For the Salish-speaking tribes of the Washington coast, canoes were traditionally not only their most important form of transportation, they were also cultural icons. The Hibulb Cultural Center and Natural History Preserve honors the Tulalip (Snohomish, Snoqualmie, Skykomish, and others) cultures.
The importance of canoes to the Tulalip peoples is evident in the Hibulb Culture Center. The canoe theme shown in the windows above is repeated throughout the Center.
Canoes were made by hollowing out a single log with fire and adzes. By filling the hollowed out log with hot water, the canoe makers could then widen the canoe by forcing stout cross-pieces between the gunwales.
Carving a canoe begins with spiritual preparation: the carvers must prepare themselves with fasting, prayers, and the sweatlodge. It is not uncommon for the task of carving a large canoe to take two years. Once the log is chosen, a prayer is said for the cedar and an offering is given to thank it for its sacrifice.
The final stage in carving the canoe involves the use of hot rocks and water to steam-bend the sides outwards. This steaming also draws the bow and stern upwards as well as adding strength to the vessel. For the large ocean-going canoes, the prow and stern pieces are added last, the thwarts and seats are installed, and the exterior is finished. Then the canoe is given a name and is ready to begin its life on the water.
Three canoes are displayed in the Center.
River Canoe:
The river canoe shown above was carved about 1880 by William Shelton. It was restored by the Tulalip Tribes Carving and Arts Department.
The bow of the canoe is shown above.
Small Canoe:
This small canoe was carved about 1930 from a single log by William Shelton.
Ocean-Going Canoe:
This canoe was made about 1880 as part of a wedding dowry. The canoe was built by the bride’s family from the Quinault Nation and given to the Tulalip groom is a wedding present.
Shown above is a detail of where the mast would have been placed. Sails, prior to the arrival of the Europeans, were made from woven mats.
The canoe was made from hollowing out a single large cedar log. The sides were then spread apart and the bow and stern pieces were then added.
The bow is shown above.
The stern of the canoe is shown above. The stern piece was added to the dugout form.
The photograph above shows the additional piece which was added to the gunnels.
The photograph above shows how the thwarts (i.e. seats) were attached.
The 24th Annual Stillaguamish Festival of the River is Auguat 10-11. 2 days of Music and Family Events, including entertainment by Jonny Lang, Lee Bridge and the Duncan Family.
Snohomish Count’s River Meadows Park, Arlington, WA
Supporters of the Keystone XL pipeline cheered Tuesday’s release of a study that deemed diluted bitumen — the heavy crude mined in Alberta’s tar sands that Keystone would carry to Texas — just as safe to transport via pipeline as other forms of crude oil. They see the results as further clearing the way for approval of the pipeline.
But environmental groups criticized the methodology and limited scope of the study, which was conducted by the National Academy of Sciences. From Inside Climate News:
[T]he conclusions were based not on new research but primarily on self-reported industry data, scientific research that was funded or conducted by the oil industry, and government databases that even federal regulators admit are incomplete and sometimes inaccurate.
Critics also faulted the study for comparing diluted bitumen (or dilbit) to other heavy Canadian crudes, instead of to the conventional light oils for which most U.S. pipelines were built. Environmentalists have argued that tar-sands and other heavy oils, which must be diluted with chemicals in order to be moved through pipelines, could be more corrosive to those pipelines. And the study only addressed the likelihood of a spill, not the negative impacts — to the economy, the environment, and human health — were a spill to occur.
The report examined the potential for pipeline leaks but did not address the consequences of a spill, the key concern for environmentalists and people who live near pipelines. …
Carl Weimer, executive director of the nonprofit, nonpartisan Pipeline Safety Trust, said the report’s conclusions aren’t surprising, given its narrow scope.
The report “only tells us that the probability of a failure of a pipeline carrying dilbit is no different than the probability of the failure of an oil pipeline carrying other types of heavy oils,” Weimer said in a statement. Regulators have “so far failed to analyze whether the consequences of dilbit pipeline failures are greater than those of conventional oil spills.”
There’s good reason to be particularly worried about dilbit spills:
[D]ilbit behaves differently from conventional crude oil when it spills into water. A 2010 dilbit spill in Michigan’s Kalamazoo River is still being cleaned up nearly three years later. Unlike conventional oil, which usually floats on water, dilbit is composed of bitumen—a heavy crude oil—and light hydrocarbons used to thin the bitumen so it can flow through pipelines. During the Kalamazoo spill, the light chemicals gradually evaporated, leaving the bitumen to sink into the riverbed.
Because the study found no additional dangers posed by dilbit, it doesn’t recommend updating pipeline rules.
Of course, calling tar-sands pipelines no riskier than other oil pipelines isn’t exactly a huge comfort. From 1990 to 2011, more than 110 million gallons of oil spilled from U.S. pipelines. The question is not just whether there’s a high chance Keystone XL could leak, but what the consequences would be if — more like when — it did.
The report came out on the same day Obama made an unexpected mention of Keystone XL in his hotly anticipated climate speech. But Reuters ignored that plot twist in reporting on the study’s impacts:
While the report might not put to rest debate over the safety and impact of importing more Canadian crude, it added to growing signs President Barack Obama is likely to finally approve construction of the line after a more than four year wait that has frustrated Canadian politicians and operator TransCanada Corp.
“I think it’s harder to come up with reasons not to approve it than to approve it,” said Sarah Emerson, director at Energy Security Analysis Inc in Boston. “Most people in the industry expect it to be a foregone conclusion.”
But if Obama sticks to his word — that he won’t approve the pipeline if it’s found to “significantly exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution” — the question of leaks along Keystone should be moot.
Claire Thompson is an editorial assistant at Grist.
Do you know your HIV status? On June 27, the nation will observe the 19th annual National HIV Testing Day. This year’s theme is “Take the Test. Take Control.”
HIV testing is so important because it gives you the information you need to make good decisions about your health. If you test negative, you can take steps to stay that way (which may include periodic testing if you engage in high-risk behaviors). If you have HIV, there are medications that will help you stay healthy and live longer. These medications—known as antiretroviral therapy (ART)—also make it significantly less likely that you might pass the virus to someone else.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has already expanded access to free HIV screening for many people. For those living with HIV/AIDS, the healthcare law will help to ensure they get the care and treatment they need. That is good news, and the ACA has more in store. On January 1, 2014, many of the ACA’s most important provisions will begin increasing access to healthcare for millions of Americans, including those living with HIV/AIDS. To prepare, as of October 1, 2013, people can begin enrolling in ACA-mandated Health Insurance Marketplaces to find affordable health insurance.
Since the mid-1990s, the number of people who are diagnosed with HIV each year has remained relatively stable at about 50,000 infections per year.[1] Certain groups, including African Americans, Latinos, and gay and bisexual men of all races/ethnicities, continue to be disproportionately affected by HIV. We are particularly concerned by a significant increase in new infections among young gay and bisexual men. Between 2008-2010, this group of young men (ages 13-24) had a 22 percent increase in new infections—and young black men in that group now account for more new HIV infections than any other subgroup by race/ethnicity, age, and sex.[2] That news is deeply troubling.
Fortunately our latest data also show there is some good news. Between 2008 and 2010, new HIV infections among African American women declined by 21 percent. This is an encouraging decrease in new infections among black women; however, we will need more time to see if this noteworthy trend continues. In the meantime, we will continue working to eliminate the health disparities that affect racial/ethnic and other minorities and increase their risk for HIV infection.
It is important to stress the long-term benefits of HIV testing, care, and treatment. HIV testing gives us an opportunity to connect people living with HIV to treatment and give them the support they need to remain in care and to take their medications appropriately. Currently, nearly three out of every four people living with HIV in the U.S. do not successfully navigate the stages of care (also known as the “treatment cascade”), which are: HIV testing and diagnosis; actively linking those who test positive to care; retaining them in care over time; providing ART; and achieving “viral suppression” by using treatment to keep HIV at a level that helps individuals stay healthy and reduces the risk of transmitting the virus to others.[3]
Identifying and reducing the obstacles along that path are the keys to achieving the goals of the President’s National HIV/AIDS Strategy and a major focus of our work.
So, in observance of National HIV Testing Day, I hope you will “Take the Test and Take Control.”
You can see the video PSAs Secretary Sebelius recorded for National HIV Testing Day here and here. For more information about NHTD, or to find an HIV testing location near you, please visit AIDS.gov. For resources on HIV prevention, please visit Act Against AIDS. For more information on the ACA, please visit healthcare.gov.
Jim Davenport/Facebook Sky Walkingstick dances at the Jacksonville Powwow.
Vincent Schilling, Indian Country Today Media Network
Last month, a 19-year-old Native American high school student at J B Pennington High School in Blountsville, Alabama was told he couldn’t wear an eagle feather if he wanted to graduate. When Sky Walkingstick, of the Eastern Band of Cherokee, explained it was a demonstration of his beliefs protected under federal law, he was still told by Assistant Principal Steven Bryson, a former history teacher, and another instructor, William Smitherman, who teaches government, economics and 9th grade history, to remove it.
“I was just starting the graduation ceremony and I had my eagle feather in my cap, it was hanging from the tassel. I was walking towards Mr. Smitherman he saw my eagle feather and stopped me. He started shaking his head no. He said you cannot wear that during the graduation,” said Walkingstick.
“I asked him why not and he said, ‘you just can’t.”
Walkingstick, who has been a men’s traditional dancer since age 5 and a fancy dancer for about a year says the eagle feather is part of his heritage, his religious beliefs and achievements. He said he tried to explain that the wearing of a feather was also protected, but he was shut down.
“I started to get upset and tear up, but I held it in. I put my eagle feather back in my car. When I came back Mr. Smitherman and Mr. Bryson told me again,” said Walkingstick.
Sky and Hollye at Sky’s graduation. (Facebook)
Walkingstick was surprised two educators with backgrounds in teaching history and government aren’t aware of the American Indian Religious Freedom Act.
Walkingstick complied during the May 23 graduation ceremony, even though he didn’t want to. “I didn’t want any trouble nor did I want to cause a ruckus… I went ahead with graduation with my feather in my heart and my head held high.”
His mother, Hollye Walkingstick, was frustrated by the situation. “You would think of all people, that history teacher would be more aware. It made me very mad,” she said.
“I asked Mr. Bryson ‘can you tell me why he can’t wear it?’ He said, ‘the main reason is that all of the kids are required to look the same. I told him there was no dress code the kids had to sign and no one was told they had to wear certain things. I told him you would not tell a Christian person to remove their cross or a Jewish person to remove their Star of David. And I can guarantee you that if you had a Muslim child in your school you would not tell her to remove her head covering. You could not do that by law.”
She explained that Sky respected Bryson’s wishes because he is an elder and the assistant principal. “But this is a school, you could turn this into a real teaching opportunity,” Hollye told Bryson.
Hollye said she and the teachers argued that other students—honor students—wore adornments in their tassels. She also said the school accepts funding for having minority students, but doesn’t support their beliefs.
“My daughter asked Mr. Bryson if he understood what the eagle feather meant and he said ‘Oh yeah, I know you all smoke peace pipes and what you smoke in them.’ This is a former history teacher who is now the vice principal and the history teacher was standing right next to him,” Hollye said. “This is unreal to me.”
J.B. Pennington High School principal Brian Kirk said the school has no comment on the issue and referred ICTMN to the Blount County Board of Education Superintendent Jim Carr, who has not returned several calls.
This isn’t the first time a graduating senior has taken flack for wearing an eagle feather at graduation from an Alabama school. Chelsey Ramer, a Poarch Creek Band of Indians student who recently graduated from Escambia Academy in Atmore, Alabama faced a similar situation. She did wear her feather though and nearly had to pay a copy,000 fine for doing so. (Related story: “Poarch Creek Student Not Required to Pay Fine, Receives Diploma”)
New York City will again be alive with pow wow this weekend. Following the hugely successful Gateway to Nations Pow Wow in Brooklyn, the city’s American Indian Coummunity House presents the Health Awareness-Healing the City Pow Wow on Saturday, June 29. The American Indian Community House been serving NYC’s Native community since 1969.
The pow wow will emphasis Indian country health awareness issues, as well as feature dance contests. The host drums are SilverCloud Singers and Mystic River. The event will be held at the Art Directors Club in Manhattan.
For more information, visit Aich.org, the AICH’s Facebook page or see the flyer below.
CHEROKEE — Celebrity chef Paula Deen’s cooking empire took another hit Wednesday when Caesars Entertainment Corp. announced it was dropping Deen-themed restaurants it operates at four casinos, including Harrah’s Cherokee Casino.
The decision was a mutual agreement between the two companies to close the casino-based Paul Deen’s Kitchen restaurants, according to a Caesars Entertainment spokeswoman. The spokeswoman said Deen had offered sincere apologies but decided “it is in the best interest of both parties to part ways.”
Leeann Bridges, a spokeswoman for Harrah’s Cherokee, about an hour west of Asheville, said the 400-seat restaurant will remain open but offer a new menu immediately.
“We are working to rebrand with a new name in the upcoming weeks and anticipate it having a coffee shop style of offerings for our guests,” Bridges said.
Deen, 66, has faced a firestorm of controversy since the revelation last week that the Southern cook admitted in a lawsuit deposition that she had used racial slurs and told off-color jokes in the past.
Smithfield Foods, whose hams Deen has endorsed since 2006, fired Deen on Monday. The Food Network terminated its contract with Deen last week and immediately yanked her two shows from its programming schedule. Walmart said it would stop selling Paula Deen-branded products. QVC is also reviewing its dealings with Deen.
Harrah’s Cherokee Casino heralded the opening of Deen’s restaurant there last April. The eatery, decorated to replicate the feel of Deen’s home and kitchen in Savannah Ga., offered Deen’s Southern specialties such as cheesy meatloaf, country fried steak and barbecued brisket. An 1,800-square-foot Paula Deen retail shop offered her cookbooks, spices and cookware for sale at the restaurant’s entrance.
The deposition in which Deen admitted using racial slurs came as part of a racial and sexual discrimination lawsuit filed by a former employee, Lisa Jackson, who worked for Paula Deen Enterprises and was part of Deen’s inner circle.
Tribal leaders praised President Barack Obama for signing an executive order on Wednesday to establish the White House Council on Native American Affairs.
The high-level council will consist of all Cabinet secretaries and the heads of other federal agencies. It will coordinate Indian policy across the entire government.
“President Obama’s executive order represents a very strong step forward to strengthen our nation-to-nation relationship. The council has been a top priority of tribal leaders from the earliest days of the Obama administration. It will increase respect for the trust responsibility and facilitate the efficient delivery of government services,” Jefferson Keel, the president of the National Congress of American Indians, said in a press release.
Fawn Sharp, the president of the Quinault Nation in Washington, also welcomed the new council. She said it could help address underfunding of Indian programs at all federal agencies.
“This executive order comes from a president who has taken the time to listen to the American Indian people. It is a document that recognizes our history and struggles and acknowledges our interests and objectives. On behalf of the Native people and the tribes I represent in my elected capacities, I thank him for his foresight and the intent of this very important decision,” Sharp said in a press release.
Daniel J. Tucker, the chairman of the California Nations Indian Gaming Association, said tribal leaders were united in their effort to make the council a reality. His organization represents 25 tribes in California.
“We worked together with Great Plains, Midwest Alliance of Sovereign Tribes, Council of Large Tribes, United South and Eastern Tribes to call for a National Council of Native Nations. President Obama responded to that call with the new White House Council on Native American Affairs. We applaud the excellent leadership that the President has provided for Native Americans!” Tucker said in a press release.
The council will be chaired by Interior Secretary Sally Jewell. She is speaking at NCAI’s mid-year conference today in Reno, Nevada, and will discuss the executive order.
Jewell is also holding a press call with the media this afternoon after her speech.
Indian country’s pecuniary advancements created by Indian gaming are well documented. Many tribes have taken full advantage of expanding and diversifying business ventures that now represent a sustainable economic base far greater than their initial casino enterprise. Such planning and financial discipline is commendable. Strong tribal leadership and the willingness to do what is in the best interest of the citizenry of those governments is usually the common thread of success for those tribes. Many times, however, decisions made by tribal councils to obtain such successful economic diversity come at a political price: risking their leadership positions by standing up to their constituents and saying no to either initiating per capita payments, or increasing them beyond sensible levels.
Unfortunately, many tribes today have lost that astute fiscal resolve. In its stead, per capita has become something so adverse amongst so many of our people that it now serves to hinder, disrupt and in some instances, even dismantle tribal governments. Disenrollment, political turmoil, government breakdowns, corruption, financial dependency and absolute greed has become the new “norm” for too many gaming tribes. I’ve witnessed more times than I care to admit, general councils literally holding tribal councils political hostage over per capita distributions. Chants of: “either pay us more per capita, or we’ll vote you out and replace you with someone who will” has become commonplace within many tribal communities. Sound familiar?
The truth of the matter is that per capita payments do little to improve our tribal communities, much less peoples’ lives. Yes, we have a sovereign right to establish per capita for our citizens, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s “the right thing to do.” Some of our most formidable leaders during the early years of Indian gaming argued against per capita. They understood that the net gaming profits from our casino operations were the financial gifts born from the struggles to evolve and develop this industry. Gaming was viewed as an important tool to address generational socio-economic disparity throughout Indian country. Gaming revenues were our way of lessening our dependency on federal funding sources, as well as our opportunity to strengthen and improve tribal government operations, which is a true exercise in sovereignty.
Many tribal governments realized that creating a system of per capita payouts to tribal citizens established nothing short of a tribally funded “welfare state.” Tribes that opposed and rejected per capita payments to their citizens early on were, by and large, the ones setting the standard for quality of life improvements within their communities. As a tribal citizen, enjoying this new influx of casino revenue meant that your basic needs in life were provided for, so long as you earned and/or qualified for such assistance. This included housing, education, health care, child care, elder assistance, business start-up assistance and a slew of other programs and services that casino revenues provided.
Today’s trend though seems to be growing more and more negative in regards to per capita outlays. We have families pitted against families fighting over who is and who is not a rightful citizen of their tribal government. Issues that were never in dispute before per capita payments were declared, now grow in volume and intensity. Disenrollment was extremely rare and when exercised, was for actual cause (no Indian blood quantum, dual enrollment, et cetera), not because of greed and corruption over per capita outlays. Such actions only serve to kill our native culture. We lose respect, credibility and support throughout the United States, especially within the federal government, and look absolutely ridiculous in the eyes of the world. A proud people we are not when we allow an infiltration of bad acts and bad actors to operate and control tribal governments, spurred on by overwhelming dictate from tribal citizens demanding more and more “free” money from their tribes.
So, what can be done to reverse this trend? Maybe we begin by nurturing and empowering stronger leadership within our tribal governments. Tribal councils willing to stand in unison against per capita payments, or increases thereto, is a good starting point. Regaining control of tribal finances and putting those dollars to work in other areas are also key goals. Tribes that utilize gaming proceeds to diversify economic portfolios, generate new business ventures, create jobs and grow tribal wealth beyond casino operations, better control per capita greed. Also, lest not forget that in most states, our monopoly over casino-style gaming enterprises is a very fragile one. At any time we can see changes to state gaming laws that allow expansion of casino-style gaming to non-Indian entities in and around population centers, as a way of increasing state tax revenues and thereby devastating a large percentage of Indian gaming as we know it.
Many of us have and will continue to dedicate our lives to prevent such circumstances from occurring. However, we need to do a much better job of perpetuating positive views and opinions in the public domain on how we utilize our gaming revenues. It’s a lot easier arguing protectionism of Indian gaming’s status quo in states around the country struggling to raise more revenues, if we are not constantly lambasted in the press over tribal infighting based on nothing more than greed. Better educating our people as to the pitfalls of per capita dependency is also critical. It’s a tough challenge for any tribal council to face, but in the end such efforts may save a tribal government and the communities it serves. Our fights to secure Indian gaming was to improve government operations, tribal business ventures and overall quality of life for our citizens; not to politically cannibalize ourselves through acts of voracity, corruption and the spread of destructive per capita dependency among our own people.
Leland McGee, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, is a principal of the Sequoyah Group, LLC, a native-owned national Indian economic, energy and gaming development consulting firm. He has served in Indian Affairs under both Clinton and Bush Administrations, served under the National Congress of American Indians, directed government affairs for a national Indian law firm, and has served as executive director and tribal administrator for federally recognized tribal governments.
SNOHOMISH COUNTY, Wash. — In the absence of a state budget, the Snohomish County Board of Health will convene for a special emergency meeting at 1:30 p.m. Thursday, June 27 in the Snohomish County Council Chambers, 8th floor of the Robert J. Drewel Building, 3000 Rockefeller Ave., Everett, Wash.
The state has made clear that local agencies will not be paid for state-funded services during a shutdown. In order to continue most Snohomish Health District programs, the Board will be asked to approve spending from reserves for the first two weeks of July. A state shutdown will cost the Health District about $30,000 a day. As a result of the shutdown, state-issued checks to purchase healthy foods through the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) nutrition program will not be issued, however other WIC services will continue to be provided.
Should the state budget impasse continue, the Board will consider convening a regular meeting July 9th to determine program reductions and service suspension.
If a state budget is approved prior to the Health Board emergency special meeting, the session will be cancelled immediately. Notice of cancellation will be posted at the county council chambers, at Health District offices in Everett and on the Health District’s website at www.snohd.org.
The Snohomish County Board of Health sets countywide public health policy, enacts and enforces local public health regulations, and carries out other duties of local boards of health specified in state law. These duties include enforcing state public health statutes, preventing and controlling the spread of infectious disease, abating nuisances, and establishing fee schedules for licenses, permits and other services.
For additional information about the board meeting or to request reasonable accommodations, please contact Lorie Ochmann, 425.339.5210; relay 711; lochmann@snohd.org
Established in 1959, the Snohomish Health District works for a safer and healthier Snohomish County through disease prevention, health promotion, and protection from environmental threats. Find more information about the Health Board and the Health District at http://www.snohd.org.
