With health officials now reporting 19 confirmed cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) in Snohomish County, the Tulalip Tribes is working to ensure the health and safety of its elders. Since elders are identified as some of the most vulnerable to COVID-19, extra precautions are being taken within the Tulalip community.
According to Rochelle Lubbers, Chief Administrative Officer of Tulalip Tribal Government Operations, as of Friday, March 6, the Katherine “Molly” Hatch Senior Center has temporarily closed its doors until tribal officials gain more information about the spreading virus. Bingo sessions, elder commission meetings and other gathering events have been canceled.
The Tribe considers those to be over 62 years-of-age an elder, and will be delivering soap, paper towels, hand sanitizers and information about the virus to all tribal member elders on the reservation. Following that, deliveries will be made to seniors over 55 years of age.
Elders are advised to stay in their houses to limit the exposure to a possible outbreak. If an elder is part of your household, buy supplies and help with errands if you can. Also be sure to call and check in on elders you know may need help. And most importantly, wash your hands regularly with an alcohol-based hand rub or with soap and water, and avoid touching your face.
If an elder has an illness, contact their doctor. If they are experiencing life-threatening symptoms call 911. For more information about COVID-19, contact the Snohomish County Health District hotline at 1-800-525-0127.
Elders are encouraged to tune in to Tulalip TV, Channel 3/503 (HD) for video updates from Tribal leaders about COVID-19. Tulalip TV can also be accessed at TulalipTV.com, the TulalipTV App, available from the Apple App Store/Google Play Store, and Roku and FireTV, Tulalip TV channels.
Please continue to check in with Tulalip News, at tulalipnews.com and Tulalip News Facebook and subscribe to emails for the most current information. You can also subscribe to the text alert line (text STORM to 30644), to receive updates and alerts.
Native Vote is a nonpartisan campaign initiated by the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI). It is designed to encourage Native Americans throughout the nation to exercise their inherent right to vote. With the heightened political participation of Native people, Indian Country has become an increasingly powerful voting bloc. In recent years, the Native vote has been publicly acknowledged as making a pivotal difference in national, state, and local elections.
The ability to make such a pivotal difference is 100% reliant on you, the voter. Historically, the turnout rate of registered Native voters is 5 to 14 percentage points lower than the rate of many other racial and ethnic groups. Add in the fact that nationwide a whopping 34% of eligible Native voters are not registered to vote, according to the NCAI, and the need to empower the entire electorate to register and cast their ballot is a clear priority.
Native Vote’s admirable Rez-to-Rez tour intends to fulfill that priority in Washington State by going directly to Native voters on their reservations, speaking truth to power on issues that impact our people, while encouraging each tribal citizen to vote. The Rez-to-Rez tour visited Tulalip on Tuesday, March 3.
“I’m honored to be here with you all on Tulalip land,” said Larry Cordier (Lakota), coordinated campaign tribal organizer. “It is critical that we get together, register to vote, and let our voice be heard by casting our ballot. Your vote is guaranteed to you by the U.S. Constitution. As treaty tribes, we have joined the United States in citizenship. Our men and women have defended this country. No one has to set that table for us. We did that with our veterans.
“The chiefs negotiated those treaties and it’s our responsibility to make sure those Treaty Rights endure,” continued Larry. “In all my travels I’ve heard so many people say, ‘Why should I vote? My vote doesn’t count.’ But if all those people got out and registered, and cast their ballot, we would have this country exactly where it needs to be. We need everyone because everyone counts. So let’s mobilize and make them feel our united power.”
Larry Cordier, coordinated campaign tribal organizer.
During the two-hour visit, engaged citizens were welcome to ask questions about candidates, register if they weren’t already, shown how to update their mailing address to insure arrival of voting documents, speak with 2020 Census representatives, and, if they were ready, cast their Washington State primary ballot.
“I saw the advertisement for this event in the Tulalip newsletter and was interested in finding out more about the presidential candidates,” shared tribal elder Joyce Alexander (Haida). “I haven’t decided who I will be voting for yet, but leaning between Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden.
“As a Native American citizen, I’m always curious about how any politician or political candidate feels about Native Americans. [Their platform] affects us and our issues should matter to them.”
According to the U.S. Census, Native Americans have one of the youngest populations of any racial/ethnic group in the United States, with those under the age of 25 making up about 40% of the total Native population. Every four years, about half a million Native young people turn 18-years-old and become eligible to vote. This provides an opportunity to engage almost one in ten Native people as new voters.
In order to maximize the Native vote, it is critical that Native citizens become educated in the political process in order to actively participate in tribal, local, state, and national elections. It’s not only the U.S. President and Congress, but state governors and county and local elected officials who make important policy decisions that affect the everyday lives of Native peoples. Increasing the Native vote and in turn our electorate’s participation in non-tribal elections will lead to better responsiveness to the needs of tribal communities across the nation.
“One of the beautiful things about voting is it is open and accessible to everyone. And every vote matters,” explained Theresa Sheldon (Tulalip), Native American political director for the Democratic National Committee (DNC). “Please know that it’s not too late for people to register to vote. There is a great online resource iWillVote.com
“Anyone can visit that site to register, check if you are registered, and/or update your mailing address. It’s so important to know that if we want to take back the white house, then we have to show up and vote. Please talk to your friends, your family and encourage them to get their ballot in. Sooner is better. Don’t wait until the last minute,” encouraged Theresa.
President’s Day. A day historically marked by United States citizens looking back through history and remembering all former Presidents. This year’s President’s Day was quite different. Instead of looking backwards, thousands looked forward to a new, hopeful future led by presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders.
The Vermont Senator and current frontrunner for the Democratic presidential candidate came to Washington State and held an awe-inspiring rally that drew 17,000+ people to the Tacoma Dome. Understanding he was visiting the traditional homelands of the Coast Salish people, Sanders’ team invited the area’s first inhabitants to not just attend the rally as honored guests, but to be seen and heard on a campaign trail captivating audience members by the masses.
“For too many years, the needs of the American Indian have been ignored, treaties have been broken and lie after lie has been told to you,” stated Senator Sanders. “The time is long overdue, perhaps hundreds of years overdue, for the Native American people to be treated with respect. The pain and the lies and the broken treaties, it should never have happened, but our job together is to end those terrible things, to bring our people together and to treat the Native American people with the dignity they are entitled to.”
Answering the call was a coalition of Northwest Natives including tribal members from Tulalip, Puyallup, Lummi, Muckleshoot, Swinomish, Nisqually, Yakama, Alaska, and even some First Nations relatives from Canada.
“This is a sign that politicians are recognizing the important roles that Tribes play not just in politics, but in protecting the environment,” said Puyallup Chairman David Bean. “Bernie Sanders is a champion for protecting Mother Earth and bringing awareness to the realities of climate change that threaten our homelands and natural resources. It’s so significant to have a presidential candidate reach out to the Tribes to recognize he’s on our homeland and allow us to share our messages regarding climate change and missing and murdered Indigenous women (MMIW).”
Freddie Lane, Lummi council member, added “It’s so important for any presidential candidate to reach out to Indian Country, not for the fact that we have $33 billion dollars going through Indian Country every year and that some of the strongest economies in our states are within Indian nations. It don’t matter if it’s California, Oklahoma, Florida, Washington State or Connecticut, Tribes must step up and utilize their positions to get tribal-friendly people elected to public office. We have to set aside our differences, get out and vote, in order to make our voice heard. Our communities are stronger together.”
Unified strength is exactly what the inclusive gathering of Northwest Natives displayed by journeying from so many different reservations with a common mission to share culture and perspective.
Upon arriving to the Tacoma Dome, hours prior to the scheduled rally start time, the tribal cohort nearing 200 strong were led through a private entrance by Sanders representatives to the Tacoma Dome’s main floor. While thousands of excited rally attendees stood outside in a long line wrapping around the stadium, some as long as six hours waiting to be let in, the tribal members were given a full VIP treatment.
The stadium filled with eager rally-goers of all ages, genders, ethnicities, and cultural backgrounds, eventually reaching near maximum capacity with an official headcount surpassing 17,000. When the rally was officially underway, the Northwest Native coalition took to the stage to share their powerful message as only they can, through a remarkable culture.
Wearing traditional regalia over vibrantly red fabrics, the group drummed, sang, and danced in unison to honor the MMIW movement. Faces painted with a red handprint, a sign peacefully bringing attention to the inability of victims to speak for themselves, captivated the rally’s attention during a nearly ten-minute song intended to bring awareness and raise support.
Violence against Indigenous women has reached epidemic proportions in the U.S. and Canada, with Native women being battered, raped, and stalked at greater rates than any other population of women. According to the National Crime Information Center, there were 5,712 known incidents of missing and murdered Native American women in just 2016 alone. Additionally, 84% of Native women have experienced violence in their lifetime. These glaring statistics speak for themselves, yet it’s surprising how few people outside of Native communities are actually aware of this crisis.
By being given a platform to be seen and heard in front of thousands, the Northwest tribes were recognized and empowered at the Bernie Sanders rally. Many onlookers could be seen live-streaming the powerful MMIW song via their social media accounts. It’s impossible to know the song’s reach at such an event, but the hope is its message and meaning now resonates in the minds of engaged citizens who otherwise wouldn’t have a clue about MMIW or its heartfelt impacts on Tribes.
“It’s a huge honor to help our people heal from broken hearts for those that never made it home, while giving hope to those who might have given up,” shared MMIW song composer and Snoqualmie tribal member Antone George. “I really wanted this song to have deep feeling and harmony and flow to where our people all over Indian Country would be able to sing it.
“We might not ever meet all of the ones that are hoping and praying that their loved one comes home. They’re not alone with their prayers. They’re not alone with how they’re feeling,” George added, addressing the families of MMIW victims. “To be singing here today we’re letting our non-Native relatives know we are here to be heard. Everything our people have gone through over these hundreds of years to this point, we are still here. Our culture is strong.”
By sharing his campaign platform and central rally stage with a clear representation of the area’s Native population, Senator Sanders proves he clearly understands that as a public and federal official, he has a responsibility to Tribes. When interacting with any federal officials, it is paramount they be vigilant in understanding their trust responsibilities. No other people in the country do they have that trust responsibility over. Those responsibilities are clearly expressed in the treaties signed by Tribes all over the nation.
When a candidate is running for any public office, let alone President of the United States, they have to know they are obligated to fulfill their trust responsibility and honor Treaty Rights. If they aren’t even reaching out, let alone acknowledging their local Tribes then that’s a clear sign they either don’t know about their trust responsibility or, worse yet, they do know and simply don’t care. Bernie Sanders continued to prove he does know of his trust responsibility and in fact does care about the needs of Native American population following the rally when he met with tribal leadership and representatives in an intimate setting backstage.
“The culture of the Native American people should be respected by all people all across our nation,” declared the presidential hopeful to the group of Northwest Natives. “You have enriched the American people, you have educated the American people, especially your respect for the environment. What you have taught us, and it is a lesson that must be learned now or the entire planet will be endangered, you have taught us that as human beings we are part of nature and we cannot destroy nature and survive.
“I want to thank you all for your support here today. We must all stand together to create a nation that belongs to all of us. Transforming this nation is going to be hard, but as everybody here knows real change never ever takes place without struggle. If you think change is easy, then you aren’t talking about real change.
“We’re taking on enormously powerful people who love the status quo,” continued Senator Sanders. “They love the exploitation of the Native American people; the ability to come in to your lands to drill and destroy the land and water while circumventing Treaty Rights. It’s not going to be easy, but we have the moral responsibility not only for ourselves, but for future generations to make that fight. That’s what this campaign is all about.”
His words brought beaming smiles and positive visions for the future to the tribal citizenship fortunate to hear them. Hearing a presidential candidate who not only understands Treaty Rights, but is making the effort to uphold them while honoring tribal nations could be history in the making.
After the much anticipated rally, there was lots of conversation connecting the political ideals of Bernie Sanders with the traditional teaching of Tribes.
“My heart is full having Bernie Sanders here in our homelands because he really lives the values of our people,” reflected Puyallup tribal member Danelle Reed, director of Kwawachee Counseling Center. “What people label Socialism really comes down to caring for all human beings and taking care of everyone, especially those who can’t take care of themselves. For me, his message is really about bringing back traditional values that we all as Native people hold.”
“Bernie’s position, his values, are in line with tribal values,” added Puyallup Chairman David Bean. “We’re taught from a young age that a person will be remembered for what they have done for their people, not what they have done for themselves. That lesson serves to teach us to take care of our community, to think of others before we think of ourselves.
“His values also line up with taking care of Mother Earth. Being fishing people, we have a strong connection to the land, water and salmon. Another lesson we’re all taught as children is what happens to Mother Earth, good or bad, happens to us. We have a responsibility to take care of her. If we take care of Mother Earth, she will take care of us. Bernie may use different words, but he’s broadcasting the exact same message.”
At the start of 2017, the Tulalip Tribes and the Tulalip Justice Department introduced a new system to address the drug epidemic that was overtaking the entire nation at the time and claiming many lives of Indigenous people all across Native America. For a point of reference, that year over 70,000 deaths resulted from heroin, fentanyl or opioid overdose in the United States alone, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The number of overdose related deaths did decrease, however, dropping to a recorded 67,000 deaths in 2018. Which is still alarmingly high.
In an effort to help guide those wishing to get clean and escape the battle of addiction, as well as set them on the road to recovery, the Tribe took a chance by tailoring the standard state drug court to the needs of their Tribal people when developing the Healing to Wellness Court. This new approach originally drew skepticism from the community, perhaps due to failed drug court experiences in the past. But fast forward three years and the program has two prominent graduates who are actively inspiring from within the tribal society, and over twenty participants who have anywhere from a week to hundreds of days free from the grip of their addictions, as the program takes about 18-24 months to complete depending on the individual’s personal journey.
The wellness court has often been attributed by many of its participants as a ‘lifesaver’. Dozens have shared about the healing they receive during local gatherings like the monthly Wellbriety celebration dinners sponsored the Tulalip Problem Gambling program, or at weekly meetings, cultural events and during ‘give back’ hours while working at the smokehouse or with the Tribal elders. Most importantly, wellness court creates a community-like environment amongst its participants, and in many ways a support system where the people hold each other accountable and offer encouragement and support while working on their own sobriety.
Although their focus is the people of Tulalip, word about the work the wellness court is conducting has spread nationwide. On the afternoon of February 25, an official from the National Drug Court Institute, Karen Cowgill, flew across the country to hand-deliver a plaque recognizing the wellness court for their effective system.
“The award we received today was the National Association of Drug Court Professionals (NADCP) Mentor Court,” stated Interim Wellness Court Program Manager, Ashley Utz-Cook. “We were awarded to be a part of the Mentor Court Network, which means under the NADCP they’ve deemed us as one of the best of the best. So far, we are one of two tribal courts in the network and I believe there are nine other courts in the network.”
As an added bonus, Karen witnessed firsthand the inner-workings of wellness court. Such as how the judge interacts with the participants; how those who are in compliance are recognized for their accomplishments and challenged to continue striving forward. And those who aren’t in compliance are still offered encouragement in addition to a stern talking-to and the appropriate sanctions.
“I came out today because the Healing to Wellness Court applied to become a mentor court,” said Karen. “For the next two years, when we have courts that are learning how to be a tribal drug court, we can send them here and they can observe the judge and meet the team and talk to them and actually see what this all about. This [system] is really going to be an example across the United States for tribal courts to see how to do the job. It’s a different way of doing drug court; we can help get people back on track and make sure they succeed in the long run.”
The wellness court has done a great job of turning the perception of their system around, so much so that drug court teams will be flying in from all around the nation to see the healing aspect of drug court take place in real life.
“It feels awesome,” expressed Ashley after her team received the award. “It was a lot of work put in by every single team member, as well as the people before us and of course the participants. It feels great to see everything we do every day, the daily operations, recognized on such a high scale. We appreciate everyone’s hard work from the staff to the participants.”
Before concluding wellness court and the award celebration, the court team decided to pay it forward by extending love and recognition to a Tribal member who dedicated her life to assisting recovering addicts. Helen Gobin-Henson was gifted with a certificate of appreciation for the support and guidance she offers to the local recovery community.
“This means so much to me because this is my calling,” Helen said with tears running down her cheek. “I’ve been doing this work for about thirty years, helping my people get into treatment and doing whatever I can. I sung for all the funerals for over fifty years and it really hits me hard when we lose our young ones, even our old ones, to this addiction, to this disease. I hope that I can be a blessing to my people and show them that recovery works if you work it.”
For additional details about the Healing to Wellness Court, please contact (360) 716-4773.
“This is my third year with Lushootseed and I’m now realizing how much healing that the kids are getting from learning the language,” said Tulalip Lushootseed Language Instructor, Oceana Alday. “It’s beautiful to watch because I don’t think they realize that they are ones who are revitalizing the language that our ancestors once spoke.”
For nearly three generations, the Lushootseed Language department has been on a mission to reintroduce the ancestral Coast Salish language back into lifeways of modern day Tulalip. Recently the program made local headlines by helping bring back Lushootseed classes to Marysville-Pilchuck High School (MP) and also instructing those classes. This news is especially important for Tulalip students who wish to continue studying the vernacular of their people. Most present day Tulalip youth began their educational journey with Lushootseed many years ago, around the ages of 3 and 4-years-old at the Tulalip Montessori.
During the early 1990’s, a seed was planted in the name of cultural revitalization when the development of the Lushootseed Language department came to fruition. With only two staff members initially, Toby Langen and Hank Gobin, the department set out to build a foundation by teaching their community the words, phrases and pronunciation of the language that Snohomish people spoke since the beginning of time. After colonization, forced assimilation and the years of generational trauma that followed, the cultural resurgence appeared to be much needed within the Tulalip community and ever since, the language has served as a great source of medicine for the people.
“To me, the language means that we are speaking what our ancestors used to speak. We are bringing it back,” said Tulalip Lushootseed Program Manager, Michele Balagot. “The program was developed in 1993 and we’ve taught it in schools since. It was one class when they first started teaching. We’ve grown from four teachers and six classes to fourteen language teachers and well over thirty classes; two at MP, two at Heritage, two college level classes. There are four or five classes at Quil Ceda Tulalip [Elementary], and we teach fourteen, birth-to-three classrooms and ten preschool classrooms at the academy.”
When the Betty J. Taylor Early Learning Academy (TELA) first opened in 2015, the Lushootseed Language classes resumed for most of the Montessori and ECEAP students. However, over time, as both programs continued to grow, the demand for more language within the classroom rose quickly and resulted in the hiring of new Lushootseed instructors, who are also commonly referred to as Language Warriors.
“We thought we should be teaching them young because this is when they are developing their brains,” Michele explained. “If they start hearing Lushootseed from the beginning of their education, they’ll learn the sounds and know some of the words. On the preschool side, we are focused on teaching them sentences so when they get to elementary school, they can work more on phrases. And in junior high and high school, they’ll be able to have full conversations.”
Perhaps due to the success of the preschool age classes, or simply a desire to ensure the language is embedded into the young minds of future Tulalip leaders, TELA joined forces with the language department in 2017 to implement a new component into their curriculum known as language immersion. Today, every TELA student receives daily language lessons each morning, Monday through Thursday, and for the first time that includes the birth-to-three age group.
“It’s pretty exciting working with the birth-to-three level,” said Language Warrior, Thomas Williams. “It’s amazing seeing them express what they’ve learned. I’ll hold up a flash card and they’ll quickly respond with the word in Lushootseed. The last couple of weeks we’ve been doing traditional stories. Usually, I go in and sing a handful of songs with them. But we tried something a little more progressive for their age group where we get them to listen to a story. We did a felt board story and for that age, it took two weeks introducing them to the characters with flash cards and mini games. They’ve already memorized the characters. And going through the stories, they are starting to express what the characters are doing and what’s going to happen to them by the end of the story, all in the language.”
While the youngest tribal members get more acquainted with the basics of the verb-based language, the big kids on the preschool side of the academy fine-tune what they’ve learned. By participating in a language warm-up exercise at the start of each class, they use flashcards to identify a number of animals and marine life before starting their daily lesson complete with songs, stories and games conducted entirely in Lushootseed.
“We did Lushootseed today,” exclaimed TELA Student, Anastasia Clower. “We learned the words for octopuses, crabs, clams, sea lions. My favorite Lushootseed word is bəsqʷ, which means crab. I don’t like to eat bəsqʷ, but they are still really cool. I’m going to the beach on my birthday and I’m going to look for some bəsqʷ and I’m going to try to catch a sʔuladxʷ (salmon) too. I can’t wait!”
“I know sup̓qs and bəsqʷ, those mean seal and crab!” enthusiastically added fellow TELA student, Elaina Luquin. “I also know Lushootseed songs, not all of them but a lot of them. I sing them at my home too. My mom has the story about the bəsqʷ and we sing it together. I really like it a lot.”
Although still early in the process of the language immersion project, hearing Lushootseed from tribal youth at such young age is incredible. Paired with the Academy’s monthly culture day, which the language department frequently assists with, tribal students are building up a strong sense of pride in their Coast Salish identity and heritage.
“I’m just so grateful that our teachers and our children are so in love with the culture and the language; we just keep doing the work and it keeps growing,” said TELA Director Sheryl Fryberg at a recent culture day event.
By offering classes to the Academy, the language department is setting the stage for their next generation of Tribal leaders. By partnering with TELA and participating in the language immersion curriculum this is the first time, since perhaps the pre-colonial era, that Lushootseed will be present during multiple stages of a young sduhubš life’s journey, beginning at birth and ideally extending to their college years and beyond.
“We are building a foundation for future speakers,” expressed Lushootseed Language Warrior, Lois Landgrebe. “It makes me feel hopeful when we get them to reply first in Lushootseed instead of in English. It can be a slow process, but it’s bringing our Native language forward in their comprehension, when that happens its promising.”
The ultimate goal for the department is to have a future generation of language warriors who can speak Lushootseed fluently, and will do their part to ensure the language never dies. Therefore, the Lushootseed department would like to send out a friendly challenge for all Tulalip community members to speak Lushootseed to the youth as often as possible.
“It’s a very hard language to learn but it’s rewarding to hear the students speaking it,” Michele stated. “It’s very important not only for us adults, but for the kids to carry it on so we don’t lose it. We encourage everybody, when you see the kids, to speak to them in Lushootseed, so they know they can practice the language whenever they wish and that it’s not only meant to be used for school. Greet them in the language of our people and I know you’ll be surprised to hear their response.”
For more information, please contact the Tulalip Lushootseed Language department at (360) 716-4499 or visit their website www.TulalipLushootseed.com
“Each of these plants, they all have different purposes,” said Tulalip tribal member Shane McLean. “The sage is good for individual work, for personal prayers, and the cedar is good for clearing out bad energy. Understanding the medicine that these plants carry, and building that connection with those plants is important work. All of these medicines have an everyday use and now I have a deeper relationship with these plants and the healing that they can bring.”
For hundreds upon hundreds of years, the Salish tribes of the Northwest have thrived off of the land’s natural resources, always sincerely repaying Mother Earth for her generosity by nurturing and protecting those resources and ensuring they remain accessible to their people for years to come. In fact, many Native communities base their decisions of today by how it will affect their tribe seven generations in the future. Several of the teachings we learn and practice today are to preserve the Indigenous way of life, so our children’s children can experience the essence of the culture in its entirety and understand how everything is connected.
Aside from fishing, hunting and partaking in cultural ceremonies, a large piece to the Coastal Native identity is the gathering aspect. Many Natives have perfectly encapsulated the feeling of that spiritual work through a number of creative mediums. The sensation of balance that occurs when you know you are serving your life’s purpose, i.e. the prayer before the harvest, the songs and stories that occur when filling your basket with various foliage, and the laughter, energy and good intentions you set while collecting those plants from the natural world, knowing your efforts will be of service to, and appreciated by, a member of your community.
In today’s world, however, it is becoming increasingly difficult to learn, feel and share that cultural experience of gathering. Due to the conveniences of supermarkets and pharmacies, it may seem easier to purchase cold medicine than it is delve into the science of ethnobotany when feeling ill.
“It was an eye-opening experience, for sure,” expressed Tulalip member Bradley Althoff. “Now that I’ve come to the realization that these plants are all around me, all of these trees are literally surrounding my house, I’m definitely seeing the world a little differently now. I want to learn more so I can incorporate more of these traditional medicines into my life.”
A delightful outdoorsy aroma permeated the Hibulb Cultural Center (HCC) on the evening of February 10. Approximately fifty Tulalip tribal members showed up for some fun, hands-on learning during this year’s first Native Plants class led by the HCC and Natural History Preserve’s Rediscovery program.
“The Rediscovery program has been providing first aid kits for a few years now, for participants who go and travel on Canoe Journey,” explained the Native Plants Instructor, Virginia Jones. “In some of these classes we’ll focus on building those kits to give people more exposure to Native plants so they can really get an understanding of how they work and begin to incorporate them into their lives. Hopefully they’ll be able to replace some of the other items that they typically buy, and find more natural methods to provide some healing. Some of that healing happens by just coming and getting your hands on the plants and spending a little time with them, learning what you can do with them and then going home to share that knowledge with your family.”
Multiple harvesting stations were setup throughout a HCC classroom and were designated by the type of plant that was being extracted including cedar, fir and lavender. The harvesters filled large bowls with leaves, flowers and nettles and exported them across the room where they were carefully measured and mixed into Ziploc baggies labeled ‘smudge blend’. In addition to the sacred potpourri, the students also worked on creating a concoction to cure headaches and provide relief from sinus pressure with oils extracted from assorted plants such as lavender, rosemary, peppermint and birch.
“I’m just thankful that I can help those people going out on the water this summer for Canoe Journey,” stated Shane. “Working with the different plants, I know a little more about the medicine they contain and I know that it will be helpful for the people at Journey. The cedar alone has many, many functions that are beneficial to us as a people.”
For three hours, the group worked together in high spirits, knowing their energy and thoughts would be forever intertwined with the work they were conducting, all while gaining new skills and first-hand knowledge about local trees, flowers, shrubbery, and herbs, as well as the history of the plants indigenous to the Sduhubš territory. Whether by burning, extracting or consuming, natural plants like cedar, stinging nettles, sage, Nootka Rose, horsetail, blue camas, devil’s club and huckleberries, have long served as traditional remedies for ailments like the common cold, as well as provided relief from inflammation and numerous diseases for coastal Natives since time immemorial.
“It feels good to see the people show up and want to do the work,” Virginia said. “It’s nice to see people from each family come together and pick up different parts of this knowledge. Some people will be drawn to learn from the cedar, others will be drawn to work with the fir. Whatever they’re drawn to, they’re picking up what they want to learn from the class, and collectively everyone has different knowledge that they walk away with. As a community, all of that knowledge together is powerful. One of the main teachings we want to emphasize this year is the importance of reciprocity within a tribal community. Although they come to spend a little bit of their time with us, a lot of the work they do is going to go a long way. And in turn, that work spreads through other communities while on Journey because they all receive those gifts [at each landing].”
After all their hard work, each harvester took home one smudge blend and one sinus and headache oil, in addition to their newly acquired knowledge of Native plants. The Rediscovery program plans on hosting at least one Native Plants class per month leading up to this year’s Tribal Canoe Journey: Paddle to Snuneymuxw 2020. For more information, please contact the Rediscovery program at (360) 716-2634.
“I love science a lot because it makes me happy,” exclaimed young Taliah Bradford. “I like doing experiments at school with my friends.”
Every Friday the pre-school students of the Betty J. Taylor Early Learning Academy (TELA) gather in the Deer classroom for Little Science Lab to learn about the wondrous world of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math). Sitting crisscross applesauce, the students give their undivided attention to Ms. Pam, of the Imagine Children’s Museum, as she guides them through thirty minutes of hands-on activities where they learn how the universe operates.
On the morning of January 31, the kids hurried to their seats to learn about one of Mother Earth’s elements, air. As she began her lesson, Ms. Pam asked the students the name of the layer of air and gasses that encompasses the earth, hinting they learned about it during their last class. Once it clicked, the students all called out together, ‘the atmosphere’.
“It’s amazing to see these young 3 and 4-year-olds use advanced science vocabulary,” stated Teddy Dillingham, Imagine Children’s Museum newly appointed Grants Manager and former Director of Education. “They are using that vocabulary correctly and are remembering everything. That’s really helping set them up for future success in school because it’s building their confidence and their love for STEM.”
The idea of the Little Science Labs began back in 2017 when Tulalip Charitable Fund Director, Marilyn Sheldon, encouraged the children’s museum to apply for funding through the Charitable Fund, and bring some of their experiments to the children of Tulalip.
“We’re really grateful for the Tulalip Tribes, they’ve been a longtime supporter of the museum and it seemed like a really great fit,” Teddy expressed. “Because of the Charitable Fund, we now have weekly classes here. For the academy’s summer program, we bring out our Museum on-the-go programs and align our lesson with the topics the teachers are covering. For instance, when they had their dinosaur week last summer, we brought our dino class to them.
“We also have quarterly family nights where the children can bring their families and do some of these similar activities and play at the museum. It’s really fun and the caregivers have shared they are doing some of our activities at home with their children. We have a unit on shells, and when they go to the beach, the kids are identifying the shells that they are seeing. They are finding applications in their daily life and using it, which is the ultimate goal.”
The kids continued to learn about air by playing with pinwheels, participating in interactive story time, and experimenting with sailboats made of styrofoam bowls and laminated construction paper. Blowing air in all directions, the kids watched its effect take place right before their eyes.
“I learned that air is everywhere around us,” said TELA student Cameron, as she moved her arms in big circles through the air. “We played with the boats and we blew on them to make wind and make them move. And if there’s no wind for the sail, the boat gets stuck in the same spot. I liked the story today too, it was really good. I was a butterfly!”
Last year, the established partnership between TELA and the Imagine Children’s Museum led to additional funding from the Tribe to offer free museum memberships to all enrolled Tulalip tribal members. This resulted in over 150 sign-ups and approximately 1,000 visits from Tulalip families so far. And due to more and more kids developing a love for STEM in today’s techy world, the Museum is now more popular than ever, and therefore, are working to expand their space by adding another level to their building and extending their base as far as their property line allows.
“As these students go through school and learn about the atmosphere, they are going to have this memory,” Teddy stated. “I’m a former science teacher and taught junior high. When kids showed up, they already had a vision of themselves as non-scientists, or that science is scary or science is hard. A lot of the grown-ups in their lives also had negative experiences with science. We’re setting up children when they’re young to show them how fun STEM can be, so they feel confident with it. One day they will look back and say, ‘oh yeah we blew on the boats and experimented with the balloons and pinwheels’. And they’re going to feel like, ‘okay, I already know this and can totally do this’.”
For more information about the Imagine Children’s Museum, please visit www.imaginecm.org
Through a locked door and down a short flight of stairs is a room that is about twenty-degrees warmer than the rest of Liberty Elementary school. Signs that read, ‘Caution flammable!’ cover pumps and tanks that vary in both size and shape. The boiler room requires the school’s maintenance team to arrive hours early to ensure the school is warm enough for students in the morning. The heat from the boilers is carried throughout the school to several radiators that both retain and omit the heat.
Not only are the hot radiators a first-degree burn accident waiting to happen, but the entire student body and faculty are in harm’s way of an explosion from pressure or chemical combustion, should someone untrained or curious try to regulate the facility’s temperature.
The Marysville School District (MSD) is claiming that two of their elementary schools are outdated and well past the point of renovation and are asking for support from their community. Liberty Elementary was built in 1951 and has helped mold young, local minds for nearly seventy years, while Cascade Elementary was established only six years later in 1957.
Aside from depending on the boiler system as a source of heat, both of the schools are facing a number of challenges due to the advancement of time and technology, which in many instances places their students at a learning disadvantage, including the capability to efficiently support the myriad of electronics of modern day.
Another issue the schools must address is the lack of space. Students are often seen working on one side of the hallway while cabinets filled with files and supplies line the opposite side. While each school has numerous classrooms throughout their respective buildings, they are merely sectioned off by adjustable walls and contain no doors, leaving the students exposed to danger should there be a need for lockdown, as well as open to distraction from nearby classrooms and kids wandering the halls.
And to make matters worse, the school nurse’s office at Liberty is located down an empty corridor with a large sheet covering the entryway for privacy.
“I went to Liberty and I’m 62, so it’s been there for a long time,” said Tulalip tribal member and Chairman of Citizens for Marysville Schools, Ray Sheldon Jr. “The school district is wanting to replace Liberty and Cascade. I’m hoping we can get the amount of support up in the Tulalip area, so when the time comes for Heritage [High School] and Quil Ceda Tulalip [Elementary], it won’t be such a headache.”
MSD is purposing a six-year capital levy of $1.93 per $1000 of assessed home value, equaling out to approximately $710 for taxpayers per year until 2026. The capital levy will not only provide the necessary funds to demolish and rebuild the two schools, it will increase safety for all schools within the district by paying for security cameras.
“They used to build schools with bonds, but you had to have 60% plus one in order to get the money,” Ray explained. “So they chose to do the capital levy for the simple reason that you only need 50% plus one in order for it to pass. Of course, you have to wait a few years to start building any of the schools in order for some of the money to build up. It will be a long-term process.
“Tribal members are on trust land so the levy won’t hurt them. If you live on trust land, you don’t pay those taxes if you vote yes. If you don’t live on trust land, the levy averages out to just a little over $700 a per year. What people have to understand is, yes that can be considered a lot but not as bad compared to the bigger cities. When you go to the big school districts, they pay upwards of $3,000 to $4,000 every year.”
The School District assures the community that this is just the first assignment on a list to improve the learning environment at each one of their schools and build a stronger community. Ray believes the next schools to receive a rebuild or renovations will be either Shoultes or Totem middle school, they have also been operating for decades and are in dire need of modern updates.
Recently, the capital levy has received push-back from families that live within the school district after the MSD school board announced a proposal to enforce feeder boundaries starting next year, which would limit the options of what school a child could attend based on where they live. Both the school district and the levy committee want to emphasize that this particular measure will have no effect on the boundary proposal and encourage you to make your voice heard at upcoming forums pertaining to that issue, whether you are for, or in opposition of, the school boundaries.
Many young Tulalip tribal members and students from other sovereign nations attend the grade schools. In fact, at Liberty alone Tulalip students make up over 10% of their 426 enrolled kids.
“The [school board] proposed boundaries for the next coming school year. A lot of people aren’t happy with it and are stating they’ll vote no for the levy, which will hurt overall,” expressed Ray. “The levy isn’t about the boundaries; the boundaries may never happen. The bottom line is these schools aren’t safe; it’s time to make a change. We’re really counting on our people out here. For our children, please vote yes for the Marysville School District capital levy.”
Tulalip Youth and Family Enrichment will be hosting a ballot party from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the Don Hatch Youth Center on February 10, be sure to submit your ballot at the party for your chance to win a raffle prize.
You are water vapor rising high up to the atmosphere. With thick moisture in the air, other vapor molecules began to attach to you and you begin to grow. It’s mid-winter and the cold temperature causes you to freeze to ice crystal form and now nearby crystals also cling to you, all while attaching to particles like dust and pollen in the air. And as this process continues, a cloud is formed around you and shortly you’ll begin your descent back to the Earth’s surface. Once you are heavy enough, it happens; you fall quickly to the ground. Your voyage is short lived, however, as you fall to the top of a mountain and now you wait once again, but this time for warm weather while more snow gathers around you.
In what seemed like a few short months, you patiently stood the test of time and, due to the damaged ozone layer, the sun heats up the Earth sooner in the year and at a much faster pace. You leave your frozen state, slowly transforming to liquid and begin a journey through nature. Traveling down the mountainside, rushing through rivers, flowing through streams, passing through culverts and even trickling through underground soil corridors, you eventually find yourself at a standstill. With no wind and not nearly enough water to form a stream, you’re left to wait again either for rain or evaporation.
A nearby farm just received the okay to utilize fertilizer and pesticide on their grounds, and unfortunately for you, they are no longer required to worry about any body of water that is located in close proximity of their agricultural business. When the rain comes, your journey will continue but this time you’ll be accompanied by new pollutants. Wherever your journey ends, whether it’s through consumption by humans, fish, bird, animal, insect or plant, those byproducts will be intertwined with you, and thereby can negatively impact the health of the consumer, and the Earth itself.
In 1972, the Clean Water Act was established to protect the waterways of the United States from harmful pollution. Since then, a political debate has taken place about the verbiage in the act, specifically the term ‘navigable waters’. The divide stems from the lack of a clear definition of which bodies of waters exactly are protected by the Clean Water Act.
Many farmers, land developers and capitalists argue that small creeks, ditches and streams shouldn’t be considered navigable waters and have little to no impact on the environment since they are not directly or constantly flowing through the waterways and ecosystem. Environmentalists and scientists have conducted countless studies, proving that all water eventually feeds back into the ocean, causing further disruption in the food chain and endangering the health of Mother Earth and all of her inhabitants if that water is contaminated.
“Prior to a decision that was made during the Obama administration there was some confusion about what the ‘Waters of the United States’ are,” explains Ryan Miller Environmental Liaison Program Manager of the Tulalip Tribes Treaty Rights Office. “Those are the waters that are protected by the Clean Water Act, which in general terms states you can’t pollute waters of the United States. In 2015, the Obama administration defined the waters in a way that protects the environment, which was the intent of the Clean Water Act in the first place, protecting ephemeral streams or waterways, commonly referred to as seasonal waterways, or wetland that isn’t wet all year round that, during a wet season, feeds into a creek or stream. Essentially their definition stated that anything that feeds into these permanent waterways are considered Waters of the United States because it contributes to a stream or river that flows all year round.
“That benefited tribes because it helped protect the trust resources that are guaranteed to tribes in their treaties,” he continued. “It helped protect water quality for all the different salmon species. It helped protect against the release of toxins which build up in southern killer whales as they consume fish species, it helped protect Native people and all citizens against toxins that build up in shellfish and finfish that we consume. Obviously that’s important for Native people because we consume higher rates of shellfish and finfish than non-Indian people do.”
On January 23, the Trump administration and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the repeal of the Waters of the United States rule, the evidence-based amendment to the Clean Water Act made by the Obama administration. The EPA rule, also known as the Navigable Waters Protection Rule, not only removes protection from ephemeral streams and wetlands, it also allows landowners to deconstruct and build over ponds, wetlands and watersheds, which in turn can lead to polluted waterways.
But there’s more. Since the start of his campaign to presidency, Trump has promised the removal of the Waters of the United States rule. He took it a step further by lifting restrictions for landowners and farmers which prohibited them from dumping hazardous chemicals directly into the waterways.
The removal of federal protection from these streams and wetlands could have some serious effects on our health and our drinking water. And the water that is consumed by the food we eat, i.e. animals, plants and fish, is now more than ever susceptible to pollution.
“The repeal was proposed last year and of course the way that these types of processes legally have to take place, they had a public comment period,” Ryan said. “Lots of tribes, environmental groups, states, counties, submitted comments and expressed their concern about what this would do to the protection of waterways and the natural resources that depend on them. The reality is that this administration places a significantly higher priority on making it easy for businesses to make as much money as possible, to extract resources, to damage natural resources. Their priority is that over the protection of the environment, watersheds and even human health.”
With the salmon population already irrevocably damaged by pollution and an endangered southern killer whale population as a result, the Salish Sea cannot afford any setbacks or any more pollution. Unfortunately, this new rule sets the stage for years of struggle as we prepare for a long fight against the government and EPA to protect our natural resources. That fight began when the repeal of the Waters of the United Stated was put in motion last Fall, and fourteen states took initiative by filing lawsuits against the EPA.
It is important to note that at the end of 2019, the Scientific Advisory Board of the EPA, comprised of many officials handpicked by President Trump himself, stated that the regulation repeal and its replacement ‘neglects established science’, is ‘failing to acknowledge watershed systems’, and also there was ‘no scientific justification’ for stripping the protection from the smaller bodies of water. And still, even with those findings, the final decision was made by ‘political management’ within the EPA.
“I believe that there are numerous states who already filed suit over this issue,” Ryan stated. “Washington, I’m sure is one of them. We had conversations with the department of ecology, which regulates toxins in the waters in Washington State, and I’m pretty sure they already filed suit against the federal government over this. It’s probably going to play out in court like many of these things do and hopefully we’re going to have a better outcome. In the long run, this could end up being a good thing if we can get a clear court decision that defines the Waters of the United States in a favorable way, which we really didn’t have before. But, for right now it limits the protection that these ephemeral streams and seasonal wetlands have under the Clean Water Act. Essentially, they no longer have any protection.”
So what can you do to help ensure the waterways are protected and clean? In addition of limiting your single-use plastic products and recycling your plastics and metals, you can also safely dispose of any harmful chemicals including paint thinner, pesticides and fertilizer at the Snohomish County Household Hazardous Waste Drop-Off Station in Everett. They are open Wednesday-Saturday between 7:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. You can participate at local beach clean-ups and utilize your voice to help raise awareness about the fading salmon and orca populations at rallies and gatherings that occur regularly throughout the year.
“My recommendation on anything like this is always, call your representatives; state, county, federal and let them know that you don’t like this and you want them to do something about it. The reality is, for elected officials, there are only two things they respond to; money and pressure from the people who vote for them. And as regular citizens, most of us don’t have the money to influence political outcomes or political campaigns, so what we can do is vote with our voice and tell our elected officials that this is an issue that matters to us and that we want them to do something about it.”
Many people continue to find it frightening when they realize just how widespread sexual abuse and violence is in our society. What was long a taboo subject and could only be discussed in whispers is now spoken aloud at rallies and public gatherings, and is turned to the loudest possible volume on social media.
According to Time Magazine, the groundbreaking anti-sexual assault and women’s empowerment movements #MeToo of 2017 and 2018’s Time’s Up upended the public conversation about women’s issues around the world, and elevated the global consciousness surrounding the obstacles women encounter in their daily lives, both personal and professional. The success of these two social movements continues to be the liberation of public discourse to include subjects and stories that were for far too long kept quiet.
Yet, as the terms sexual assault, sexual abuse, and sexual violence have permeated into national dialogue and every day conversations, there continues to be a veil of ignorance and denial to the fact that men and boys are victims as well. Often men are the neglected victims of all forms of sexual violence, including being abused as children.
Lenny Hayes, a tribal citizen of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate, is a therapy practitioner with extensive training in mental and chemical health issues that impact the Two-Spirit and Native community.
Organized by Tulalip Tribes Children’s Advocacy Center and Northwest Indian Health Board, the Tulalip community was invited to a January 13th training hosted by Lenny Hayes to offer insight while shedding light on such a dark topic. The training’s title: A silent epidemic – sexual violence against men and boys.
Lenny, a citizen of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate in northeastern South Dakota, is a therapy practitioner with extensive training in mental and chemical health issues that impact the Two-Spirit and Native community. He has travelled nationally and locally presenting on issues that include historical and intergenerational trauma, violence of all forms, child welfare issues, and the rarely discussed topic that is the impact of sexual violence on men and boys.
“There is a general misconception that men are immune from sexual violence, owing to gender stereotypes of women as delicate and therefore victims, while men are either the powerful protector or perpetrators of violence,” explained Lenny during the one-of-a-kind training seminar. “Traditional masculinity is inconsistent with the position of victimhood, leading many to believe a man simply cannot be a victim of sexual abuse.
“A boy or man sexually abused by a woman is often greeted by disbelief, denial, or trivializing. Society tells us that if any part of his experience felt good, then he was not abused. Or if he did not enjoy it, then he must be gay. While a boy or man sexually abused by another male is even more reluctant to come forward because of the stigma and extreme shame faced, both internally and externally, by admitting to being victimized.”
A new study funded by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) and published in May 2016 looked at the extent and impact of sexual and intimate partner violence against Native American victims. The study clearly shows that Native American men and boys suffer violence at alarmingly high rates.
According to the NIJ study, more than 1.4 million Native American men have experienced violence in their lifetime. This includes:
More than 1 in 4 (27.5%) who have experienced sexual violence
Roughly 2 in 5 (43.2%) who have experienced physical violence by an intimate partner
About 1 in 5 (18.6%) who have experienced stalking, and
Nearly 3 in 4 (73%) who have experienced psychological aggression by an intimate partner
These are startling and heartbreaking statistics that were reviewed and discussed in great detail during the training. Illustrating the depth and scope of this rampant issue, especially in Native communities and on reservations, the PBS documentary Predator on the Reservation was shown. The film details a Frontline and Wall Street Journal investigation into the decades-long failure to stop an Indian Health Service (IHS) doctor accused of sexually abusing Native boys for years, and examines how he moved from reservation to reservation despite warnings.
A National Institute of Justice funded study shows that Native American men suffer violence at alarmingly high rates.
Training participants, many of whom were professional advocates and social workers employed by community engagement entities throughout Snohomish County, were offered plenty of time to properly process and ask questions for further understanding about the heavy subject matter.
“You all took a huge first step just by being here today and being open to education about sexual violence against men and boys, the many mental health issues that impact them thereafter, and how healing is possible by breaking the silence,” offered Lenny at the conclusion of the training. “I hope that when you all leave here you remember that failure to address the suffering of male victims has profound consequences for the survivor, his family and his community. By breaking the silence and creating safe spaces for these stories to be told, healing can begin.”
Following the training, Tulalip tribal member and Community Health employee Rocio Hatch offered her thoughts. “In this community we don’t really talk about sexual abuse at all, let alone abuse towards men and boys,” she shared. “I was very uneducated in this topic and am just thankful to have participated here today. I’m excited to bring this knowledge back to my coworkers and, hopefully, start to have these necessary conversations and expand our outreach.”
Megan Boyer, lead family advocate for Legacy of Healing, added, “There’s an absolute need of education around the victimization of men and boys. It’s very prevalent, and in my job I’ve become aware of just how big an issue this is, but nobody talks about it. We all have a responsibility to let our boys and men know we believe them, it’s not their fault, and we appreciate them for having the strength to tell their story.”
Sexual violence is just as much a men’s issue as it is women’s, but the current structure for speaking about violence in any form often comes at the exclusion of men as victims. This constrained dialogue limits the opportunity for survivors to tell their stories and be included as critical resources and advocates. Fully recognizing male victims will not only bring much needed support and assistance, but create safe spaces for men to address the lifelong impacts of sexual violence as a whole, which benefits everyone.
Offered resources for further understanding:
To view the PBS film Predator on the Reservation documenting how an IHS doctor preyed on Native boys for decades, please visit:
