2015 War Canoe Races Photo/Niki Cleary, Tulalip News
**Revised: The Annual Tulalip War Canoes Races have been rescheduled to July 29-31
By Micheal Rios, Tulalip News
Last August, the Tulalip Tribes revived war canoe races and in doing so brought back what used to be an annual event on our waters before a very sudden and lengthy hibernation period. Through the efforts and perseverance of several tribal members dedicated to reviving the practice of hosting and competing in war canoe races, the cultural event returned to our reservation, along with the prestige that comes from being a tribe included in the war canoe races circuit.
Last year, hundreds of racers of all ages, from single rowing to 11-man teams, rowed intently across Tulalip Bay in physically demanding and spiritually uplifting competition. The Tulalip war canoe races brought nearly 200 participants from Coast Salish tribal communities both near and far. There were several canoe clubs who journeyed from Canada to attend.
In preparation for this year’s Tulalip war canoe races and all the competitors and spectators sure to be involved, the originally scheduled 2-day event has been expanded to a 3-day event to take place Friday July 15 through Sunday July 17.
The history of war canoe races stems from canoes being a traditional means of transportation for coastal and island tribes along the Northwest’s continental fringe. Not only did people use canoes for fishing and trading trips, but they also used them for raiding. Needing to be as quick as possible during these raids, tribes became experts at making canoes that could maneuver through the waters with ease. Both the individual manned canoe and team manned canoes required highly disciplined paddlers or pullers. These pullers often trained for months on end in order to become one when in the canoe. In some cases, the pullers would make use of a rhythmic chant to help ensure proper technique as they chanted their way across the shimmering, sunlit water.
Above: Little canoe race, Tulalip Indian boys, ca. 1912. Photographer: Ferdinand Brady
In our modern era, tribes no longer raid each other, but find our connectedness to nature and the life giving water remains inherent to what it means to be Coast Salish. So the practice and traditions of war canoe racing evolved into what it is today, becoming an inter-tribal event that spiritually uplifts individuals and community while honoring traditions of our ancestors.
Join in on the fun and excitement this weekend, as the Tulalip war canoe races kick-off Friday July 15. There will be plenty of food and merchandise vendors to shop from between races.
The war canoe race schedule is as follows:
Friday (races to be done separately, unless circumstances change day of race)
August 6, 1956 – July 1, 2016 Eddy Dean Pablo Sr., born August 6, 1956 passed away on July 1, 2016. There will be no gathering at Schaefer-Shipman. There will be an Interfaith Service on Wednesday, July 6, 2016 at 6:00 p.m. at the gym. Funeral services will be held on July 7, 2016 at 10:00 a.m. at the Tulalip Tribal Gym with burial to follow at Mission Beach Cemetery.
– See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/heraldnet/obituary.aspx?n=eddy-dean-pablo&pid=180549878&fhid=2242#sthash.w1acbN6e.dpuf
TULALIP, Washington and PINE RIDGE, South Dakota, July.1, 2016 – The Jr. NBA next week tips off the first of two summer camps focused on engaging Native American youth. As part of the NBA’s youth basketball participation program for boys and girls ages 6-14, Jr. NBA camps are set for July 8-10 in Tulalip, Washington, and from July 29-31 on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.
The camps are designed to teach the game’s fundamental skills and core values at this grassroots level to help grow and improve the youth basketball experience for players, coaches and parents.
NBA legend Detlef Schrempf and Spencer Hawes of the Charlotte Hornets – both alumni of the University of Washington – will headline the Jr. NBA camps at the Tulalip Boys and Girls Club about an hour north of Seattle. Sacramento Kings head coach David Joerger, who began his professional coaching career in the Dakotas, will work with youngsters at Jr. NBA camps hosted by the Red Cloud Indian School on the Pine Ridge Reservation outside of Rapid City.
“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 and Pine Ridge provides us a unique opportunity to connect with our young fans and their coaches alongside some of the NBA’s best ambassadors.”
“Our Native community loves Basketball and the NBA,” said National Indian Athletic Association Basketball Hall of Famer Marlin Fryberg Jr., a longtime Tulalip Tribal Council member currently serving as executive director for the Tulalip Tribes Boys & Girls Club. “The Jr. NBA camps acknowledge our Native American passion for the game and will help make NBA fans for life while teaching basketball’s important values.”
“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 Washington’s 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.”
“As a young basketball player on the reservation, the values of the game helped me succeed in the classroom and in life,” said Christian McGhee, a 2008 graduate of Red Cloud and the school’s current athletic director. “Bringing the Jr. NBA to Pine Ridge is a dream come true and will expose a large number of our boys and girls to the lessons only basketball can teach.”
The Jr. NBA will reach five million youth in the U.S. and Canada over the next two years through a series of basketball clinics, skills challenges and tournaments. As part of this effort, the NBA has developed a Jr. NBA partnership network that includes youth basketball programs of all NBA, WNBA and NBA Development League teams, elementary and middle schools, military installations and longstanding community partners, including Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Jewish Community Centers of North America, National Association of Police Athletic Leagues, National Recreation and Park Association, National Wheelchair Basketball Association, Special Olympics, and YMCA of the USA.
For additional information on the Tulalip camp, contact Marlin Fryberg at the Tulalip Boys & Girls Club: mfryberg@bgcsc.org
Tulalip Health Clinic Diabetes Care and Prevention held a cooking class at the Boys & Girls Club on Friday June 24, 2016. The class, held for children attending TRAILS diabetes prevention program, focused on food safety. Students received work packets containing information about germs and bacteria, cleanliness, kitchen etiquette, safety, and food temperature.
After washing their hands thoroughly, the students were ready for the cooking demonstration. With a table full of fruit and vegetables, the instructor informed the class that they would be making smoothies. The first round of smoothies went to members of the Wisdom Warrior Elders, who were enjoying watching the kids learn about food safety.
“Having our Wisdom Warrior elders present was a vital part of this day. Our elders were there to pray and participate with the kids. They loved watching them interact with the food, the recipes they were creating, and sharing their smoothies with [the students],” stated Veronica ‘Roni’ Leahy, Tulalip Health Clinic Diabetes Care and Prevention Program Coordinator.
Veronica explained that the students in the cooking class are currently developing their own cookbooks. Program staff hopes these books serve as both a reminder of the importance of healthy choices as well as the fun and memories that were created during these classes at the Boys & Girls Club.
The excitement and eagerness to learn were qualities all of the students possessed that afternoon. Each student was respectful, listened intently, and followed instructions perfectly during class.
Veronica stated, “Teaching the children at the Boys and Girls Club about food safety was an important part of the lesson plan for the day. We would like to say thank you to Karen Knopp, Food Safety Inspector, for developing a lesson plan targeted at the age of our kids in the TRAILS Program. Hearing the kids questions and seeing them respond to the food after the teaching was really special because they were truly listening and applying what they learned while they made their own smoothies. I would also like to say thank you to Klesick Family Farms, they offer outstanding service and beautiful fruits and vegetables. We teach how to use the foods and we order enough boxes of food for the kids to take home for their families to enjoy.”
Summer Berry Smoothie
Makes 2 servings
1/2 cup frozen strawberries
1/4 cup frozen wild blueberries
1/2 frozen banana
1 fresh ripe banana
1/2 cup fresh strawberries
1 cup vanilla soymilk
1 Tbsp maple syrup
1/2 cup coconut water ice cubes
Nutrition:
This smoothie is rich in manganese, vitamin C, and B12 from the fortified soymilk. It is also a good source of fiber and potassium. You can add a scoop protein powder to give it and extra boost protein. Add some flax seeds, chia seeds or flax oil to give it a boost of healthy omega fatty acids.
Directions
Add the soymilk, frozen fruit, maple syrup, cider vinegar, ice and sea salt to blender. Blend until chunky-smooth
Add in the fresh banana. Blend until smooth
Lastly, add in the fresh strawberries and pulse blend for a few more rounds – you don’t want to mush up the berries though
Seattle SuperSonics legend Gary Payton aka “The Glove” has partnered with the Native basketball camp, Rise Above, for appearances on reservations in the Pacific Northwest. Since last fall, the Colville Reservation and our very own Tulalip Reservation have both hosted a Rise Above camp. Two more camps are planned to take place on the Kalispel and Coeur d’Alene reservations in the upcoming months.
As our readers may recall, The Glove hosted a basketball youth skills camp at the Tulalip Youth Center last summer. For all those youth who participated and the adults who volunteered or stayed to watch their kids, they quickly realized that the camp was about much more than just basketball. It was about using basketball as a modality to empower our kids, teaching life lessons, and creating resiliency in the youth so they can grow into future leaders.
Payton met with the Tulalip News to share what his insights are on how to positively impact urban youth. You may be wondering what kind of insight a former NBA superstar can have about urban youth, especially in regards to Native youth living on a reservation. Well, the simple answer is Payton is familiar with growing up in an impoverish neighborhood, being surrounded with the poverty mindset, drugs and crime, and having to struggle against a system determined to see him fail.
Payton grew up and survived the drug-infested streets and gang filled neighborhoods of Oakland, California in the 1980s. Oakland was plagued in the eighties by a continuation of the rising crime rate and drug issues of the previous decade. Crack cocaine exploded as a big problem for the city during this period, and Oakland was regularly listed as one of the U.S. cities most plagued by crime. From being born and raised in Oakland to now following his passion for traveling the Pacific Northwest to mentor and coach urban youth, Payton has a unique perspective for sifting through issues he feels are of the biggest concern regarding the youth and how these issues can be addressed.
“Growing up in Oakland, California I was in a similar environment to a lot of these kids today, where they have a lot of free time on their own with not much adult supervision. That means you get to be around your friends the majority of the time, and your friends are going to be doing things that you want to be involved in because you want to fit in. Then things start to happen.
As I grew up and I had a father who was working all the time, but he used to tell me ‘you got to be your own man, you got to be a leader not a follower.’ If somebody says something or wants to do something that ain’t right, then tell them they ain’t right. If they don’t want to be that person who helps you and says okay I understand, then they are not really not your friend. That’s what a lot of these kids are starting to see more and more of because youth of this generation prefer to do anything other than be bored.
My generation was different because we knew how to go outside and just have fun. Everyone didn’t have a fancy cellphone, iPads, and all the rest of it. Even our cartoons and TV shows were only on during Saturday mornings and a couple hours after we got home from school. Now, TV and the internet caters to these kids so they can be watching something all day, every day.
I think for these kids today, all they need is a little push. They need someone, like myself, who has been through and seen the same things they have, to come around and give them a talking to and tell them the right way and what not to do. Because once we leave and they get someone they think is a friend who pressures them, it’s hard for them to make the right decision because of the peer pressure and idea it’s better to fit in than stand out.
But when these kids have adults and role models around who are not only looking out for their best interest, but are actually making themselves available by text, phone call, or to meet up to talk, then it becomes easier for them to say no to the bad choices and yes to the good ones. All they need is to have that support behind them, people they know are helping build them up into the best person they can be. But it can’t be only a sometimes thing, it has be an all the time thing because these kids can tell who is fake and who is real.
It’s important for us as mentors, the adults who these kids will listen to and respect, to get the youth to set individual goals. We want them to set goals or to have an ultimate goal for themselves. Most of these kids don’t have goals other than to have fun or good times with their friends, that’s not a goal. We see it all the time where they’ll get just a little bit of satisfaction from what they are doing in school or from actual hard work and then they’ll immediately flip to okay that’s enough now let me go and hangout with my friends. That mindset comes from not having goals to succeed, not having the goal to be someone who the community looks up to.
Gary Payton visits with Tulalip youth in 2015. Photo/Micheal Rios
If they had goals that are bigger than just hanging out with friends or messing around on the internet, then they’d be more willing to say no to the little things that get in their way in order to achieve their goals. That’s the biggest problem with youth today. They’re so focused on the immediate and what’s right in front of them that they don’t see the larger picture, they don’t have the passion to set long-term goals and follow through. They don’t understand that by focusing in and setting goals today, that what they are actually doing is investing in their future.
As mentors, advocates, and educators we have to remain vigilant and get these kids to buy in to setting goals and following through. It starts with their education because nothing is more important than getting a good education. A good education means opportunity and with opportunity comes the ability to do what you want to do, not just doing what you have to do. We know that kids today love doing what they want to do, so now it’s on us to get them to see that through education they can be adults doing what they want to do as well. Getting them to set goals in the classroom and with school is where it starts.
We want them to have goals like, ‘I’m going to get better grades this year than I had last year’, ‘I’m going to make honor roll this semester’, ‘I’m going to graduate with my high school diploma’, and ‘I’m going to go to college’. They seem like no-brainers, but we’ve seen they are too interested in other things and have lost that focus in school and on their education, and I’m going to keep going back to it and say it’s because there’s a lack of goal setting. It’s not good enough to be satisfied with just showing up or only doing enough to get by. We have to want and expect more from them in order to get them to want and expect more from themselves.
Our mission as mentors is to encourage, and support our youth as they discover who they are and what they want to be. Through goal setting and an emphasis on education as future opportunity for themselves, they’ll be able to become the best person they can be. Once they have that mindset to want better, to be better, everything will start to click and it’s an amazing thing to witness. They have so much to accomplish and so many opportunities available, and when they realize they are capable of reaching their goals and achieving like they never thought before then this entire community benefits.”
Billy Frank Jr. stands on top of a culvert in 2008. Photo/Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission
U.S. 9th District Court of Appeals rules in favor of the tribes in culvert case
By Kalvin Valdillez, Tulalip News
A culvert is a tunnel carrying a stream or open drain under a road or railroad. Currently, there are hundreds of culverts in the state of Washington that are in need of repairs. This issue has been an on-going problem for the tribes of Washington State for a large amount of time. The reason this is an issue for northwest Native Americans is because the blocked culverts are preventing salmon from swimming into spawning areas and from swimming back to the ocean, thus diminishing the salmon runs in Washington.
The original case began over 15 years ago; in 2001 the 21 federally recognized tribes of Washington filed a complaint against Washington State in the U.S. District Court regarding the damaged culverts. In 2007 the court ruled that building the culverts put the state in violation of the treaties the state signed with the tribes, and in 2013 the court made it a requirement for the Department of Transportation to replace the culverts with more efficient and salmon friendly culverts. The court gave Washington 17 years to replace the culverts making this the second victory for the tribes regarding this issue.
Washington State found this ruling a bit harsh and filed an appeal stating that the ruling was too expensive. The estimate given by The Department of Transportation was around $1.9 billion for the replacement of approximately 800 estimated culverts over the next 17 years. The court did find these estimations to be over-calculated for both the cost as well as the number of culverts that need to be replaced.
Washington agrees that blocked culverts are one reason why salmon runs are on the decline. The state corrected 23 culverts since the ruling in 2013, and looks to fix several more before the year ends. However, the state did file the appeal claiming that the treaties did not require the state to restore the salmon habitat, there is no minimum requirement of salmon for the tribes, and that the project is too time consuming and expensive. The states appeal was heard in October of 2015.
On Monday June 27, 2016 the U.S. 9th District Court of Appeals ruled yet again in favor of the tribes. The state can still file for a rehearing and petition for the U.S. Supreme Court. Washington State attorneys are currently reviewing the case and deciding whether or not they would like to proceed with a rehearing,
Once the culverts are replaced they will open over 1,000 miles of streams for salmon to pass through. Tribal leaders are looking to Washington for a sit-down to create a co-management plan that is financially realistic as well as time efficient. The decision is definitely a sign of progress for the recovery of the salmon habitat. However, many believe that there is still much work to be done, citing the culverts as just one of many problems. John Sledd, the primary attorney for the tribes believes that this is a major step in the right direction.
“Treaty fishing rights mean nothing without fish to catch, and you can’t have fish if they can’t get to their habitat to reproduce. The Court of Appeals made it absolutely clear – the treaties promised the tribes more than the right to set their nets and bring them up empty. They promised enough fish to meet the people’s needs. This decision is a big step to fulfilling that promise. It’s a great decision for the tribes, the fish, and everyone who values wild salmon.”
By Micheal Rios, Tulalip News ; Photos courtesy of Ross Fenton
Over the weekend of June 17, the Tulalip Tribes membership was once again afforded the opportunity to participate in the cultural upbringings of our ancestors; specifically by journeying into the woodlands and using traditional methods of pulling, gathering, and harvesting cedar.
“Tulalip Natural Resources Department (NRD) always works as a premier team annually to coordinate this culturally significant opportunity,” says Ross Fenton of the Tulalip Tribes Forestry Program. “The Tulalip Natural Resource’s Timber, Fish, and Wildlife Program (TFW) generally arranges a cedar site for the upcoming season by utilizing existing relationships with off-reservation landowners.
“This year, and in years past the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) was very cooperative in providing a good quality cedar and land access that favors children, elders, and all the types of vehicles as well.”
Our Tulalip NRD education and outreach coordinator plays a key role in providing all the contact personnel information as well as any other special requests that the landowner may have to Tulalip Forestry staff and others involved. Tulalip Forestry staff then reviews the site boundaries and any other special requests from the DNR/landowner (i.e. no cedar pulling within stream buffers, etc.) in order to provide guidance to the tribal membership before and during the cedar bark harvest event. Leading large caravans of tribal members to the site, obtaining access through locked gates, and securing gates after the event are some of the roles that Forestry performs.
Tulalip Forestry staff also assists the membership by helping pull and/or separate inner bark, carrying bark up steep inclines for elders, and has also donating bark to tribal members who were not able to attend, if their time allows.
As Ross puts it, “the main goal and function of Forestry staff is primary oversight and logistical planning of this season’s event to ensure successful cedar procurement for many future Tulalip generation to follow.”
During the cedar pulling event’s first day, tribal members braved some seriously wet weather to harvest a staple commodity of their ancestors. On the second day, those who returned were joined by even more tribal members and were rewarded with beautiful weather and pristine conditions for cedar pulling.
“There were three generations of family members pulling cedar bark together on the second day,” adds Ross. “It was a great experience to witness old traditions and teachings being shared.”
