Seeking Cooks and Cook Helpers for Salmon Ceremony Event

The Tulalip Tribes Salmon Ceremony Event

June 15, 2013

Job Title(s):  Cooks and Cook Helpers

Note:  The Tulalip Tribes publicly announces that Indian Preference to hiring shall apply to the Tulalip Tribal job opportunities.

Requirements:

  • Have a valid state driver’s license, reliable vehicle and auto insurance. (PREFERRED)
  • Food Handlers Permit. (PREFERRED)
  • Must pass initial criminal history background check.
  • Dependable and willing to work.
  • Must be able to work non-traditional hours which may vary due to participation.
  • Able to work independently, follow direction and work well with others.
  • Must be at least 16 years of age.

Physical Characteristics and/or Prerequisites:

  • Stamina to sit, stand and/or walk for prolonged periods of time.
  • Mobility to bend, stoop, and/ or climb stairs.
  • Ability to lift/push/pull heavy objects.

Tribal Department:  Community Services

Job Summary:         To prepare and help serve food for the traditional dinner provided to The Tulalip Tribes Community and Public. Provide support to The Tulalip Tribes annual Salmon Ceremony which offers Tulalip Tribal Members with a forum to participate in their origins, beliefs, values and lifeways. Provide support to the traditional ceremony and dinner held to honor the first salmon caught of the season.

Employee Reports To:  Head Cook

Responsibilities:

  • Assist cook in preparing and serving meals for up to 200 guests.
  • Ensure safe and sanitary conditions at the site.
  • Clean up after meals and as assigned.
  • Wash and sanitize dishes, equipment and all surfaces regularly.
  • Assist with food orders and shopping if needed.
  • Assist with putting away delivered food and items as needed.

Disclaimer:  The information provided in this description has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work performed by incumbents within this job. It is not designed to be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities, qualifications and working conditions required of employees assigned to this job. Management has sole discretion to add or modify duties of the job and to designate other functions as essential at any time. This job description is not an employment agreement or contract

Terms of Employment: This is a stipend position that can be up to but no longer than two days (48 hours) of services rendered
Pay Rate:    STIPEND

Opening Date:        June 7, 2013

Closing Date:          June 12, 2013 at 4:00 pm

For more information or questions; please call Sasha Smith at Central Employment # 360-716-4284

Larsen Leads Bipartisan Legislation to Help Students in Schools Serving Military Bases and Indian Tribes

larsen.house.gov
WASHINGTON—Rep. Rick Larsen, WA-02, is the lead cosponsor of a bipartisan bill introduced today that will provide critical funding to schools that serve military families and Indian tribes. The Local Taxpayer Relief Act of 2013, which Larsen cosponsored with Rep. Kristi Noem, a Republican from South Dakota, continues funding for Impact Aid, which provides payments to school districts that serve large numbers of military families and Indian tribes.
 
“Without Impact Aid, schools in Oak Harbor, Marysville and La Conner would not be able to keep teachers and textbooks in classrooms,” Larsen said. “This bipartisan bill will provide permanent reliable funding to our schools, allowing them to provide the best opportunities to our students today and well into the future.”
 
The majority of public school funding comes from local property taxes. Families on military bases and on Indian lands do not pay local property taxes, denying local schools their traditional funding source. Impact Aid makes up the difference, providing direct payments to school districts that serve large numbers of federally-connected students.
 
“It’s important that we level the playing field for these districts who experience a lower local property tax base due to this federal land or educate federally connected students,” Noem said. “I was proud to work with Rep. Larsen in crafting this common-sense, bipartisan bill to make sure we are supporting our schools and students.”
 
·        Make the Impact Aid program permanent;
·        Require the Department of Education to make Impact Aid payments to school districts within three years;
·        Make school districts whose student bodies consist at least 45 percent federally-connected students eligible for Impact Aid;
·        Make it easier for school districts to receive the grant funding they need to make major school repairs.
 
Larsen successfully included his Impact Aid Timely Repayment Act in last year’s National Defense Authorization Act. But that provision is due to expire. The Local Taxpayer Relief Act of 2013 will make that provision permanent.
 
The Oak Harbor School District receives more than 10 percent of its funds from Impact Aid. Superintendent Rick Schulte endorsed the legislation and thanked Larsen for his leadership on the bill.
 
“Congressman Larsen has been a leader on Impact Aid since the day he was elected and has been extremely helpful to Oak Harbor schools,” Schulte said.
 
The National Association of Federally Impacted Schools (NAFIS) also endorsed the bill.
 
“We thank the sponsors of this bill and urge members of Congress to consider cosponsoring this important piece of legislation that is a critical lifeline for federally impacted schools,” said NAFIS Executive Director John Forkenbrock.
 
The text of the bill is available here. Sens. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, and John Thune, R-S.D., introduced companion legislation in the Senate today.
 
Learn more about the Impact Aid program here.

Lummi Food Sovereignty gets a big boost

The Northwest Indian College project was awarded a $65,000 grant by The ConAgra Foods Foundation

– Northwest Indian College

Food sovereignty is a topic that is discussed more and more in Indian Country these days. Tribal leaders and members are realizing that they can’t be completely sovereign if they rely on outside sources for their food. That idea has prompted Northwest Indian College’s (NWIC) Cooperative Extension Department to implement food sovereignty programs at two of its reservation sites: Muckleshoot and Lummi.

The Muckleshoot project was the first of the two to launch about four years ago. From the get go, the program was popular in the Muckleshoot community and received national attention from other tribes, donor organizations and the media.

Last year, motivated by the success of the Muckleshoot project and requests from the Lummi community, NWIC launched the Lummi Food Sovereignty Project. Now this younger project is beginning to see its share of support.

Most recently, that support came in the form of a generous $65,000 grant from The ConAgra Foods Foundation.

NWIC is one of 12 nonprofit organizations in eight states across the nation selected to receive a 2013 Community Impact Grant from The ConAgra Foods Foundation. Grantees are selected from areas with the greatest number of children at risk of experiencing hunger as determined by Feeding America’s study “Map the Meal Gap: Child Food Insecurity Estimates,” and/or where 100 or more ConAgra Foods employees reside.

 

“A grant of this size allows us to move forward with this project,” said Susan Given-Seymour, director of NWIC’s Cooperative Extension Department. “With The ConAgra Foods Foundation’s support, we will expand the project to meet the Lummi community demand for a project that serves the entire community, including youth, elders, schools, healthcare programs, and more.”

The ConAgra Foods Foundation funds allow NWIC to pool resources of people, facilities, and curricula with the resources of the Lummi Commodity Foods Program and the Lummi Nation Service Organization to form a Lummi Food Sovereignty working team.

“We can use all of these resources to support the desire of the Lummi people to get back the health and healthy lifestyle they enjoyed before European contact,” Given-Seymour said.

The Lummi Food Sovereignty Project evolved out of a four-year research project, the Lummi Traditional Food Project, which tested a culturally-based approach to wellness that emphasized lifestyle changes based on increased consumption of traditional and healthy foods and related educational programming. Vanessa Cooper, Traditional Plants program coordinator at NWIC, has headed the project since it kicked off. She said the program’s success, just like its roots, is community driven.

“I love to watch the ripple effect of the work that we do,” Cooper said. “When one person is impacted, they tell others, their friends and family members. Word of mouth is powerful and our program has grown based on the experiences that families are sharing with others. It paints a very clear picture of the need for this kind of programming and the hunger that people have for it.”

The ConAgra Foods Foundation grant will support activities that promote healthy, traditionally-based food behaviors that produce the following outcomes and activities:

  • Teaching and supporting cooks in commercial kitchens (schools, elder centers, etc.) to prepare healthier meals
  • More community educators will work in a variety of venues
  • Giving the entire community increased information about the availability and use of traditional foods in healthy meal preparation
  • Commercial kitchens will implement policies promoting healthier foods
  • The community will ultimately experience improved health and wellness

“We are very grateful to The ConAgra Foods Foundation for giving us this support and we look forward to getting to know some of the ConAgra Foods employees through their on-site volunteerism,” Given-Seymour said.

Now in its fourth year, The ConAgra Foods Foundation has invested more than $2 million in Community Impact Grants programming – including enrollment in government-assistance programs, nutrition education, advocacy and direct access to food. The program aims to provide more than seven million meals to children across the country.

“Without access to healthy food – even temporarily – children can face life-long wellness consequences,” said Kori Reed, vice president, ConAgra Foods Foundation and Cause. “That’s why programs like Northwest Indian College’s are so important. Being on the frontlines every day, Northwest Indian College is nourishing these children so they can unlock their highest potential, and we want to empower that success.”

 

Northwest Indian College is an accredited, tribally chartered institution headquartered on the Lummi Reservation at 2522 Kwina Road in Bellingham Wash., 98226, and can be reached by phone at (866) 676-2772 or by email at info@nwic.edu.

New support for moms-to-be

Dan Bates / The HeraldAisha Bone, 25, reads "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" to her daughter, Paige, who turned 1 on Friday. Bone is expecting her second baby in December and became interested in Providence Regional Medical Center Everett's new prenatal program offering support and education.
Dan Bates / The Herald
Aisha Bone, 25, reads “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” to her daughter, Paige, who turned 1 on Friday. Bone is expecting her second baby in December and became interested in Providence Regional Medical Center Everett’s new prenatal program offering support and education.

By Sharon Salyer, The Herald

With her second child due in December, Aisha Bone is something of a veteran when it comes to pregnancy and delivery.

Yet the Everett mom, 25, was quick to sign up when she heard about a new group being formed for expectant mothers.

The Centering Pregnancy program provides moms the opportunity to attend 10, two-hour sessions where they can spend time with a nurse midwife.

It substitutes the typical prenatal office visit of about 15 minutes with a two-hour session each time the group meets. Moms can ask questions and learn from each other, said Jamie George, a certified nurse midwife who will lead the group.

Over the course of the pregnancy, that adds up to about 20 hours of personal attention.

“That’s a huge difference in the face-to-face time you have with your provider,” George said.

The ongoing series of classes begins June 18 at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett. Moms join when they’re about six months from their scheduled delivery date.

New groups are scheduled to start each month. The groups are kept small, with about a dozen members, so that each woman can get personal attention. The group meets monthly for four months, then every two weeks after that.

Over the next year, the classes, which are covered by insurance, could serve up to 400 women. Services also will be provided on a sliding-fee scale. No one will be turned away for lack of ability to pay.

Moms practice the breathing techniques used during birth and get questions answered about topics such as the aches and pains of late-term pregnancy and tips on breast-feeding.

“I think it opens your mind up to different things that you may not have thought about compared to if it was just you and the midwife,” Bone said. “If someone else has a question, it may make you think about something you may never have thought of before.”

There will be belly checks to monitor the baby’s development, checks of the mom’s weight and blood pressure, and listening to the fetal heartbeat.

The sessions also will provide friendship and emotional support for mothers. This can be especially important for women who don’t have family nearby or those who are separated from their spouses through military deployment.

“It can be a scary thing if you’re pregnant to be alone,” Bone said. “To have that support system is good for the mom as well, not just for the child.”

For this reason, contacts are being made with Naval Station Everett to inform women about the program. Information also is being provided to the Tulalip Health Clinic. The Tulalip Tribes are the state’s second largest tribal group.

The program was begun in Everett through a $20,000 grant from the March of Dimes. The goal is to reduce premature births and low-birth weight babies, who can develop physical and developmental problems.

In Snohomish County, nearly 9 percent of all babies are born prematurely and nearly 5 percent have lower that normal birth weights, according to the state Department of Health.

A birth is considered premature if it occurs three weeks before the typical 40-week pregnancy.

Infants born prematurely often have compromised lungs, problems with feeding and other medical problems, said Lori Wilson, a physical therapist at Providence Children’s Center.

The babies also are at higher risk for developmental problems.

Everett joins Centering Pregnancy programs that are now offered in nearly every state. In Washington, Madigan Army Medical Center has been offering the program for a number of years, said Gina Legaz, director of program services for the March of Dimes.

The state chapter began offering start-up grants for Centering Pregnancy programs in 2011, including one to the Columbia Health Center in South Seattle.

Bone said she was familiar with the Everett hospital’s midwifery program, where her first child, Paige, was delivered by a midwife.

“I liked the idea of having the best of both worlds,” she said. “The midwives were respectful, but in the off chance that something did go wrong, I would be at the hospital and have great health care resources.”

Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486; salyer@heraldnet.com.

Centering Pregnancy

The first Centering Pregnancy group begins June 18 at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett. New groups are scheduled to start monthly, with the next beginning July 15. For more information, call 425-303-6500.

Outlet mall expansion to open June 20

More than a dozen new stores to be added in Tulalip

M.L. Dehm / For The Herald Business JournalThe expansion to the Seattle Premium Outlets was designed to ensure a new promenade would meld with the original 2005 structures.
M.L. Dehm / For The Herald Business Journal
The expansion to the Seattle Premium Outlets was designed to ensure a new promenade would meld with the original 2005 structures.

By M.L. Dehm, The Herald Business Journal

TULALIP — Several retailers in the Seattle Premium Outlets‘ new promenade expansion are scheduled to open for business on June 20, with additional retailers following in the coming months.

The project is anticipated to bring more visitors to a complex that already draws more than 6.5 million annually.

“We are excited to welcome wonderful brands and stores that have proven to be so popular in other centers of ours,” said Mark Johnson, general manager of Seattle Premium Outlets.

Those stores include the Armani Outlet, Max Studio, The North Face, Clarins, Vince, Diane Von Furstenberg, American Eagle Outfitters and Forever 21. Existing stores that will be relocating from the original 2005 wings into the new promenade are Coach, Columbia Sportswear Co., DKNY, Hugo Boss, Polo Ralph Lauren and Tommy Bahama.

“Additional stores joining the center, in the suites of the relocating stores, include White House Black Market, Saucony, Sperry Top-Sider, Swarovski, Victorinox Swiss Army and Disney Outlet store,” Johnson said.

He anticipates that the addition of those stores will satisfy shoppers’ demands for greater selection, more brands and the chance to find more deals.

The expansion added more than 100,000 square feet of retail space to the approximately 400,000 existing square feet that opened near Quil Ceda Village and the Tulalip Resort Casino in 2005. A parking garage opened in 2012 on the east side of the mall.

“Being next to the Tulalip Resort and Casino is a great complement to our shopping options and a benefit to area visitors,” Johnson said.

Tourists spent about $876 million in Snohomish County last year, and being near other tourist destinations is a bonus for Seattle Premium Outlets as it tries to capture tourist dollars.

Simon Property Group, the S&P 100 company that owns the complex, stated that the property was producing sales in excess of $700 per square foot before the start of the expansion.

Last quarter, the company posted a 5.3 percent increase in tenant sales per square foot overall in its family of outlet malls.

Simon Property Group owns 77 outlet malls worldwide, including 63 of the fewer than 200 facilities in the United States. That makes the organization one of the largest outlet mall groups in the world. The company holds a long-term lease on the Seattle Premium Outlets’ land owned by the Tulalip Tribes.

There were always tentative plans for a possible expansion of the Seattle Premium Outlets that preceded the official opening in 2005. However, the current expansion wasn’t actually announced until August 2011 and work did not begin until 2012.

“Our growth began with the completion of the new parking garage in late 2012 and continues with the opening of the promenade,” Johnson said.

The parking garage compensates for the areas of parking that were lost with construction on the expansion. During the last holiday season when expansion construction was in full swing, the outlets made a point of letting shoppers know that the parking garage was available and that stores were open for business.

According to Johnson, the parking garage has been working out well since it opened. Some shoppers seek out the lower, sheltered level of the garage in inclement weather.

The soon-to-open expansion, which is the new face of the facility as seen from I-5, has been built to complement the original site both in appearance and convenience. Director of marketing Michele Osgood pointed out the way in which similar structures and materials were used to offer a seamless feel to shoppers coming to the Outlets.

A new visitor would probably not notice the subtle differences between the new promenade expansion and the original buildings. Both areas feature wood elements and rock facings. Colors and landscaping are similar and the hardscape under foot at the entrance is the same.

Benches have been added at intervals along the front of the structure and secure locker rentals are available outside the management office at the northwest corner of the facility so shoppers don’t have to go all the way back to their car to stow purchases.

Many of the shoppers who visit the outlets come from Canada. They stay at one of the hotels, such as the Tulalip Resort Casino, or make the visit a day trip from Vancouver, B.C.

“The center serves area residents, both locally and regionally, and area visitors from all over the world,” Johnson said. “Our goal is to meet the needs of a wide range of shoppers.”

The more than a dozen shops opening on June 20 should help to do that. There are no plans for further expansion of the property, Johnson said.

Heritage High School graduation photos

Herald staff

Heritage High School of Tulalip held its graduation for the class of 2013 on Saturday. Click here to see a gallery of photos from the ceremony.

More graduation photos
Herald photographers are shooting photos from most Snohomish County high school graduation ceremonies this year. Look for more on our graduation galleries page.

Share your photos
Taking your camera to graduation? We’d love to see what you’ve got. Share your photos and see what others have posted in our reader galleries.

Native American Appointed to Prestigious National Travel Advisory Board

Indian Country Today Media Network

Sherry L. Rupert, Paiute and Washoe, has been appointed as one of six new members to the Travel and Tourism Advisory Board by U.S. Deputy Secretary of Commerce Rebecca Blank. She is the lone American Indian member of the board.

The board, established in 2003, serves as the advisory body to the Secretary of Commerce on matters relating to the travel and tourism industry in the United States. Its members represent a broad cross-section of the industry, including transportation services, financial services, and hotels and restaurants, as well as a mix of small and large firms from across the country.

Rupert is a vice president of the  American Indian Alaska Native Tourism Association and the excutive director of the Nevada Indian Commission.

“The travel and tourism industry is so important to our nation’s economy and important to many of our tribal communities,” Rupert said. “This opportunity is a huge step forward for Indian country. Indian country now has a seat at the table.”

With more than 20 years of tribal, public and private business experience, she possesses a strong  background in accounting, finance, business  administration, tribal tourism and Indian Affairs. Rupert is a graduate of the University of Nevada,  Reno with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration and is currently the President of the Native American Chapter of the University of Nevada, Reno  Alumni Association.

She has presented at numerous tribal,  state, regional and national conferences and was elected to her second term as President of the Governors’  Interstate Indian Council, and was formerly the Treasurer for two terms. The  Governors’ Interstate Indian Council is a national organization promoting and protecting  the various interests, welfare and well-being of American Indian people of the United  States and in particular those American Indian residents within the various participating  states of the Governors’ Interstate Indian Council.

Sherry is the Chairwoman of the Nevada Indian Territory, a marketing arm of the Nevada Commission on Tourism, and was awarded the 2009 and 2007 Excellence in Tourism Award as well as the 2011 Statewide Excellence in Tourism Award from the Nevada Commission on Tourism for her success in promoting and advancing tourism in Indian country. She was also awarded the 2009 Human and Civil Rights Award from the Nevada State Education Association. Ms. Rupert distinguished herself in her term as  Treasurer for the American Indian Alaska Native Tourism Association (AIANTA) Board of  Directors (Southwest Region Representative) and during her service on the AIANTA Executive Committee; as a consequence, she was elected Vice-President of the Board of Directors.

 

Read more at https://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/06/03/native-american-appointed-prestigious-national-travel-advisory-board-149682

Car Shine in downtown Arlington

arlingtonshowBy Beckye Randall, North County Outlook

Olympic Avenue in downtown Arlington will be an auto enthusiast’s dream on Saturday, June 8, as the Downtown Arlington Business Association (DABA) presents the 14th annual Show & Shine Car Show.
Drivers of antiques, classics, hotrods and muscle cars are invited to register Saturday morning at 8 a.m., in the 300 block of N. Olympic Avenue, to display their prized possessions and enter to win best of show and other awards. The registration fee is $20.

Pre-registration is also available by contacting organizer Marilyn Bullock, DABA president, at (360) 435-4963 or online at www.arlingtonwa.org.

The first 275 cars registered receive dash plaques, and an awards ceremony is planned for 3 p.m. A raffle will also be held during the event.

The Show & Shine Car Show is one of DABA’s major fundraisers, with proceeds from the car show helping support downtown projects and activities, along with a donation to the Arlington Food Bank.
DABA meets on the second Wednesday of the month at 8 a.m. at the Wild Rose, 318 N. Olympic Ave. Business owners and interested individuals are welcome to attend.

 

Photo courtesy of Chuck Goolsbee.

Teens making films ‘on the fly’ out in Indian Country

 

Credit Josh Marshall / Josh Marshall PhotographyRaven Two Feathers of Seattle directs a short documentary about the Suquamish Indian tribe as part of the 2013 SuperFly Filmmaking Workshop.
Credit Josh Marshall / Josh Marshall Photography
Raven Two Feathers of Seattle directs a short documentary about the Suquamish Indian tribe as part of the 2013 SuperFly Filmmaking Workshop.

By Florangela Davila

KPLU 88.5 June 7, 2013

 

Each year, 50 teens  from all over the country fly into Seattle to participate in a fast-and-furious film challenge. They have to produce short films in 36 hours, or “on the fly.” Which is why the program is called “SuperFly.”

Most of the participants are Native Americans, creating Native-themed films out on location on an Indian reservation.

Seattle filmmaker Tracy Rector and her Longhouse Media company launched the workshop 8 years ago.

“Growing up in Seattle as a mixed race woman who’s indigenous, I was very aware that there were not representations of people like me. And I often felt very isolated,” she said.

The all-expenses paid workshop, held in partnership with the Seattle International Film Festival, brings together a multi-cultural group of youths. And in an effort to demystify Indian Country, the workshops are held on a different Indian reservation each year.

This year, the Suquamish Tribe out on the Kitsap Peninsula hosted the teens and introduced them to their history and culture through songs, dances, teachings, and a feast of traditional foods. They also inspired the subjects for five short documentaries and one animated film. In previous years, the teens have worked off of original narrative scripts authored by a Native writer.

On the beach on a recent day, Raven Two Feathers and Evodie Ngoy helmed the camera to tell the story of Suquamish tribal member Peg Deam.

Deam stirred up controversy a few years ago when she took a canoe from the Suquamish museum and paddled it out on the water. She says it was her way of reclaiming and revitalizing her culture.

Raven, 16, is Cherokee, Seneca, Cayuga, Comanche, and a New Mexico transplant who now attends Ballard High. She said the workshop taught her more about the diversity of tribes in the Pacific Northwest.

She added she could relate to the subject of her documentary: “I feel like you need to take risks cause originally I was super shy as a kid and I had this one teacher that pushed me to get out of my comfort zone.”

When she stood out on the beach, directing, Raven was anything but shy. She shared directing duties with Evodie, a 15-year-old from Baltimore originally from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

“It feels awesome. I don’t know how else to express it. I’m mean, too pumped. Too pumped. Too much joy,” she said about the filmmaking experience.

The teens are divided into teams. They work with professional mentors and professional equipment. They’re fueled by the adrenaline of an intense deadline and the passion of what they’ve already figured out they love to do.

“I heard a great thing from a director once that you don’t say, ‘I want to become a filmmaker.’ You say, ‘I am a filmmaker!’ So I guess you could say I am a filmmaker!” said Raven.

“You are! Did you see what you did today?” said Evodie to Raven.

The SuperFly films, which get screened as part of the Seattle International Film Festival, will also get submitted to other festivals. They’ll also wind up in the collection of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C.

Orcas draw crowds in Washington

By The Oregonian The Oregonian
June 07, 2013

 

BREMERTON, Wash. — Eight killer whales that spent about three hours in inland Washington waters near Bremerton quickly drew crowds on nearby shorelines.

Marine mammal biologist Brad Hanson of the National Marine Fisheries Service heard about the orcas and headed over from Seattle in his research boat to check them out Thursday afternoon.

The Kitsap Sun reports that the whales were marine mammal-eating transient orcas, rather than members of three Southern Resident killer whale pods that eat salmon.

Hanson followed the whales into Dyes Inlet and obtained a sample of blubber from a female orca designated as T-65A. She was identifiable by a distinctive notch in the upper part of her dorsal fin. Hanson also was able to identify her three offspring but not the other four whales. The blubber test is used to check for toxic chemicals and to help with genetic fingerprinting.

He says researchers are now trying to learn more about the transient killer whales.

— The Associated Press