Students support each during MSD community meeting, Sunday, October 26,2014, at Marysville-Pilchuck High School. Photo/ Brandi N. Montreuil, Tulalip News
In the aftermath of the tragic event on October 24, students of Marysville Pilchuck High School gather with friends and family
By Brandi N. Montreuil, Tulalip News
MARYSVILLE – Pictures taken from yesterday’s Marysville School District’s community meeting at Marysville Pilchuck High School show Marysville/Tulalip community’s grief.
Both communities joined together to discuss Friday’s tragic event and begin the healing process.
Speakers included Marysville School District Superintendent Dr. Becky Berg, Dr. Tom Albright, Tulalip Councilwoman Deborah Parker, Tulalip tribal member and MPHS wrestling coach Tony Hatch, Marysville Mayor Jon Nehring, Marysville Chief of Police Rick Smith, Pastor Andrew Munoz of Marysville Grove Church and Shari Lovre.
Following opening remarks from guest speakers students were able to meet separately with their peers and counselors. Mental health counselors and other specialists were on hand during the meeting to offer support to anyone who needed it. Parents were also meet separately to discuss concerns and ask questions.
During the event Tulalip tribal member Tony Hatch addressed the community asking for continued prayers for the families grieving, “We are really damaged right now. We’ve got families all over Tulalip and families all over Marysville who are grieving really hard right now. We can never understand why this may have happened, and we can’t understand that.”
Marysville Police Chief Rick Smith address Marysville-Pilchuck students, Sunday, Oct. 26, 2014, during MSD community meeting.
Photo/ Brandi N. Montreuil, Tulalip News
Students support each during MSD community meeting, Sunday, October 26,2014, at Marysville-Pilchuck High School.
Photo/ Brandi N. Montreuil, Tulalip News
MARYSVILLE, Wash. – A 14-year-old girl who was wounded when a student opened fire inside a Washington state high school has died, raising the death toll in the shooting to three.
Gia Soriano died Sunday night, more than two days after she was shot, officials at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett said.
“We are devastated by this senseless tragedy,” her family said in a statement, read at a news conference by Dr. Joanne Roberts. “Gia is our beautiful daughter, and words cannot express how much we will miss her.”
Roberts said Gia’s family was donating her organs for transplant.
Another girl was killed Friday when a popular freshman at Marysville-Pilchuck High School north of Seattle opened fire.
The shooter, Jaylen Fryberg, died at the scene of a self-inflicted wound.
Three other students remain hospitalized, two in critical condition and one in serious condition.
Earlier Sunday, parents and students gathered in a gymnasium at the school for a community meeting, with speakers urging support and prayers and tribal members playing drums and singing songs. Fryberg was from a prominent Tulalip Indian tribes family.
Young people hugged each other and cried and speakers urged people to come together during the gathering Sunday.
“We just have to reach for that human spirit right now,” said Deborah Parker, a member of the Tulalip Indian tribes.
“Our legs are still wobbly,” said Tony Hatch, a cousin of one of the injured students. “We’re really damaged right now.”
Of the wounded students, only 14-year-old Nate Hatch showed improvement, though he remained in serious condition in intensive care at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. Fifteen-year-old Andrew Fryberg also remained in critical condition in intensive care. Both are cousins of Jaylen Fryberg.
Meanwhile, 14-year-old Shaylee Chuckulnaskit remained in critical condition in intensive care at Providence Regional Medical Center.
According to family members, 14-year-old Zoe Galasso was killed in the shooting. She has not been identified by the medical examiner.
Fryberg died in the attack, after a first-year teacher intervened. It’s unclear if he intentionally killed himself or if the gun went off in a struggle with a teacher.
The makeshift memorial on a chain link fence by the school, which will be closed this week, kept growing Sunday. Balloons honoring the victims and the shooter adorn the fence along with flowers, stuffed toys and signs.
The close-knit community, meanwhile, on the nearby Tulalip Indian reservation struggled with the news that the shooter was a popular teenager from one of their more well-known families.
A tribal guidance counsellor said no one knows what motivated Fryberg.
“We can’t answer that question,” said Matt Remle, who has an office at Marysville-Pilchuck High School, which is 30 miles north of Seattle. “But we try to make sense of the senselessness.”
In the nearby community of Oso, where a mudslide this spring killed dozens, people planned to gather to write condolence letters and cards.
Remele said he knew Fryberg and the other students well.
“My office has been a comfort space for Native students,” he said. “Many will come by and have lunch there, including the kids involved in the shooting.”
They all were “really happy, smiling kids,” Remle said. “They were a polite group. A lot of the kids from the freshman class were close-knit. Loving.
“These were not kids who were isolated,” he said. “They had some amazing families, and have amazing families.”
These factors make the shooting that much more difficult to deal with, “Maybe it would be easier if we knew the answer,” Remle said. “But we may never know.”
Full statement from the Soriano family:
“We are devastated by this senseless tragedy. Gia is our beautiful daughter and words cannot express how much we will miss her. We’ve made the decision to donate Gia’s organs so that others may benefit. Our daughter was loving, kind and this gift honors her life.
“Thank you to Providence for their excellent care – bar none – from beginning to end. Thank you to our friends and family who have supported us. Thank you to Drs. Bill Finley, Sanford Wright and Anita Tsen for their tremendous support and compassion. And thank you, to Bill and Ben with LifeCenter.
“We ask that you please respect our privacy and give us the space and time we need to grieve and spend time together as a family in memory of Gia.”
Jaylen Fryberg performs in his dance regalia during the Paddle to Squaxin Island, August 2012. Courtesy photo
By Andrew Gobin, Herald Writer
Herald writer Andrew Gobin is a member of the Tulalip Tribes and grew up on the reservation.
TULALIP — What do you say about a young man whose actions forever changed the lives of so many? You can seek rhyme and reason, you can analyze his troubles, you can gaze into the abyss of disbelief.
This is not about gun control, this is not about how a community failed a young man, and it’s not about using his troubles to solve everyone’s problems.
Strangers are telling Jaylen Fryberg’s story. Strangers who never met him.
What do you say about a boy? You say who he was.
Jaylen Fryberg came from a large, influential family on the Tulalip Indian Reservation. His grandfather, Ray Fryberg Sr., sat on the tribal council and is the director of Cultural and Natural Resources for the tribes. His grandmother, Sheryl Fryberg, was an executive with the tribes for many years, most recently the general manager of tribal government operations. His father, Ray Fryberg Jr., also works in Natural Resources for the tribes. His mother, Wendy Fryberg, a former Marysville School Board member, is deputy general manager for tribal government operations. He has two sisters, Tenika Fryberg and Mekyla Fryberg, and two brothers, Anthony Gobin and Julian Fryberg.
Jaylen was grounded in the traditions of the Snohomish people, his people, on the Tulalip Indian Reservation. He was a star wrestling and football athlete since he was young, competing with his cousins. He was an avid hunter and fisherman, from a place where rites of passage include those skills.
Jaylen came from a traditional family with a strong presence not only at Tulalip, but with tribes up and down the Pacific Northwest coast. He sang and drummed with the men of his family, learning to lead the group at a young age. His father and grandfather were dedicated to grooming Jaylen to be a strong leader, like so many of his elders.
His great-grandmother, Della Hill, was a strong spiritual leader in the Shaker faith throughout Northwest reservations. That was a path Jaylen and others in his family followed.
As he grew, Jaylen learned to revere traditional dances, earning his dance shirt and feather headdress. The shirt is embroidered across the chest and along the sleeves with small paddles hand-carved from cedar. The paddles clacked as he danced. The shirt and headdress were presented to him by tribal elders who chose him to be a lead dancer. Along with these came the responsibility to carry on tribal traditions. He wore the dance shirt and headdress often, at tribal ceremonies and the annual Canoe Journey, a summertime celebration of cultural heritage.
From the time Jaylen was 5 or 6, he was involved in sports. He wrestled on the tribe’s team and played football on city and school teams, including this year as a freshman with the MPHS Tomahawks. His teammates, often cousins and friends, were closer to him than brothers. Jaylen always made time for them.
He learned to fish for salmon using gill nets with his father and grandfather. Many Tulalip families are fishing families.
Throughout the fall and winter, Jaylen was an avid hunter. He hunted deer and elk with his dad and brother, never failing to bring an animal home. He hunted for many reasons, including to feed families in their times of sorrow. Tulalip people find comfort and connection to each other in sharing traditional foods
At 14, Jaylen started high school at Marysville Pilchuck. He seemed to have it all. He was in a long-term relationship with a great girl, was part of a strong family, pulled down good grades and was on the football team. High school can be stressful, but he seemed to be handling things well enough. The truth is, no one saw this coming. A few outbursts on social media, a few scuffles, normal freshman angst that came with normal consequences. After Friday’s events, we are left with questions that may never be answered.
Jaylen got in a fight and was suspended from the football team just before a crucial game. Two of the boys he shot — Andrew Fryberg and Nate Hatch — were his cousins and also on the football team. Were they targeted because they would play in the championship game that night? We don’t know.
He had separated from his girlfriend, and it is speculated that caused an argument. Contrary to many news reports, his girlfriend did not attend Marysville Pilchuck. She was not among those shot.
And there is talk of bullying. All six of the students involved were close. They grew up together. They competed together. They went to homecoming together only a week before.
Did they tease each other? Of course. That’s what cousins are for.
We know Jaylen became troubled. Why is not clear.
What he did in that cafeteria was monstrous.
His uncle, John Dumonte, told TV reporters, though, that Jaylen wasn’t a monster.
As someone who walked with him in this community, who knew him from the time he was small, I understand that sentiment.
Culture and tradition can fall away. Not for Jaylen. He was viewed as living hope for the tribes’ future.
Now he is gone.
The shaken community on both sides of I-5 now must put the pieces together, to help each other learn how to heal from this, to understand why.
One of five students shot in a deadly rampage at a Washington state high school Friday is improving, but answers as to why freshman Jaylen Fryberg opened fire on two of his cousins and three girls were still elusive Saturday, as the town of Marysville struggled to heal.
Dozens of people attended a small vigil at a church Saturday, the second held in as many days since the 10:30 a.m. shooting at Marysville Pilchuck High School that left a young girl dead and four wounded. Fryberg killed himself after being confronted by a teacher.
“Someone described what happened as a rip in our tapestry, our life in Marysville,” Pastor John Mason said during a prayer at Mountain View Presbyterian Church. “There are many threads left hanging. It will take time to weave the threads back together.”
Nick Brouchard, a student at a nearby school, Marysville-Gretchell High School, came to the vigil out of a feeling of powerlessness. “You never think it will happen to you or in your home,” he said. “I felt like I had to do something, because at first I couldn’t.”
Outside Marysville Pilchuck High School, well-wishers left balloons, flowers, stuffed animals and other tokens at a makeshift memorial on a chain-link fence. Some salvaged whatever bright spots they could.
“Our school and community, we’re all so much closer than we ever have been before,” said MPHS junior Madison White, 16. “It’s bringing everyone together.”
Nate Hatch, 14, regained consciousness overnight but couldn’t speak because he is intubated, his family said. Harborview Medical Center said he was in intensive care and was improving Saturday. Andrew Fryberg, 15, remained in critical condition at the hospital.
Two teenage girls, Shaylee Chuckulnaskit and Gia Soriano, both 14, were shot in the head and hospital officials said Saturday that “the next three days are going to be crucial.” The name of the girl that was killed has not been released.
Police did not release a motive in the rampage, although students said Fryberg had recently been in a fight and law enforcement sources believe he may have been upset over a girl. Among the students in Marysville, there were plenty of rumors but no answers.
A student who witnessed the shooting told NBC News that Jaylen himself seemed surprised at the damage he’d wrought.
“I looked up and Jaylen, he was looking at us, but he didn’t look like him. He looked like different person” Alex Hatch, a distant cousin and friend of Jaylen’s, said. “He had a look on his face like he was just realizing what he did.”
In the aftermath of the shooting at Marysville-Pilchuck High School, the Washington Office of Public Instruction offered information for parents.
Children react to trauma differently than adults. Some may react right away; others may show signs that they are having a difficult time much later. Adults don’t always know when a child needs help coping. The Department of Health and Human Services offers the following tips and information:
Children and youth between 6 and 19 may have some of the same reactions to trauma as younger children. Often younger children want much more attention from parents or caregivers. They may stop doing their school work or chores at home. Some may feel helpless and guilty because they cannot take on adult roles as their family or the community responds to a trauma or disaster.
Children 6–10 years old may fear going to school and stop spending time with friends. They may have trouble paying attention and do poorly in school overall. Some may become aggressive for no clear reason. Or they may act younger than their age by asking to be fed or dressed by their parent or caregiver.
Youth and Adolescents 11–19 years old go through a lot of physical and emotional changes because of their developmental stage. So, it may be even harder for them to cope with trauma. Older teens may deny their reactions to themselves and their caregivers. They may respond with a routine “I’m ok” or even silence when they are upset. Or, they may complain about physical aches or pains because they cannot identify what is really bothering them emotionally. Some may start arguments at home and/or at school, resisting any structure or authority. They also may engage in risky behaviors such as using alcohol or drugs.
How parents, caregivers, and teachers can support children’s recovery
Parents, teachers, and other caregivers can help children express their emotions through conversation, writing, drawing, and singing. Most children want to talk about a trauma, so let them. Accept their feelings and tell them it is ok to feel sad, upset, or stressed. Crying is often a way to relieve stress and grief. Pay attention and be a good listener.
Ask your teen and youth you are caring for what they know about the event. What are they hearing in school or seeing on TV? Try to watch news coverage on TV or the Internet with them. And, limit access so they have time away from reminders about the trauma. Don’t let talking about the trauma take over the family or classroom discussion for long periods of time. Allow them to ask questions.
Adults can help children and youth see the good that can come out of a trauma. Heroic actions, families and friends who help, and support from people in the community are examples. Children may better cope with a trauma or disaster by helping others. They can write caring letters to those who have been hurt or have lost their homes; they can send thank you notes to people who helped. Encourage these kinds of activities.
If human violence or error caused an event, be careful not to blame a cultural, racial, or ethnic group, or persons with psychiatric disabilities. This may be a good opportunity to talk with children about discrimination and diversity. Let children know that they are not to blame when bad things happen.
It’s ok for children and youth to see adults sad or crying, but try not to show intense emotions. Screaming and hitting or kicking furniture or walls can be scary for children. Violence can further frighten children or lead to more trauma.3
Adults can show children and youth how to take care of themselves. If you are in good physical and emotional health, you are more likely to be readily available to support the children you care about. Model self-care, set routines, eat healthy meals, get enough sleep, exercise, and take deep breaths to handle stress.
PRESCHOOL CHILDREN, 0–5 YEARS OLD
Give these very young children a lot of cuddling and verbal support.
– Take a deep breath before holding or picking them up and focus on them, not the trauma.
– Get down to their eye level and speak in a calm, gentle voice using words they can understand.
– Tell them that you still care for them and will continue to take care of them so they feel safe.
EARLY CHILDHOOD TO ADOLESCENCE, 6–19 YEARS OLD
Nurture children and youth in this age group:
– Ask your child or the children in your care what worries them and what might help them cope.
– Offer comfort with gentle words, a hug when appropriate, or just being present with them.
– Spend more time with the children than usual, even for a short while. Returning to school activities and getting back to routines at home is important too.
– Excuse traumatized children from chores for a day or two. After that, make sure they have age-appropriate tasks and can participate in a way that makes them feel useful.
– Support children spending time with friends or having quiet time to write or create art.
– Encourage children to participate in recreational activities so they can move around and play with others.
– Address your own trauma in a healthy way. Avoid hitting, isolating, abandoning, or making fun of children.
– Let children know that you care about them-spend time doing something special; make sure to check on them in a nonintrusive way
Students and faculty stand on a playing field outside Marysville-Pilchuck HS following a shooting at the school this morning. (Photo by Mark Harrison / The Seattle Times)
Two students are dead after one of them opened fire Friday morning in the Marysville-Pilchuck High School cafeteria before turning the gun on himself, according to law-enforcement sources.
Police said a girl was killed and two other girls and two boys were wounded in the 10:45 a.m. shooting. Several students identified the shooter as freshman Jaylen Fryberg.
Zach Yarbrough, a junior, said he saw the shooter “extend his arm across a round table and fire his gun three to four times.” He watched the shootings but didn’t see what happened afterward because he “was already out of the cafeteria.”
Four young people — two boys and two girls — were taken by ambulance to Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett. Three victims are alive and in very critical condition with gunshot wounds to the head, said Dr. Joanne Roberts, chief medical officer for Providence.
One of them, Andrew Fryberg, a 15-year-old cousin of Jaylen, had surgery then was transferred to Harborview Medical center in Seattle. One of the girls came out of surgery and is in intensive care. The other girl remained in surgery Friday afternoon, Roberts said.
The fourth, a 14-year-old boy shot in the jaw, was earlier transferred to Harborview. He was out of surgery and in serious condition Friday afternoon. He also is a cousin of Fryberg.
“His family is coming to grips with what happened,” a hospital spokeswoman said.
Jarron Webb, 15, said the shooter was angry at a girl who would not date him, and that the girl was one of the people shot. He said he believes one of the victims was his friend since kindergarten.
Freshmen Brandon Carr, 15, and Kobe Baumann, 14, said they were just outside the cafeteria when the shooting happened.
“We started hearing these loud banging noises, like someone hitting a trash can,” Carr said. They heard screaming and yelling.
“Once I knew it was gunshots, we just booked it,” Carr said.
They eventually joined about two dozen kids inside of a classroom with police and FBI. Police told them to stay in there. “Everybody in the classroom was just freaking out crying,” Carr said. Eventually, they were told they could leave, and were loaded onto buses.
Carr said he knew Fryberg and that both were on the freshman football team. He said that Thursday at practice Fryberg was in good spirits.
“He was all happy, dancing around and listening to music. I don’t know what happened today,” Carr said.
Baumann said he was in fourth-period English class with Fryberg right before the shooting, and that he seemed kind of nervous.
“He sits right up in the front. He got called on, but he just kept his head down and didn’t really say anything.”
Students reported pandemonium in the lunchroom after the shooting, with dozens rushing for doors and then jumping a fence to escape.
Freshman Austin Wright said every exit in the lunchroom was jammed with kids escaping gunfire. “I heard three gunshots and I ran.”
Richard Young, who knows the Fryberg family and has a son at the high school, said he’s heard community members describe Jaylen as “a really good kid.”
“He was well liked,” Young said. “It’s just a big shock to everybody.”
Fryberg’s postings on Twitter are full of angst, with his most recent posting on Thursday morning saying, “It won’t last…. It’ll never last….”
“I should have listened…. You were right,” he wrote in another message earlier in the week.
Other images on social media showed him joyful, playing sports and spending time with his girlfriend. One image shows him proudly holding the antler of a deer, with a hunting rifle next to him.
Jaylen comes from a family that is prominent in the Tulalip Tribes. His grandfather is director of fish and wildlife at the tribe.
As residents gathered at the Don Hutch Youth Center on the reservation, one Tulalip resident said many members heard the last name on the news and immediately knew who the broadcasters were talking about. By process of elimination, they realized it was Jaylen.
“We’re all one family,” he said. “You never imagine it’s going to happen here.”
A crisis team is providing counseling services at the center. Anyone in the area is welcome to come, behavioral health executive director Diane Henry said.
“We’ll be here as long as we’re needed,” Henry said.
At a noon news conference, Marysville Police Cmdr. Robb Lamoureux called the scene an active investigation and said police officers were going door-to-door to ensure that the campus was safe. They were leaving tape to mark the doors of rooms that had been cleared. Officers were finding students and staff members hiding alone or in small groups.
“We are confident that there was only one shooter and that the shooter is dead,” Lamoureux said.
Some of the school’s 1,200 students were evacuated, walking out and across the fields with their hands up. Others were told to stay inside classrooms.
Sophomore Arlene Cortez, 16, says she locked herself in a classroom with other students for about 45 minutes before police came in.
Some were bused to the nearby Shoultes Gospel Hall, where they are being accounted for. Lamoureux urged parents and family members of students to stay away from the scene, saying authorities would provide information on a location for them to be reunited with students.
At the church, tearful parents and students were being reunited, and hugging.
Students are escorted to buses for evacuation. (Mark Harrison / The Seattle Times)
Parents and students reunite at Shoultes Gospel Hall (John de Leon/The Seattle Times)
“I never thought I would be standing here after a school shooting,” said Heather Parker, whose son, Corbin, is a senior. “He’s pretty shook up. He just said ‘I’m OK.’ He was trying to calm me down.”
Adam Holston, 14, a freshman, was just leaving the lunchroom when the gunfire broke out. “Everyone just started running. I could hear the gunshots and my heart was racing and we didn’t know what was going on.”
Some ran out to the parking lot, some to the field.
“Someone opened a door and we all ran into classrooms and just stayed there.”
He said all students had been loaded on buses. His sister is a senior. He’s been texting with her and she’s OK.
“The person who everyone thinks did it was just acting normally. It didn’t seem like there was anything wrong.”
Jery Holston has two children in the school now communicating with him by cellphone. They are both OK. Adam is a freshman; Kayliegh is a senior.
Holston said Adam called him this morning yelling, “Dad, dad, hurry, someone is shooting. Please come.” He said his son ran and hid outside in the field by the stadium.
Jery was in Stanwood at the time. “I probably did a hundred miles per hour to get there. I didn’t stop for anything. My heart went into my stomach. As a father, this has been my fear since my kids have been in school, that something like this would happen.”
Ayn Dietrich-Williams, a spokeswoman for the FBI in Seattle, said agents are in Marysville to offer assistance.
All school activities and sports have been canceled Friday.
Marysville is among three school districts recently chosen to share a $10 million federal grant for improved student mental-health services, which have been identified as a pressing need. Administrators were working on plans for the money just as news came about the shooting Friday morning.
“We’re stunned,” just stunned,” said Jodi Runyon, assistant to Marysville superintendent Becky Berg.
Jerry Jenkins, who supervises Marysville and several other districts for the Puget Sound Educational Service District, said, “The tragedy that happened in Marysville could have happened anywhere. We used to have a much greater social safety net. Marysville has been willing to sit down and work with mental health providers to get mental health services to kids who need it, even though that is not a school’s traditional role.”
Students hug family at at Shoultes Gospel Hall. (Ken Lambert / The Seattle Times)
Richard J. Seward of Sto:lo First Nation and Pilalt Tribes welcomed the Washington Tribes with songs and ceremony. Chilliwack is the traditional lands of the Sto:lo people.
New pipeline threatens way of life of Coast Salish tribes
Brad Angerman, Pyramid Communications
CHILLIWACK, British Columbia—Tribal representatives from four U.S. tribes spoke in unified opposition today against oil giant Kinder Morgan’s new proposed tar sands oil pipeline. The announcement took place in Chilliwack, a rural town of 80,000 about 50 miles (86 kilometers) east of Vancouver, B.C. Tribal elders, fishers, leaders and youth presented testimony opposing the project to Canada’s National Energy Board, which will make a recommendation on the future of the pipeline to Canada’s federal government, the ultimate decision-making body for the project.
Swinomish Chairman and NCAI President Brian Cladoosby with Cultural Coordinator of the Swinomish Tribe and members of First Nations.
“We can no longer allow the Salish Sea to be used as a dumping ground,” said Swinomish Chairman Brian Cladoosby. “For more than 150 years we have lived in a pollution-based economy, and today face increased threat of an oil spill in our traditional fishing grounds on the Salish Sea—an event that would very likely lead to irreparable damage to salmon and shellfish habitat, and destroy our way of life along with it.”
The Kinder Morgan proposed oil pipeline would roughly triple the capacity of the existing pipeline, from 300,000 barrels per day to 890,000 per day. It would run alongside an existing pipeline that stretches from the Alberta tar sands oil fields to an oil shipping terminal in Burnaby, B.C., a suburb of Vancouver, greatly increasing the traffic of oil tankers carrying diluted tar sands bitumen through Canadian and U.S. waters.
“The proposed pipeline, if approved, will increase the risk of oil spills and cause more disruption of our fishing fleet. The Suquamish Tribe has a duty to stand up to further threats to our Salish Sea fishing grounds, which have sustained our people since time immemorial,” said Suquamish Chairman Leonard Forsman.
Glen Gobin, Tulalip Tribal Member and Tulalip Tribe Board of Directors Treasurer along the shores of the Fraser River after the ceremony.
“If the pipeline is approved, there will be a massive increase in tanker loadings,” said Tulalip Board of Director Glen Gobin. “This increased traffic will directly interfere with access to traditional and treaty-protected fishing areas, and put the safety of tribal fishers at risk—not to mention drastically increase the chance of a catastrophic oil spill,” he said. “My father, Bernie Gobin, fought side by side with leaders such as Billy Frank Jr. to ensure that salmon, the very essence of who we are as Coast Salish peoples, live on from generation to generation. We fight for our past and our future.“
Canada’s Coast Salish First Nations also oppose the oil pipeline, and testified before the National Energy Board last week. Those tribes included Shxw’owhámel First Nation, Tsleil-Waututh Nation, Kwantlen First Nation, Musqueam Indian Band, Peters Band. Katzie First Nation and Hwlitsum First Nation also provided testimony.
“Like the sea, Coast Salish people acknowledge no boundaries. We are united to protect the Salish Sea,” said Chemainus First Nation member Ray Harris. “It’s a danger to the environment, a violation of aboriginal fishing rights, and a threat to all people who call this unique place home,” he said.
Coast Salish peoples are the indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest, and have traditionally lived along the coasts of Oregon and Washington in the United States, and in British Columbia, Canada. The Salish Sea is a network of waterways between the southwestern tip of British Columbia and the northwestern tip of Washington State, and includes the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Haro Strait, the Strait of Georgia and the Puget Sound.
From left, Suquamish Tribal Chairman Leonard Forsman, Suquamish tribal member Shaylene Jefferson and Suquamish tribal member Cassia Rose pouring waters from their homelands on the Port Madison Indian Reservation alongside the Fraser River.
Tribal representatives from both sides of the border spoke in unified opposition today against oil giant Kinder Morgan’s proposed oil pipeline.
Elders, fishers, leaders and youth presented testimony opposing the project to Canada’s National Energy Board in Chilliwack. The NEB will make a recommendation on the future of the pipeline to Canada’s federal government, the ultimate decision-making body for the project.
“We can no longer allow the Salish Sea to be used as a dumping ground,” said Swinomish Chairman Brian Cladoosby. “For more than 150 years we have lived in a pollution-based economy, and today face increased threat of an oil spill in our traditional fishing grounds on the Salish Sea—an event that would very likely lead to irreparable damage to salmon and shellfish habitat, and destroy our way of life along with it.”
The proposed oil pipeline would roughly triple the capacity of the existing pipeline, from 300,000 barrels per day to 890,000 per day. It would run alongside an existing pipeline that stretches from the Alberta tar sands oil fields to an oil shipping terminal in Burnaby, greatly increasing the traffic of oil tankers carrying diluted tar sands bitumen through Canadian and US waters.
“The proposed pipeline, if approved, will increase the risk of oil spills and cause more disruption of our fishing fleet. The Suquamish Tribe has a duty to stand up to further threats to our Salish Sea fishing grounds, which have sustained our people since time immemorial,” said Suquamish Chairman Leonard Forsman.
“If the pipeline is approved, there will be a massive increase in tanker loadings,” said Tulalip treasurer Glen Gobin. “This increased traffic will directly interfere with access to traditional and treaty-protected fishing areas, and put the safety of tribal fishers at risk—not to mention drastically increase the chance of a catastrophic oil spill,” he said. “My father, Bernie Gobin, fought side by side with leaders such as Billy Frank Jr. to ensure that salmon, the very essence of who we are as Coast Salish peoples, live on from generation to generation. We fight for our past and our future.“
Canada’s Coast Salish First Nations also oppose the oil pipeline, and testified before the National Energy Board last week. Those tribes included Shxw’owhámel First Nation, Tsleil-Waututh Nation, Kwantlen First Nation, Musqueam Indian Band, Peters Band. Katzie First Nation and Hwlitsum First Nation also provided testimony.
“Like the sea, Coast Salish people acknowledge no boundaries. We are united to protect the Salish Sea,” said Chemainus First Nation member Ray Harris. “It’s a danger to the environment, a violation of aboriginal fishing rights, and a threat to all people who call this unique place home,” he said.
“We do find lots of support from far and wide, actually surprising support from the Mayors of the Lower Mainland, huge environmental groups that are on our side. I got lots of faith in the future. Hopefully that’ll be there for our kids and grandkids.”
Tulalip councilwoman Deborah Parker said she hoped the protest would be a day for healing.
“Really my hopes are that the NEB and Kinder Morgan will hear our words. and I know they will be some pretty powerful words,” she said. “The words need to keep coming forward so we’re not living in this fear and in as much pain we have been.
“I hope today is not only a day to hear and to listen, but a day to heal.”
Coast Salish peoples are the indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest, and have traditionally lived along the coasts of Oregon and Washington in the United States, and in British Columbia, Canada.
The Salish Sea is a network of waterways between the southwestern tip of British Columbia and the northwestern tip of Washington State, and includes the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Haro Strait, the Strait of Georgia and the Puget Sound.
Orca enthusiasts rejoiced when a newborn calf was spotted 7 weeks ago.
But as of Tuesday morning, the endangered killer whale calf has not been seen.
L120 was the first calf born in the past 2 years. The calf’s mother was spotted three times since Friday. Her baby was nowhere to be seen.
Orca experts believe the calf is dead, though no carcass has been found and it’s unclear how it died.
Orcas in Puget Sound are known to have high levels of toxic agents in their bodies. The pollution can be transferred from mothers to their offspring during gestation and while nursing.
Lack of food is another potential cause of death. Southern Resident killer whales rely on chinook salmon, which are also endangered.
There are now just 78 resident orcas left. That’s about how many there were back in 2005 when the animals were first put on the endangered species list.
After lingering for 14 years as the largest Superfund site in Oregon, and affecting the traditional gathering and ceremonial grounds of area tribes for decades, the first restoration project for the Portland Superfund Site has been greenlighted by five tribes on the Portland Harbor Natural Resource Trustee Council (Trustee Council).
“The Nez Perce Tribe (in Lapwai, Idaho), and the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, Umatilla, Siletz, and Grand Ronde (in Oregon) are on board,” Nez Perce spokesperson Erin Madden told Indian Country Today Media Network.
The Alder Creek restoration project is a 52-acre refuge for native fish and wildlife near the Willamette’s Sauvie Island, in Portland, Oregon. Wapato Island, as it is known locally, has been a traditional fishing, hunting and gathering area for tribes for more than 10,000 years.
But the once abundant habitat is now rare in this stretch of the river, Madden said. Decades of manufacturing waste fouled the final 12 miles of the Willamette River where it runs through the city of Portland until it streams into the Columbia River, 100 miles upstream from the Pacific Ocean. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) added the 12-mile site to the Superfund priority list in 2000.
Lurking in the river’s sediment is a nasty cocktail of high levels of the banned pesticide DDT, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), heavy metals, tar deposits, solvents, petroleum byproducts, and phthalates known to interfere with the body’s hormones and cause developmental problems—left by decades of manufacturing processes, all of which pose risks to the water, natural resources, wildlife and humans.
The EPA and the tribes feeling the impact of the contamination entered into a memorandum of understanding to ensure that tribal government representatives have a seat at the table.
The Yakama Nation in Washington State withdrew from the Trustee Council in 2009 over concerns that remediation of damages to natural resources would not extend to the injury and damages to natural resources in the lower Columbia River, and liability of the potentially responsible parties for damages, Yakama Nation public information officer Rose Longoria said.
The new project, designed to benefit fish and wildlife affected by contamination at the site, will include removing buildings and fill from the floodplain, reshaping the riverbanks, and planting native trees and shrubs. This project is the first of five remediation and restoration projects in various planning stages.
“It’s a pretty major milestone,” Madden said. “It’s the culmination of many years of work by the Nez Perce and the other tribes, and state and federal partners on the Trustee Council.”
