TULALIP – Tulalip TV performed a mock video set up yesterday morning in the Tulalip Tribes Board Room to work out any kinks before the first live airing of Tulalip leadership being sworn in.
While live broadcast isn’t new to Tulalip TV, a live broadcast of a swearing in ceremony of Tulalip Board members is.
Tomorrow’s first regular board meeting of the month will mark the change in leadership for Tulalip Tribes. Herman Williams Sr. and Les Parks will replace Mel Sheldon Jr. and Chuck James. Per the Tulalip Constitution, newly elected Board of Directors are to be installed during the first regular board meeting following the election, which is held on the first Saturday of each month.
Photo/ Brandi N. Montreuil, Tulalip News
Although the first regular board meeting is open to all Tulalip tribal members, not everyone is able to attend due to prior engagements, limited space in the Tulalip Board Room, or other circumstances.
The live broadcast will reach nearly 1,400 Tulalip tribal members who live off reservation, and around the world.
In addition to live streaming at www.tulaliptv.com, the broadcast will be aired lived on channel 99.
Brian Berry, Tulalip TV Director of Video, tests audio feed for the first live broadcast of Tulalip board member swearing in on April 5. Photo/ Brandi N. Montreuil, Tulalip News
“Live coverage is an amazing tool to keep Tulalip citizens informed and connected, especially when they live off reservation,” said Tulalip Communications manager Niki Cleary. “One of the goals of the Communications Department is to keep tribal members educated and informed about issues facing the tribe so that they can make educated decisions about, and participate fully in, tribal governance. Efforts like this one really make a difference, they keep our citizens engaged.”
Tulalip TV provides live broadcast of Marysville School District’s Heritage High School sports and the Tulalip Graduation Banquet.
Mike Sarich, Tulalip TV Associate Producer checks camera placement during test set up for first live broadcast of Tulalip board member swearing in on April 5. Photo/ Brandi N. Montreuil, Tulalip News
“Every year the Communications Department evolves to meet the needs of the community,” Cleary went on to say. “In the last few years we have added Tulalip News, an online, expanded version of the See-Yaht-Sub. We added new on-camera talent for Heritage Sports coverage, as well as instant replay during games. This year we are working on live coverage of events, when possible, and more interaction with our citizens through social media.”
“At General Council meetings and over the last couple of years we’ve heard increasing requests for transparency and community involvement, hopefully this is just the beginning. We are always open to suggestions from our community to make our department more responsive and effective for our citizens,” Cleary said.
Tomorrow’s live broadcast will begin at 9:00 a.m. and can be viewed online at www.tulaliptv.com, and channel 99.
If you have an idea, a critique, or just want to share your thoughts, please email, ncleary@tulaliptribes-nsn.gov , or message her on facebook.com/nikicleary. You can also reach See-Yaht-Sub/ Tulalip News staff at editor@tulaliptribes-nsn.gov.
Brandi N. Montreuil: 360-913-5402; bmontreuil@tulaliptribes-nsn.gov
TAHOLAH, WA – Residents described the crashing storm waves like an earthquake hitting. Wave after wave broke over the weakened seawall that separates Taholah’s lower village from the raging North Pacific Ocean on the evening of March 25. During the storm, a section of the 1, 100 foot seawall failed, leaving residential properties and residents of the Quinault Indian Nation vulnerable to flooding.
The following morning the destruction was clear. A smokehouse lay in a twisted shamble, other outbuildings, and properties were damaged and flooded, and the weeks’ weather report came in projecting rain, high winds, and 3 to 5 foot waves with 13 to 15 second swells by the weekend. Seven hundred Taholah residents faced an emergency.
Fawn Sharp, President of the Quinault Indian Nation issued a voluntary evacuation, in which four families left the affected area. A request was also sent to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to declare the portion of Taholah affected as a federal disaster area and funds made available for disaster relief.
Seattle District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineer Brian Stenehjem leads the Corps team assisting Quinault Indian Nation. He explains that wave action has damaged a 500-foot section of the seawall that separates Taholah’s Lower Village. Photo/ Brandi N. Montreuil, Tulalip News
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approved Quinault Nation’s emergency assistance request on March 27, and put the Seattle District Emergency Operations center into 24-hour operations. Teams were sent out to assist Quinault with temporary repairs to the failing 500-foot section of seawall, with a 48-hour completion date before an overnight storm coincided with high tide on March 29.
During the Corps initial inspection of the wall, they reported calving of rock and core material due to wave action.
During the March 25 storm, the wall sustained damage along the entire structure length, with the toe material of the berm removed and replaced with what protected the slope. This left the slope of the berm unprotected and vulnerable to waves and more removal of slope material, which if left unrepaired, would lead to a collapse of the berm’s capstones and loss of protection.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Seattle District has put its Emergency Operations Center into 24-hour operations to assist the Quinault Indian Nation with flood protection measures following damage to the Taholoah Lower Village seawall on Tuesday, March 25. Photo/ Brandi N. Montreuil, Tulalip News
The repairs involved an orchestrated effort by Quinault’s Emergency Management, Quinault TERO workers, and the Army Corps of Engineers.
To make the necessary repairs, an access ramp had to be built to allow in excavators large enough to remove the capstones, and install a filter blanket and armor rock to prevent further erosion of the slope during wave action.
“We first had to make an access route to work our way down to the filter blanket,” said Brian Stenehjem, Corps of Engineers team leader on the project, about the layer of material placed between the riprap [a layer of stone to stabilize an area subject to erosion] and the underlying soil to prevent soil movement into or through the riprap.
Placement of armor rock was conducted on Saturday, March 29, which will help decrease the vulnerability to wave action to the slope. Photo/ Brandi N. Montreuil, Tulalip News
“The toe rock got scoured out which caused the slope rock to fall down so all we had was the caprock on top and the toe rock and nothing in the slope. And without that slope armor protection, it really leaves the whole structure susceptible to wave action. And that is the underlying problem if the structure doesn’t have any of that protection,” said Stenehjem
“We had to work our way down, creating a filter to protect the embankment, so we used class 2 riprap and you inline the whole embankment with that. Then we overlay armor rock, which is 2 to 4 ton rock, which will provide the protection. So you want the big rock, your medium rock, and then your small rock as a kind of filtering,” said Stenehjem
Quinault Emergency Management staff member John Preston, drives past a residence that sustained damage due to the breach on Tuesday evening, March 25. Photo/ Brandi N. Montreuil, Tulalip News
More than 100 dump trucks were used to haul in the armor rock, adding to the increased general council traffic, and annual clam-digging event during March 29 through 30. Despite issues with broken equipment and increased traffic, repairs were finalized on Sunday, March 30, costing $300,000 and resulting in the placement of 4,500 tons of rock.
Corps teams remained on site throughout the March 29 storm to monitor the seawall conditions. The temporary repairs remained intact during the storm and prevented flooding to 700 residents in the affected area, including Quinault Indian Nation’s Tribal Police Department, animal control, storage facility for canoes, public work shops, Headstart School, and a retail shop and restaurant.
“On hearing about Quinault’s breached seawall we were immediately concerned for our tribal brothers and sisters,” said Tulalip Chairman Mel Sheldon Jr., when Quinault Indian Nation announced a state of emergency. “This, along with the tragic events in Oso this past week, we’re reminded how vitally important it is to the tribes to have the best possible emergency management plans in effect.”
“We wish to acknowledge and thank the help of the Corps of Engineers as well as Grays Harbor Emergency Services, the elected officials and all others who have sent their prayers and offers of support. Our people will be kept safe and we will continue to seek a more long term solution to this dangerous situation,” said Fawn Sharp.
A permanent solution is being sought due to the encroachment of the North Pacific Ocean waters, which have become invasive over time due to sea level rise and violent storms.
Brandi N. Montreuil: 360-913-5402; bmontreuil@tulaliptribes-nsn.gov
Tulalip Tribal Board Chair Mel Sheldon Jr. thanks the surrounding community for supporting the Tribes’ efforts to support organizations that support the surrounding community in turn. — image credit: Kirk Boxleitner
By Kirk Boxleitner, Marysville Globe
TULALIP — The Tulalip Tribes announced a record-setting $6.9 million in donations this year, to more than 280 Washington state nonprofits and community groups, during their 21st annual “Raising Hands” celebration, in the Orca Ballroom of the Tulalip Resort Hotel and Casino, on Saturday, Oct. 26.
“We’re here to share stories of goodwill, and of how we came to journey together,” Tulalip Tribal Board Chair Mel Sheldon Jr. said. “We look back on how much progress we’ve made, thanks to the leaders of the past, who built our foundations. We’re so grateful to be able to follow their example, and to share in the goodwill and work that you do. Look around you,” he told those seated in the Orca Ballroom that evening. “We’re all doing the same work, which is bettering the community. It wasn’t that long ago that Tulalip needed help, and we appreciated the helping hands we received, so now that we’re in a position to do so, we’re proud to help those who help others.”
After a performance by Quil Ceda Elementary student singers, Tulalip Tribal Board member Glen Gobin noted that the Tribes’ financial generosity is a sign of their growing fortunes.
“We’ve given more than $57 million to different charities over the years,” Gobin said. “Fifty years ago, the Tribes’ total budget was $200,000 for the whole year. We had 750 organizations request funds from us in the past year. There’s a lot of good organizations out there, but we can’t give to everybody.”
Tulalip Tribal Board Vice Chair Deborah Parker told the representatives of those recipient organizations to take pride in being “hard workers who contribute to the community every day,” just as she expressed pride in being able to “stand beside you and help celebrate your successes.”
Tulalip Tribal Board member Theresa Sheldon thanked a number of organizations in attendance for helping to educate the public on the larger problems facing the world, “just as we’ve had to re-educate people, to correct them about our history as Native Americans, to let them know that Columbus Day isn’t something that should be celebrated, and that dressing up as a Native American for Halloween is inappropriate. We have to do that re-education because so much of our history is not taught in books.”
The Tribes support regional efforts to improve education, health and human services, cultural preservation, public safety, the environment and the economy. This year’s local recipients included the Arlington Community Food Bank — which received a donation in an amount between $7,501 to $10,000, to help with their construction of a new food bank, providing emergency food assistance to 12,000 people of all ages — and to the Marysville School District, which received a donation of more than $10,000, to support educational programs at Quil Ceda Elementary and Totem Middle School. The Cascade Valley Hospital Foundation received a donation in an amount between $2,501 to $5,000, to help fund their purchase of an advanced medical simulation manikin, with which to train hospital staff in crucial emergency responses.
“And of course, our most importance resource is our youth,” Mel Sheldon said. “It’s the little ones of today who will lead us down the road to the future. We’re all in this together.”
Kirk Boxleitner Tulalip Tribal Chair Mel Sheldon Jr. speculated that the economy might be on its way back during this year’s State of the Tribes address to the Greater Marysville Tulalip Chamber of Commerce on April 26.
By Kirk Boxleitner, The Marysville Globe
TULALIP — Tulalip Tribal Chair Mel Sheldon Jr. expressed optimism for the future, both in the short term and the long run, as he delivered this year’s State of the Tribes address to the Greater Marysville Tulalip Chamber of Commerce on April 26.
“This was one of the strongest economic regions of the pre-Columbian era, and it can be so once again,” said Sheldon, citing the Native American tribes’ commerce in this area, even well before white settlers had ever arrived. “We offer gaming, retail and entertainment to visitors.”
Sheldon summed up the results of the recent Tulalip Tribal Board of Directors election by noting that he, Vice Chair Deborah Parker, Treasurer Chuck James and Board members Glen Gobin and Marlin Fryberg Jr. had all been reelected, while Marie Zackuse was elected back onto the Board as secretary, and Theresa Sheldon was elected to her first term on the Board.
“Deborah Parker has really led the charge on the Violence Against Women Act,” Sheldon said. “It’s a monumental achievement on behalf of Indian Country and all women.”
Sheldon also praised Ken Kettler, president and chief operating officer of the Tulalip Resort Hotel and Casino, for the roles that he and his staff have played in the Tulalip Resort’s host of awards over the past year, including being named “Best Casino of the Year” by KING-5.
“This place is a destination,” said Sheldon, who cited the number of organizations that take advantage of the hotel’s conference rooms. “We’re 100 percent occupied during the weekend and 80 percent occupied during the week. You can build something like the Taj Mahal casino, that people will visit once and then never again, or you can do what we did.”
While the Tulalip Resort is set to add Asian fusion cuisine and sports bar restaurants this summer, the Quil Ceda Creek Casino is due for $15 million worth of remodeling.
“There’s been rumors for a while that we might be adding a new hotel wing, and the truth is that we’re always having conversations about it,” Sheldon said. “If we’re at 80 percent of our total occupancy during the week, we could probably stand to expand.”
Although Sheldon praised the Tulalip Amphitheatre as an intimate outdoor venue for entertainment and various community events, he acknowledged that the Board has asked itself whether there should be a larger capacity events center as well. And with the Tribes meeting their budget projections, Sheldon speculated that the economy might be on its way back.
“Tulalip dollars stretch a long way,” Sheldon said. “Seventy percent of our work force lives off the reservation. We pay out $120 million in annual wages, and most of that money stays in the local economy. Last year, Quil Ceda Village paid $40 million in state sales tax.”
Sheldon touted the past year’s openings of Cabela’s and the Olive Garden, and anticipated the impending completion of 90,000 additional square feet to the Seattle Premium Outlets. At the same time, Sheldon was quick to share credit for the Tribes’ successes with its partners in the cities of Marysville and Everett, Snohomish County and beyond.
“Marysville’s got a great mayor whose work will benefit this community even long after he’s gone,” said Sheldon, who mentioned Marysville Mayor Jon Nehring’s lobbying against the traffic impacts of increased coal trains as but one example, before he directed his comments to outgoing Marysville School District Superintendent Dr. Larry Nyland. “From our hearts, we thank you. We’ve always trusted you. We’re blessed with great leaders all around. If we want a strong economy, we need to keep working together.”
