Point guard Jesse Louie about to score during the Hawks’ 3rd quarter run. Photo/Micheal Rios
by Micheal Rios, Tulalip News
The (8-3) Tulalip Heritage Hawks hosted the (1-7) Orcas Christian Saints at Francy J. Sheldon court on Tuesday, January 13. It was the second matchup of the season for these two teams, with the Hawks edging the Saints 76-63 back in December. The Hawks were fresh off their disappointing showing to the Lummi Blackhawks and wanted to get back to their winning ways.
Shooting guard Dontae Jones caught fire in the opening quarter, scoring 11 straight points for the Hawks at one point. Taking advantage of the zone defense the Saints were running early, Jones hit three 3-pointers and then made two of three free-throws after he was fouled shooting another three-ball. On the defensive side, the Hawks were being challenged by the Saints’ speedy point guard Michael Harris and big man center Cyrus Amour. At the end of the 1st quarter the Hawks led 19-13.
A quickly made 3-pointer by forward Willy Enick pushed the Hawks lead to 22-13 to start the 2nd quarter. The Saints responded by pounding the ball down low to their center Cyrus Amour who was able to shoot over the smaller Hawk defenders. Amour also was busy collecting offensive rebounds for his team due to the Hawks not boxing him out. Point guard Jesse Louie took advantage of his size mismatch over Saints’ point guard Michael Harris by driving to the rim and shooting baseline jumpers. Louie led the Hawks in scoring in the 2nd quarter with 8 points. However, the Hawks led by only 3 points 34-31 at halftime.
During the halftime intermission Hawks coach Cyrus “Bubba” Fryberg did not hesitate to tell his players they needed to focus and lock-in defensively. “When they shoot you have to find your man and box-out. Number 31 (Amour) needs to be boxed-out. I want the post to be working. You guys are getting outworked down there. Number 31 (Amour) is killing us on the boards. That means everyone has to help rebound. Crash the boards. We are getting killed defensively and that’s the only reason why it’s a close game.”
The Hawks came out in full-on attack mode to start the 2nd half. They went on a 7-0 run that led the Saints to calling a timeout; Hawks led 42-31 with 5:45 remaining in the 3rd. After a pair of Anthony McLean free-throws the Hawks had a 13 point lead. Hearing the voice of their coach, the Hawks put major emphasis on shutting down Saints center Cyrus Amour. They held him to only 4 points in the quarter, but their focus on Amour allowed Saints’ point guard Michael Harris to take advantage of his one-on-one coverage. He scored 13 points in the quarter to keep his team in the game. At the end of the 3rd quarter the Hawks led 58-50.
In the 4th quarter the Hawks offensive barrage continued as center Robert Miles and guard Ayrik Miranda combined to score 17 points. As a team they scored a game high 25 points in the final quarter, more than enough to secure an 83-70 victory over the Saints. For the Hawks it was the best offensive showing of the season, scoring a season high 83 points and having five players score 15 plus points.
“Better job defensively in that second half,” coach Fryberg told the Hawks players following their win. “We have to continue to improve defensively. Where do we improve? In practice. We will be working hard on our defense so we’re better prepared during our games.”
Heritage Hawk Ayrik Miranda takes the ball down the court, Friday, Jan. 9 , 2015, in game against Lummi Nation Blackhawks. (Tulalip News/ Michael Rios)
By Michael Rios, Tulalip News
TULALIP – The 8-2 Tulalip Heritage Hawks lost again to rivals 9-0 Lummi Nation Blackhawks Friday night in a game that the Hawks led 17-8 after the first quarter.
The Blackhawks used a full court trapping defense throughout the second and third quarter that forced the Hawks into making errant passes, resulting in easy transition buckets for the still unbeaten Lummi Blackhawks. With the win Lummi all but secures the number one seed in the district playoffs.
TULALIP- The 0-11 Tulalip Heritage Lady Hawks picked up their first win of the season by defeating the 1-5 Lummi Lady Blackhawks in convincing fashion Friday night, 33-17.
The Lady Hawks trailed 2-7 after the opening quarter, but then locked in defensively and held the Lady Blackhawks to only 10 points the remainder of the game.
A 23-6 run that span over the second and third quarters was more than enough to secure the victory. Guard Michelle Iukes led the Lady Hawks with 12 points.
Lady Hawk point guard Myrna Redleaf guards a Lummi Nation Lady Blackhawk, Friday, Jan. 9, 2015, during the game played at Tulalip Heritage High School. (Tulalip News/ Michael Rios)
Check out Hightek Lowlives debut video off record label Cabin Games, which is co-owned by Tulalip Tribal member, Brodie Stevens.
This is their debut video directed by Dave Wilson and released through the channels of Seattle EMP museum.
Hightek Lowlives includes vocalist/ songwriter Otieno Terry, winner of the 2014 EMP Sound Off!, and producer/ instrumentalist, Kjell Nelson.
Hightek Lowlives explore a variety of topics and issues throughout their music including ideas of love, human existence and artificial intelligence. By blending elements of the future and past Terry has developed the character Brother Damien, a humanoid with Artificial Intelligence from the year 2047, who has returned to our time to seek love and is a descendant of Otieno Terry.
Combing an array of sounds ranging from hip-hop, R&B, electronic and science fiction Hightek Lowlives are establishing themselves as a unique contestant in Seattle’s music scene.
NPR heavy weight Ann Powers describes their debut album, “Humanoid Void,” as one of the best break through albums of the year.
Cabin Games is owned and ran by former Sub Pop president Rich Jensen, and Up Records known for Built to Spill and Modest Mouse, as well as Tulalip Tribes tribal member, Brodie Stevens.
NWIC student Ed Hill recites his poetry during the Hibulb Cultural Center’s December poetry series. Students penned poems during a NWIC poetry class and recited for the first time to the public for the first time. Photo/ Bob Mitchell
Students in a Northwest Indian College poetry class had a chance to showcase their creative prowess during December’s Hibulb Cultural Center’s poetry series. The class, composed of novice and beginner poets, presented a collection of work created during the course to the public for the first time.
Professor Lynda Jensen, who teaches the class, is an avid writer and poet herself, encouraging students to create poetry with depth and emotional response.
“One of the exercises that we did in class was to make a list of 35 words we like. We would pass the list to someone else, and that person’s job was to turn the list into a poem,” said Jensen. A poem by student Talon Arbuckle using the list of 35 words technique was performed during the event.
“I asked the students to give me a list of 35 words that they associate with themselves, with their personal identity. From these lists, I made a poem for each student. I read these poems to them at the event. That was one of my favorite parts of the evening, extolling and featuring them within poetry,” Jensen.
Students Ed Hill and Crystal Meachem, both newcomers to poetry, found inspiration in the structure of poetry. Hill’s poems focus on his connection to nature, and discovered poetry to be an inviting and inspiring form of communication. Meachem, who did not enjoy poetry at the start of the class, explored different forms of poetry to learn the deeper meanings embedded in style and word choice.
“As an enthusiastic optimist, Crystal enjoys the word search when creating something sublime. She said that when she writes poems, she lets the words flow out. Then she re-reads to see if it is sublime yet. If it isn’t she sits there, frustrated and confused, until she finds the right words to make the poem work perfectly,” said Jensen.
Novice writers Bobbi Jones and Marci Fryberg use poetry regularly as a way of self-expression. Jensen describes Frberg’s use of poetry as, “strong, inviting and eschew the exclusivity that poetry so often inflicts on readers. Her meanings are clear and her metaphors recognizable. A quiet and private person, Bobbi was uncertain about performing her poetry in public. She gave me permission to read two of her poems. After I finished reading her poem “Howling,” an appreciative hush fell over the room. Bobbi writes powerful personal poetry,” explained Jensen.
Other students use poetry as a mean of healing. Student Katie Longstreet used the skills she learned in class to write poetry as a way to process difficult emotions, drawing inspiration from strength and courage. She shared several poems that focus on the isolation individuals who endure trauma experience.
While poetry for many of the students became a way to communicate emotions and thoughts that could not be described otherwise, student Talon Arbuckle found a comedic undertone while developing his poetry.
“Talon discovered his interest in poetry on the first day of class. He shared several poems that he wrote, including one that was a response to an assignment that students write a poem as if they were someone else. Talon decided to write a poem as if he were Mike Tyson. He used only published quotes from Tyson. The poem was powerful and very well received,” said Jensen.
“The evening was full of emotion, support, beauty and laughter. It was the perfect capstone for our course,” Jensen said. “We are grateful to the Hibulb Cultural Center for hosting the event. We plan to create a chapbook with the poems we performed that night. We will make these available to the community when they are complete.”
The Hibulb Cultural Center hosts a monthly poetry series featuring local artists. For more information on the poetry series, please visit the Hibulb’s website at www.hibulbculturalcenter.org.
For more information on Northwest Indian College’s poetry classes, please visit their website at www.nwic.edu.
Brandi N. Montreuil: 360-913-5402; bmontreuil@tulalipnews.com
The discussion to quit smoking cigarettes can be as stressful as trying to quit. The nagging. The pressure to succeed. The feeling of failure. The cost. The nagging. The fear. The withdrawals. The pressure. The nagging. Does this sound similar? Are you feeling like you need a smoke break as you read this? If so, then I know exactly how you feel and so does 42.1 million other people in the U.S. who smoke everyday.
I started smoking when I was 20-years-old, because it made me feel cool. Cliché as it is, it was my reason to commit to buying my first few packs and getting past the sick feeling I got every time I tried to inhale. Eventually I got over the sick feeling and I developed a habit.
Cigarettes contain 600 ingredients with nicotine as the key ingredient, giving it that addictive component. When smoked, a cigarette creates over 4,000 harmful chemicals including arsenic, commonly used in rat poison, formaldehyde, which is used as an embalming fluid, naphthalene, an ingredient found in moth balls, and tar, a material used to pave roads and to seal roofs.
According to the Centers for Disease and Control, Americans spent $8.4 billion on tobacco in 2011, and cigarette smoking is the number one leading cause of preventable death in the United States, “accounting for more than 480,000 deaths, or one of every five deaths, each year.”
My decision to quit smoking for good came in the beginning of 2014. I had tried, unsuccessfully to quit the previous year, but in 2014 I got the gusto to commit to quitting after meeting with the cessation specialist Ashley Tiedeman with the Tulalip Stop
Photo/ Brandi N. Montreuil
Smoking Program. Now I have been smoke free for a year.
The Tulalip Tribes Stop Smoking program provides an essential lifeline for those trying to quit in the Snohomish County. Through the program you will receive one-on-one help tailored to your needs, free of cost. The program provides support and cessation supplies such as the popular nicotine patches and gum that help smokers kick the habit.
There were multiple factors that led to my decision to quit, which included the financial burden of smoking. I spent roughly $1,296.36 in 2013 on packs of Marlboros. The toll on my health was starting to be felt outwardly. I had decreased oxygen levels leading to shortness of breath. My teeth were yellowing and I experienced withdrawal symptoms when I couldn’t smoke, which include irritability, hunger, coughing, dry mouth, tiredness or drowsiness, and trouble sleeping.
When meeting with Tiedeman, I learned there were a variety of options available to me in my journey to quit the habit. The most common option smokers consider is the “cold turkey” method, which involves literally ceasing to smoke a cigarette, despite the withdrawal symptoms you experience. This is the method that I used to quit. Other methods include herbal remedies and medication to help tackle cravings, the number one obstacle people face when trying to quit.
The other obstacle smokers face trying to quit is fear of failure, which is why a majority of smokers try to hide their attempts at quitting. Routines developed as a smoker, such as pairing the activity of smoking with another daily activity like driving or after eating, also makes it difficult to quit.
To help participants, the Stop Smoking program helps smokers create a toolbox of resources to draw from when they experience temptations and cravings.
“There is no pressure. We help people develop coping skills to get past smoking. We meet with them on a weekly basis to help them stay on track, and help them assess where they succeeding and having difficulties, then develop action plans for them. There is no time limit to quitting. It is just day by day,” said Tiedeman.
For help quitting smoking or more information on the program, please contact Ashley Tiedeman at 360-716-5719.
Brandi N. Montreuil: 360-913-5402; bmontreuil@tulalipnews.com
Tulalip youth, energized and inspired, gather around the $10,000 check the N& fund awarded the Tulalip Boys and Girls Club. Photo/Micheal Rios
By Micheal Rios, Tulalip News
During this past fall season Nike N7 ignited a series of ‘move moments’ across tribal and aboriginal communities in North America and Canada. Tulalip was among the very select few chosen to participate in the Nike N7 event. In all there were seven communities selected, three in Canada (Siksika, Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation, and the Aboriginal Friendship Center) and four in the United States (Gila River Indian Community in Arizona, Inter Tribal Sports in California, a Native Urban Center in Oklahoma, and the Tulalip Tribes).
“Tulalip was a community that we picked a few months ago. Every time we release product we like to do an event within the Native community,” Tessa Sayers, Nike N7 Product Specialist, explains. “The latest Nike N7 holiday collection product is inspired by coastal design. We worked with an artist named Peter Boome, a Salish artist, and he worked with our Nike designers to focus on a collection that was inspired by coastal design. When we were picking communities we could only pick one community in Oregon or Washington, and partly why we chose Tulalip is because you have a Nike Factory Store where we sell Nike N7 product. So I called and spoke with Tori Torrolova (Athletic Director for the Tulalip Boys and Girls Club) who said ‘Absolutely, we are game. Bring the event to us.’”
The goal of the N7 Move Moments is to inspire and enable youth to be physically active. They look a lot like mini-camps, but the Nike brand calls them ‘move moments’ because it is a moment in time they are getting the youth active and participating in a sport. This year the events were basketball themed, last year it was soccer. Bringing basketball into our community in an fun and energizing way that will inspire participants to move themselves and their generation is all part of the Nike N7 philosophy. N7 is inspired by Native American wisdom of the Seven Generations: In every deliberation we must consider the impact of our decisions on the seventh generation.
Tulalip youth mimc motions of their trainer during the warm-up session. Photo/Micheal Rios
Nike originally planned to have the N7 Move Moment in Tulalip at the Boys and Girls Club during the month of November, but decided to push the date back in the wake of the Marysville Pilchuck High School shooting. Pushing the date back several weeks was part of Nike N7’s plan to make the event much more impactful for the Tulalip youth.
“Everybody on the N7 staff and our media group are all Native American and this stuff we are naturally passionate about,” Sayers says. “When we heard about the unfortunate incident that happened out here it was not something we had to think about, we called Tori and arranged to come out and actually put on the event with you guys and make it a bigger thing, so we can really bring something positive and uplifting to the Tulalip community. The other six communities had their ‘move moments’ on their own, but we decided to come up and bring our own trainers and put on the event for Tulalip. It was a no brainer for N7.”
Unlike the N7 Move Moments that were held at the other six Native and aboriginal communities chosen, Tulalip was given twice as much product and equipment in order to allow up to 160 youth to participate. To further add to the significance for Tulalip the Nike N7 team personally delivered the product, spoke to our youth, and brought along a 12 person training crew to engage with our youth while participating in the activities.
Tulalip’s very own specialized N7 Move Moment, titled ‘Move Your Generation’ was held Monday, December 15, 2014 at the Tulalip Boys and Girls Club from 4:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Youth who participated in the event were provided with plenty of Nike N7 freebies upon entry. Nike N7 wrist bands, stickers, and t-shirts were among the free merchandise.
An estimated ninety 5-12 year-olds and thirty 13-18 year-olds, for a grand total of 120 Tulalip community youth, were inspired and enabled to be physically active while participating in the premium and energetic basketball experience.
Trainers, volunteers and child participants huddle up to celebrate their evening of physical activity. Photo/ Micheal Rios
The Tulalip youth were treated to a 10 minute warm-up session by nationally certified strength and conditioning coach and trainer at Nike World Headquarters, Henry Barrera. Following the warm-up session the kids were broken up into five groups where they would alternate between 5 mini-camp stations, each one lasting 10 minutes.
The ball skills station taught basketball-specific skills, like alternating dribbles between both hands, basics of a crossover, and then a quick dribble into a crossover. The training cones station taught body control and body mechanics by having kids quickly change directions in a 5-10-5 agility drill. The mini-bands station taught stability and body control by placing a mini-band around the ankles and having participants perform a series of movements all the while stepping and stabilizing with each movement. The speed rope station taught rhythm, body control and coordination. Lastly, the agility balls station taught athletic stance and body control.
A special workshop was also added to the mix when Nike N7 decided to put on the event for Tulalip. Nike made it possible for Jillene Joseph, Executive Director of the Native Wellness Institute, to spend an hour with each age group (5-12 and 13-18). In her workshop Joseph promoted well-being through a series of activities that embrace the teachings and traditions of our Native American ancestors.
“We know your community is grieving and healing at this time therefore we wanted to bring you an uplifting, fun and energetic experience. We hope you leave here feeling invigorated, refreshed, inspired and motivated to take leadership among your community,” said Sam McCracken, GM for Nike N7, to all the Tulalip youth and community members present.
Adding to the already youth impacting event, N7 surprisingly held a check ceremony in their evening wrap up. Boys and Girls Club executive staff members Chuck Thacker and Tori Torrolova were presented with a $10,000 grant award from the N7 Fund to the Tulalip Boys and Girls Club. The money will help support the club’s athletic program says Torrolova. “Those funds I’m hoping to use to benefit our coaches, volunteers and people who constantly work with the program. Making sure kids are fed when we have home games and away games and snacks to take with us. All this money I want to concentrate on the athletic programs that we run here on a yearly basis.”
After the N7 Move Moment was over, Torrolova took a moment to reflect on the evening’s activities, “I think it turned out great and all the kids had a blast. They saw different ways of moving and using different types of equipment all the while everything was being tied to basketball. We received so much brand new basketball equipment thanks to Nike N7. Now, our staff and coaches have access to that equipment will use it for future practices and activities.”
Henry Barrera, N7 trainer, practices dribbling fundamentals with the Tulalip youth. Photo/Micheal Rios
