Category: Tulalip News

By Kalvin Valdillez, Tulalip News; photos courtesy of the Tulalip Caring Warriors

According to Snohomish County’s 2023 Point-in-Time Count of Homelessness, there was an 8.5 percent increase of unhoused citizens since 2022. The yearly count identified an additional 101 unhoused citizens, bringing the total count to 1,285, the highest it’s been in over a decade. 

To help combat this growing issue and assist their members who are experiencing homelessness, the Tulalip Tribes recently established a pallet shelter on the reservation, while also revamping the Village of Hope and adding several more tiny homes to their site.  

But even with the Tribe’s support and the extra resources, there are numerous Tulalip citizens who do not have a home to lay their head at night. And although it’s still technically fall, we’ve already encountered our share of nights with temperatures close to or below freezing. While many are enjoying celebrating the ‘most wonderful time of the year’ with the promise of opening gifts on Christmas day, there is a large population of people who are experiencing difficult times and are just looking to survive the winter. 

Enter a group of local friends with hearts of compassion who were looking to do nothing more than provide the homeless with a Thanksgiving meal following their annual ‘friendsgiving’ gathering. Comprised of both tribal members and Tulalip citizens, the group wishes to be officially known as the Tulalip Caring Warriors. Its members include Angelica Trinidad, Kayla Joseph, Odessa Flores, Melissa Young, Kylee Sohappy, and Janae Zackuse. It was through this act of kindness and selflessness that inspired the collective to continue with this work, and they now have monthly donation drives planned for the foreseeable future.

Said Angelica, “When we were passing out food on Thanksgiving, people kept mentioning that they needed to find ways to stay warm and that they weren’t sure how they were going to make it through the winter with how cold it is. I was like ‘guys, we should get some ideas on how to keep these people warm out there the next time we do this,’.”

What makes this story even more beautiful is that they are not embarking on this journey for social media content, comments, or reactions. In fact, they are extremely humble and were willing to share the details about their new endeavor only to spread the word that they are still accepting donations and to also invite others to help out with their upcoming donation drives. And though they all played major roles in getting this project up and running, the ladies were quick to credit Kayla with the idea of helping out those individuals currently experiencing homelessness. 

Kayla expressed, “It’s important for me to lead by example and show my kids that we are very blessed with clothes, food, a home to keep warm in, and that there are people out there who don’t have a warm meal to go home to. So, lets giveback whenever we can.”

Not only did the Tulalip Caring Warriors distribute food to the unhoused citizens on the reservation, but they also took the time to travel to nearby areas in Marysville and Everett as well. After a successful Thanksgiving distribution, the ladies wanted to keep the ball rolling and immediately began planning for December’s Winter Warmth Drive, and opened up donations for a 19-day stretch. 

“We collected hats, scarves, gloves, jackets, sweaters, and we accepted money donations as well, so we could purchase items online too. I was actually super surprised with how many donations we received,” Angelica recalled. 

Odessa added, “I drove to Mount Vernon, Bellingham, Marysville, Tulalip, and Everett to pick up donations. We got nine bags in total from different locations, and my family ended up donating two more bags. The day of [the distribution], we kept getting more donations to the point where our vehicles were full, and we ended up having to save those extra donations for the next drive we’re doing in January. We appreciate all the handmade donations as well. We had a lot of sets of hats and scarves and gloves that were handmade.”

In addition to the piles of warm winter gear, the ladies also gathered all of the monetary donations and purchased a number of items to assemble care packages, which included handwarmers, deodorant, shampoo, body wash, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and sleeping bags. 

And they didn’t stop there. Each member of the Tulalip Caring Warriors expressed that one of the highlights of doing this charitable work is simply spending time with each other. They all spoke fondly of the time they spent cooking in the kitchen together, and how they shared an abundance of laughter while preparing soup and frybread to hand out along with the clothes and care packages. Angelica noted that a handful of their kids joined in on the fun and helped their moms and aunties make the frybread on distribution day. 

“When Kayla asked if I wanted to do this, I was like hell yeah,” voiced Angelica. “I would love the opportunity to teach my son about the importance of giving back because we’re all struggling. In this day and age our economy sucks. We all have different battles and struggles. We don’t know what’s going on in people’s daily lives. I firmly believe that if you want to see change in the world, be the change you want to see. It’s awesome to be able to set that example for my son.”

Odessa estimated that they fed over 100 unhoused individuals on December 10, throughout the Tulalip/Marysville/Everett region. And thanks to the Tulalip Caring Warriors who donated their hard work, time, and compassion when organizing the warmth drive, those approximate 100 people will be a little toastier this holiday season. 

“This was healing for my inner child,” shared Odessa. “I went through the beda?chelh system and I was put in a home where food wasn’t guaranteed every night. And being in recovery and on the run, and maybe eating once a day – going through all that in my adolescent years – and being back out there and distributing the donations really brought back a lot of memories, but also brought back a lot of healing for me. It truly meant a lot to see their reactions, their gratefulness and to see their faces light up.”

The art of giving back has seemingly been perfected by the Tulalip Caring Warriors and it’s wonderful to see the difference they are bringing about in the community. As each of them are hardworking and have that go-getter mindset, they were able to quickly establish a non-profit organization on the fly, in order to bring a little comfort to the local homeless population this winter.

Kayla stated, “The first stop, I had about eight people, and it was me and Jenae, and when we gave them the soup and bread, they immediately started eating. And then I told them that we had blankets and coats for them. They were so grateful to get a coat and a warm bowl of soup, they kept saying thank you so much.”

“I always say If I can help one person, that will be good enough for me,” continued Kayla. “I’m just excited that I get to do this monthly now, with friends who want to do it with me. They all have open minds and hearts and love to cook and laugh with each other. I just want my kids to know that we’re very fortunate. And also, that we’re lucky to have a good group of friends who will lift you up, pick you up, stand by your side, and do good to other people because so much in our world isn’t good. If you feel it in your heart to come cook with us and be with us, you’re more than welcome to join!”

The Tulalip Caring Warriors are now accepting donations for next month’s drive until January 14. If you would like to contribute to the cause, you can drop off your donations at the Tulalip Village of Hope at 2819 Mission Hill Road. They are accepting gently used scarves, hats, coats, blankets, and gloves, as well as snacks, canned goods, and dinner rolls. For more information, please feel free to reach out to Angelica Trinidad at (425) 404-1211 or Odessa Flores at (425) 319-4868.

By Wade Sheldon, Tulalip News

It was a rainy and windy day on Saturday, December 2, creating the perfect atmosphere for seniors to gather inside the Gathering Hall for the inaugural Honoring our Wisdom Keepers event. More than 200 people attended the ceremony, paying tribute to the eldest Tulalip tribal members. The gathering featured heartfelt speeches and an entertaining dance contest.

Handmade gifts crafted by Tulalip artists, such as sachets, cedar hats, clackers, and a beautiful drum, added a touch of tradition to the occasion. The eldest tribal female, Dale LaMont, aged 94, born on February 1st, 1929, and the eldest tribal male, Herman Williams Sr., born on February 13, 1929, were celebrated with eloquent words from their friends and family members.

Following the recognition, a lunch was served, providing an opportunity to share stories and pay tribute to Herman for his many years of dedicated service to his tribe and his people.

“My life has been dedicated to the Tribe for 45 years on the council,” Herman said. “Many things have happened, and there are a lot of people sitting here who were a part of this life that we tried to accomplish. They never get congratulated or complimented or anything like that. I’m proud of everybody that’s here. I was conversing with people who talk about what they did, and people don’t realize it takes people to create our world here.”

“First of all, I want to thank Herman for being in my life,” tribal member Rhonda Gobin said. “I go down memory lane, and I feel so honored to be standing here at his age of 94. When I think back, I think of Herman. I know all the things he’s done for our people, where his heart is today, and why it’s where it is. His true feelings have come out, and he expresses how he felt about it because that’s Herman. That’s his job to continue while he’s here, and we’ll take all we can get because he has given me a lot.”

The day’s festivities concluded with a dance party, where contestants competed for cash prizes.

By Kalvin Valdillez

At a recent Tulalip Board of Directors meeting, the Board officially made an amendment to the Tribe’s code of law, upgrading drug distribution from a misdemeanor to a felony. This process has been in motion for the better half of the past year and comes on the heels of the Tribe’s state of emergency declaration as the fentanyl crisis continues to plague and bring heartbreak to the tribal community.

On a national level, there were over 106,000 drug related deaths in 2021 according to the latest research by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIH). Over 70,000 of those deaths can be attributed to overdose of synthetic opioids, namely fentanyl, which doubled from 2020. A provisional study by the CDC, released this past June, shows that more than 2/3 of the 107,081 drug overdose deaths reported in 2022 involved illicitly manufactured fentanyl pills. 

Native communities have been hit the hardest by the opioid epidemic and unfortunately there are some staggering statistics to prove this. Last year, the CDC reported that the American Indian and Alaska Native population had the highest drug overdose death rates in both 2020 and 2021, at rates of 42.5 and 56.6 deaths per 100,000 persons. And data compiled by the Washington State Department of Health shows that there were over 120 AI/AN opioid overdose deaths per 100,000 population statewide in 2022, as opposed to approximately 30 deaths per 100,000 for non-Natives. 

We are in the midst of a fentanyl crisis and every day more and more Tulalip families are affected by the epidemic. It’s hard to overlook the fact that this is a huge problem in Native America and it’s taking our relatives by the dozens. 

This next piece of information that we are sharing is not meant to discredit the lives of these individuals or their families, nor is it meant to reduce their existence to a number. Rather, we hope it helps raise awareness about the growing fentanyl issue on the reservation. Since 2017, there have been 63 deaths by drug overdose at Tulalip. 63 lives cut short due to drugs that are brought onto the reservation and are being distributed to tribal members at an all-time high.

With the new amendment, the Tribe’s aim is to make drugs like methamphetamine, heroin, and fentanyl harder to obtain and riskier to distribute. Up until this point, drug dealers only faced up to a year in prison if caught with intent to sell. Now, the Tribe’s court system is able to ration out harsher sanctions to drug dealers, such as lengthy prison sentences, starting at three years and depending on their case. Additionally, the amendment addresses how much fentanyl is considered as ‘intent to sell’ in both pill and powder forms. And it also enables the court to hold booked dealers without bail until they are scheduled to appear before a judge. 

The code amendment was a collaboration between the Tribe’s Treaty Rights Office, Tulalip Tribal Court, and the Tulalip Police Department. Over the past year, you may have noticed that TPD has been sharing media releases after each of their major drug busts. Thousands of fentanyl pills have been recovered after TPD established a drug task force, however, because their crime was classified as a misdemeanor, those offenders were able to quickly post bail. And in some cases, after their release, they went right back to distributing to the Tulalip community. 

We were unable to connect with Tulalip Chief of Police, Chris Sutter, at the time of this article, however, he has been leading a team dedicated to getting drugs off the rez, which has resulted in multiple arrests and the confiscation of innumerable harmful drugs and weapons. We can only expect that TPD will continue their investigations and subsequent drug busts, with a bit of relief, knowing that those major dealers will now be off the streets for a longer period of time. 

“Drug dealing is proved in one of two ways,” said Tulalip Prosecutor, Brian Kilgore. “There’s possession with intent to distribute, or there’s actual distribution, that’s one way. And way two is, if there’s enough volume that you have per se drug dealing. Which is to say anybody with ‘x’ amount of drugs, it’s more than personal use, so we expect it’s being used for sale. We have per se for methamphetamine and heroin, but the drug code was written before fentanyl was a thing, at least on the streets, so there were no per se amounts for fentanyl. And that’s honestly all we see today. I cannot tell you the last time I saw heroin in a police report, it’s been months. The Board settled on 50 pills or six grams of powder. This is important because it’s going to allow us to bring the appropriate level of accountability to the people who are selling the poison that is responsible for deaths out here.” 

Though they now have the option to send drug dealers to prison, Brian stated that it will be exercised on a case-by-case basis, while noting that some past dealers turned their lives around with the help of the Tribe’s healing to wellness court and other local resources. 

Brian explained, “It changes the game dramatically if you’re looking at a max of three, six, or nine years. But I don’t want folks to think every drug dealer is going to go away for years. That is not what this means. Drug dealing exists on a spectrum; you have the user dealer all the way up to the guy who’s not using and is just profiting off people’s misery. We’re still going to see people getting sentenced to less than three years for drug dealing or who are offered Wellness Court when it’s appropriate. And there are the ones who are on the farthest end of the spectrum, doing the most damage in the community, that’s where you’re going to see prosecutors exercising their discretion to request long sentences.”

Throughout the years, the Tribe has been active in helping their membership find sobriety with multiple programs and resources such as the Healing Lodge, the Quil Ceda Creek Counseling Center, the Healing to Wellness Court, and the Tulalip Recovery Resource Center. And through these programs, recovering addicts built a beautiful and supportive community together. 

However, there are still a lot of tribal members who are in the thick of their addiction. And though it may be generational trauma that plays a major role in their battle with addiction, another main reason is that it is simply easily accessible. And as TPD continues its street sweeping of drug pushers, the effect of this amendment should become noticeable as the Tribe continues to help its membership begin their journey on the road to recovery, with a little breathing room, so to speak. 

Summer Hammons, Legislative Policy Analyst for Tulalip’s Treaty Rights & Government Affairs Office explained that since the establishment of an opioid task force, members of the Board have attended both state and national opioid summits in recent months and are finding ways to combat the drug epidemic at Tulalip. And the Treaty Rights Office has also spoke with several other tribal nations about how they are tackling the opioid and fentanyl issue. This code amendment looks to be a promising start to getting fentanyl and other harmful substances off the reservation.

“It’s really important to me because I have family members that are addicted,” Summer expressed. “I grew up in a cycle of hard drug addiction, so I really want to see a future without trauma for our young ones. We need to start having real solutions that support the families and the support the community needs. This is a good step in the right direction and towards cleaning up the reservation.”