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The first Indian Education Parent Committee Meeting of 2014 will be held January 15th in the Totem Middle School library. Dinner will be at 5pm and the meeting will start at 5:30pm
All parents of Native children in grades K-12th are encouraged to attend!
Some items to be discussed:
– Liaison/Advocate updates
– Current/upcoming youth programs
– Totem Middle School report, Principal Tarra Patrick
– Upcoming Events
– Information on the upcoming IEPC Board Elections that will be held at the next IEPC meeting on April 23, 2014.
By Mike Sarich Tulalip News
TULALIP, Wash- On Thursday evening, as part of the Hibulb Cultural Center & Natural History Preserve’s Lecture Series, staff from the Tulalip Lushootseed Language Department provided a presentation on the “Lushootseed Calendar”. Natosha Gobin and Michelle Myles, Lushootseed language teachers, explained how Coast Salish people kept track of time by observing weather and nature.
Today our lives are dictated by the calendar. Our agendas are arranged by what day, week, or month it is. Not too long ago, native people of this area did not think of days as Tuesday or Wednesday, or if it was February 3rd or the 4th, rather they witnessed the conditions in their surroundings, or environment, which would indicate what tasks need to be done, or what events need to be prepared for.
“We don’t have an exact translation for each of the months,” Natosha Gobin explains. “But what we have is each particular thing that happens around that time.“ For example, for what we know as April, one thing that happens is slihibus, or the time when the swans/cranes migrate, referring to the time you would see large white birds migrating back to the area. This was a reminder that the weather is starting to get warmer; the “season” is changing.
For more information on the Lushootseed Calendar, or the Lushootseed Language department, log on to www.tulaliplushootseed.com call (360) 716-4495.
Join Michelle Myles and Natosha Gobin at 6pm on January 9 as they discuss the Lushootseed Calendar.
RadKIDS programs comes to a close
Andrew Gobin/Tulalip News
Article and photos by Andrew Gobin/Tulalip News
Students run from the big man in a bright red suit. No, it isn’t Santa Clause, it’s a stranger. Students of the radKIDS program at Tulalip Quil Ceda Elementary graduated on December 16th, taking turns displaying their defensive skills on Tulalip Police Officer Clayton Horne who wore a bright red padded suit.
The radKIDS program is an eight session program that teaches kids all about stranger danger as well as what to do about bullies. For the first part of the graduation, program instructors Rochelle Lubbers and Razi Liptich had the students circled up in the gymnasium shouting “STOP!” or “NO!” while reviewing their defensive moves like elbowing, toe stomping, kneeing, and kicking.
As the teachers wrapped up the review and explained to parents about the program, the kids suited up in minor padding.
“RadKIDS has gained attention nationally, being noted in several attempted abductions where the child was able to escape,” said Rochelle Lubbers, emergency management coordinator for the Tulalip Tribes.
For the final part of their graduation they were approached by officer Horne in the red suit as he tried to abduct them. The students had to choose their defensive move, then escape to tell an adult.
Grace Davis, now a radKIDS graduate, said, “I liked the program. I learned how to get away and how to tell if someone is a threat.”
Andrew Gobin/Tulalip News
Students fingerprinted their certificates as they received them, which also had a recent photo printed on them. The certificates are now important profiles for authorities, making children easily identifiable. If anything were to happen to a child, the parents would be readily prepared with recent information to give to the authorities.
Tulalip Bay Fire Dept. annual Santa Run and food drive
Article and photos by Andrew Gobin/Tulalip News
Tulalip Bay Fire Department brought a little Christmas cheer to the neighborhoods of Tulalip. A parade of the department’s two fire engines and ambulance had Santa riding along on an engine, jumping off to pass out hugs and candy canes to kids from one to ninety-two, all the while trumpeting horns and blasting sirens to let people know that Santa had come to town.
Kids and their families lined the streets on December 14th and 15th as Santa rolled through with his firefighting elves. The children’s faces lit up as soon as they saw him, or maybe that was from all the lights decorating the fire engines. A few times Santa and his elves joined families for a chorus of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Passing neighborhood traffic didn’t seem to mind Santa parading down the street, many times passing cars stopped to join the holiday festivities.
The Holiday Santa run started at 5pm each day and lasted five hours, all the while collecting food and monetary donations for the Tulalip Food Bank. Santa and his elves filled the ambulance with donations over the course of the weekend.
There are many photos of Santa visiting children and their families. To view them please visit tulalipnews.com, or see our new facebook page; search Tulalip News.
