MARYSVILLE, Wash, – As parents arrived at Marysville-Pilchuck High School Tuesday, they shared hugs and their heartache.
Paula Dalcour was one of the hundreds of parents who attended a Tuesday night meeting.
“This is the third city I have lived in where there was a school shooting,” said Dalcour.
The shooting that happened on campus Friday proved painful for Dalcour’s 10th grader.
“My son went to middle school with some of the kids so it is difficult for him,” she said.
Jaylen Fryberg is accused of shooting five classmates and killing two of them before taking his own life. The 15-year-old was a member of the Tulalip tribe.
Tulalip tribe Chairman Herman Williams Sr. admitted it has been difficult to talk about what happened.
“I’m really traumatized by this. I backed away and had my Vice Chairman speak for me,” said Williams. “Now I have to get out and really carry out my duties.”
Williams said he plans to reach out to the families with a connection to the tragedy.
Police are pressing on with their investigation.
“I truly never have been more proud or more heartbroken than this past Friday,” said Marysville Police Chief Rick Smith.
Chief Smith said 125 law enforcement professionals arrived at the shooting scene within minutes.
There were two standing ovations during the meeting, one for first responders and one for teachers.
Parents were able to ask questions and were given a list of tips on how to talk with their kids.
Classes are scheduled to resume at Marysville Pilchuck High on Monday. Superintendent, Dr. Becky Berg, said it will not be business as usual. The school is still examining how to approach the difficult day, but a decision was made to close the cafeteria where the shooting happened.
Students support each during MSD community meeting, Sunday, October 26,2014, at Marysville-Pilchuck High School. Photo/ Brandi N. Montreuil, Tulalip News
In the aftermath of the tragic event on October 24, students of Marysville Pilchuck High School gather with friends and family
By Brandi N. Montreuil, Tulalip News
MARYSVILLE – Pictures taken from yesterday’s Marysville School District’s community meeting at Marysville Pilchuck High School show Marysville/Tulalip community’s grief.
Both communities joined together to discuss Friday’s tragic event and begin the healing process.
Speakers included Marysville School District Superintendent Dr. Becky Berg, Dr. Tom Albright, Tulalip Councilwoman Deborah Parker, Tulalip tribal member and MPHS wrestling coach Tony Hatch, Marysville Mayor Jon Nehring, Marysville Chief of Police Rick Smith, Pastor Andrew Munoz of Marysville Grove Church and Shari Lovre.
Following opening remarks from guest speakers students were able to meet separately with their peers and counselors. Mental health counselors and other specialists were on hand during the meeting to offer support to anyone who needed it. Parents were also meet separately to discuss concerns and ask questions.
During the event Tulalip tribal member Tony Hatch addressed the community asking for continued prayers for the families grieving, “We are really damaged right now. We’ve got families all over Tulalip and families all over Marysville who are grieving really hard right now. We can never understand why this may have happened, and we can’t understand that.”
Marysville Police Chief Rick Smith address Marysville-Pilchuck students, Sunday, Oct. 26, 2014, during MSD community meeting.
Photo/ Brandi N. Montreuil, Tulalip News
Students support each during MSD community meeting, Sunday, October 26,2014, at Marysville-Pilchuck High School.
Photo/ Brandi N. Montreuil, Tulalip News
Students and faculty stand on a playing field outside Marysville-Pilchuck HS following a shooting at the school this morning. (Photo by Mark Harrison / The Seattle Times)
Two students are dead after one of them opened fire Friday morning in the Marysville-Pilchuck High School cafeteria before turning the gun on himself, according to law-enforcement sources.
Police said a girl was killed and two other girls and two boys were wounded in the 10:45 a.m. shooting. Several students identified the shooter as freshman Jaylen Fryberg.
Zach Yarbrough, a junior, said he saw the shooter “extend his arm across a round table and fire his gun three to four times.” He watched the shootings but didn’t see what happened afterward because he “was already out of the cafeteria.”
Four young people — two boys and two girls — were taken by ambulance to Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett. Three victims are alive and in very critical condition with gunshot wounds to the head, said Dr. Joanne Roberts, chief medical officer for Providence.
One of them, Andrew Fryberg, a 15-year-old cousin of Jaylen, had surgery then was transferred to Harborview Medical center in Seattle. One of the girls came out of surgery and is in intensive care. The other girl remained in surgery Friday afternoon, Roberts said.
The fourth, a 14-year-old boy shot in the jaw, was earlier transferred to Harborview. He was out of surgery and in serious condition Friday afternoon. He also is a cousin of Fryberg.
“His family is coming to grips with what happened,” a hospital spokeswoman said.
Jarron Webb, 15, said the shooter was angry at a girl who would not date him, and that the girl was one of the people shot. He said he believes one of the victims was his friend since kindergarten.
Freshmen Brandon Carr, 15, and Kobe Baumann, 14, said they were just outside the cafeteria when the shooting happened.
“We started hearing these loud banging noises, like someone hitting a trash can,” Carr said. They heard screaming and yelling.
“Once I knew it was gunshots, we just booked it,” Carr said.
They eventually joined about two dozen kids inside of a classroom with police and FBI. Police told them to stay in there. “Everybody in the classroom was just freaking out crying,” Carr said. Eventually, they were told they could leave, and were loaded onto buses.
Carr said he knew Fryberg and that both were on the freshman football team. He said that Thursday at practice Fryberg was in good spirits.
“He was all happy, dancing around and listening to music. I don’t know what happened today,” Carr said.
Baumann said he was in fourth-period English class with Fryberg right before the shooting, and that he seemed kind of nervous.
“He sits right up in the front. He got called on, but he just kept his head down and didn’t really say anything.”
Students reported pandemonium in the lunchroom after the shooting, with dozens rushing for doors and then jumping a fence to escape.
Freshman Austin Wright said every exit in the lunchroom was jammed with kids escaping gunfire. “I heard three gunshots and I ran.”
Richard Young, who knows the Fryberg family and has a son at the high school, said he’s heard community members describe Jaylen as “a really good kid.”
“He was well liked,” Young said. “It’s just a big shock to everybody.”
Fryberg’s postings on Twitter are full of angst, with his most recent posting on Thursday morning saying, “It won’t last…. It’ll never last….”
“I should have listened…. You were right,” he wrote in another message earlier in the week.
Other images on social media showed him joyful, playing sports and spending time with his girlfriend. One image shows him proudly holding the antler of a deer, with a hunting rifle next to him.
Jaylen comes from a family that is prominent in the Tulalip Tribes. His grandfather is director of fish and wildlife at the tribe.
As residents gathered at the Don Hutch Youth Center on the reservation, one Tulalip resident said many members heard the last name on the news and immediately knew who the broadcasters were talking about. By process of elimination, they realized it was Jaylen.
“We’re all one family,” he said. “You never imagine it’s going to happen here.”
A crisis team is providing counseling services at the center. Anyone in the area is welcome to come, behavioral health executive director Diane Henry said.
“We’ll be here as long as we’re needed,” Henry said.
At a noon news conference, Marysville Police Cmdr. Robb Lamoureux called the scene an active investigation and said police officers were going door-to-door to ensure that the campus was safe. They were leaving tape to mark the doors of rooms that had been cleared. Officers were finding students and staff members hiding alone or in small groups.
“We are confident that there was only one shooter and that the shooter is dead,” Lamoureux said.
Some of the school’s 1,200 students were evacuated, walking out and across the fields with their hands up. Others were told to stay inside classrooms.
Sophomore Arlene Cortez, 16, says she locked herself in a classroom with other students for about 45 minutes before police came in.
Some were bused to the nearby Shoultes Gospel Hall, where they are being accounted for. Lamoureux urged parents and family members of students to stay away from the scene, saying authorities would provide information on a location for them to be reunited with students.
At the church, tearful parents and students were being reunited, and hugging.
Students are escorted to buses for evacuation. (Mark Harrison / The Seattle Times)
Parents and students reunite at Shoultes Gospel Hall (John de Leon/The Seattle Times)
“I never thought I would be standing here after a school shooting,” said Heather Parker, whose son, Corbin, is a senior. “He’s pretty shook up. He just said ‘I’m OK.’ He was trying to calm me down.”
Adam Holston, 14, a freshman, was just leaving the lunchroom when the gunfire broke out. “Everyone just started running. I could hear the gunshots and my heart was racing and we didn’t know what was going on.”
Some ran out to the parking lot, some to the field.
“Someone opened a door and we all ran into classrooms and just stayed there.”
He said all students had been loaded on buses. His sister is a senior. He’s been texting with her and she’s OK.
“The person who everyone thinks did it was just acting normally. It didn’t seem like there was anything wrong.”
Jery Holston has two children in the school now communicating with him by cellphone. They are both OK. Adam is a freshman; Kayliegh is a senior.
Holston said Adam called him this morning yelling, “Dad, dad, hurry, someone is shooting. Please come.” He said his son ran and hid outside in the field by the stadium.
Jery was in Stanwood at the time. “I probably did a hundred miles per hour to get there. I didn’t stop for anything. My heart went into my stomach. As a father, this has been my fear since my kids have been in school, that something like this would happen.”
Ayn Dietrich-Williams, a spokeswoman for the FBI in Seattle, said agents are in Marysville to offer assistance.
All school activities and sports have been canceled Friday.
Marysville is among three school districts recently chosen to share a $10 million federal grant for improved student mental-health services, which have been identified as a pressing need. Administrators were working on plans for the money just as news came about the shooting Friday morning.
“We’re stunned,” just stunned,” said Jodi Runyon, assistant to Marysville superintendent Becky Berg.
Jerry Jenkins, who supervises Marysville and several other districts for the Puget Sound Educational Service District, said, “The tragedy that happened in Marysville could have happened anywhere. We used to have a much greater social safety net. Marysville has been willing to sit down and work with mental health providers to get mental health services to kids who need it, even though that is not a school’s traditional role.”
Students hug family at at Shoultes Gospel Hall. (Ken Lambert / The Seattle Times)
Richard J. Seward of Sto:lo First Nation and Pilalt Tribes welcomed the Washington Tribes with songs and ceremony. Chilliwack is the traditional lands of the Sto:lo people.
New pipeline threatens way of life of Coast Salish tribes
Brad Angerman, Pyramid Communications
CHILLIWACK, British Columbia—Tribal representatives from four U.S. tribes spoke in unified opposition today against oil giant Kinder Morgan’s new proposed tar sands oil pipeline. The announcement took place in Chilliwack, a rural town of 80,000 about 50 miles (86 kilometers) east of Vancouver, B.C. Tribal elders, fishers, leaders and youth presented testimony opposing the project to Canada’s National Energy Board, which will make a recommendation on the future of the pipeline to Canada’s federal government, the ultimate decision-making body for the project.
Swinomish Chairman and NCAI President Brian Cladoosby with Cultural Coordinator of the Swinomish Tribe and members of First Nations.
“We can no longer allow the Salish Sea to be used as a dumping ground,” said Swinomish Chairman Brian Cladoosby. “For more than 150 years we have lived in a pollution-based economy, and today face increased threat of an oil spill in our traditional fishing grounds on the Salish Sea—an event that would very likely lead to irreparable damage to salmon and shellfish habitat, and destroy our way of life along with it.”
The Kinder Morgan proposed oil pipeline would roughly triple the capacity of the existing pipeline, from 300,000 barrels per day to 890,000 per day. It would run alongside an existing pipeline that stretches from the Alberta tar sands oil fields to an oil shipping terminal in Burnaby, B.C., a suburb of Vancouver, greatly increasing the traffic of oil tankers carrying diluted tar sands bitumen through Canadian and U.S. waters.
“The proposed pipeline, if approved, will increase the risk of oil spills and cause more disruption of our fishing fleet. The Suquamish Tribe has a duty to stand up to further threats to our Salish Sea fishing grounds, which have sustained our people since time immemorial,” said Suquamish Chairman Leonard Forsman.
Glen Gobin, Tulalip Tribal Member and Tulalip Tribe Board of Directors Treasurer along the shores of the Fraser River after the ceremony.
“If the pipeline is approved, there will be a massive increase in tanker loadings,” said Tulalip Board of Director Glen Gobin. “This increased traffic will directly interfere with access to traditional and treaty-protected fishing areas, and put the safety of tribal fishers at risk—not to mention drastically increase the chance of a catastrophic oil spill,” he said. “My father, Bernie Gobin, fought side by side with leaders such as Billy Frank Jr. to ensure that salmon, the very essence of who we are as Coast Salish peoples, live on from generation to generation. We fight for our past and our future.“
Canada’s Coast Salish First Nations also oppose the oil pipeline, and testified before the National Energy Board last week. Those tribes included Shxw’owhámel First Nation, Tsleil-Waututh Nation, Kwantlen First Nation, Musqueam Indian Band, Peters Band. Katzie First Nation and Hwlitsum First Nation also provided testimony.
“Like the sea, Coast Salish people acknowledge no boundaries. We are united to protect the Salish Sea,” said Chemainus First Nation member Ray Harris. “It’s a danger to the environment, a violation of aboriginal fishing rights, and a threat to all people who call this unique place home,” he said.
Coast Salish peoples are the indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest, and have traditionally lived along the coasts of Oregon and Washington in the United States, and in British Columbia, Canada. The Salish Sea is a network of waterways between the southwestern tip of British Columbia and the northwestern tip of Washington State, and includes the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Haro Strait, the Strait of Georgia and the Puget Sound.
From left, Suquamish Tribal Chairman Leonard Forsman, Suquamish tribal member Shaylene Jefferson and Suquamish tribal member Cassia Rose pouring waters from their homelands on the Port Madison Indian Reservation alongside the Fraser River.
Tribal representatives from both sides of the border spoke in unified opposition today against oil giant Kinder Morgan’s proposed oil pipeline.
Elders, fishers, leaders and youth presented testimony opposing the project to Canada’s National Energy Board in Chilliwack. The NEB will make a recommendation on the future of the pipeline to Canada’s federal government, the ultimate decision-making body for the project.
“We can no longer allow the Salish Sea to be used as a dumping ground,” said Swinomish Chairman Brian Cladoosby. “For more than 150 years we have lived in a pollution-based economy, and today face increased threat of an oil spill in our traditional fishing grounds on the Salish Sea—an event that would very likely lead to irreparable damage to salmon and shellfish habitat, and destroy our way of life along with it.”
The proposed oil pipeline would roughly triple the capacity of the existing pipeline, from 300,000 barrels per day to 890,000 per day. It would run alongside an existing pipeline that stretches from the Alberta tar sands oil fields to an oil shipping terminal in Burnaby, greatly increasing the traffic of oil tankers carrying diluted tar sands bitumen through Canadian and US waters.
“The proposed pipeline, if approved, will increase the risk of oil spills and cause more disruption of our fishing fleet. The Suquamish Tribe has a duty to stand up to further threats to our Salish Sea fishing grounds, which have sustained our people since time immemorial,” said Suquamish Chairman Leonard Forsman.
“If the pipeline is approved, there will be a massive increase in tanker loadings,” said Tulalip treasurer Glen Gobin. “This increased traffic will directly interfere with access to traditional and treaty-protected fishing areas, and put the safety of tribal fishers at risk—not to mention drastically increase the chance of a catastrophic oil spill,” he said. “My father, Bernie Gobin, fought side by side with leaders such as Billy Frank Jr. to ensure that salmon, the very essence of who we are as Coast Salish peoples, live on from generation to generation. We fight for our past and our future.“
Canada’s Coast Salish First Nations also oppose the oil pipeline, and testified before the National Energy Board last week. Those tribes included Shxw’owhámel First Nation, Tsleil-Waututh Nation, Kwantlen First Nation, Musqueam Indian Band, Peters Band. Katzie First Nation and Hwlitsum First Nation also provided testimony.
“Like the sea, Coast Salish people acknowledge no boundaries. We are united to protect the Salish Sea,” said Chemainus First Nation member Ray Harris. “It’s a danger to the environment, a violation of aboriginal fishing rights, and a threat to all people who call this unique place home,” he said.
“We do find lots of support from far and wide, actually surprising support from the Mayors of the Lower Mainland, huge environmental groups that are on our side. I got lots of faith in the future. Hopefully that’ll be there for our kids and grandkids.”
Tulalip councilwoman Deborah Parker said she hoped the protest would be a day for healing.
“Really my hopes are that the NEB and Kinder Morgan will hear our words. and I know they will be some pretty powerful words,” she said. “The words need to keep coming forward so we’re not living in this fear and in as much pain we have been.
“I hope today is not only a day to hear and to listen, but a day to heal.”
Coast Salish peoples are the indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest, and have traditionally lived along the coasts of Oregon and Washington in the United States, and in British Columbia, Canada.
The Salish Sea is a network of waterways between the southwestern tip of British Columbia and the northwestern tip of Washington State, and includes the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Haro Strait, the Strait of Georgia and the Puget Sound.
Tulalip Bay Fire Chief Teri Dodge, pictured third to last in back row, with a handful of the volunteer firefighters that serves the northern half of Tulalip from Priest Point area to Fire Trail Road. Photo/ Brandi N. Montreuil, Tulalip News
By Brandi N. Montreuil, Tulalip News
TULALIP – Firefighters at the Snohomish County Fire District #15, known as the Tulalip Bay Fire Department, are asking Tulalip tribal members to consider them when voting in this year’s general election, held on November 4.
The fire department, which services 12,000 people living in an area of 22 square miles on the Tulalip Indian Reservation, is seeking permanent funding by way of an Emergency Services Property Tax levy. The levy will expand the department’s services to include Basic Life Support ambulance transport and improve current emergency medical services if passed.
Tulalip Tribes Board of Directors supports the levy and has promised to match the requested $80,000 in the levy. This will provide funding for additional staff to transport patients to local area hospitals during medical emergencies.
The fire department receives 700 calls a year, with 90 percent requiring medical transport. If the levy passes, Tulalip Bay Fire Chief Teri Dodge states the funding will minimize the department’s need for private ambulance services and provide essential training for staff.
“With the addition of the Tulalip Early Learning Academy in Tulalip, the need to have our own transport has increased,” stated Dodge.
“We’ve never had a levy not pass, but we need a 60 percent majority for it to pass,” said Fire Chief Dodge.
The station currently has a rotating shift of 32 volunteer firefighters, but due to a lack of funding the department has not been able to staff for their own ambulance transport.
If the levy passes it would eliminate wait times for ambulances and cut patient costs.
According to the Tulalip Bay Firefighter’s Association, if the levy is passed, “the maximum tax increase per $200,000 assessed valuation will not exceed $50 per year or approximately $4.16 per month.”
“This levy will help us help the people who are like family to us. We have a great history with the community. This department is different than any other fire department. Our staff goes through extensive cultural training and it is reflected in the diversity of our staff. If the levy passes the cost will be a third of what it is now for our community,” said Dodge.
Brandi N. Montreuil: 360-913-5402; bmontreuil@tulalipnews.com
On October 6, 2014, in a packed Seattle city hall council chambers room, the Seattle city council voted unanimously to rename the second Monday in October, the federal holiday Columbus Day, to Indigenous Peoples’ Day for the city of Seattle. The room erupted in emotion with loud cheers, the sound of drums and the sight of over joyed, smiling and crying faces followed by an impromptu singing of the AIM song in the halls of Seattle city hall.
The Seattle city council vote followed the previous weeks unanimous vote by the Seattle school board to both establish the second Monday in October as a day of observance for Indigenous Peoples’ and to make a board commitment to the teaching of tribal history, culture, governance and current affairs into the Seattle public schools system.
The origins for both the Seattle city council and Seattle school board resolutions date back to 2011, when I was attending an Abolish Columbus Day rally in downtown Seattle. As I was listening to the beautiful songs of a local canoe family, I started thinking about South Dakota and their successful effort to change Columbus Day to Native American Day. That night I decided to contact members of the Seattle city council, as well as, my local State Legislatures to see if they might be willing to do something similar on either the City or State level.
To my surprise, the following morning I got a phone call from Washington State Senator Margarita Prentice and proceeded to have a long conversation about the genocide brought by Columbus to our Native relatives in the Caribbean and how she would love to sponsor a resolution on the State level. She simply asked that I draft a resolution and seek support from area tribes first before she would sponsor the resolution.
Elated, I immediately contacted Theresa Sheldon and Deborah Parker from Tulalip, who were both policy analyst for the Tulalip Tribes at that time, and whom currently sit on the Tulalip Board of Directors, to let them know the news. They agreed to take the resolution to the 2011 Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians annual conference and put the Indigenous Peoples’ Day resolution before the conference for a vote. The resolution was unanimously approved, and although the resolution ultimately did not succeed on the State level, the seeds of the Indigenous Peoples’ Day resolution for Seattle were sown.
When Minneapolis approved its Indigenous Peoples’ Day resolution in the early spring of 2014, I figured now might be a good time to revive our efforts in Seattle especially given that we had two new Seattle city council members who had been responsive to the needs and issues of Seattle’s Native community. I again reached out to the Seattle city council members and before the day was over council member Kshama Sawant responded back that she would sponsor an Indigenous Peoples’ Day resolution and asked if I would draft one for her.
I drafted a resolution and sent it out to other members of Seattle’s Native community for additional input. From there a grassroots effort was underway to build broad base support for the resolution. By the time the resolution was presented to the Seattle city council for vote, we gained the endorsement of forty various community organizations, non-profits, human rights organizations, local and national tribal organizations and letters of support from numerous area tribes.
In drafting the resolution, one thought was that we should be pushing for something more than just the renaming of Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples’ Day, so language was included to have the Seattle city council “encourage” the Seattle public schools to adopt the guidelines established by the 2005 H.B. 1495 and the subsequent Since Time Immemorial Tribal Sovereignty curriculum [STI] that was developed out of it.
Many within the Native community had tried for years to get the Seattle public schools to adopt the STI curriculum, but had always been met with resistance. We figured if we could get the Seattle city council to pass a resolution calling on the school district to adopt the curriculum, we would have good leverage to pressure the school board to adopt it.
Over the summer, a letter was sent to the Seattle school board from the Seattle Human Rights Commission, an early resolution backer, to inform them of the efforts being worked on with the Seattle city council surrounding the Indigenous Peoples’ Day resolution and to encourage them to align efforts with the city to meet the goals of the proposed resolution.
In late July, I was contacted by the Seattle city council and was told that they were ready to put the resolution to the full council for vote. I was given two possible dates to introduce the resolution, one in August and one in September. Since the September date fell on the day before school started in the Seattle area, we went for the September date knowing that we would most likely generate wide-spread media attention and given that Columbus is often one of the things students learn about first, we figured this would be a good strategy to get the evils committed by Columbus on the minds of students.
Up until the September 2, Seattle city council hearing we largely kept the Indigenous Peoples’ Day resolution from the media spotlight. Days before the council meeting we released a press release on the Last Real Indians webpage, whom I am write for. The idea was that we would be asserting our voice on this issue and establish the framework for which the issue would be discussed on our own terms. As the massive rally descended upon the Seattle city council hearing on September 2, the mainstream press was playing a game of catch up on our resolution that had already generated Turtle Island-wide buzz amongst Native communities.
While a decision was made on September 2 to hold the vote off until October 6, we were able to secure the endorsement of Seattle’s Mayor Ed Murray a generated nationwide attention on our Indigenous Peoples’ Day resolution.
Throughout September, we keep up a steady stream of pressure on both the Seattle city council and Seattle school board with emails, petitions, phone calls, and letters of endorsement from area Tribes and other supporters, as well as, built broad support through social media campaigning.
For me personally, it was phenomenal to see such a concerted and collaborative joint effort develop between Seattle’s urban Native community, Tribe’s and Tribal leaders. By time the October 1 Seattle school board vote and the October 6 Seattle city council vote came around a true urban and Tribal partnership was firmly established. The Seattle city council vote saw testimony given from tribal leaders David Bean (Puyallup), Fawn Sharp (President of both the Quinualt Indian Nation and the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians), Mel Sheldon (former Chair of the Tulalip Tribes), as well as, numerous members of Seattle’s urban Native community.
Throughout the whole process, we keep the perspective that we are simply part of a larger movement being fought on the local grassroots level to not only abolish Columbus Day, but see our communities rise up and assert our own voices on our own terms on issues of importance to us.
We sought to show the power our communities possess when we come together unified under the belief and knowledge that what we do today is both work to heal past generations and lift the spirits of our future generations.
Happy Indigenous Peoples’ Day
Mitakuye oyasin.
Matt Remle (Lakota) lives in Seattle. He works for the office of Indian Education in the Marysville/Tulalip school district. He is a writer for Last Real Indians @ www.lastrealindians.com and runs an online Lakota language program at www.LRInspire.com. He is a father of three and the author of Seattle’s Indigenous Peoples’ Day resolution.
SEATTLE (CN) – Native American tribes fighting over fishing rights in Washington asked the 9th Circuit to intervene in separate proceedings last week.
The cases stems from a 1974 injunction by U.S. District Judge George Hugo Bolt in U.S. v. Washington that affirmed certain tribal fishing rights the state had been denying.
Among numerous subproceedings, the Tulalip back in 2005 requested a permanent injunction to prevent the Suquamish from fishing in waters outside their usual and accustomed, or U & A, grounds, an area determined by the 9th Circuit in 1990. The Suquamish were accused in that case of fishing on the east side of Puget Sound, in violation of court order.
U.S. District Judge Ricardo Martinez last year clarified “the geographic scope” of the Suquamish fishing grounds in Bolt’s decision. He said Bolt “relied heavily” on the reports of anthropologist Dr. Barbara Lane, who testified about various tribes’ traditional fishing areas in the 1974 case.
Martinez said it was “nearly certain” Bolt intended to include Possession Sound and waters at the mouth of the Snohomish River in the Suquamish U & A.
“On the other hand, there is an absence of evidence in her [Lane’s] report regarding Suquamish fishing in the waters on the eastern side of Whidbey Island such as Skagit Bay, Saratoga Passage and its connecting bays Penn Cove and Holmes Harbor, and Port Susan,” the July 29, 2013, ruling says. “Therefore the court finds that Judge Boldt did not intend to include these areas in the Suquamish U&A.”
The Tulalip appealed the decision to the 9th Circuit. After a three-judge panel’s Aug. 8 hearing in the Tulalip dispute, it heard the appeal by the Quileute and Quinault tribes of a similar decision by favoring the Makah tribe.
The Makah filed their Bolt subproceeding in 2009 to determine the boundaries of U & A fishing areas for the Quileute and Quinault tribes. The Ho tribe opposed the Makah’s motion as an interested party. In the complaint, the Makah argued the tribes intend to harvest Pacific whiting outside their traditional fishing grounds, which would affect the Makah’s catch. Pacific whiting travel from south to north, so the Quileute and Quinault would harvest the fish before the Makah.
Martinez let the case to proceed to trial by granting the Makah partial summary judgment last year. The Quileute and Quinault objected, arguing they waived sovereign immunity in the 1974 case only for determining their fishing rights in Washington. They claimed the court did not have authority over waters outside the 3-mile limit from the shore.
Martinez found that “incorrect” on July 8, 2013, saying the court’s jurisdiction extends to all treaty-based fishing and not limited to Washington waters.
The Quinault and Quileute’s claims of sovereign immunity also failed.
“The tribes came to Court in 1970 asking the court to determine and enforce their treaty rights, and they subjected themselves to the court’s jurisdiction for all purposes relating to the exercise of their treaty rights,” he wrote. “The Quinault and Quileute objections to the Makah motion for partial summary judgment on jurisdiction are thus without merit.”
Ho intervened in the appeals by both tribes.
With the 9th Circuit hearing the Tulalip case first Wednesday, Mason Morisset, representing the Tulalip, said Judge Bolt never “called out the specific waters we’re dealing with here.”
The lower court erred in finding the Suquamish regularly fished the east side of Whidbey Island in the past, he added.
Although the Suquamish fishing grounds extended north to Canad’s Fraser River, the tribe “would have to go out of their way” to fish on eastern Whidbey Island, Morisset said.
“In this case, there’s no evidence that the Suquamish went out of their way,” he said.
Judge Consuelo Callahan asked Morisset about the findings by an anthropologist that the Suquamish “traveled widely in the Puget Sound area.”
Morisett said this was true of “all the tribes,” and “it’s not evidence to make a general statement.”
The Suquamish may have traveled to the eastern parts of Whidbey Island and done some fishing, “but that doesn’t rise to the level of a usual and accustomed fishing place,” the attorney added.
Though Morisset called it “very telling” that the Suquamish did not contest Judge Bolt’s definition of their territory for 30 years, Callahan said “that doesn’t negate that they may have a right to do it.”
Howard Arnett, representing the Suquamish, said the tribe regularly fished in East Puget Sound based on historical reports.
“The testimony is clear,” he said. “They went there often. They went there frequently and they fished along the way – enough to establish that the entire area is a U & A.”
The Quileute, Quinault and Ho tribes dispute the finding they waived sovereign immunity, their attorney, Lauren King, said. The tribes agreed to court determination of fishing rights only in Washington State waters, she added.
With Callahan asking why the court shouldn’t “rule here that if you’re in for a penny then you’re in for a pound,” King said it would contravene Supreme Court precedent. “The Supreme Court said if you’re in for a penny, you’re in for a penny,” King said.
Callahan countered that “every single one” of the fishing rights cases involved interpretation of the same treaty.
King did not get far with her explanation that the tribes waived sovereign immunity only for one part of the treaty involving Washington fishing rights.
“If it involved all things in the treaty, we’d be here talking about hunting, about making war on other tribes,” King said.
But Callahan said the tribes’ approach seems to be “we waive sovereign immunity piece by piece until we don’t like what a court does.”
The Makah, represented by Marc Slonim, repeated their position that sovereign immunity was not an issue.
“Sovereign immunity is not a defense as to how an issue will get decided,” Slonim said.
He argued that the determination of the Quileute and Quinault traditional fishing grounds is “no different” from all of the other tribal determinations under the original U.S. v Washington case.
Callahan asked if the subject matter of this case was “inextricably linked” with U.S. v Washington.
“Absolutely,” Slonim replied.
The heart of the original case was the determination of usual and accustomed fishing grounds, the attorney added.
“You have to know where usual and accustomed fishing grounds are to adjudicate the treaty rights,” Slonim said. “The United States has said explicitly that the place these issues should be resolved is in U.S. v. Washington.”
Washington Assistant Attorney General Joseph Panesko also weighed in on the tribes
claim of sovereign immunity, saying it was “patently false” to claim the state has no regulatory authority over the waters in dispute.
He called the tribes “disingenuous” for claiming they never waived immunity over the waters. He said if they succeed in arguing Judge Bolt’s decision doesn’t affect the ocean waters, the state wouldn’t be bound by an injunction in the case.
“The state would be cleared to start regulating all tribal harvests of crab and a few other resources that the state does manage beyond the three mile line,” Panesko said. “The state could require regulatory permits, impose excise taxes on fish that tribal members bring in from beyond that 3-mile line – ”
Laughter broke out in the courtroom as Callahan translated.
“You’re saying be careful what you ask for,” she said.
Judges Jay Bybee and Richard Paez joined on the panel.
Heritage High School students are using art and social media to learn about domestic abuse and how to prevent it. Photo\Brandi N. Montreuil, Tulalip News
By Brandi N. Montreuil, Tulalip News
TULALIP – Every October the nation is splashed with a dose of bright pink, as result of a national campaign to bring attention to breast cancer. This campaign has resulted in an increased number of early detection screenings and a decrease in death rates since 1989. Since 1987, purple ribbons have begun to be associated with the month as well, as a result of the domestic violence awareness and education campaign. Both campaigns have resulted in successful lifesaving education. However, incidents of domestic violence are still at epidemic proportions.
To bring awareness to the dangers of intimate partner violence happening in her community, Heritage High School art teacher Cerissa Gobin, decided to use the platform of the popular social media trend ‘women crush Wednesdays,’ to educate and engage students about the dangers of domestic violence and teen-dating violence. Instead of picking a women who is admired for beauty as the crush of the day, Gobin is asking students to think about Native women who are missing or murdered as a result of intimate partner violence.
“In the spirit of ‘women crush Wednesday,’ I wanted the class to do some research on the missing and murdered aboriginal women in Canada. It really is an issue that affects all us women around the world, because we, as Native women, are the ones that are the least represented and the ones that are highly victimized,” said Gobin, who is also a Tulalip tribal member.
As part of the in-class project, students are researching the current statistics of aboriginal women murdered and missing in Canada, along with the current statistics of domestic violence in Indian country. Students are also learning about dating violence experienced in their own age group. Students will then use the research they have completed to create a piece using art mediums such as poetry, multi-media, sculpture, photography, painting, drawing, or sculpture. The project will need to include statistics and what the student has learned.
Tulalip Tribes Councilwoman Deborah Parker spoke to the students about putting an end to abuse. Photo/ Brandi N. Montreuil, Tulalip News
In support of the student project, Tulalip Tribes Councilwoman Deborah Parker gave a special presentation about her work in educating the public about the plight of First Nations women and her work regarding Violence Against Women Act.
“It is not an easy conversation that our fathers or even mothers have had with our young men,” said Parker, to a dozen male and female students during her presentation on September 25. “How do we treat our women? Sometimes we see how our dad treated our mom and that is the way we treat our partners, or how our moms treated our dads, because domestic violence can go both ways. We have broken systems here in Tulalip, but also throughout our indigenous communities. It is a difficult issue to talk about. Nobody wants to talk about sexual assault and physical abuse.”
According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, “on average, nearly 20 people per minute are victims of physical violence by an intimate partner in the United States.” These statistics mean that 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men will experience some form of domestic violence from their intimate partner, regardless of age, economic status, sexual orientation, gender, race, religion or nationality.
In Indian country the statistics are even more alarming. According to a 2008 Centers for Disease Control study, “39 percent of Native women in the U.S. identified as victims of intimate partner violence in their lifetime, a rate higher than any other race of ethnicity surveyed.” The report also points out that most crimes go unreported due to a belief that nothing will be done.
According to the CDC teen-dating violence is defined as, “physical, sexual, or psychological/emotional violence within a dating relationship, as well as stalking.” The CDC also states that 1 in 5 women and 1 in 7 men in high school reported experiencing abuse from their partner while dating. And “many teens do not report abuse because they are afraid to tell friends or family. Teens often think some behaviors, like teasing and name calling are a ‘normal’ part of a relationship.”
Although many school districts, including the Marysville School District, have a zero tolerance policy towards bullying in any form, many incidents of dating violence that happen within school boundaries are never reported.
“It is not only my goal, but the goal of the Tulalip Board of Directors and the goal of our Tribe, that we stop this type of abuse. We stop the madness and we stop putting down each other, whether you are male or female. To our men, if you think this issue is not about you, it is absolutely about you. Part of your role historically as Native men is to promote our women. It is not to harm. It is not to hurt, to disregard, but to uphold our women,” said Parker.
“I don’t want to see our kids bullied. I don’t want to see our young kids raped and abused. People ask me why I am so passionate about this, it is because I was one of those kids. I was one of those kids who were abused. You are the heartbeat of our nation. You are the heartbeat of our people. I don’t want you to walk away from here today feeling disempowered. You are never alone. We stand together,” said Parker.
For more information about teen-dating violence, please visit the website www.loveisrespect.org. If you feel you may be a victim of domestic violence or have questions, please contact the 24/7 hotline at 1-866-331-9474 or text “loveis” to 22522. You may also contact the Tulalip Legacy of Healing Advocacy Center & Safe House at 360-716-4100.
Brandi N. Montreuil: 360-913-5402: bmontreuil@tulalipnews.com
Councilwoman Theresa Sheldon (left) was elected to the Executive Council of the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians
Submitted by Francesca Hillery Tulalip Tribes Public Affairs
Councilwoman Theresa Sheldon was elected to the Executive Council of the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI) at the annual convention, held September 22-25th and hosted by the Confederated Tribes of Umatilla, Oregon. Councilwoman Sheldon will serve the ATNI Executive Council as Assistant Secretary.
Fawn Sharp (Quinault) was re-elected as ATNI president along with newly elected 2nd Vice President, Alfred Momee (Coeur d’Alene).
The Executive Council is responsible for upholding the policies and general direction, as set through various ATNI committees by way of resolutions, and to carry out the duties and directives as set by the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians member tribes.
Councilwoman Sheldon has been an ATNI delegate for the Tulalip Tribes since 2006, where as a legislative policy analyst she wrote and submitted resolutions on behalf of the Tulalip Tribes on transportation, taxation, education, voting rights, homeland security, and law & justice. She has served as the Native Vote co-chair for ATNI since 2008.
“The Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians is one of the strongest Native American organizations in the country. This is a reflection of our determination to defend our treaties and to take care of our communities,” said Councilwoman Sheldon. “ATNI member tribes recognize the fact that we stronger together. I am honored to serve as Assistant Secretary to the Executive Council and proud to represent the Tulalip Tribes on a regional and national platform,” she concluded.
In 1953 Tulalip leader Sebastian Williams, along with other Northwest Tribal leaders, came together to discuss the need for a formal Northwest Indian organization. This meeting formalized and created a constitution and bylaws for the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indian (ATNI). Its purpose was “to form a united front against the IRS and illegal taxation of Native American tribes”. Immediately after ATNI was created, the termination era was introduced, that were federal policies meant to eliminate the political relationship between federal governments and the tribes, therefore dissolving all federal services to the tribes. Tribal leaders continued to meet and unite together over on-going issues of Indian healthcare, fishing rights, tribal sovereignty, and economic development.
ATNI is a nonprofit organization representing 57 northwest tribal governments from Oregon, Idaho, Washington, southeast Alaska, Northern California and Western Montana. ATNI is an organization whose foundation is composed of the people it is meant to serve – the Native peoples of the Northwest.
