Tulalip News

Prayers and medicine on the Paddle to Quinault

By Richard Walker, North Kitsap Herald

Most people watching the Canoe Journey understand the annual event based on what they see: The arrival and departure of colorful Northwest Native canoes, the indigenous songs of welcome on the shore, the clambakes and traditional dinners, the evening ceremonies.

But there’s a backstory: The people who make or prepare gifts. The people who catch the fish and gather the shellfish to feed guests. The support crews that break down, transport and set up camp — from tents to cooking stations. The pre-dawn wake-ups so canoes can get underway with the tide. The quiet times at camp, when elders and artists and storytellers pass on their knowledge. The prayer warriors who lift others up. The singers who offer songs as medicine.

It takes a lot of prayer and medicine to get through the Journey. Few things can test an individual’s physical, emotional and spiritual readiness like pulling six hours in a canoe after a few hours sleep.

Suquamish Chairman Leonard Forsman knows this. On July 18, he was in Washington, D.C., to be sworn as a member of the federal Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. He flew back the next day and was present when Suquamish hosted canoes. The following morning, he was up with the tide, pulling from Suquamish to Port Gamble S’Klallam.

Eden, a 9-year-old puller from Sauk-Suiattle, told me she was so tired on the water that if she shut her eyes she’d fall asleep. But another puller would nudge her awake, and her uncle would sing songs — some traditional, some funny — and she’d pull on.

Out on the water, you have to be prepared for the unexpected. You have to trust your fellow pullers and your skipper. You have to watch for each other. You have to have respect for the water and pay attention to detail.

Respect and attention to detail are lessons that are reinforced on the protocol floor — lessons that can be applied in life.

In Suquamish’s House of Awakened Culture, two Squaxin canoe family members fell during a dance in which one dancer carried another. When the dance was concluded, they returned to the spot where they fell, and a leader sang over them with a deer hoof rattle. Everyone in the house stood. The leader then shook hands with Forsman and apologized to him, assuring him that the family did not mean to disrupt the evening’s ceremonies.

Doing this was important. John Cayou, a Shaker Church minister from Swinomish, said earlier in the Journey that, to respect the water, it’s important to have good thoughts out there, with no anger or resentment.

And so, the mishap on the floor of the House of Awakened Culture was resolved. The dancers could put it behind them. And the songs, like the Journey, continued.

The songs and dances were powerful. The sound of drums and singing voices filled the house. Women danced in regalia — black and red shawls, some fringed, some with button or embroidered designs.

Then, Squaxin offered a Power Song that had belonged to John Slocum, the founder of the Indian Shaker Church. Among those dancing: Ray Krise, who uses a wheelchair. “The song gave me the strength to leave my chair and do another round here, something I never thought I’d be able to do.”

In Port Gamble S’Klallam’s House of Knowledge longhouse, songs were medicine for a visiting canoe family member who talked about her teen son’s suicide. Songs were medicine for a visiting canoe family member who said he was stepping down as skipper because he felt his own behavior lacking. In bringing their pain to the floor, they ensured that they wouldn’t have to travel their journey alone. Just like on the water.

Francis James of the Sacred Water Canoe Family said later it felt good to “sing a few songs and lift up hearts in happiness.”

I remembered what Suquamish’s chairman said back at the House of Awakened Culture: “These things can have a healing process. The Journey will help heal, but we have to set our egos aside and let the energy on this floor heal us.”

The prayers and songs continued to carry canoe families through the trials of the Journey: Canoes that got caught in the tide. The canoe that overturned en route from Port Townsend to Jamestown S’Klallam. Canoes that had to turn back en route to Elwha Klallam because of rough seas. At some point, they all got back in the water and continued the Journey.

No. 8 of the “Ten Rules of the Canoe,” by the Quileute Canoe Family, states, “Being on the Journey, we are much more than ourselves. We are part of the movement of life. We have a destination, and for once, our will is pure, our goal is to go on.”

And so they did.

— Richard Walker has been covering the Canoe Journey since the 2004 Paddle to Chemainus. He will report from the Quinault Nation, the final destination in this year’s Journey.

First IHS facility designated as a Level III Trauma Center

Source: Indian Health Service

Gallup Indian Medical Center (GIMC) in Gallup, New Mexico, is the first Indian Health Service (IHS) facility to be designated as a Level III Indian Health Service. The designation means GIMC has the staff, training, equipment, supplies, and policies to provide trauma care to injured patients and improve outcomes for survival.

The designation, which became official on June 19, 2013, also ensures GIMC is continuously working to evaluate and improve on the care that is provided through an established trauma performance improvement process. GIMC also has an active Injury Prevention Program through its district Office of Environmental Health, an additional priority for all trauma centers. The program operates an injury surveillance system that enables the development of community-based injury prevention programs.

To obtain the Level III Trauma Center designation, GIMC collaborated with regional organizations, emergency medical services, and the state of New Mexico to review each trauma case and examine the appropriateness and timeliness of care provided. GIMC has agreements with the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, N.M., and trauma centers in Phoenix, Arizona, to ensure patients can be quickly transferred when a higher level of care is needed.

On July 12, 2013, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and IHS Acting Director Dr. Yvette Roubideaux visited GIMC and toured the emergency department and the Traditional Medicine Program. This tour was part of a recent trip by the Secretary to the Navajo Nation to meet with tribes and discuss the Affordable Care Act. During her visit, Secretary Sebelius viewed first-hand the great work of the GIMC staff to advance the mission of the agency. The designation of GIMC as a Level III Trauma Center will continue to improve services for patients in the Navajo Nation and surrounding rural communities.

While IHS is the primary health care system that American Indians and Alaska Natives use in their communities, the new Health Insurance Marketplaces and expansion of Medicaid services mean more choices for health care coverage, additional resources, and more services for both individuals and communities. Now more than ever, IHS is focused on providing access to quality health care for American Indians and Alaska Natives. Designations like this demonstrate IHS’s commitment to meeting this goal.

Fire destroys Colville tribal HQ in Nespelem

Associated Press

NESPELEM, Wash. — Fire has destroyed the administration building for the Colville Indian reservation in Nespelem (nez-PEE’-luhm).

The chairman of the governing business council, Mike Finley, says the three-story building is a total loss.

Finley says there were no known injuries. No one was believed to be in the building when the fire broke out about 1 a.m. Monday, and there’s no indication how it started. It’s not related to a wildfire.

The building housed the business council and support staff for the Confederated Tribes Of The Colville Reservation. Nespelem is about five miles north of Grand Coulee Dam.

Finley says Colville tribal records were lost and services will be affected. The confederation has 12 tribes with 9,470 members and a 1.4 million reservation in northeast Washington.

Marysville enjoys music, movies in the park

Kirk Boxleitner, Marysville Globe

MARYSVILLE — The city of Marysville’s summer concert series and “Popcorn in the Park” are in full swing at Jennings Park, where hundreds are flocking each week for free music and free movies, courtesy of the Marysville Parks and Recreation Department and a number of supportive community groups.

Thursday, July 18, saw the Wild Snohomians perform for a hillside full of families, thanks to the Cottages at Marysville serving as exclusive sponsors of the Thursday evening summer concert series. On Saturday, July 20, Waste Management treated an entire playing field of families to the animated film “Shark Tale,” as exclusive sponsors of the Saturday night “Popcorn in the Park” for which the Marysville Kiwanis Club provides free popcorn. The Hillside Church of Marysville sells snacks and refreshments to attendees of both the Thursday concerts and the Saturday movie screenings to support their own church programs.

“A lot of folks leave town on Fridays, so we shifted the concerts to Thursdays,” Marysville Parks and Recreation Director Jim Ballew said. “That’s worked out really well so far.”

Indeed, while Brandon Wilson of the Hillside Church estimated that they usually serve at least 30 customers during each concert and movie screening, Marysville Kiwanis Club President Walter McKinney noted that this year’s first “Popcorn in the Park” on July 13 ran out of popcorn to hand out at 9:15 p.m., barely after the movie had started.

“We must have handed out 500 bags of popcorn,” said McKinney, who credited Sound Harley-Davidson of Smokey Point with purchasing the popcorn for the Kiwanis, whose Key Club members from Marysville Getchell High School have volunteered as popcorn poppers and servers for the movie screenings. “That’s about 30 pounds of popcorn kernels.”

Ask any family why they attend these concerts and movie screenings, and many will likely echo Andrew and Jamie Smith, who appreciated being able to take their 2-year-old son Kingston out for an evening of music on July 18 that normally would have been past his bedtime.

“We can usually hear the concerts from our house,” laughed Jamie Smith, whose home is just up the hill from Jennings Park. “I love how low-key of a get-together it is. It’s just real family-friendly fun.”

“We’re regulars for both the concerts and the movies,” said A.J. Suttie, whose blanket on the Jennings Park hillside overlooking the Wild Snohomians on July 18 was occupied by her own children and their friends. “When the weather is good like this, it’s just good to get outside and enjoy the summer on a weeknight. The kids can have some fun without just hanging around the house.”

Kyle Crosby, Jesus Ortiz and Jakob Palermo are 20-somethings rather than parents or kids, but the trio agreed that they still appreciate the summer concert series as a means of socializing and connecting with the community, while July 18 marked John and Judy Swendsen’s first Jennings Park concert, since Judy is originally from California and John had moved away from his native Marysville for a few years.

“It’s great the way the trees are able to shade the band,” John Swendsen said, as he aimed his camera-phone at his fellow attendees, “and it’s almost more fun to watch the kids dancing than it is the folks in the band playing,” he laughed. “It’s a great way to wind down the tail end of the week.”

“It’s a great neighborhood event,” Judy Swendsen said. “Especially for Thursday, which isn’t quite the weekend yet, it gives you something nice to do after dinner.”

Melissa Vaughn and Jessica Hawkins had attended “Popcorn in the Park” in previous summers, and July 20 brought them and their own respective broods out in force for “Shark Tale.”

“This is so much fun to do together, as a family,” Hawkins said. “We live close enough that we can just walk here, so we’ll get a group of friends and just pile in.”

“I love the atmosphere,” Vaughn said. “There’s lots of local people here.”

“It’s great to see so many families all in one place,” said Penny Ploeger, also of the Marysville Kiwanis Club. “The kids can run around because it’s a safe place, and parents with multiple kids don’t have to spend $60 just to see a single movie.”

For more information on the city of Marysville Parks and Recreation Department’s summer concert series and “Popcorn in the Park,” log onto www.marysvillewa.gov/calendar.aspx?CID=21.

Cherokee Fire Dancers Leap Into Northern California Blazes

Source: Indian Country Today Media Network

The Cherokee Nation has sent its elite squad of firefighters to Oregon to help fight wildfires in northern California.

The dozen-member team, the Cherokee Fire Dancers, deployed to the Northwestern state on Tuesday July 23 to “work 16-hour days, hiking up to seven miles per day to cut down timber to create fire breaks to help battle the flames,” the tribe said in a statement.

“It’s a thrill watching a fire as it’s contained and know you’ve helped,” said Danny Maritt, of Tahlequah, who has been a Fire Dancer for 23 years, in the tribe’s statement. “We’re glad we’re out there making a difference.”

Fire Dancers are on call from the U.S. Forestry Department, the tribe said. Their last mission was assisting in cleanup efforts from Superstorm Sandy in New Jersey.

The Fire Dancers have traveled back and forth across the United States since 1988 to help suppress wildfires, earning “an outstanding reputation and the respect of wildland management agencies throughout the United States,” the tribe’s website says.

Information on specific fires that the Cherokee team will help with was not available, but there were several fires burning in northern California earlier in the week. Many have been contained, but others, such as the Aspen fire, were still being suppressed. That was at 2,000 acres in hard-to-access territory in the High Sierra Ranger District of the Sierra National Forest, where it was discovered burning on July 23, according to Inciweb. As of late morning on July 25, the fire had burned about 2,000 acres and remained active.

Flailing Grade: Indian Education Goes From Bold Plans to ‘Just Hang On’

Rob Capriccioso, Indian Country Today Media Network

At the beginning of the Obama administration, there was major hope from Indian education advocates that Native-friendly policies could be enacted that would shift the federal focus from rigid criteria-based testing to making sure Indian students were actually succeeding in culturally relevant ways. After five years, hopes have waned, and protecting the status quo has become the next best option.

In 2009, the first year of President Barack Obama’s two terms, Natives had just experienced a tough 8-year stretch under the George W. Bush administration’s famous No Child Left Behind regime, where federal dollars were spent beefing up testing standards, and states—not tribes—were charged with leading the efforts.

Native culture, learning methods, and tribal language development were largely not on the minds of federal policy makers when the law was passed, nor on the minds of many state officials who had to implement the plan. Major opportunities to address the needs of Indian children were missed, lamented a plethora of tribal advocates. Test scores, some which showed Indian students scoring very low on the new standardized testing, soon proved that something was amiss.

With Bush gone and the No Child Left Behind Act, otherwise known as the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), coming up for reauthorization, Indian educators worked feverishly in the early Obama years to ensure their goals were met. Congressional briefings were held, White House connections were established, and Indian advocacy organizations got their messages out to the major education players.

There were early successes. Arne Duncan, the sole education secretary under the Obama administration to date, made contact, and he continues to do some major outreach to tribes to better understand their concerns. William Mendoza was appointed director of White House Initiative on American Indian and Alaska Native Education in late-2011, and he has since admitted that federal bureaucracy has been too siloed in addressing Indian education needs—that there needs to be greater coordination between tribes and the Departments of the Interior and Education and Health and Human Services (a point Indian educators have long been making).

But the successes have been small, funding cuts have occurred under federal sequestration, and the ESEA has still not been reauthorized. Gridlock in Congress is one reason. Another, education experts from both political parties agree, is because Obama issued waivers to some of the parts of the Bush program that state educators disliked most, so a push for major reform ended up being sidelined.

“It’s been a recipe for protecting the status quo—that hasn’t been a great thing for Native students,” said Quinton Roman Nose, director of the Tribal Education Departments National Assembly.

“The reauthorization of the ESEA is way past due because the Obama administration has had problems building a consensus to get it done,” he assessed.

“Frustrated” is the best word to describe Native educators who have concurrently been forced to fend off further cuts proposed by Congress, Roman Nose said.

For instance, last week Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) received credit for amending H.R. 5, the Student Success Act, to prevent major reduction in funds and initiatives for American Indian and Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian students. RELATED: Critical, Last-Minute Save For Indian Education

It was a success that leaders with the National Indian Education Association were forced to grit their teeth through. While celebrating the fact that more money wasn’t taken away, NIEA President Heather Shotton noted in a statement that the organization “does have strong concerns about H.R. 5 overall because it does not include our education priorities.” Those education priorities include strengthening tribal participation in education, preserving and revitalizing Native languages, providing tribes with access to the student records of tribal citizens, encouraging tribal-state partnerships, and equitably funding the Bureau of Indian Education. In other words, the same priorities that haven’t been acted on for years.

NIEA also wanted to make clear that it was not Young alone who protected Indian education. “[T]he story behind the passage of the amendment is one that really includes the work of Native organizations such as NIEA and tribes, who worked tirelessly for its passage,” said spokesman RiShawn Biddle, noting also that the amendment was offered by Young, as well as Reps. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), Colleen Hanabusa (D-HI), and Betty McCollum (D-MN).

No matter who received the credit, a cut was avoided, but how to move forward to get the real priorities addressed?

The message, for now, seems to be the same as it was at the beginning of Obama’s tenure: “We look forward to working with all congressional leaders, as well as with the Obama administration, on crafting a new version of the No Child Left Behind Act/Elementary and Secondary Education Act that advances equity for our American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian children,” Shotton said in a statement. RELATED: No Child Left Behind Act: A Bust in Indian Country

Custer Had It Coming! Native American T-Shirts with Some Attitude

Source: Indian Country Today Media Network

Everyone knows the famous Homeland Security t-shirt — it’s a picture of Geronimo and three other Natives with the tagline “Fighting terrorism since 1492” — but it’s just one of many sly shirts that we’ve spotted on in-the-know Natives. In a way, wearing your tribal heritage — and the legacy of injustice toward your people — on your sleeve keeps history alive in our increasingly ahistorical age. There is irreverence here, and even jokes — but the humor packs the punch of truth.

Below are links to the sites that furnished the images in this gallery.

The Original Founding Fathers (Tam’s Treasures)
Of Course You Can Trust The Government (The Yankee Dingo on Zazzle)
Insurgents (Demockratees)
My Heroes Have Always Killed Cowboys (coumrk on Zazzle)
Fuck Columbus and the Ship He Came in On (Demockratees)
Frybread Power (ZsTees on Zazzle)
Custer Had It Coming (BAN T-shirts)
Hero (Demockratees)
I Heart Rez Boys (Cheef Culture)
Retire Indian Masocts (Demockratees)
Illegal Immigration Started in 1492 (BAN T-shirts)
Chief Joseph: Disobey (Libertymaniacs on Zazzle)
Caucasians (Shelf Life Clothing)
I was Here First (Cheef Culture)
CUSTER PWN3D!!! (Demockratees)
American Indian Movement (Under the Red Sun on Skreened)
Where was the INS in 1492 (WhiteTiger LLC on Zazzle)
Holocaust Denier (Unifikation on Zazzle)

Indian Arts Organization Seeks to Help Artists with Parkinson’s Disease

Source: Indian Country Today Media Network

Mary Lee Prescott is an elder member of the Oneida Indian Nation of Wisconsin who has pursued her passion for art since childhood, whether through painting, jewelry-making, or doll-making. Yet, in recent years, Mary has been struggling with the onset of Parkinson’s Disease, which has limited her ability to do art.

In 2013, Mary enrolled in non-contact boxing program offered by the Indianapolis, Indiana-based Rock Steady Boxing Inc., designed to addess the symptoms of Parkinson’s.

Mary is one of more than 2,600 Native Americans in the U.S. diagnosed with Parkinson’s, according to a federal study published in 2012 by a group of U.S. government health researchers. Another finding in the study was that little if any research has been conducted to identify the extent of Parkinson’s in Indian country, whether it is highlighting key risk factors for the disease unique to Native Americans, or the extent of complementary or alternative therapies available in the public health care system in Indian country, where resources in many cases have been relatively limited.

To address this situation for all American Indians, the Woodlands Tribal Artists Association—a Native American nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote a renaissance in eastern woodland Indian art and crafts—is rolling out an Artists Overcoming Parkinson’s Disease project. A goal of the project is to promote health research and education designed to help Native American artists and others effectively cope with Parkinson’s, so as to help them maintain a robust quality of life. The project seeks the participation of Federally recognized Indian Tribes, urban Indian communities, a university to assist with the research and educational components, and others with a stake in addressing Parkinson’s Disease in Indian Country and beyond. As soon as enough funds would be raised to support the project, it is anticipated the project would initially last 12 months.

For more information and to support the project, visit www.razoo.com/story/artistsovercomingparkinsons.

Groom retires from Tulalip Tribal Police

Kirk BoxleitnerTulalip Tribal Police Officer Larry Groom meets with the kids of the Tulalip Boys & Girls Club one last time, one day before stepping down from the force on July 26. — Kirk Boxleitner
Tulalip Tribal Police Officer Larry Groom meets with the kids of the Tulalip Boys & Girls Club one last time, one day before stepping down from the force on July 26.

Kirk Boxleitner, Marysville Globe

TULALIP — For two years after his ailing health forced him to retire from his full-time duties as the School Resource Officer for the Tulalip Tribal Police Department and the Marysville School District, Larry Groom was still able to put in part-time hours in his former position, but on Friday, July 26, he left the job for good due to his worsening condition.

“The very next week after I’d retired, Jay asked me if I’d come back on a part-time basis,” Groom said of Jay Goss, who was the chief of the Tulalip Tribal Police Department at the time. “After the first month, I went from five to four days a week. A while after that, I was working three days a week, then eventually two, and for the last several months, I’ve only been able to work two half-days each week. It’s just gotten harder and harder.”

Groom was diagnosed three years ago with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also known as “Lou Gehrig’s disease,” but he found the strength to keep going from his desire to continue his nearly 40-year career in law enforcement, as well as his love of the many children he’s befriended in his role. And for a while after his retirement, the deterioration of his health leveled off, but his latest six-month medical checkup confirmed that his illness had grown more severe recently.

“When I was originally diagnosed, one lung was already gone and the other was only functioning at 36 percent,” Groom said. “I’ve had aches and pains throughout, but I’ve lost even more of my remaining lung function lately. I have a machine at night that works like the reverse of a sleep apnea machine, to help pull the air out of my lungs so that they can open up and inhale more air. When I’m not on the job, I walk with a cane or a walker, or I get around on a scooter, which helps with my back and legs, since they’re getting weaker.”

Still, Groom is able to look back fondly on a law enforcement career that’s included stints as the chief of police of two cities, as well as working with federal investigations, customs and the DEA. None of that, however, is what he’ll miss the most after he turns in his uniform and equipment.

“What I’ll miss the most is the kids,” said Groom, who’s mentored countless children over the decades, many of them now adults with children of their own. “The Tulalip Indian Reservation has become my home. They’ve accepted me very well, in spite of my being an ugly old white guy,” he laughed.

Tulalip Tribal member Patrick Reeves was still a teenager when he first met Groom seven years ago.

“He came up to me and asked me to join the Police Explorers, and we’ve kept in touch ever since,” said Reeves, who now has a daughter and works in maintenance for the Tulalip Tribes. “That academy was hard, but Larry kept me in. He was always there for me. If I was having hard times, he’d stop by or bring me lunch. He’s just a really good guy. No matter what you’re going through, he’ll be there to help you any way he can.”

“I just want to thank this community for trusting me with their children,” said Groom, who still hopes to continue serving as the Tulalip Tribal Police Department’s chaplain. “And I want to thank the Marysville School District for allowing me to work with them as their School Resource Officer.”

Frampton and Shepherd perform at Tulalip tonight

Source: The Herald

Grammy-winning musician Peter Frampton and blues artist Kenny Wayne Shepherd will perform on Sunday night at the Tulalip Amphitheater.

Best known for “Baby, I Love Your Way,” “Breaking All the Rules” and “Show Me the Way,” Frampton has been a classic rock staple since the release of his first solo album, “Frampton Comes Alive!” in 1976. It remains one of the best-selling live albums of all time.

Louisiana-born Shepherd has charted Top 10 singles and played with blues legends like B. B. King and the Muddy Waters band.

They’ll bring in special guests Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready and David Hidalgo of Los Lobos for the show.

The show starts at 7 p.m.

Tickets start at $30, available at www.ticketmaster.com.

The ampitheatre is at 10400 Quil Ceda Blvd. Tulalip.

For more information, go to www.tulalipamphitheatre.com.