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Category: Tulalip News
Crime doesn’t pay, but it sure costs
Brandi N. Montreuil, Tulalip News
TULALIP – Due to jail reforms meant to eliminate overcrowding and prevent offender deaths due to medical issues, the Tribe will be spending more than it did in 2014, to book and jail offenders arrested by Tulalip Police Department come 2015.
The Tulalip Tribes passed a motion to adopt resolution 2014-445, approving contracts with the Marysville and Snohomish County jail facilities for 2015, during the October 4, 2014, regular board meeting. This means Tulalip will continue to use the jail facilities to house Tulalip tribal members who commit crimes on the Tulalip Indian Reservation, along with adapting their budget to reflect the increase of jail costs.
Beginning next year it will cost the Tribe $43 to book an offender into the Marysville Police Detention facility and $65 for a daily housing fee. The facility has a 57-bed capacity and services the cities of Marysville, Lake Stevens and Arlington in addition to Tulalip, making space limited and competitive.
To house offenders at Snohomish County Jail, located in Everett, the Tribe currently pays a $95 booking fee and a $66 daily housing fee. In 2015, this will increase to $115 booking fee and $84 daily housing fee.
Tulalip Police Chief Carlos Echevarria says these fees are used to pay for administrative tasks. “Each year it goes up.”
However, the rates for Snohomish County, the most expensive jail facility the Tribe currently uses, depends on the offender’s physical and mental stability when they are booked, determined by the jail staff during the booking process.
According to Echevarria there are three tiers Snohomish County uses to classify offenders. If an offender is mentally and physically stable enough to be housed in general population, then it will cost the Tribe $84 a day come January 2015. If the offender requires medical supervision or medication while incarcerated, then the Tribe will pay a $132 daily housing fee. For offenders requiring mental housing units, it will cost $201 daily.
Due to increased jail costs, police departments are reassessing how jails are being used. Cities are responsible for booking and housing costs on misdemeanor arrests, while counties pick up the tab for felony offenders.
Tulalip Tribes pays 100 percent of the cost out of the Tribes’ hard dollar budget. Unlike cities who have a budget stemmed from tax payers, the Tribe must project each year how much to set aside.
To help keep jail costs from skyrocketing, alternative-sentencing programs are used, such as the Tulalip Tribal Courts Elders Panel, for first-time non-violent offenders. Instead of lengthy jail sentences offenders are asked to complete community service or volunteer within the community along with other requirements.
“The only cost associated to TPD are only for Tulalip tribal members, with the exception of persons we arrest and are being held under special domestic violence criminal jurisdiction – VAWA cases,” said Echevarria. “There isn’t a sure way to project who is going to have to go to jail and how much we need to budget for that.”
Brandi N. Montreuil: 360-913-5402; bmontreuil@tulalipnews.com
Tulalip Forestry preserves cultural teachings through wood program
Brandi N. Montreuil, Tulalip News
TULALIP – Since time immemorial the Snohomish people have used wood as an essential element to survive. Wood was used to cook, stay warm and conduct cultural ceremonies. Today cultural values are being preserved through a wood program run by Tulalip Forestry that supplies seasoned wood to Tulalip elders, 70 years and older, free of cost.
“The program exists to help the elders,” said Philip Solomon a forestry technician with the program. The Elder Wood Program follows the Tulalip cultural teaching of taking care of your elders.
“It is part of our culture to take care of our elders and check on them. These teachings are fulfilled through this program,” explains fellow technician Steven Gobin.
For a little over five years the Tulalip Forestry has supplied this service to elders. Forestry technicians, Solomon and Gobin, both Tulalip citizens, fell the trees selected for the program, cut it to fit into wood stoves and delivered.
“Last year we did 180 cords, but this year they [The Tribal Council] cut back the program so we have done 20 elders and each gets two cords,” said Solomon, who has worked in the program for more than a year.
Many of the elders’ only source of heat is their wood stoves and fireplaces. The program also ensures that elders are not burdened with an extra cost, guaranteeing that elders don’t have to pay the current market price of firewood ranging between $160 to $250 per cord.
Gobin, who has been with the program since it has come under the Tulalip Forestry umbrella, explains that selecting the wood is a science that few consider. “When we deliver to an elder, usually we try to explain to them what type of wood we brought to them. If we bring them Maple, it burns longer for them.”
Maple is optimal for burning in wood stoves. Its dense nature makes it burn slow and hot. Alder is good for cooking and smoking. Douglas Fir is used for ceremonial burning and stove-heat because it burns the hottest due to the high volume of pitch; it also burns with less smoke. Cherry wood is used for cooking and for smoking fish, deer meat and clams. All wood must be dry or there could be issues, such as chimney fires from a build up of creosote in acrid smoke from burning unseasoned wood. Cotton Wood is considered the worst for burning in fireplaces and wood stoves and is on the technicians blacklist of wood not to deliver to elders.
Gobin and Solomon also stack the wood they deliver for elders who have no help. Last year the two received some help of their own through the Tribes’ summer youth work program. James Jimicum, Cody Johnny, Anthony Cooper, Austin Paul, Moy Flores, Kaley Hamilton and Lenora James helped to provide 120 cords of wood to elders.
“They were a big help. We really appreciated them. This year we didn’t have any youth due to the budget cuts. We would work them for four days then on the fifth day we would give them a break. On those days we would talk to them about how important the work they were doing was, and elders would come and talk to them and thank them,” said Solomon.
“When we bring a cord to an elder, what uplifts me is the smile on the elder’s face and their thank you,” said Gobin. “We get a short visit with them. We check on them, ask them how is it going and how are they doing, if they need anything. That is an important part of our culture.”
“We provide a lot for the culture, which is what I really like besides being in the woods and knowing that we are providing good quality wood,” said Solomon, about the laborious work. “It is thinking about the generations ahead of us.”
Brandi N. Montreuil: 360-913-5402; bmontreuil@tulalipnews.com
Tulalip Healing—Families and Children this Holiday Season
By Kara Briggs Campbell, Tulalip News
TULALIP, Wash – The holidays will be different at the Tulalip Tribes this year.
Gratitude, an important part of any holiday season, is made more important because of the losses that have occurred since the Oct. 24 shooting at Marysville Pilchuck High School.
“I hold in my thoughts all the people who have their kids around the table, and the ones that have that empty seat in my thoughts,” said Leila Goldsmith, the director of the Tulalip Tribes’ Legacy of Healing Children’s Advocacy Center. “I hold mine a little closer because I think wouldn’t that mom want us to hold our kids closer.”
For children who seek care or are referred at the center, the recent events are raising questions as big as life and death, and wonders about how we will ever celebrate this holiday season without in a time of trauma and grief.
For families, Gurjeet Sidhu, a child therapist at the center, the most important thing that parents can do now for their children is to listen to them.
“Knowing where your child is can let you know if they are internalizing the tragedy negatively,” Sidhu said.
This could mean that child is wondering if they had prayed harder, of if they had checked on someone more, or could they have been nicer if they had only known this one or that one would be gone.
“Parents remind your kids that they couldn’t have done anything,” Sidhu said. “Tell them that they don’t control the world.”
In this season when every news flash potentially triggers more traumas in our community, the act of listening and hearing even a child’s non-verbal communication will be the best gift that parents and trusted adults can give.
And as children turn their attention to the holidays, the question that arises is, will it be the same this year?
Sidhu recommends, responding with a question, “What do you think?” Then listen.
“I haven’t heard any children say no to the holidays yet,” she said. “But I have heard kids saying I wish that this hadn’t happened.”
For younger kids, who still believe that Santa Claus will come and make everything right, parents need to be stronger and protect the magical thinking while the child still has it because, because, Sidhu said, we will all get to be adults soon enough.
“Personally, if your family has holiday rituals like gathering around the holiday dinner table keep that going so you keep the traumatic memory from attaching to the holiday,” Sidhu said.
The holiday traditions have a rhythm that can help keep everyone in the family engaged in the holiday even in hard times like these. You might not feel like it, but once you start decorating, baking cookies or whatever your tradition, the familiar activities will inspire you and your children.
“In times like these we need to talk with our children about our core values, our spiritual belief, our family traditions,” Sidhu said. “And then if you are a family that has a ritual of gathering at the dinner table, do it even more now.”
At a banquet that the Tulalip Tribes held last month for the first responders to the tragedy, Goldsmith heard people talk about the new normal now that these recent events have entered the history of the Tribes.
The young ones us are asking questions about how can they help the people around them, even as they are experiencing loss in a deeper way than maybe they ever have before.
Some children have shared with Sidhu that they cried two hours straight for everything that ever went bad, while others are feeling things that have happened even recently more deeply.
“My message is it’s OK to cry, totally OK. You aren’t going to stress out the adults around you because you are crying,” Sidhu said. “The children need to know now that, ‘you are loved and you are safe.’”
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Free Community Fitness Class
Tulalip Constitution study sessions start December 4
10 weeks of study will prepare citizens to recommend constitutional amendments
By Niki Cleary, Tulalip News
A concern brought up at the 2013 Annual General Council meeting is the idea that the Tulalip Tribes Constitution and Bylaws are outdated and need to be amended to meet the needs of today’s tribal citizens. The concern was brought up again at the 2014 Semi-Annual General Council meeting. Vice-Chairman, Les Parks said it’s time to address the issue.
“We’re going to bring the membership into a room and give a 10-week review so that we can understand every word [in the constitution],” he said. “At the end of 10 weeks we’ll have a number of members who will fairly well understand what the constitution says.”
Parks hopes to create a constitution review team from that group of participants.
The constitution needs some updates, Parks acknowledged. However, he explained, in order to get the best amendments, we have to know what’s already in the constitution.
“The Constitution was created in 1934, it’s worked ever since. The sanctity of the Constitution cannot be overstated,” Parks explained. “This is a good document. I don’t want to go in with a notion that we’re going to change the world, we’re just going to clean it up. It’s going to be a process of getting everybody to understand what the constitution says.”
Parks compared this effort to the grassroots meeting he held while campaigning, stressing that he wants changes to the constitution to be community based. He’s recruited several tribal employees (Josh Cleveland, Willa McLean, Lori Parks and Elisabeth Williams) to assist with the effort. But, while they may be doing some of the work during office hours, they are not earning extra pay for their efforts. Even meals will be potluck style and not provided by the tribe.
“We want to keep it volunteer,” Parks said. It’s important, he iterated, to have engaged tribal citizens in the sessions. He also encouraged tribal youth to get involved, pointing out that current leadership was raised during a time when some of the most influential sovereignty battles were in progress. Current youth, he worried, may not understand the relevance of protecting the treaty and having a strong constitution.
“I think it needs to be opened up to our youth. We’re looking into whether youth can get school credit for this.”
The agenda for the meetings is simple. Share a meal, pull out the constitution and bylaws and read, discuss and understand the documents.
“We’re going to read word-by-word and talk about the meaning of each sentence. We want to know and understand what the Constitution says from beginning to end. We’ll have legal by our side as we go through the next 10 weeks, and hopefully we’ll get through two pages of the constitution every night.”
After the review of the constitution is complete, the group will go over the amendments that have already been enacted.
“There’s a list of all the amendments that occurred over the years, we’re going to get detail on every amendment, see what prompted the amendment, how many people showed up and how many voted. We want to give our participants a thorough history of why it came about.”
The sessions will be held on Thursdays starting December 4th and continuing through February 19th. Dinner will begin at 5:00 p.m., each session lasts approximately three hours. For more information or to receive reminders of the meetings contact: Willa McLean via text or phone 425-905-0632 or email WillaMcLean@tulaliptribes-nsn.gov. If you text or email, please leave detailed contact info including whether you prefer reminders via text, email or phone call.
Constitution study session dates:
December 4th, 11th, 18th
January 8th, 15th, 22nd, 29th
February 5th, 12th, 19th
Tulalip athlete seeks help through fundraising
Invited to play basketball in Italy, Adiya Jones needs community support
By Brandi N. Montreuil, Tulalip News
TULALIP – Former Heritage High School Lady Hawk and Tulalip tribal member Adiya Jones is joining the ranks of Tulalip athletes who are showcasing their skills internationally. Jones, a junior at La Connor High School, has her sights set on Italian basketball courts, where she hopes to join an elite group of players from across the globe, to compete and test their skills while representing their countries. The only thing that can stop her isn’t fear, it’s fundraising.
Jones was nominated to join Team USA, which consists of 12 other girls selected from across the United States, by a coach who saw her play.
To help her raise the $4,000 needed by March 2, Jones has created a fundly.com account, which works like Gofundme, where people can donate funds to her cause or benefit, in Jones’s case, her trip to Italy.
The money she raises will pay for hotels and meals as Jones travels around Italy with Team USA. To guarantee her slot on the team, Jones is using the same type of dedication she shows on the court to fundraise as much as she can before the deadline. In addition to her fundly.com account she has created a lottery board where you can purchase one or more squares for a fee. If you choose the wining square number you win half the money the board generated.
“I need to have half the money by a certain date. I plan to use some of my Christmas bonus money to help. The Tribe is also going to help with matching funds I raise,” said Jones, who is also planning a spaghetti feed with the help of her grandmother to raise more funds. Jones will also be participating in the annual Tulalip Tribes All Native Thanksgiving Basketball Tournament, held November 28-30, to test and sharpen her court skills and hopefully do a little fundraising.
“I am excited but also nervous. Once we started the board I started to get really nervous, like, this is it,” said Jones about her anxiousness to travel abroad for the first time by herself.
Jones, who has aspirations to play basketball at Washington State University, said, “I am looking forward to meeting new people. Just the experience of getting to play basketball with a whole new team, and learning some new moves and about the culture is going to be amazing.”
To support Adiya’s fundraising attempts, please visit her fundly.com account at http://fundly.com/my-trip-to-italy.
Brandi N. Montreuil: 360-913-5402; bmontreuil@tulalipnews.com
A Feast for the Senses: Sixth Annual Taste of Tulalip pairs more than food and wine
Tulalip – By Niki Cleary
If you’ve been to the Tulalip Resort Casino and wandered through the hotel, you know the beauty of the place. In front of the Orca Ballroom stylized salmon swim through imaginary water overhead and local Native American artwork adorns the walls. On November 14th, the hall was also filled music, laughter and camaraderie.
In an era where cell phones dominate most dinner parties, the 6th Annual Taste of Tulalip was a reminder that connecting to the people and experiences in front of us is far more satisfying that connecting to the Wi-Fi.
Before dinner, guests wandered into the hall. Chatting with each other, listening to the live string music being played in front of the Oasis pool, and sampling the wines and delicious appetizers offered by solicitous resort staff.
Then, it got better. The ballroom doors opened, guests wandered into a room engulfed in music. The theme of this year’s Taste revolved around music, because, as the Resort’s Chef Perry Mascitti said, “How can you cook without music?”
Even the menus were in keeping with the theme. The menu was camouflaged as an old fashioned vinyl record bedecked with this year’s artwork created by Tulalip artist Joe Gobin, and tucked inside a sleeve the way an actual LP would be.
While guests trickled in, hostess Kaci Aitchison of Q13 Fox, began ‘dancing’ them to their tables to Megan Trainor’s, All About that Bass. “What’s the best part of tonight?” she asked the crowd. “Everything!”
Dinner included 6 courses inspired by the Chefs’ favorite music.
“I have to say,” said Chef Perry, as he’s affectionately known, “every year, I love this weekend!”
The event, he explained, featured the work of 120 winemakers, 24 beer makers and the creativity of the Tulalip Resort’s eight chefs.
Director of Food and Beverage Lisa Severn followed up by saying the evening was in keeping with the traditions of Tulalip.
“It’s all about celebration, about sitting down, breaking bread and enjoying who you are with.”
She also pointed out that while diners were relishing a delicious night of entertainment, food and spirits, they could also smile, knowing that a portion of their ticket price was supporting a local charity, the Tulalip Foundation http://www.tulalipfoundation.org.
Each table was served by a team of wait staff, who placed the dish upon the table with a choreographed flourish. As the courses arrived, they were accompanied by exclamations of delight, and discussion about the taste and texture of the food, the wine pairing and, at least at my table, each diner’s history and experience with food. Stories emerged about trips to Alaska, the culinary traditions of each person’s home and how the Taste of Tulalip compared to other, similar events.
“This is by far the best,” said Ginger Caldwell a food and wine marketing expert and blogger. She explained that the selection of spirits alone was phenomenal. However it’s the entire package that makes the event, she pointed out the décor and entertainment.
Each of the courses was accompanied by live music. Throughout the dinner, the music transition from rock, to classic instrumental, to pop cover, and even a dash of opera. Chef Perry boldly took a turn on stage, treating diners to a cover of an ACDC song.
When the evening wound to a close with dessert, and tables slowly emptied, I headed to my car thinking, “I am definitely coming back next year!”
