Photographing Native America – Matika Wilbur

by Monica Brown, Tulalip News Writer

Imagine using photography to change cultural stereo types of Native Americans in a society that currently glorifies the Native American as a tomahawk-wielding sports mascot, a feather clad underwear model, a provocative Halloween costume or a drunken advertising pun.

Matika Wilbur
Matika Wilbur

Matika Wilbur, a Tulalip and Swinomish native, developed Project 562 and is using her talent of photography to counteract these active and misconstrued perceptions.

“My project is dedicated to photographing every tribe in the U.S. to breakdown the historical inaccuracies and stereotypical ways that we are represented in mass media.”

Wilbur’s portraits depict the contemporary Native American in a generic setting; the portraits are in black and white with little distraction to put emphasis on the Native American as person within the evolving U.S. culture.

Wilbur, a former fashion photography major, as stated in Indian CountryToday, earned a bachelor’s degree in photography at Brooks Institute. Indian country stated that, “She had a change of heart after participating in a commercial shoot in Los Angeles. The resources expended to produce a single photo for a clothing ad — a rented house in Malibu, art director, hair and makeup person, publicist, three photographers, for a photo “I could have done for $5” — got her thinking: “This is what my life was going to be like. What kind of meaning did it have in the long run?””

“Can we relearn to see as human beings? Does the photographic image impact our lives and the lives of those around us and if it does can we use that image to encourage and inspire one another?” queries Wilbur in a recent TedX talk.

Currently in the fashion industry the Native American façade is being used in a sexual and/or irrelevant manner which debases the culture as it being attached to groups of people. There is a human disassociation that generates from these images; one that causes outsiders to view these people as objects rather than a culture.

“My hope is that when the project is complete, it will serve to educate the nation and shift the collective consciousness toward recognizing our own indigenous communities,” Matika quoted in her project blog at matikawilbu.com. The end result will be a compilation of portraits of the contemporary Native American instead of “the leathered and feathered vanishing race” stereo type of Native American.

For phase one of her project, Wilbur was able to raise $35,000 through Kickstarter to help fund her journey. This year’s goal, for phase two, that bar has been set higher at $54,000 to be raised by Feb 14th 2014.

One of the many reward options for donating to Project 562 kickstarter
One of the many reward options for donating to Project 562 kickstarter

For information about Project 562 and to donate visit her kiskstarter.com page or Matikawilbur.com. Donators will receive rewards based on the amount they pledge. Rewards range from stickers and clothing labeled Project 562 to having the opportunity to spend time with photographer Matika Wilbur while she is on the road.

Currently, Wilbur is on the road in Arizona traveling by car to each reservation. In the past year she has photographed 173 tribes with just under 400 left. On May 17th and 23rd of this year a collection of Wilbur’s works will be on display at the Tacoma Art Museum and she has stated she will be in attendance to the art showing.

Wilbur has been taking photographs for over 10 years and some of her inspiration comes from photographers such as Phil Borges, Dorothea Lange and Coast Salish artists Shaun Peterson and Simon Charlie whose works she experienced through her mother’s La Conner art gallery.

Project 562 is estimated to be a 3 year project with a deadline set for the end of 2015. Upon conclusion, the compilation or portraits will be viewable across the U.S. Wilbur looks forward to being able to come home and work within her tribal community when her project is complete.

In Your Teepee will bring tribal culture and activism to the everyman

InTeepee_04

By Niki Cleary, Tulalip News

At 32, Deshawn Joseph has already lived the life of an addict, cleaned up and is currently father to three children and founder of In Your TeePee, a small art and apparel business dedicated to giving back.

“In your TeePee is a reflection of what’s in your closet, but not just your closet, your home, your people, where you live and what you represent. I want to follow my culture and bring back pride in the Indian Community through exposure of art, political awareness and philanthropy. I want to give these teachings to the youth, show them that there are bigger and brighter things than just this reservation and your own family. I want to show that our people are resilient, we’re strong, creative and we have passion.

“In Your TeePee isn’t just about pride,” Joseph continued. “It’s about being humble, in a conducive manner for our youth. It’s a group of people working together, all native based and working for a brighter future. I started this with the free promotion of art. I’m not wealthy, I’m a full-time deckhand just trying to make it work, but I want to give back.”

InTeepee_02

Although Joseph is the founder and provides the vision behind In Your TeePee, the company is run more like a co-operative for artists.

“I know artists out there who are very talented, but may not have the time, money or ability to promote themselves. I’m currently working with five artists at this time, all Native American. I don’t necessarily want to be the front line person. Multiple people have stepped forward to say, ‘I like what you’re doing.’ It’s so exciting. Chad Charlie, a comedian with Rez2Rez, wants to be the face of In Your TeePee. I have four categories: Apparel, Art, Music and Community. We also want to give back to the community through public speaking. We’re against drugs, gangs and want to prevent suicide. This isn’t just for me, this is for our people.”

In Your TeePee has featured artwork by Toni Jo Gobin (Tulalip), Clint Cambell (Ojibwe), Daniel Mayotte (Red Lake Band of Chippewa), and Aaron Hamilton (Yakama).

InTeepee_07

“I’m not an artist,” Joseph confessed. “I want to say I’m the creative mind behind the art. The people who do my art, I give them an idea and let them do the art their way. I never did art, I’ve tried, but I just don’t have that touch with my hands, but I can image it in my mind.”

Although his only storefronts are Facebook and a booth at tribal gatherings, Joseph has big dreams for expanding the brand.

“I have ideas for Zumies and Pac Sun. These stores aren’t necessarily Native, but they do carry political t-shirts. If I could get a shirt into Zumies, that could really solidify us. For now I’m strictly on-line and doing Native American gatherings.”

Joseph’s dream for In Your TeePee started years ago; he credits his family, especially his children Jaylen (13), Caleb (11) and Tamiah (9), with motivating him to launch.

“Native American’s are just like a star quilt. Each generation is stitched to the next. My grandmother is Loretta James. My mom’s father is Douglas Jefferson from Lummi. My mom is Carmen Burke, she’s always interested me in my art, dancing and fashion. That’s where I started this love of fashion. And just me being a father, I want my children in the best position to succeed. I’ve turned my life around and hopefully my children can see that their father is leading by example.”

For more information about In Your TeePee find it on Facebook or email inyourteepee@gmail.com. If you’d like to share your business with the community, please contact the See-Yaht-Sub at editor@tulaliptribes-nsn.gov.

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Point Elliott Treaty, 159 years later

As we approach the 159th birthday of the Point Elliott Treay, we also celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Boldt decision, both of which have had tremendous impacts on Tulalip and all of Indian Country. We are re-printing the following article from 2005 in honor of these events.

This photo was taken in Mukilteo during the 1955 celebration of the 100th anniversay of the signing of the Point Elliott Treaty by Tulalip Church of God Pastor B. Adam Williams.
This photo was taken in Mukilteo during the 1955 celebration of the 100th anniversay of the signing of the Point Elliott Treaty by Tulalip Church of God Pastor B. Adam Williams.

Point Elliott Treaty’s 150th birthday: A cause for celebration

By Sherry Guydelkon, Tulalip See-Yaht-Sub, January 19, 2005

According to the historical record, 4,992 native people took part in the negotiation of the Point Elliott Treaty in 1855.  The treaty was signed on January 22nd, one hundred fifty years ago this month.

The Governor of Washington Territory, Isaac Stevens, had sent word to the Indians of northern Puget Sound that he would meet with them towards the end of January to discuss a treaty of friendship.  By mid-January, Snohomish and Snoqualmie people began gathering at Point Elliott.  As others arrived – Swinomish, Lummi, Duwamish, and so on – the Snohomish and Snoqualmie people lined up on the beach to greet them.

By this time Puget Sound Indian tribes, weakened by new diseases and aware of the fates of tribes in the east who had tried to fight off white invasions, knew it was useless to refuse to deal with the U.S. government.  White settlers were already moving onto their land, and the most they could hope for was payment for land taken and the opportunity to be left alone on the land that was left.

Years later Tulalip tribal elder William Shelton would recall that the people who traveled to Point Elliott in 1855 went with hearts open to the whites and with full confidence that they would be allowed to get food and would not starve.  “My father was present at the treaty signing,” said Shelton.  “He often has told me about the pow-wow – the negotiations, which had to be done through two interpreters.  One translated the white man’s language into Chinook jargon and another interpreter translated the jargon into the various tribal languages.”  Since Chinook jargon, a sort of code language used originally by fur traders, consisted of only about 50 words, the process was guaranteed to be hopelessly unsatisfactory, but that did not concern Governor Stevens.  He had no interest in understanding the wishes of the Indian people anyway.

Stevens, who had received orders from Washington, D.C., to make treaties with all of the Indians in what is now Washington State, arrived with a draft treaty in hand, determined to gain as much Indian land for the United States as possible by concentrating tribes in as small an area as he could get away with.

Stevens believed that Indians must be removed from the path of American progress, and that their removal could be done in a benevolent way.  He knew what was best for the tribes of Washington, he said, and that was to put them on small reservations where they could learn to farm (which he believed was more civilized than hunting and fishing) and where they could receive the education necessary to become integrated into white society.  Stevens, who saw himself as a stern but just father to the Indians, allowed the headmen to speak, but in the end he did what he had planned to do all along.

 

Why the treaties were important to the U.S.

In the 1840’s, the U.S. government did not believe that it had a secure hold on the territory that is now Washington State.  With British and Russian settlements cropping up on the Canadian and Alaskan coastline, the U.S. felt an urgent need to keep them from encroaching on U.S.-claimed soil, by encouraging American citizens to settle there.

Consequently, in 1850, Congress passed the Oregon Donation Land Act, which offered free land to settlers who would move to the northwest (Oregon Territory included what is now Washington State).  At that point, the U.S. government was in the awkward position of offering free land to settlers without first buying it from the Indians.  The treaties were intended to buy land already taken by white settlers and to make more land available for settlement.  As had been the case from colonial times, the U.S. government was more interested in settling the west than it was in protecting Indian land rights.

The Negotiations

When the Council began at Point Elliott on January 22, 1855, the four chiefs that the whites considered to be the most important were seated in the front row:  Chief Sealth (Seattle) who represented the Duwamish, Chief Patkanim who represented the Snohomish and Snoqualmies, Chief Goliah who represented the Skagits, and Chief Chow-its-hoot who represented the Lummis.  The sub-chiefs were seated next, and then the rest of the people.

“You understand well my purpose,” said Governor Stevens, “and you want now to know the special things we propose to do for you.  We want to place you in homes where you can cultivate the soil, raising potatoes and other articles of food and where you may be able to pass in canoes over the waters of the sound and catch fish, and back to the mountains to get roots and berries.

“The lands are yours and we swear to pay you for them.  We thank you that you have been so kind to all the white children of the great Father (President) who have come here from the east.  Those white children have always told you that you would be paid for your lands, and we are now here to buy them.

“My children, I believe that I have got your hearts, you have my heart.  We will put our hearts down on paper, and then we will sign our names.  I will send that paper to the Great Father, and if he says it is good it will stand forever.”

Many lofty speeches were made by both sides, but in the minds of the U.S. representatives there was little room for true negotiation.  They knew what they wanted, and their purpose was to convince the Indians to sign the treaty document that they had already drafted.

In the end, the upper Puget Sound tribes, who had for centuries lived comfortably through the efficient use of the abundant fish, game and plants that were native to their homelands, were forced to sign away most of their land and control over their lives.

 

What the Tribes lost

Tulalip Agency Superintendent Charles M. Buchanan wrote in 1915, “This treaty established the Tulalip Agency and its reservations – Tulalip, Lummi, Swinomish and Port Madison.  And by this treaty the Indians of Tulalip Agency ceded to the white man all of the land lying between the summit of the Cascades, the western shore of Puget Sound, Point Pully or Three-Tree Point, and the international boundary line.  This area includes all the land lying in the counties of Snohomish, Skagit, Whatcom, Island, San Juan, most of King and a part of Kitsap – the very choicest and most valuable portion of the State of Washington.

Other things given up included:  independence from the U.S. government, the ability to declare war on whites or on other tribes, the right to purchase or consume alcohol on the reservation, the taking and keeping of slaves, and the right to trade with the Indian nations on Vancouver Island.

 

What the Tribes kept or gained

The treaty established four reservations – Tulalip, Lummi, Swinomish and Port Madison.  Later the Muckleshoot reservation was added.  These amounted to the following number of acres.  Tulalip – 22,459 acres, Lummi – 12,543 acres, Suquamish – 7,168 acres, Port Madison – 7,284 acres, and Muckleshoot – 3,714 acres.

In exchange for the land, the tribes received a settlement of $150,000 to be paid over 20 years.  Because it was Stevens’ intent to pay for the land taken as much as possible with goods and services and not cash, tribes were also promised that they would be furnished with an agricultural and industrial school, a doctor, farmers, blacksmiths and carpenters.

The treaty also provided for the right of taking fish at usual and accustomed grounds and stations in common with all citizens of the Territory; of erecting temporary houses for the purpose of curing; and of hunting and gathering roots and berries on open and unclaimed lands.

The treaty minutes show that many Puget Sound native people were most fearful of losing their fisheries, but Governor Stevens repeatedly assured them that they would have the right to go to the place they had always used.  At that time, the federal government did not foresee any conflicts between the guarantee of continuing fishing rights for the Indians and the growing population of Washington Territory.  The settlers were coming to farm, not fish, and were content to let the Indians provide fish for local consumption.  Non-Indians did not become fishing competitors until the late 1870’s.

Education provisions were often included in Indian treaties because both sides wanted them included, but for conflicting reasons.  The federal government planned to use schools to change little Indian children into carbon copies of little white children, thus eliminating the “Indian problem”.  Indians, on the other hand, viewed education as a means by which Indian children could learn how to understand and deal with the non-Indian world around them.

Perhaps the most important thing that Indian treaties have done is to recognize the tribes’ inherent sovereignty.  Sovereignty is the power of a group of people to govern themselves.  Indians were not given sovereignty by treaties – they already had the power to govern themselves.  However, since the U.S. government defined treaties as binding, legal agreements between sovereign nations, when they made treaties with Indian nations, they legally recognized those nations as sovereign.

There is much legal confusion about the amount of sovereignty an Indian nation can have when its members are also citizens of the United States.  But tribal governments, tribal courts, tribal police, tribal taxation, tribal zoning, tribal casinos, tax-free trust land are all indications that federal courts recognize the tribes’ right to at least a certain amount of self government.

 

How has the Point Elliot Treaty held up in court?

The courts have played the most significant role in the interpretation of Indian treaties.  Under the U.S. Constitution, treaties made by the United States are the supreme law of the land.  The federal courts have generally held that Indian treaties are treaties in the constitutional sense and thus are the supreme law of the land.  That means that if a state law does not agree with what is said in an Indian treaty, the treaty trumps state law.

And regardless of the fact that the Point Elliott Treaty is 150 years old, it is as legally binding today as it was when it was ratified by Congress in 1859.

The Boldt Decision is perhaps the most well-known example of a Point Elliott Treaty right being upheld in federal court.  The courts agreed with Puget Sound tribes that the treaty promised Indians the right to half of the salmon in their usual and accustomed areas, regardless of Washington State laws and regulations which limited Indian catches.

Treaties are monumentally important documents to Indian peoples because they provide a legal basis around which Indian nations can protect their reservation lands; their rights to minerals, water, hunting, fishing and gathering areas; and their rights to self-government.

Many non-Indians believe that treaties should be abolished and that Indians should just be mainstream Americans with no more or less rights than any other Americans.  But treaty Indians know how much they gave up for their special rights, and they know that it is their treaty rights that allow them to remain Indians, following in the footsteps of their ancestors, looking out for one another from birth to death.

Gathering at the beach in Mukilteo. Photo by Tulalip Church of God Pastor B. Adam Williams.
Gathering at the beach in Mukilteo. Photo by Tulalip Church of God Pastor B. Adam Williams.

If you did not already have a copy of the Point Elliott Treaty, you have one now (see below).  Read it.  Keep it.  Cherish it.  It is a gift from your ancestors to you.

 

Treaty of Point Elliott, 1855

Articles of agreement and convention made and concluded at Muckl-te-oh, or Point Elliott, in the territory of Washington, this twenty-second day of January, eighteen hundred and fifty-five, by Isaac I. Stevens, governor and superintendent of Indian affairs for the saidTerritory, on the part of the United States, and the undersigned chiefs, head-men and delegates of the Dwamish, Suquamish, Sk-kahl-mish, Sam-ahmish, Smalh-kamish, Skope-ahmish, St-kah-mish, Snoqualmoo, Skai-wha-mish, N’Quentl-ma-mish, Sk-tah-le-jum, Stoluck-wha-mish, Sno-ho-mish, Skagit, Kik-i-allus, Swin-a-mish, Squin-ah-mish, Sah-ku-mehu, Noo-wha-ha, Nook-wa-chah-mish, Mee-see-qua-guilch, Cho-bah-ah-bish, and othe allied and subordinate tribes and bands of Indians occupying certain lands situated in said Territory of Washington, on behalf of said tribes, and duly authorized by them.

 

ARTICLE 1.

The said tribes and bands of Indians hereby cede, relinquish, and convey to the United States all their right, title, and interest in and to the lands and country occupied by them, bounded and described as follows: Commencing at a point on the eastern side of Admiralty Inlet, known as Point Pully, about midway between Commencement and Elliott Bays; thence eastwardly, running along the north line of lands heretofore ceded to the United States by the Nisqually, Puyallup, and other Indians, to the summit of the Cascade range of mountains; thence northwardly, following the summit of said range to the 49th parallel of north latitude; thence west, along said parallel to the middle of the Gulf of Georgia; thence through the middle of said gulf and the main channel through the Canal de Arro to the Straits of Fuca, and crossing the same through the middle of Admiralty Inlet to Suquamish Head; thence southwesterly, through the peninsula, and following the divide between Hood’s Canal and Admiralty Inlet to the portage known as Wilkes’ Portage; thence northeastwardly, and following the line of lands heretofore ceded as aforesaid to Point Southworth, on the western side of Admiralty Inlet, and thence around the foot of Vashon’s Island eastwardly and southeastwardly to the place of beginning, including all the islands comprised within said boundaries, and all the right, title, and interest of the said tribes and bands to any lands within the territory of the United States.

ARTICLE 2.

There is, however, reserved for the present use and occupation of the said tribes and bands the following tracts of land, viz:the amount of two sections, or twelve hundred and eighty acres, surrounding the small bight at the head of Port Madison, called by the Indians Noo-sohk-um; the amount of two sections, or twelve hundred and eighty acres, on the north side Hwhomish Bay and the creek emptying into the same called Kwilt-seh-da, the peninsula at the southeastern end of Perry’s Island, called Shais-quihl, and the island called Chah-choo-sen, situated in the Lummi River at the point of separation of the mouths emptying respectively into Bellingham Bay and the Gulf of Georgia. All which tracts shall be set apart, and so far as necessary surveyed and marked out for their exclusive use; nor shall any white man be permitted to reside upon the same without permission of the said tribes or bands, and of the superintendent or agent, but, if necessary for the public convenience, roads may be run through the said reserves, the Indians being compensated for any damage thereby done them.

ARTICLE 3.

There is also reserved from out the lands hereby ceded the amount of thirty-six sections, or one township of land, on the northeastern shore of Port Gardner, and north of the mouth of Snohomish River, including Tulalip Bay and the before-mentioned Kwilt-seh-da Creek, for the purpose of establishing thereon an agricultural and industrial school, as hereinafter mentioned and agreed, and with a view of ultimately drawing thereto and settling thereon all the Indians living west of the Cascade Mountains in said Territory. Provided, however, That the President may establish the central agency and general reservation at such other point as he may deem for the benefit of the Indians.

ARTICLE 4.

The said tribes and bands agree to remove to and settle upon the said first above-mentioned reservations within one year after the ratification of this treaty, or sooner, if the means are furnished them. In the mean time it shall be lawful for them to reside upon any land not in the actual claim and occupation of citizens of the United States, and upon any land claimed or occupied, if with the pe-mission of the owner.

 

ARTICLE 5.

The right of taking fish at usual and accustomed grounds and stations is further secured to said Indians in common with all citizens of the Territory, and of erecting temporary houses for the purpose of curing, together with the privilege of hunting and gathering roots and berries on open and unclaimed lands. Provided, however, That they shall not take shell-fish from any beds staked or cultivated by citizens.

ARTICLE 6.

In consideration of the above cession, the United States agree to pay to the said tribes and bands the sum of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, in the following manner – – that is to say: For the first year after the ratification hereof, fifteen thousand dollars; for the next two year, twelve thousand dollars each year; for the next three years, ten thousand dollars each year; for the next four years, seven thousand five hundred dollars each years; for the next five years, six thousand dollars each year; and for the last five years, four thousand two hundred and fifty dollars each year. All which said sums of money shall be applied to the use and benefit of the said Indians, under the direction of the President of the United States, who may, from time to time, determine at his discretion upon what beneficial objects to expend the same; and the superintendent of Indian affairs, or other proper officer, shall each year inform the President of the wishes of said Indians in respect thereto.

ARTICLE 7.

The President may hereafter, when in his opinion the interests of the Territory shall require and the welfare of the said Indians be promoted, remove them from either or all of the special reservations hereinbefore make to the said general reservation, or such other suitable place within said Territory as he may deem fit, on remunerating them for their improvements and the expenses of such removal, or may consolidate them with other friendly tribes or bands; and he may further at his discretion cause the whole or any portion of the lands hereby reserved, or of such other land as may be selected in lieu thereof, to be surveyed into lots, and assign the same to suc individuals or families as are willing to avail themselves of the privilege, and will locate on the same as a permanent home on the same terms and subject to the same regulations as are provided in the sixth article of the treaty with the Omahas, so far as the same may be applicable. Any substantial improvements heretofore made by any Indian, and which he shall be compelled to abandon in consequence of this treaty, shall be valued under the direction of the President and payment made accordingly therefor.

ARTICLE 8.

The annuities of the aforesaid tribes and bands shall not be taken to pay the debts of individuals.

ARTICLE 9.

The said tribes and bands acknowledge their dependence on the Government of the United States, and promise to be friendly with all citizens thereof, and they pledge themselves to commit no depredations on the property of such citizens. Should any one or more of them violate this pledge, and the fact be satisfactorily proven before the agent, the property taken shall be returned, or in default thereof, of if injured or destroyed, compensation may be made by the Government out of their annuities. Nor will they make war on any other tribe except in self-defence, but will submit all matters of difference between them and the other Indians to the Government of the United States or its agent for decision, and abide thereby. And if any of the said Indians commit depredations on other Indians within the Territory the same rule shall prevail as that prescribed in this article in cases of depredations against citizens. And the said tribes agree not to shelter or conceal offenders against the laws of the United States, but to deliver them up to the authorities for trial.

ARTICLE 10.

The above tribes and bands are desirous to exclude from their reservations the use of ardent spirits, and to prevent their people from drinking the same, and therefore it is provided that any Indian belonging to said tribe who is guilty of bringing liquor into said reservations, or who drinks liquor, may have his or her proportion of the annuities withheld from him or her for such time as the President may determine.

ARTICLE 11.

The said tribes and bands agree to free all slaves now held by them and not to purchase or acquire others hereafter.

ARTICLE 12.

The said tribes and bands further agree not to trade at Vancouver’s Island or elsewhere out of the dominions of the United States, nor shall foreign Indians be permitted to reside in their reservations without consent of the superintendent or agent.

ARTICLE 13.

To enable the said Indians to remove to and settle upon their aforesaid reservations, and to clear, fence, and break up a sufficient quantity of land for cultivation, the United States further agree to pay the sum of fifteen thousand dollars to be laid out and expended under the direction of the President and in such manner as he shall approve.

ARTICLE 14.

The United States further agree to establish at the general agency for the district of Puget’s Sound, within one year from the ratification hereof, and to support for a period of twenty years, an agricultural and industrial school, to be free to children of the said tribes and bands in common with those of the other tribes of said district, and to provide the said school with a suitable instructor or instructors, and also to provide a smithy and carpenter’s shop, and furnish them with the necessary tools, and employ a blacksmith, carpenter, and farmer for the like term of twenty years to instruct the Indians in their respective occupations. And the United States finally agree to employ a physician to reside at the said central agency, who shall furnish medicine and advice to their sick, and shall vaccinate them; the expenses of said school, shops, persons employed, and medical attendance to be defrayed by the United States, and not deducted from the annuities.

ARTICLE 15.

This treaty shall be obligatory on the contracting parties as soon as the same shall be ratified by the President and Senate of the United States.

In testimony whereof, the said Isaac I. Stevens, governor and superintendent of Indian affairs, and the undersigned chiefs, headmen, and delegates of the aforesaid tribes and bands of Indians, have hereunto set their hands and seals, at the place and on the day and year hereinbefore written.

Issac I. Stevens, Governor and Superintendent. (L.S.)

Seattle, Chief of the Dwamish and Suquamish tribes, his x mark. (L. S.)

Pat-ka-nam, Chief of the Snoqualmoo, Snohomish and other tribes, his x mark. (L.S.) Chow-its-hoot, Chief of the Lummi and other tribes, his x mark. (L. S.)

Goliah, Chief of the Skagits and other allied tribes, his x mark. (L.S.)

Kwallattum, or General Pierce, Sub-chief of the Skagit tribe, his x mark. (L.S.)

S’hootst-hoot, Sub-chief of Snohomish, his x mark. (L.S.)

Snah-talc, or Bonaparte, Sub-chief of Snohomish, his x mark. (L.S.)

Squush-um, or The Smoke, Sub-chief of the Snoqualmoo, his x mark. (L.S.)

See-alla-pa-han, or The Priest, Sub-chief of Sk-tah-le-jum, his x mark. (L.S.)

He-uch-ka-nam, or George Bonaparte, Sub-chief of Snohomish, his x mark. (L.S.)

Tse-nah-talc, or Joseph Bonaparte, Sub-chief of Snohomish, his x mark. (L.S.)

Ns’ski-oos, or Jackson, Sub-chief of Snohomish, his x mark. (L.S.)

Wats-ka-lah-tchie, or John Hobtsthoot, Sub-chief of Snohomish, his x mark. (L.S.)

Smeh-mai-hu, Sub-chief of Skai-wha-mish, his x mark. (L.S.)

Slat-eah-ka-nam, Sub-chief of Snoqualmoo, his x mark. (L.S.)

St’hau-ai, Sub-chief of Snoqualmoo, his x mark. (L.S.)

Lugs-ken, Sub-chief of Skai-wha-mish, his x mark. (L.S.)

S’heht-soolt, or Peter, Sub-chief of Snohomish, his x mark. (L.S.)

Do-queh-oo-satl, Snoqualmoo tribe, his x mark. (L.S.)

John Kanam, Snoqualmoo sub-chief, his x mark. (L.S.)

Klemsh-ka-nam, Snoqualmoo, his x mark. (L.S.)

Ts’huahntl, Dwa-mish sub-chief, his x mark. (L.S.)

Kwuss-ka-nam, or George Snatelum, Sen., Skagit tribe, his x mark. (L.S.)

Hel-mits, or George Snatelum, Skagit sub-chief, his x mark. (L.S.)

S’kwai-kwi, Skagit tribe, sub-chief, his x mark. (L.S.)

Seh-lek-qu, Sub-chief Lummi tribe, his x mark. (L.S.)

S’h’-cheh-oos, or General Washington, Sub-chief of Lummi tribe, his x mark. (L.S.)

Whai-lan-hu, or Davy Crockett, Sub-chief of Lummi tribe, his x mark. (L.S.)

She-ah-delt-hu, Sub-chief of Lummi tribe, his x mark. (L.S.)

Kwult-seh, Sub-chief of Lummi tribe, his x mark. (L.S.)

Kwull-et-hu, Lummi tribe, his x mark. (L.S.)

Kleh-kent-soot, Skagit tribe, his x mark. (L.S.)

Sohn-heh-ovs, Skagit tribe, his x mark. (L.S.)

S’deh-ap-kan, or General Warren, Skagit tribe, his x mark. (L.S.)

Chul-whil-tan, Sub-chief of Suquamish tribe, his x mark. (L.S.)

Ske-eh-tum, Skagit tribe, his x mark. (L.S.)

Patchkanam, or Dome, Skagit tribe, his x mark. (L.S.)

Sats-Kanam, Squin-ah-nush tribe, his x mark. (L.S.)

Sd-zo-mahtl, Kik-ial-lus band, his x mark. (L.S.)

Dahtl-de-min, Sub-chief of Sah-ku-meh-hu, his x mark. (L.S.)

Sd’zek-du-num, Me-sek-wi-guilse sub-chief, his x mark. (L.S.)

Now-a-chais, Sub-chief of Dwamish, his x mark. (L.S.)

Mis-lo-tche, or Wah-hehl-tchoo, Sub-chief of Suquamish, his x mark. (L.S.)

Sloo-noksh-tan, or Jim, Suquamish tribe, his x mark. (L.S.)

Moo-whah-lad-hu, or Jack, Suquamish tribe, his x mark. (L.S.)

Too-leh-plan, Suquamish tribe, his x mark. (L.S.)

Ha-seh-doo-an, or Keo-kuck, Dwamish tribe, his x mark. (L.S.)

Hoovilt-meh-tum, Sub-chief of Suquamish, his x mark. (L.S.)

We-ai-pah, Skaiwhamish tribe, his x mark. (L.S.)

S’ah-an-hu, or Hallam, Snohomish tribe, his x mark. (L.S.)

She-hope, or General Pierce, Skagit tribe, his x mark. (L.S.)

Hwn-lah-lakq, or Thomas Jefferson, Lummi tribe, his x mark. (L.S.)

Cht-simpt, Lummi tribe, his x mark. (L.S.)

Tse-sum-ten, Lummi tribe, his x mark. (L.S.)

Klt-hahl-ten, Lummi tribe, his x mark. (L.S.)

Kut-ta-kanam, or John, Lummi tribe, his x mark. (L.S.)

Ch-lah-ben, Noo-qua-cha-mish band, his x mark. (L.S.)

Noo-heh-oos, Snoqualmoo tribe, his x mark. (L.S.)

Hweh-uk, Snoqualmoo tribe, his x mark. (L.S.)

Peh-nus, Skai-whamish tribe, his x mark. (L.S.)

Yim-ka-dam, Snoqualmoo tribe, his x mark. (L.S.)

Twooi-as-kut, Skaiwhamish tribe, his x mark. (L.S.)

Luch-al-kanam, Snoqualmoo tribe, his x mark. (L.S.)

S’hoot-kanam, Snoqualmoo tribe, his x mark. (L.S.)

Sme-a-kanam, Snoqualmoo tribe, his x mark. (L.S.)

Sad-zis-keh, Snoqualmoo, his x mark. (L.S.)

Heh-mahl, Skaiwhamish band, his x mark. (L.S.)

Charley, Skagit tribe, his x mark. (L.S.)

Sampson, Skagit tribe, his x mark. (L.S.)

John Taylor, Snohomish tribe, his x mark. (L.S.)

Hatch-kwentum, Skagit tribe, his x mark. (L.S.)

Yo-i-kum, Skagit tribe, his x mark. (L.S.)

T’kwa-ma-han, Skagit tribe, his x mark. (L.S.)

Sto-dum-kan, Swinamish band, his x mark. (L.S.)

Be-lole, Swinamish band, his x mark. (L.S.)

D’zo-lole-gwam-hu, Skagit tribe, his x mark. (L.S.)

Steh-shail, William, Skaiwhamish band, his x mark. (L.S.)

Kel-kahl-tsoot, Swinamish tribe, his x mark. (L.S.)

Pat-sen, Skagit tribe, his x mark. (L.S.)

Pat-teh-us, Noo-wha-ah sub-chief, his x mark. (L.S.)

S’hoolk-ka-nam, Lummi sub-chief, his x mark. (L.S.)

Ch-lok-suts, Lummi sub-chief, his x mark. (L.S.)

Executed in the presence of us – –

M. T. Simmons, Indian agent.

C. H. Mason, Secretary of Washington Territory.

Benj. F. Shaw, Interpreter.

Chas. M. Hitchcock.

H. A. Goldsborough.

George Gibbs.

John H. Scranton.

Henry D. Cock.

S. S. Ford, jr.

Orrington Cushman.

Ellis Barnes.

R. S. Bailey.

S. M. Collins.

Lafayetee Balch.

E. S. Fowler.

J. H. Hall.

Rob’t Davis.

S. Doc. 319, 58-2, Vol 2 43

 

Ratified Mar. 8, 1859. Proclaimed Apr. 11, 1859.

 

 

 

 

$3,000 Tulalip grant helps buy student laptops

 

Herald Staff January 16, 2014

LAKE STEVENS — The Lake Stevens School District has received a grant of $3,000 from the Tulalip Tribes that will be used to partially offset the purchase of ChromeBooks laptops for classroom use.

The School District recently purchased a package of 32 laptops and related equipment for use by third and fourth graders and staff at Sunnycrest Elementary. The computers cost $12,000, with the balance being paid for by the district’s technology levy.

The school district also received a donation of $1,887 from board director David Iseminger through Microsoft’s Giving Campaign. Iseminger works at Microsoft, and the company matches employee volunteer work with cash grants. Iseminger’s donation goes into a fund that allows students who otherwise don’t have access to financial resources to take part in extracurricular activities such as sports, music programs and field trips.

Seeking Safety Drop In Group

Family Services offers Seeking Safety as a Drop-In Group twice a week. 
All are welcome to attend.
 
Seeking Safety covers a range of important topics and safe coping skills, such as:
 
·         PTSD: Taking back your power
·         Grounding
·         When substances control you
·         Asking for help
·         Taking good care of yourself
·         Compassion
·         Honesty
·         Red and green flags
·         Recovery thinking
·         Commitment
·         Setting boundaries in relationships
·         Getting others to support your recovery
·         Coping with triggers
·         Healthy relationships
·         Self-nurturing
·         Healing from anger
·         And other topics
 
Join us on Mondays 3pm-4pm and Thursdays Noon-1pm.
 
Questions?
Contact: Rosemary Hill: 360-716-4336 or Jeremy Franklin: 360-716-4377
4515 Safety Training Flier_REV_1_14sm

Food Handlers Class at Tulalip, January 16

Anyone preparing or serving food on the reservation is required to have a current food worker card.  Upon completion of the class and a passing test score, a food worker card will be issued which will be valid for three years from the test date.  This card is valid for employment on the reservation only.  
 
Please see the attached flyer for the address and further details.
FH class 01-16-14

Police to investigate fire at former Marysville mill site

 

By Eric Stevick, The Herald

MARYSVILLE — The city fire marshal has asked police to investigate a Saturday night blaze along the Marysville waterfront that caused a building at the vacant Welco Lumber mill to collapse.

Although no formal cause has been determined, fire marshal Tom Maloney said Sunday that it appears to be neither natural nor accidental. Chances are it was caused by someone either intentionally or unintentionally, he said.

The mill has been closed for several years and has been shelter for squatters and transients in the past.

Firefighters were called to the former mill site off First Street shortly after 10 p.m. The building was in flames and firefighters “went defenive right away,” Maloney said.

It took 30 minutes to get the fire under control.

More than two dozen firefighters helped extinguish the blaze. Crews from Everett, Silvana, Getchell and Tulalip Bay provided aid to Marysville firefighters.

No injuries were reported.

Typically, there have been two to three calls a year for small fires at the site, Maloney said.

The lumber yard, along Ebey Slough, opened in 1987 and closed in mid-2007.

In its heyday, the five-acre mill provided jobs to about 150 people, producing cedar fencing and dimensional lumber that was used primarily in home construction. Welco Lumber closed its Marysville mill with a drop in the area’s home construction market.

In 2010, a 13-year-old Marysville boy told police he set a summer fire that caused extensive damage to the lumber mill. Witnesses reported seeing a group of young people in the area just before the fire started.

Three other Marysville boys, all 13, were identified as being with the suspect at the time of the fire

The city wants the property owners to provide tighter security for the site, Maloney said. It also is considering a citation to compel the owners to get the building cleaned up.

Retired educator hit it out of the park

baseball_Dorothy

By Julie Muhlstein, The Herald

In 1945, a pro baseball relief pitcher who also played first base earned $29 a month — if that player was a woman.

“I made money to go to college,” Dorothy Roth said. “I was the youngest one on the team.”

At 86, Roth now lives at Grandview Village, a Marysville retirement community. On Wednesday, she shared long-ago memories of her one season with the National Girls Baseball League. She also has a fun new memory.

On a whirlwind trip to Olympia Tuesday, Roth met Gov. Jay Inslee, and even sat in the governor’s chair. During a surprise presentation, she was awarded the Washington Health Care Association’s first-ever Silver Spotlight Award. The agency is an advocacy group for the state’s assisted-living facilities.

She was Dorothy Wright, fresh out of high school, when in 1945 she joined a team called the Bloomer Girls. Emery Parichy, co-founder of the National Girls Baseball League, bought the Boston Bloomer Girls in the 1930s and built Parichy Stadium in the Chicago suburb of Forest Park, Ill. That’s where Roth played.

“We wore big satin bloomers, and satin shirts,” she said Wednesday. “It was hot, standing out in that field.”

Presenting the award, Inslee noted Roth’s “outstanding contributions as an athlete and as an educator for 30 years in public schools.”

“You look to me like you’ve still got game,” Inslee told Roth, a retired schoolteacher. After Roth autographed a bat Inslee had once used in a congressional baseball game, the governor quipped that “the value of this bat just went up 100 times.”

Inslee proclaimed Jan. 7, 2014, to be “Dorothy Roth Day.”

“The award was a surprise. It was awesome,” Roth said at Grandview Village, where on Wednesday state Sen. John McCoy, D-Tulalip, stopped by to congratulate her.

“It’s great that the state is recognizing our elders,” McCoy said. “I enjoyed the movie ‘A League of Their Own.’ When Dorothy came into baseball, those girls were ahead of their time. They began paving the way for Title IX.

It was Title IX, part of the Education Amendment of 1972, that opened doors for girls to have equal opportunities in school sports programs. “A League of Their Own,” the 1992 movie about women’s baseball teams during World War II, depicts the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, a league similar to Roth’s.

Herald readers were introduced to Roth in July. Andrea Brown’s article in the Vitality section featured the former ballplayer. It told how Grandview Village residents, wearing “Team Dorothy” shirts, were going to see Roth throw out a ceremonial first pitch at a Seattle Mariners game.

Did she get it over the plate? “Close to it,” Roth said Wednesday.

In her long life, baseball was just one season. Roth did spend her baseball earnings on college. She attended Cornell College, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Northern Illinois University. She earned a master’s degree and met her future husband, Al Roth. He would go on to be a city manager in Crystal Lake, Ill., and North Bend, Ore. Roth, who was widowed about three years ago, has a daughter and a son.

Her daughter, Holly Leach, is superintendent of Northshore Christian Academy in south Everett. Leach joked Wednesday that her parents were the first reality TV stars. They were married Sept. 1, 1952, on a TV show in New York called “Bride and Groom.” They applied out of financial need, and were amazed to be chosen, Roth said. Prizes included a free wedding and a honeymoon in the Pocono Mountains.

Brenda Orffer, the Washington Health Care Association’s senior director of member services, said the organization will give Silver Spotlight awards monthly through 2014. The agency represents 450 assisted-living facilities around Washington.

The new award program is aimed at honoring seniors who have made contributions in many walks of life. It’s also meant to highlight positive aspects of long-term care. “How many other elders are out there like Dorothy?” McCoy asked.

Is Roth still a baseball fan?

“I used to root for the Chicago Cubs,” she said. “I’m into the Seahawks now.”