football players.

 

Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/12/20/native-8-man-football-teams-dominate-washington-152812

Begay Cuts Ribbon on World-Class Golf Course He Helped Design

 

By Lee Allen, ICTMN

The ‘ka-ching’ of cash registers and golfers hollering ‘Fore’ made last week’s opening of the Sewailo Golf Course outside Tucson a resounding success.

Sewailo (Flower World in the Yaqui language) is an 18-hole, par 72 course that measures 7,400 yards from the championship tees (with five tee boxes on each hole to accommodate players of all abilities). According to Sewailo’s general manager, Dan LaRouere, “The $28-million course will employ up to 90 workers, many of them tribal members.”

Notah Begay III, who designed Arizona’s Pascua Yaqui tribe’s course, said that Sewailo “will revolutionize golf in this part of the country as one of the top courses in Arizona. The course design, from routing of the holes to landscape architecture, will put us in strong consideration for a top ranking.”

RELATED Notah Begay III: Leading by Example

Begay won four PGA tourneys, became a businessman and a philanthropist before morphing into his day job as a commentator for NBC’s golfing events. He is also president of NB3 Consulting, the group that designed Segwailo.

Begay walked what was once a desert before conceptualizing a layout for the course – it’s the third course he has designed.

“These projects start from the standpoint of culture and it’s important we maintain a respect for culture and tradition in the communities in which we work,” Begay said. “I asked for guidance from our Creator as we shaped this course.”

During the official ribbon-cutting ceremony, a parade of speakers, many of them members of the tribal council, took turns at the podium to praise those who helped make it happen.

“We’ve gone from predictions that ‘you can’t do anything with this barren land’ to what we’ve already built – and we’re not going to stop here,” said Chairman Peter Yucupiccio.

Ty Butler collaborated with Begay on the course design and told the opening day crowd of some 300 attendees, “Vision and leadership from the tribe gave Notah and I a path to walk down, and as a result, we have a world-class golf course that will make an impact, not only in Southern Arizona, but nationally.”

Before hitting the ceremonial first tee shot, Begay said, “When I first came here, there was a lot of uncertainty about what a world-class golf outlet might do for the community, how it might stimulate economic growth.  Times got tough between groundbreaking on 12-12-12 and ribbon-cutting a year later, but this is a true collaboration. True in the sense that when times got tough, nobody ran. We stayed together and worked through it because we believed in the worth of the outcome.”

“I’ve seen the best courses in the country. I’ve played the best courses.  And things don’t get any better than what you’ll find at Sewailo.”

 

Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com//2013/12/16/begay-cuts-ribbon-world-class-golf-course-he-helped-design-152745

Jude Schimmel Nominated for the Allstate Good Works Team

 

 

Umatilla Jude Schimmel
Umatilla Jude Schimmel

Native News Online, December 4, 2013

LOUISVILLE – Louisville women’s basketball junior guard Jude Schimmel was nominated for the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Allstate Good Works Team, announced on Tuesday.

Schimmel is a tribal member of the Confederated Tribe of Umatilla Indians, based in Pendleton, Oregon.

The award recognizes a select group of college basketball student-athletes who have made significant contributions to the greater good of their communities through volunteerism and civic service. In its second year, the Allstate WBCA and NABC Good Works Teams® honor players at all levels of college basketball who represent the sport’s finest in the areas of leadership and charitable achievements amongst their peers. The student-athletes nominated for this prestigious award embody the true spirit of teamwork and giving back.

From the 84 WBCA nominees and 118 NABC nominees submitted by coaches and sports information directors across the nation on behalf of their schools, special voting panels will select two 10-member teams comprised of five student-athletes from the NCAA® Division I level and five student-athletes from NCAA® Divisions II, III and the NAIA. The final roster of 20 award recipients will be unveiled in February.

The 2014 nominees uphold impressive service resumes detailing unique and inspiring stories of servitude. From volunteering with sick and underprivileged children to lobbying state legislature for new laws that could help save lives, this exceptional group of young men and women demonstrate the positive impact student-athletes can have on and off the court.

Schimmel has been a leader on the basketball court and an active member in the community as well as a role model in the American Indian community. When she began playing at Louisville, Schimmel made occasional speaking appearances at reservations and conferences around the country. After the Cardinals’ run to the 2013 national championship game, Schimmel traveled to speak at 17 Indian reservations in nine states, shaking hands, taking pictures and delivering an encouraging message to American Indian populations.

“When Native Americans come to our games, they are like, `Our kids look up to you. You are the biggest inspiration’,” said Schimmel. “It means a lot to us. We’re just trying to do better and be better not only for us but because we want other Native Americans to know they can do it, too.”

Schimmel has become one of the most reliable ball handlers, scorers and defenders for Louisville this year. She also won the Elite 89 academic award last season as the player with the highest grade-point average (3.737) participating in the Final Four.

Notah Begay III: Leading by Example

By Lee Allen, ICTMN

All kinds of platitudes are applicable here, like, “Lead, don’t follow” or “To thine own self be true.”

Notah Begay III, perhaps the most ubiquitous Native American in contemporary society, subscribes to many of them—“The whole thing comes full circle,” says the good-looking man who tells a rags-to-riches story about becoming the first Native American on the Professional Golf Association Tour.

Now an NBC golf analyst, entrepreneur and philanthropist, Begay grew up with the sport after being introduced to the game by his father. How he got from a scrawny kid youngster in Albuquerque to a resounding success on several fronts should provide initiative to other young Natives chasing a dream.

“At the age of 6, I started collecting and recycling aluminum cans to raise enough money to buy a bucket of balls. By age 9, still a skinny little Indian kid, I introduced myself to the club pro and told him I’d work for nothing if I could practice on off-hours. From then until I went to college, I’d show up at 5:30 every morning and put in a couple of hours performing meaningless tasks like emptying trash, sweeping floors and parking golf carts. Then I’d get to practice from 8 a.m. till 6 p.m. every day—at no charge. I thought it was the greatest job in the world, because I got to hit as many golf balls as I wanted.”

By age 17, he was the No. 1 junior golfer in the country (with friend and later Stanford college roommate Tiger Woods at second). “There weren’t a lot of brown guys out there at the time, just me and Tiger,” he says.

RELATED: Tiger Woods and Notah Begay Talk Indian Country, Secrets of Their Success and Life After Golf

Graduating with a degree in economics, Begay went on to immediate professional success, winning four tournaments before he got injured. Then depression set in with a stint in jail for drunken driving. “Sometimes fate presents opportunities,” Begay said. “I landed on my feet and made the appropriate changes in my life to become better.”

Today the 41-year-old star gets to talk about the sport he loves as a commentator as well as designing new golf courses—like the Pascua Yaqui tribe’s 18-hole course set to open next month in Tucson.

Begay’s fame and fortune allowed him to expand his horizons through entrepreneurship (KivaSun Foods) and philanthropy (The Notal Begay III Foundation, a.k.a. NB3F), both directly connected with Native health.

In 2010, he and a partner invested in a company selling bison meat, “a challenging project,” he says, and one that again called on him to persevere.

“I thought because I was Notah Begay that I could do anything, and I found out quickly that’s not the case. In the extremely competitive food industry, nobody cares how far you can drive a golf ball, they just care if the product tastes good and is priced right.

“There were some dark days with the company nearly at the point of being down to our last dollar. We hung in there, solved problems and formed industry partnerships [sourcing bison from the 57-tribe InterTribal Buffalo Council]. Today we’re looking to surpass $5 million in sales and should approach copy0 million in sales in the next two years.”

Which brings us to the concept of cultural full-circle. “All the stuff in the for-profit world transferred into our non-profit work with the NB3 Foundation,” he says. A percentage of KivaSun sales gets donated to NB3 to support Native American health efforts through sports and education. “This is a lifelong commitment for me,” Begay says. “I’ll be doing it for decades to come, because that’s how long it will take to provide services to our Indian communities to address childhood obesity and the diabetes epidemic.

“If we don’t start making changes in our lifestyle choices, our people’s lifespans will continue to get shorter. Native American lifespans are the shortest of any U.S. minority group, and it doesn’t have to be that way.”

Asked to offer up something the general public doesn’t already know about him, Begay says he tries to set an example for others by being a good role model. “Marriage and fatherhood are not static commitments, and I work diligently to be a better husband and father. Home and family is the starting point of my day—it’s where I get my strength. And if I can’t set a good example within my own home, how can I help anybody else’s child?”

The man-who-made-it offers a message to Indian children trying for their own successes: “Don’t limit your dreams. Educate yourself, take care of yourself, push yourself to fulfill your goals.”

 

Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/12/10/notah-begay-iii-leading-example-152225

Hawks tip-off against Shoreline Christian at 7:30 tonight

IMG_9104

By Andrew Gobin/Tulalip News

Tonight, Tulalip Heritage Hawks  play against the Crusaders at Shoreline Christian High School. Last year the Hawks won a regular season game  against Shoreline 58-17. Meeting them again at districts, the Hawks won 67-40.

Shoreline will be looking to redeem themselves after a devastating defeat early in the season, losing again to the Hawks in the first round of districts.

Hawks dominate first three opening games of the season

Heritage Senior Shawn Sanchey  with the tip-off over Yakima Tribal.Andrew Gobin/Tulalip News
Heritage Senior Shawn Sanchey with the tip-off over Yakima Tribal.
Andrew Gobin/Tulalip News

Heritage Boys have a promising start

By Andrew Gobin/Tulalip News

Tulalip − Heritage High School Basketball is off to a great season start, winning 84-59 against Yakima, first time rivals this season. The last of a three home game series which opened this year’s season, the Heritage Hawks played an intense game with tension on the court and in the audience. With the December 7th win, the Hawks season continues with a 3-0 streak.

“It was a good experience to play other natives from across the mountains,” said senior Shawn Sanchey.

Shawn Sanchey cuts in for a lay up.
Shawn Sanchey cuts in for a lay up.
Andrew Gobin/Tulalip News

This was the first year Heritage has played Yakima, adding a new rival to the 1B circuit. In the past the only rival school was Lummi.

Junior Anthony Mclean said, “It was a good game to learn from.”

This game closes out the first week of basketball games for Heritage, who stands undefeated winning against Cedar Park Christian/Mountlake Terrace Lions 64-50, a close game with Mount Vernon Christian Hurricanes at 56-52, and Saturday’s game against Yakima Tribal won 84-59. Key players to watch named from these three games are #21 Robert Miles Jr., #24 Keanu Hamilton, and #20 Payton Comenote.

“We play as a team. Play as a team and win as a team,” said Hamilton. After the win against Yakima.

Keanu Hamilton Stacks Yakima Andrew Gobin/Tulalip News
Keanu Hamilton Stacks Yakima
Andrew Gobin/Tulalip News

“The boys played an excellent game, they continue to improve with each one. As we continue on we will practice hard and continue to build the team,” said Cyrus Fryberg, assistant coach for the Heritage Hawks.

Heritage Basketball games have been gaining an audience, with so many at the Yakima game the bleachers were packed. Some of the notable audience members were tribal elder Ray Moses, former school board member Don Hatch Jr., former coach Leon Enick, Hank Williams, Marysville School District Superintendent Dr. Becky Berg, and longtime education advocate Dale Jones.

“It means a lot to see the elders come to watch. Teatmus (Ray Moses) even comes to the practices and will talk to the boys, and give them support,” said head coach Marlin Fryberg.

Tulalip Heritage Hawks have opened the season strong, and will continue to show strength as they strive for the State Championship. The next rival game will be round two against Yakima Tribal on December 21st.

Prep boys basketball: Tulalip Heritage 84, Yakima Tribal 59

Source: The Herald, December 13, 2013

MARYSVILLE — Payton Comenote scored 25 points and Shawn Sanchey grabbed 10 rebounds to go along with his four steals as Tulalip Heritage defeated Yakima Tribal in a nonleague game.

At Tulalip Heritage H.S.

Yakima Tribal 14 17 17 11 — 59

Tulalip Heritage 22 26 23 13 — 84

Yakima Tribal–Isiah Strom 9, Jospeh Sanchey 5, Justin Shike 2, Donovan Arquette 9, Andrew Hoglin 17, Justin Shilow 12, Michael Gamboa 1, Shane Iko 4. Tulalip Heritage–Dontae Jones 9, Brandon Jones 5, Robert Miles 12, Shawn Sanchey 11, Keanu Hamilton 21, Alan Enick, Payton Comenote 25. 3-point goals–Comenote 4, Miles 2, Sanchey, Strom 2, J. Sanchey, Hoglin 2, Iko. Records–Yakima Tribal not reported. Tulalip Heritage 3-0.