Month: July 2016
Native youth visualize voices as paintings
By Micheal Rios, Tulalip News
Well-known Native artist, Toma Villa, traveled to Tulalip and spent July 13 and 14 working with more than 80 summer youth workers on creating mural projects inside the Kenny Moses Building. Toma, who is a registered member of the Yakima Nation, has spent the last few years traveling to various reservations and inspiring Native youth to find their inner artist.
Toma uses Native American themes in the murals he paints. To date he has created 18 large-scale murals in four years that are “all up and down the Columbia River,” he says.
“In my mural workshops the youth work together to visualize their voices as paintings,” says Toma. “The best part of the workshops is watching the creative process play out and seeing how everyone interacts to take ownership over what they are creating. A big part of it is I like to tell them that you are people of the community, this is your home, and so it’s up to you to decide what goes up in your community. With these murals, it’s them putting out their ideas and their culture.”
The two-day crash-course painting workshop was the largest Toma has ever done. Usually he works with 10-15 youth at a time, but he was up to the challenge of working with the large group of 80 summer youth workers Tulalip had in store.
“It took a lot of work building and priming the walls to have enough space for 80 people to work with, but it was definitely worth the time and effort,” continues Toma. “So much good can come from the creating process and when you have young people working together amazing things can happen.”
Among the group of 80 were artists of all skill levels. With Toma helping with inspiration and guidance, every one of the youth were able to find their inner artist. There were teams of youth working on larger murals, while some preferred to showcase their solo talents with their stroke of the paintbrush.
The finished murals are in the process of being hung up around the Tulalip Youth Center for all to see.
“Absolutely amazing artwork took place with the Summer Youth program during their two days in the Kenny Moses Building working alongside Toma Villa. I loved seeing our youth so engaged and involved,” stated Theresa Sheldon, Board of Director, on Facebook. “If you have a youth in the Summer Youth program, you should be so proud of the amazing artwork they have created. Please give them a big hug and thank them for being so awesome! The Youth Services staff has been going above and beyond for them this summer. Next step is to put these master pieces up around our Youth Center. t’igʷicid to all who made this happen.”
Tulalip hosts unprecedented Jr. NBA camp
By Micheal Rios, Tulalip News
History was made at the Tulalip Boys & Girls Club over the weekend of July 8, as the National Basketball Association (NBA) selected the Tulalip Tribes to host a first of its kind summer basketball camp focused on engaging Native American youth. The three-day Jr. NBA camp was developed to be a youth basketball participation program for boys and girls ages 10-14. With the NBA holding this event on Tulalip Tribes’ land, it marked the first time ever a Jr. NBA camp took place in Indian Country.
“The Jr. NBA is always looking to engage different communities that love basketball,” said David Krichavsky, the NBA’s vice-president of youth basketball development. “Working with Tulalip provides us a unique opportunity to connect with our young fans and their coaches alongside some of the NBA’s best ambassadors.”
Jr. NBA camps are designed to teach the game’s fundamental skills and core values at a grassroots level to help grow and improve the youth basketball experience for players, coaches, and parents. Within the Tulalip community, we know how much our people, especially our youth, love the game of basketball. To have NBA players involved, such as SuperSonics legend Detlef Schrmpf and former University of Washington stand-out Spencer Hawes, the opportunity for camp participants to make life long memories and have memorabilia signed added even more benefits.
“Our Native community loves basketball and the NBA,” stated Marlin Fryberg Jr., executive director for the Tulalip Boys & Girls Club. “The Jr. NBA camp acknowledges our Native American passion for the game and will help make NBA fans for life while teaching basketball’s important values.”
With the assistance of NBA and Boys & Girls Club staff, the Jr. NBA camp taught our youth the importance of hard work, teamwork, discipline and self-respect. Their focus was to provide the young Tulalip athletes of all skill levels with the instructions and training that have made some of the NBA’s brightest stars elite on and off the court.
“Skills like teamwork, passion, accountability, and responsibility are at the core of these communities and the core of our game,” said Brooks Meek, NBA vice-president of International Basketball Operations and 1994 graduate of Marysville-Pilchuck High School. “I am especially excited to help bring the NBA to my home community, having grown up with so many friends from Tulalip. We are very fortunate to work with such committed partners as we bring our League to these passionate fans.”
Every camp session started with plyometric warm-ups that got the youth primed for the next series of basketball training. After several rotations through four different fundamental skill stations that emphasized proper footwork, ball handling, shooting and defense the campers would get a short water break before moving on to team competitions. Team competitions varied by day and age group. There were shooting competitions showcasing the forgotten art of the mid-range jumper, a team oriented 3-point shot contest, and even a point-blank range, lay-up style competition. But what the youth looked forward to most were the daily 5-on-5 half court and full court games that ended every session.
During the spirited team competitions there were several game winning shots made. Each one was met with a booming celebration from the kids and the NBA staffers. A highlight of day 3 took place during the 5-on-5 full court championship game between the 10-12 year olds. With the score tied and only seconds remaining, 11-year-old Frank Salomon from Lummi corralled a rebound and launched and connected on a fade-away jumper as the game buzzer sounded.
“Hitting the game winning shot was amazing,” boasts Frank. “I didn’t know it would go in. I just shot the ball and can’t believe I made it before the buzzer. It was awesome!”
It was an unprecedented weekend all around. From all the youth who got up and got to the Boys & Girls club by 8:00 a.m. on a Saturday and Sunday, the dedicated parents who made it happen, the NBA and Boys & Girls Club staff and trainers who made this Jr. NBA camp special and memorable for all the youth participants, to breaking down a barrier and hopefully forming a lasting partnership between the NBA and the tribes.
“The Tulalip Boys & Girls Club had a great experience working hand in hand with the Jr. NBA basketball team,” adds Marlin Fryberg Jr. “We were selected to be the first Tribe ever to host a Jr. NBA camp for kids. Talking to the kids over the weekend they really enjoyed themselves. We had approximately 140 boys and girls participate, which involved representation from other tribes including Puyallup, Nooksack, Lummi, Muckleshoot, Swinomish, Klamath, and Alaska Natives.
“We are very proud to say we are the first tribe in Indian Country to host a Jr. NBA camp. To know now that Tulalip has opened the door for the NBA to expand their basketball clinics and resources to include tribes is truly an honor.”
Contact Micheal Rios at mrios@tulaliptribes-nsn.gov
Vibrant Things Found at Tulalip Hibulb Cultural Center Latest Exhibit
By Kalvin Valdillez, Tulalip News
Looking to plan a fun yet educational activity for the entire family? Look no further, because Tulalip’s Hibulb Cultural Center has your back! This summer Hibulb unveiled its brand new exhibit, Vibrant Beauty: Colors of Our Collection. The exhibit, geared towards students in kindergarten through the third grade, is interactive and such a blast that youth will gain a whole new perspective on color. Hibulb’s Senior Curator, Tessa Campbell believes that although this exhibit is targeted towards youth, adults will also have fun and learn a few new things about color during their visit.
“We had the vision of creating the exhibit to be highly interactive, and we developed a total of 12 different colorful activities. Children will have the opportunity to reflect on how color affects them, vote for their favorite color, and discover why we like a certain color or choose to wear certain colors. In addition to the color reflection opportunities, children and visitors can learn how to say colors in our Lushootseed language,” stated Tessa.
Learning colors in Lushootseed is enticing on it’s own, pair that with the remaining 11 interactive activities such as a touch screen computer that not only allows you to learn about the color wheel but also shares traditional Tulalip stories, and you have yourself a culturally rich museum exhibit.
One of the many interesting facts about this exhibit is that everything on display was made in-house by the Hibulb staff, Tulalip artists, and Tulalip youth. Vibrant Beauty uses colors brilliantly; the exhibit incorporates new information on colors that the Tulalip youth frequently see around the community. Among the touchscreens, puppets, and engaging stories is a magnificent display featuring watercolor artwork made by the youth in the Tulalip community that attend the Boys & Girls Club.
Tulalip artist, Ty Juvinel, was extremely hands-on during the creation of the Vibrant Beauty project for Hibulb. Creating the main display in the center of the exhibit, Ty expressed the importance of individuality within a group project with both his contributions as well as his story he shared, How Hummingbird and Butterfly Painted All the Flowers.
Hummingbird and Butterfly, a Ty fan favorite, perfectly conveys why colors are essential to our community. Ty stated that colors are our emotions, that statement holds a significant amount of truth. Our brains associate colors with certain emotions and we often use colors to describe how we feel. For example, we might say we feel red when we are frustrated or angry and blue when we are upset or sad. The recognition of how colors affect your emotions is a big take-away for the youth.
The Vibrant Beauty exhibit is on display until February 2017. According to feedback from a lucky few families who got a sneak peak on Friday July 15, the exhibit will be a major success.
The cultural center is thrilled to have an exhibit on display that caters to the local kids. They found a way to reach the youth, families and the entire Tulalip community on a much deeper level than one would expect at first glance of advertisements for the Vibrant Beauty exhibit; while simultaneously creating an exciting, fun and informational environment.
Mytyl Hernandez, Hibulb Cultural Center Marketing and PR, shared her excitement of shaping the minds of Tulalip’s future leaders stating, “The kids are going to keep the cultural fire burning!”
Exercise class offered at health clinic
By Veronica Leahy, Karen I Fryberg Tulalip Health Clinic
Have you heard of the exercise class we offer at the Tulalip Health Clinic? Our class leaders are Kendall McCauley, Athletic Trainer, and Stephen Coombs, CSCS from Summit Rehabilitation.
Kendall has been in practice for over 11 years and has spent the last seven working for Summit Rahab. She graduated in 2004 from Barry University in Florida then came back to her roots in the Pacific Northwest. Her personal interests include baseball, exploring the outdoors, crafting, spending time with her children and riding motorcycles.
Stephen has been working in the PT field for over four years. He is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) and a USA Track and Field Level-1 Coach. His personal interests include running, hiking and camping. Stephen is also interested in furthering his career in PT and will be applying to physical therapy schools this summer.
We all know how important it is to stay active and we know how great we feel after exercising, but at times it’s hard to motivate ourselves. Sometimes we lose sight of what’s most important, our health.
Tulalip Health Clinic has teamed up with Summit Rehabilitation to provide a place where patients can learn to exercise to improve strength, endurance, speed and power. Our ultimate goal is to help create healthier lifestyles and further independent living. We do that by using body weight movement and a variety of exercise equipment ranging from free weights to rowing and treadmill machines. When the weather permits, we’ll get outside for some fresh air and take a stroll along the newly built walking trail. We will also be offering some new group activities such as chair yoga on the lawn.
If you’re ready to use what you have and do what you can, contact your doctor to request an authorization for exercise.
Our summer hours are Tuesdays and Fridays 8:00-11:00 a.m.
Tribal Membership Financial Meeting, July 28
National wildlife refuge renamed to honor Billy Frank Jr.
A national wildlife refuge near Olympia, Washington, has been renamed in honor of Native American civil rights leader Billy Frank Jr.
The Associated Press
OLYMPIA, WASH. – A national wildlife refuge near Olympia, Washington, has been renamed in honor of Native American civil rights leader Billy Frank Jr.
U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewel, U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, U.S. Rep. Denny Heck and Nisqually Tribal Council chairman Farron McCloud are among those attending Tuesday’s celebration at the renamed Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge.
Frank, who died in 2014, was a Nisqually tribal fisherman who led the “fish wars” of the 1960s and 70s that restored fishing rights and helped preserve a way of life for Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest.
He and others were repeatedly arrested for fishing in the Nisqually River as they staged “fish-ins,” or acts of civil disobedience similar to sit-ins, to demand the right to fish in their traditional places. His activism paved the way for the landmark “Boldt” court decision, which affirmed the rights of Western Washington treaty tribes to half the fish harvest in the state.
Tuesday’s ceremony also celebrates the newly established Medicine Creek Treaty National Memorial, which commemorates the spot in 1854 where tribes signed the Medicine Creek Treaty with the U.S. government. The tribes include the Nisqually, Squaxin Island Tribe, Puyallup Tribe of Indians and Muckleshoot Indian Tribe.
The treaty was signed in a grove of trees near what is now McAllister Creek in the refuge. The tribes ceded land to the U.S. government but reserved their rights to fish, hunt and gather in their traditional places. For decades, Frank fought to hold the federal government to those treaty obligations.
In November, Frank was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama. A month later, Obama signed into law the “Billy Frank Jr. Tell Your Story Act,” which renamed the wildlife refuge.
The 2,925-acre preserve was created in 1974 and protects one of the few relatively undeveloped large estuaries left in Puget Sound. It’s an important stop for migratory birds along the Pacific Flyway. It’s managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Read more here: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/news/state/washington/article90499542.html#storylink=cpy
William (Bill) Myers
William (Bill) Myers was born in Everett, Wash. to Richard and Ruth Myers on August 25, 1959, On July 12, 2016, his father and grandparents called him home. He was a proud member of the Blackfeet Nation in Montana where he enjoyed visiting family. As a teenager he left every spring from Everett, with his brother and family by boat and fished the summer in Southeast Alaska including Ketchikan, Wrangel, Petersburg and Canada. He was preceded in death by his Stewart grandparents and Myers grandparents. Some of his favorite things were camping, fishing, working on the boats, just being by the water, also loved family time. On the weekends Billy and Sookie loved to go to yard sales. He is survived by his mother, Ruth; wife, Sookie; sons, Devon and Brandon; Antina (David) grandchildren, Kaylee, little Devon, Jayden, Monet, Mekyla, and Marcell; sisters, Diane (Gary), Barbara (Daniel); brothers, Richard (Brenda), Robert (Sylvia); special friends, Vern and Randy; special nephew, Jacob; father-in-law, David (Cherol); mother-in-law, Kathy Williams; numerous nieces, nephews and cousins in both Washington and Montana. Visitation will be held Monday, July 18, 2016, at 1:00 p.m. at Schaefer-Shipman Funeral Home with an interfaith service at 6:00 p.m. at the Tulalip Gym. Funeral services will be held Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. at the Tulalip Gym with burial to follow at Mission Beach Cemetery.
July 20, 2016 syəcəb
Please use the following link to download the July 20, 2016 issue of the syəcəb:
July 20, 2016 syəcəb
Club Kids Add Color to Latest Hibulb Exhibit
By Micheal Rios, Tulalip News
On Monday, July 11, a group of kids from the Tulalip Boys & Girls Club were invited to contribute to the latest exhibit at the Hibulb Cultural Center. The group of 20 kids got to tour Hibulb, check out the still in development Vibrant Beauty exhibit, and then were treated to a Ty Juvinel story time.
“The Hibulb Cultural Center is closed on Mondays, so the staff there have invited us to bring in a group of kids every Monday during the summer,” says Diane Prouty, Office Manager of the Tulalip Boys & Girls Club. “So every Monday during summer camp we pick 20 different kids to tour Hibulb and participate in a creative activity. It’s a great opportunity for the kids to explore and learn something new.
“Some of our kids are new to the Boys & Girls Club and aren’t Native American. These kids have never been to Hibulb, they’ve never experienced it. By taking them to Hibulb they get to experience the beauty, see the artwork, and learn about Tulalip culture. I want all our kids to have that opportunity.”
After a guided tour of the cultural center, the kids got to hear Ty Juvinel tell three of his original stories. The first story was Mouse and the Mountain, which is about perseverance and not underestimating anyone’s potential. Next up, How Puppy Got His Ears conveys the importance of listening to your parents. Lastly, How Hummingbird and Butterfly Painted All the Flowers expresses the significance of teamwork and cooperation.
“The kids sat very glued and listened to every word he said. They were really good and very respectful,” describes Diane.
Following story time, the kids had the opportunity to contribute to a very unique piece of artwork that will be on display when the Vibrant Beauty exhibit opens Saturday, July16. The kids were given a canvas to leave their unique handprint on. Assisted by Ty and Mary Jane Topash, Hibulb Group Tours Specialist, the kids took turns dipping their right hand into their choice of colored paint, then leaving their brightly colored hand print on the canvas. The kids’ artwork adds just another piece of vibrant beauty to the Hibulb collection.
