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Nike N7 ignites a Tulalip Move Moment

Tulalip youth, energized and inspired, gather around the $10,000 check the N& fund awarded the Tulalip Boys and Girls Club.Photo/Micheal Rios — Tulalip youth, energized and inspired, gather around the $10,000 check the N& fund awarded the Tulalip Boys and Girls Club.
Photo/Micheal Rios

By Micheal Rios, Tulalip News

During this past fall season Nike N7 ignited a series of ‘move moments’ across tribal and aboriginal communities in North America and Canada. Tulalip was among the very select few chosen to participate in the Nike N7 event. In all there were seven communities selected, three in Canada (Siksika, Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation, and the Aboriginal Friendship Center) and four in the United States (Gila River Indian Community in Arizona, Inter Tribal Sports in California, a Native Urban Center in Oklahoma, and the Tulalip Tribes).

“Tulalip was a community that we picked a few months ago. Every time we release product we like to do an event within the Native community,” Tessa Sayers, Nike N7 Product Specialist, explains. “The latest Nike N7 holiday collection product is inspired by coastal design. We worked with an artist named Peter Boome, a Salish artist, and he worked with our Nike designers to focus on a collection that was inspired by coastal design. When we were picking communities we could only pick one community in Oregon or Washington, and partly why we chose Tulalip is because you have a Nike Factory Store where we sell Nike N7 product. So I called and spoke with Tori Torrolova (Athletic Director for the Tulalip Boys and Girls Club) who said ‘Absolutely, we are game. Bring the event to us.’”

The goal of the N7 Move Moments is to inspire and enable youth to be physically active. They look a lot like mini-camps, but the Nike brand calls them ‘move moments’ because it is a moment in time they are getting the youth active and participating in a sport. This year the events were basketball themed, last year it was soccer. Bringing basketball into our community in an fun and energizing way that will inspire participants to move themselves and their generation is all part of the Nike N7 philosophy. N7 is inspired by Native American wisdom of the Seven Generations: In every deliberation we must consider the impact of our decisions on the seventh generation.

Tulalip youth mimc motions of their trainer during the warm-up session. Photo/Micheal Rios — Tulalip youth mimc motions of their trainer during the warm-up session.
Photo/Micheal Rios

Nike originally planned to have the N7 Move Moment in Tulalip at the Boys and Girls Club during the month of November, but decided to push the date back in the wake of the Marysville Pilchuck High School shooting. Pushing the date back several weeks was part of Nike N7’s plan to make the event much more impactful for the Tulalip youth.

“Everybody on the N7 staff and our media group are all Native American and this stuff we are naturally passionate about,” Sayers says. “When we heard about the unfortunate incident that happened out here it was not something we had to think about, we called Tori and arranged to come out and actually put on the event with you guys and make it a bigger thing, so we can really bring something positive and uplifting to the Tulalip community. The other six communities had their ‘move moments’ on their own, but we decided to come up and bring our own trainers and put on the event for Tulalip. It was a no brainer for N7.”

Unlike the N7 Move Moments that were held at the other six Native and aboriginal communities chosen, Tulalip was given twice as much product and equipment in order to allow up to 160 youth to participate. To further add to the significance for Tulalip the Nike N7 team personally delivered the product, spoke to our youth, and brought along a 12 person training crew to engage with our youth while participating in the activities.

Tulalip’s very own specialized N7 Move Moment, titled ‘Move Your Generation’ was held Monday, December 15, 2014 at the Tulalip Boys and Girls Club from 4:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Youth who participated in the event were provided with plenty of Nike N7 freebies upon entry. Nike N7 wrist bands, stickers, and t-shirts were among the free merchandise.

An estimated ninety 5-12 year-olds and thirty 13-18 year-olds, for a grand total of 120 Tulalip community youth, were inspired and enabled to be physically active while participating in the premium and energetic basketball experience.

Trainers, volunteers and child participants huddle up to celebrate their evening of physical activity. Photo/ Micheal Rios — Trainers, volunteers and child participants huddle up to celebrate their evening of physical activity.
Photo/ Micheal Rios

The Tulalip youth were treated to a 10 minute warm-up session by nationally certified strength and conditioning coach and trainer at Nike World Headquarters, Henry Barrera. Following the warm-up session the kids were broken up into five groups where they would alternate between 5 mini-camp stations, each one lasting 10 minutes.

The ball skills station taught basketball-specific skills, like alternating dribbles between both hands, basics of a crossover, and then a quick dribble into a crossover. The training cones station taught body control and body mechanics by having kids quickly change directions in a 5-10-5 agility drill. The mini-bands station taught stability and body control by placing a mini-band around the ankles and having participants perform a series of movements all the while stepping and stabilizing with each movement. The speed rope station taught rhythm, body control and coordination. Lastly, the agility balls station taught athletic stance and body control.

A special workshop was also added to the mix when Nike N7 decided to put on the event for Tulalip. Nike made it possible for Jillene Joseph, Executive Director of the Native Wellness Institute, to spend an hour with each age group (5-12 and 13-18). In her workshop Joseph promoted well-being through a series of activities that embrace the teachings and traditions of our Native American ancestors.

“We know your community is grieving and healing at this time therefore we wanted to bring you an uplifting, fun and energetic experience. We hope you leave here feeling invigorated, refreshed, inspired and motivated to take leadership among your community,” said Sam McCracken, GM for Nike N7, to all the Tulalip youth and community members present.

Adding to the already youth impacting event, N7 surprisingly held a check ceremony in their evening wrap up. Boys and Girls Club executive staff members Chuck Thacker and Tori Torrolova were presented with a $10,000 grant award from the N7 Fund to the Tulalip Boys and Girls Club. The money will help support the club’s athletic program says Torrolova. “Those funds I’m hoping to use to benefit our coaches, volunteers and people who constantly work with the program. Making sure kids are fed when we have home games and away games and snacks to take with us. All this money I want to concentrate on the athletic programs that we run here on a yearly basis.”

After the N7 Move Moment was over, Torrolova took a moment to reflect on the evening’s activities, “I think it turned out great and all the kids had a blast. They saw different ways of moving and using different types of equipment all the while everything was being tied to basketball. We received so much brand new basketball equipment thanks to Nike N7. Now, our staff and coaches have access to that equipment will use it for future practices and activities.”

Henry Barrera, N7 trainer, practices dribbling fundamentals with the Tulalip youth. Photo/Micheal Rios — Henry Barrera, N7 trainer, practices dribbling fundamentals with the Tulalip youth.
Photo/Micheal Rios

Micheal Rios, mrios@tulaliptribes-nsn.gov

Artist to Harper: I Will Tweet One Portrait of a Missing/Murdered Woman Each Day

Portrait by Evan Munday.'Elaine Frieda Alook was 35 when she disappeared on May 11 outside Fort McMurray, Alberta,' writes artist Evan Munday. Portrait by Evan Munday. — Portrait by Evan Munday.
‘Elaine Frieda Alook was 35 when she disappeared on May 11 outside Fort McMurray, Alberta,’ writes artist Evan Munday. Portrait by Evan Munday.

Indian Country Today Media Network

Toronto-based cartoonist and illustrator Evan Munday is applying his talents to a campaign to raise consciousness about Canada’s missing or murdered Indigenous women (often referred to as MMIW). Actually, the consciousness he’s interested in raising is that of a specific person: Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Munday has pledged to tweet one portrait of a missing or murdered woman to Harper every day. Here’s how his announcement unfolded on his @idontlikemundayTwitter feed:

Over 1186 indigenous women have gone missing / been murdered in Canada since 1980. There have been outcries for public inquiry. #MMIW (1/3)

Our PM said an inquiry into the missing women ‘isn’t really high on our radar.’ So I’m trying a small thing to make it higher. #MMIW (2/3)

Starting on Jan 5, I’ll tweet @pmharperan illustration of a missing or murdered indigenous woman daily. To adjust his radar. #MMIW (3/3)

Earlier today, as promised, he sent out his first portrait, with the text:

@pmharperElaine Frieda Alook was 35 when she disappeared on May 11 outside Fort McMurray, Alberta. #MMIW

Here’s the image:

‘Elaine Frieda Alook was 35 when she disappeared on May 11 outside Fort McMurray, Alberta,’ writes artist Evan Munday. Portrait by Evan Munday.

This endeavor, which could conceivably go on for over three years, bears some resemblance to a project Munday tweeted in December and has archived on his blog as “December 6, 1989: in Illustrations,”a tribute to the 14 women killed at Montreal’s Ecole Polytechnique 25 years ago.

Stormwater fixes could cost billions

Pollution from stormwater has been called one of the greatest threats to Puget Sound. How much will it cost to hold back the rain? A new EPA-funded study says the price could reach billions per year, a figure that dwarfs current state and federal allocations.

Raindrops on a cafe window. Photo: Jim Culp (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Source: Encyclopedia of Puget Sound

Key takeaways

Runoff—or stormwater—from roads, parking lots, and roofs is one of the largest sources of contaminants flowing into Puget Sound.
An EPA-funded report projects costs of up to $14 billion dollars per year over 30 years to fully address stormwater pollution in the region.
A longer time frame for fixing the problem may be more practical. Costs fall to $650 million dollars per year if work is done over a 100-year period.
Stormwater pollution is made worse by urban development that prevents rain and snow from being absorbed by plants and soil.
Among the innovations grabbing the attention of scientists and engineers is low impact development, which use a place’s natural hydrology to control stormwater runoff.

The figure is staggering: Close to half a trillion dollars over the next 30 years. That’s what it could cost to completely address Puget Sound’s growing stormwater problem, according to an EPA-funded study presented last spring at the Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference.

The study, prepared by researchers at the King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks, projects the capital and maintenance costs of the stormwater treatment facilities that would be needed to fully comply with the Clean Water Act. A 30-year time frame could mean capital outlays of as much as $14 billion dollars per year. Jim Simmonds, the report’s lead author, acknowledges that, given the huge expense, a 30-year fix appears unlikely. But the report also looks at potential stormwater retrofits over the next 100 years. Costs over that time frame would average about $650 million dollars yearly. “That is far more realistic,” he says, and would help undo a century-old problem.

“It took us 100 years to create the problem, and it’s going to take a long time to fix it.”

—Jim Simmonds, Environmental Programs Managing Supervisor, King County Natural Resources and Parks

The figures far exceed last year’s state allocation of $100 million dollars, but Simmonds says the study is not meant to suggest that the legislature suddenly come up with an additional $14 billion dollars annually to deal with stormwater. Instead, he says, it tells a story of where we are and where we still have to go. Runoff—or stormwater—from roads, parking lots, and roofs is one of the largest sources of contaminants flowing into Puget Sound. “One of the questions that has come up repeatedly is ‘how much will it take to fix this problem?'” he says. “This report puts that in context.”

How we got here

Sandwiched between the Olympic and Cascade mountain ranges, Puget Sound’s urban areas receive up to 40 inches of rain each year. Historically, most of this water soaked into the ground or was taken up by plants. In forested areas in the Pacific Northwest, evergreen trees transport about 40% of rainfall back to the atmosphere through their needles. The remaining water filters through other plants and the soil. The ecosystem is driven by this water cycle, but over the past 100 years, human development has drastically altered this natural pattern.

Soggy Crosswalk. Photo: sea turtle (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) https://www.flickr.com/photos/sea-turtle/8200857497

Urban areas were originally designed to move stormwater quickly and efficiently downstream through a series of drains, pipes, and sewers. Flood prevention was the main reason for getting stormwater out of the city fast, but over the years municipalities have come to realize that speedy water removal is actually detrimental to the health of Puget Sound.

Without the filtering effect of plants and soil, surface runoff increases and stream flows become “flashier”—surges in runoff are more frequent and more intense. This means greater flooding, and more polluted water flowing into Puget Sound.

In Seattle, one acre of pavement can generate as much as a million gallons of stormwater each year. Water from downpours picks up all kinds of pollutants—from motor oil to dog waste—as it makes its way down the drains. Carcinogens, heavy metals, and harmful bacteria can all be counted in this mix. One study estimates that rainfall runoff events can transport up to 8 times the amount of copper and 6 times the amount of mercury compared to baseline conditions. That’s bad news for wildlife and humans alike.

Dump no waste. Drains to lake. Photo: Steve Mohundro (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) https://www.flickr.com/photos/smohundro/3836007632

The Clean Water Act

The Clean Water Act of 1972 was one of the first rigorous national laws dealing with water contamination, with the first concentration-based limits for pollution. The original goal was to eliminate the direct discharge of pollutants by 1985. Amendments to deal with stormwater weren’t introduced until 1987, which required permits for all new development projects. In the 1980s and 1990s a slew of new legislation introduced more criteria for stormwater management. Currently all development and redevelopment projects require approved stormwater treatment, and that requires facilities and infrastructure.

So what about those billion dollar figures? Simmonds says the potentially high costs outlined in the King County report highlight the need for creative solutions. The report outlines a worst-case scenario that assumes all retrofit approaches will stay the same. New technologies and other innovations will almost certainly lower costs, he says, but the report does not focus on the how—just the how much. And whether the costs are in the hundreds of millions or the billions, Simmonds argues that we risk more if we ignore the problem. “Yes, this is a huge investment. But I don’t think it has to be dismissed as too expensive,’” he says. “The [state and federal agencies] have all declared that stormwater is the biggest threat to Puget Sound. We have to decide how we’re going to deal with that.” The bottom line, he says: “It took us 100 years to create the problem, and it’s going to take a long time to fix it.”

The big impact of low impact development

Among the innovations grabbing the attention of scientists and engineers are low impact development approaches to stormwater treatment, which use a place’s natural hydrology to control stormwater runoff.

At the 2014 Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference, Mindy Fohn, a stormwater manager with Kitsap County, described one low impact development approach where managers are planting trees in notoriously impervious surfaces like parking lots to trap stormwater. In the past, these trees might have been planted on raised islands. Now planners are putting them in lower areas that draw the water between parking spots. These interventions are small, local, and often quite beautiful.

Kids explore a newly installed rain garden. Photo: JBLM PAO (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) https://www.flickr.com/photos/jblmpao/6215109375

So far, bioretention from low impact development has shown promising results. A natural filtration system of soils and plants was recently demonstrated by NOAA to effectively eliminate some of the deadly effects of stormwater on coho salmon.

Another area of interest involves citizens themselves, in a more grass roots approach, installing rain gardens on their own properties. Rain gardens are simply landscaped areas that collect, absorb and filter stormwater runoff from rooftops, decks and other hard surfaces. The idea is to prevent stormwater from washing off individual properties which, if done in sufficient numbers, will have a large positive effect on watershed and basins. The Washington State University and Stewardship Partners are working together towards the goal of ‘12,000 Rain Gardens‘ by the year 2016.

Native American populations ‘hugely at risk’ to sex trafficking

Sadie Young Bird, the director of the Ft. Berthold Coalition of Domestic Violence, listens during a breakout session during the 2014 statewide summit on human trafficking put on by North Dakota FUSE at the Bismarck Civic Center in Bismarck, N.D. on Thursday, November 13, 2014. Carrie Snyder / The Forum

By Amy Dalrymple and Katherine Lymn, Forum News Service, Bismarck Tribune

NEW TOWN, N.D. – As the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation reels from the impacts of producing a third of North Dakota’s oil, the reservation must add human trafficking to its list of increasing hazards.

“We’re in crisis mode, all the time, trying to figure out these new ways, these new crises that are coming to us that we never thought we’d have to worry about,” said Sadie Young Bird, director of the Fort Berthold Coalition Against Violence. “No one was prepared for any of this.”

The Three Affiliated Tribes are implementing a new tribal law designed to combat human trafficking at Fort Berthold.

“I’m really hoping to send a message that we are not tolerating this on our reservation,” said Chalsey Snyder, a tribal member who helped draft the law.

Meanwhile, victim advocates and leaders of tribal nations in neighboring Minnesota and South Dakota worry about reports of American Indian women and girls being trafficked to the Bakken.

Suzanne Koepplinger, former executive director for the Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center, said she started to hear anecdotal stories in 2010 and 2011 about a boyfriend or friend telling women and girls, “Let’s go to North Dakota over the weekend and make some money.”

“Because of poverty and high rates of mobility with Native people, it’s not unusual for them to go up to White Earth for a party and then say, ‘Let’s just buzz over to North Dakota and see a friend of mine,’ and then she’s gang-raped over there,” Koepplinger said.

Since 2010, Indian girls in Minnesota have reported to service providers that family members or friends have tried to talk them into going to North Dakota.

“Their girls go missing and then show up in the North Dakota child protection system, or are picked up by law enforcement in Williston, Minot,” Koepplinger said.

Erma Vizenor, chairman of the White Earth reservation in western Minnesota, said sex trafficking of women and girls has been a concern there for a long time, and the proximity of North Dakota’s oil boom adds to that concern.

The White Earth DOVE Program (Down On Violence Everyday) has identified 17 adult victims of sex trafficking last year, said Jodie Sunderland, community advocacy coordinator.

The DOVE program received funding through the Minnesota Safe Harbor law and is connecting Indian youth who are victims of sexual exploitation with services. The efforts will include collaborations with Red Lake and Leech Lake reservations in northwest Minnesota.

The vulnerability of Indian populations to become victims of sex trafficking, particularly at Fort Berthold with the impacts of the oil boom, is a major concern, U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., said.

“The grooming of the candidate for trafficking tends to go to lower income, tends to go to kids who’ve been victimized in the past, so automatically that puts them in a category that is hugely at risk,” Heitkamp said during a discussion hosted by the McCain Institute for International Leadership and moderated by Cindy McCain.

Mark Fox, recently elected chairman of the Three Affiliated Tribes, said he hears concerns about human trafficking at Fort Berthold from law enforcement and social services. He’s also noticed it himself.

“You can’t help but sometimes, walking around the casino, you see individuals who would be highly suspect,” Fox said.

Young Bird, whose program has seen a significant increase in domestic violence victims, has assisted some sex trafficking victims, although the women and girls don’t usually identify themselves as victims. Some have returned to South Dakota reservations, she said.

“We see that most of the human trafficking victims want to leave, they just want to get out, they want to go back to where they came from, they want to go back somewhere safe,” Young Bird said.

The domestic violence program, which has a new shelter in Mandaree and a new safe house elsewhere in the Bakken, primarily serves Indian women, but also will serve non-tribal members.

A meth epidemic on the reservation contributes to the violence Young Bird sees, including more severe sexual assaults.

“You can tell when there’s no meth around and you can tell when there’s a new shipment of meth around. The severity is worse when the meth is gone,” Young Bird said. “When the new shipment comes, it’s more that they head out and they leave and they leave their family with nothing. They spend all the money. Then when the wife is asking for money, that’s when the violence occurs.”

Heroin is a major problem for the reservation, too, she said. In one sex trafficking case, the pimp kept the woman compliant using heroin, Young Bird said. The woman did not want to press charges.

“They all want to leave. They don’t want to stay around. And we can’t force them. We’re the advocates; we’re not law enforcement. We’re there to support people,” she said.

A recent law change will allow the tribal court to prosecute human trafficking cases that don’t rise to the level of being charged in U.S. District Court.

“This law allows our reservation to take back ownership and take back the prosecution and penalties,” Snyder said.

The law is called Loren’s Law in memory of Loren White Horne, a behavioral health specialist from Fort Berthold who used to deal with sexual abuse and sexual assault cases on the reservation. White Horne was a driving force behind raising awareness about trafficking and working toward a new law before she died in a vehicle accident in 2013, said Snyder, who continued her work.

The law also requires defendants to pay for any expenses incurred by the victim, such as drug abuse treatment.

“These victims can seek help and they can get help without having to worry about any financial obligations,” Snyder said, if the convicted trafficker has resources or such resources were seized.

Statistics show that minorities represent a disproportionate amount of sex trafficking victims.

That has been true in South Dakota, where the U.S. Attorney’s Office has prosecuted sex trafficking cases involving several dozen victims. About half of those victims were American Indian women and girls.

In most cases, the victimization did not occur on the reservations, but in Sioux Falls and other larger cities.

“Most often, it is girls and some women who come from the reservation to Sioux Falls,” said. U.S. Attorney Brendan Johnson. “When they are here, if they’re coming without a lot of resources, they’re often targeted by these guys.”

Washington’s Statewide Recycling Rate Dips Below 50%

Washingtonians diverted less trash from landfills in 2013 than in 2012.COURTESY WASH. DEPT OF ECOLOGY — Washingtonians diverted less trash from landfills in 2013 than in 2012.
COURTESY WASH. DEPT OF ECOLOGY

By BELLAMY PAILTHORP, KPLU

Washingtonians have lost some bragging rights.

We still recycle at a rate that’s much higher than the national average, but we’re no longer improving on the amount of recyclables we divert from landfills. The statewide rate went down in the most recent data set, to 49 percent in 2013.

The state Department of Ecology was quick to point out that Washington remains a national leader in recycling. Our rate is still well above the nationwide average of 34.5 percent. But we’re backsliding.

“We’ve been above 50 percent for the last two years. And now we’re back down to 49 percent,” said recycling data analyst Dan Weston.

It’s not all bad news, Weston says. We’ve improved our rate of recycling plastics, for example. But rates are falling for commodities that have seen price drops, such as glass and ferrous metals. He thinks dealers may be holding onto them, waiting for prices to rebound. And there’s been less recycling of construction and demolition materials despite a recent increase in new construction.

“We’re not quite recycling those materials at the rate that we had been prior to the recession. And so that’s definitely an area where I think we’ll be seeing a much stronger focus over the next few years,” he said.

Food waste is another area that needs improvement, hence the new ban on compostables in Seattle trash, with fines kicking in this July.

The state has also just started free recycling for fluorescent lightbulbs to keep toxics such as mercury out of the waste stream.

But Weston thinks we’re already capturing most of the low-hanging fruit at this point, so making additional gains will probably require incremental progress in all areas.

“We know how to recycle what we’re currently recycling and we just need to do a little bit more everywhere,” he said. “Making those additional gains is just going to require more work than we’ve been doing in the last few years.”

Tribal casinos in Wash. state to refuse welfare cards

Associated Press; KOMO News

OLYMPIA, Wash. – Tribal casinos in Washington will no longer cash welfare cards under an agreement with the state Gambling Commission.

The commission said Tuesday that 27 of the 29 federally recognized tribes in the state have agreed to amend gambling agreements to ensure that all cash dispensing and point-of-sale machines refuse electronic benefits transfer (EBT) cards.

The state-issued EBT cards, also known as a “Quest Card,” are intended to help the needy purchase food items at grocery stores.

The agreement is one of several the commission is recommending to the Legislature.

Old year ends with newborn baby orca in our Salish Sea

Orcas are an endangered species in inland waters of the Salish Sea, encompassing Puget Sound, the San Juan Islands and the Gulf Islands of British Columbia. (VALERY HACHE/AFP/Getty Images)

By Joel Connelly, Seattle PI

The last days of 2014 have brought glad tidings and great joy to those who follow and worry about the southern resident community of orcas (killer whales) that inhabit the Salish Sea, the inland waters of Washington and southern British Columbia.

A newborn orca was discovered Tuesday looking “healthy and energetic” and being snuggled by its mother off South Pender Island, just over the border in B.C.’s Gulf Islands. The discovery was made by Ken Balcomb of the Center for Whale Research.

The baby, christened J50, was born to 42-year-old J16 (Slick), who has produced five offspring, three living, with the oldest 23-year-old J26 (Mike).

“We’re excited!” said Howard Garrett of Orca Network. “She (J16) sets a new bar, a new record for the oldest to give birth, by a year or two.”

The birth of J50 raises the southern resident community population to 78.

The southern residents were classified in 2005 under the Endangered Species Act at a time when the population of the great marine mammals had fallen to 78.

Orcas are particular about their diet. They feed off chinook salmon, in a region where salmon stocks have declined due to factors ranging from habitat destruction to pollution to bad forest practices to overfishing.

The orcas do not consume any of the millions of sockeye salmon that head for B.C.’s Fraser River each year through the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Strait of Georgia between Vancouver Island and the B.C. mainland. “We wish they would,” joked Garrett.

The region’s inland waters have two major populations of orcas. The northern resident community spends July through September in waters of Johnstone Strait off northern Vancouver Island. The orcas are renowned for rubbing against pebbles just offshore from the mouth of the Tsitika River near Alert Bay.

The northern residents head north in the winter, presumably to southeast Alaska waters. The northern resident community totals about 250 orcas.

The diets of the southern resident and northern resident communities “are the same,” Garrett explained, “but their communication and call system are entirely different. Their is no overlap, no interaction between the two communities.”

The birth of J50, in a month when the southern residents have been seen in both the San Juans and Gulf Islands, puts the spotlight on a major decision pending in Canada.

The giant Houston-based Kinder Morgan pipeline company wants to triple the capacity of the Trans-Mountain Pipeline, which transports oil from Alberta to a refinery in Burnaby, just east of Vancouver. The completed pipeline would carry more oil than the controversial Keystone XL pipeline designed to link Alberta oilfields to the U.S. Gulf Coast.

The enlarged Trans-Mountain Pipeline would bring oil from Alberta’s vast tar sands project to the coast for export to Asia.

If the Kinder Morgan project goes through, an estimated 30 tankers a month — up from four at the present time — would traverse Haro Strait, a middle point in habitat for the southern resident community and the marine boundary between the U.S. San Juan and Canada’s Gulf Islands. Both countries have national parks and monuments in the islands.

A major environmental battle over Kinder Morgan is underway north of the border.

Native Leaders Appointed to Positions in Education, Environment, Justice in Washington State

Richard Walker, Indian Country Today

Three prominent Native American Washingtonians have been appointed to key positions in education, environmental protection, and the judiciary.

On December 15, Gov. Jay Inslee announced his appointment of Raquel Montoya-Lewis, Isleta Pueblo/Laguna Pueblo, to the Whatcom County Superior Court. She will be the only Native American Superior Court judge in Washington state when she takes office in January.

That day, Inslee also announced his appointment of Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe Vice Chairman Russell Hepfer to the Puget Sound Partnership’s Leadership Council. The Partnership is a state agency charged with mobilizing community, regional, and state efforts to restore the health of Puget Sound.

And in November, the state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction hired Michael Vendiola, communications director of the Swinomish Tribe, as program supervisor for the Office of Native Education.

Montoya-Lewis is chief judge for the Nooksack Tribe and the Upper Skagit Tribe, and is an associate professor at Western Washington University. She is also an appellate court judge for the Nisqually Tribe Court of Appeals and the Northwest Intertribal Court System and previously for the Nooksack Tribal Court of Appeals. She is former chief judge of the Lummi Nation Court.

Montoya-Lewis serves on the federal Advisory Committee on Juvenile Justice and was appointed by Inslee’s predecessor to the state’s Partnership Council on Juvenile Justice. She has a J.D. and a master’s in social work from the University of Washington and a B.A. from the University of New Mexico.

“Raquel’s 15 years of experience as a judge will be well appreciated on the Superior Court,” Inslee said in his announcement. “She is wise and has a strong commitment to service and to promoting justice. I know she will serve the community and the court exceptionally well.”

Earlier in her career, Montoya-Lewis taught legal research and writing at the University of New Mexico, represented Indian country governments as an attorney at Williams, Janov & Cooney, and served as a law clerk to New Mexico Supreme Court Justice Pamela B. Minzner.

Bellingham City Council member Roxanne Murphy, Nooksack, who is also assistant to the general manager of the Nooksack Tribe, wrote a letter to Inslee encouraging Montoya-Lewis’s appointment.

“She has handled some of our most complex cultural, political and societal issues and managed these cases with the utmost care, intelligence, timeliness and fairness,” Murphy wrote.

Murphy, the first Native American elected to the Bellingham City Council, added that Montoya-Lewis’ appointment would create another important role model.

“I still feel overwhelmed when I think about my campaign experiences and just how many people supported me [for City Council],” Murphy wrote. “This has meant so much to our tribes; to the City Council and our work; to the little girls on and off the [reservation] who tell me that they want to be on the Bellingham City Council; and to the general population that appreciates my ability to understand and work with so many walks of life.”

At the Puget Sound Partnership Leadership Council, Hepfer brings an indigenous perspective “as well as hands-on experience with the Elwha dam removal project and knowledge of what it takes to rebuild an ecosystem that welcomes salmon home,” Inslee said in his announcement. “His rich knowledge of the complex voices and issues involved in Puget Sound recovery work are a welcome addition to the Puget Sound Partnership’s Leadership Council.”

Hepfer’s term on the leadership council continues to June 25, 2018.

Hepfer’s career in natural resources began in 1995 as a water quality technician. He has served on the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission for 18 years and on the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribal Council for 16 years, formerly as chairman and now as vice chairman.

Hepfer is the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe’s delegate to the state Department of Social & Health Services’ Indian Policy Advisory Committee; and to the Coast Salish Gathering, an annual meeting of representatives from Coast Salish nations from the U.S. and Canada.

Sen. John McCoy, D-Tulalip, one of three Native Americans in the state legislature, said of the governor’s appointments, “I think these two are great appointments. I know the both of them will do a tremendous job.”

In a farewell column in the December edition of the Swinomish news magazine he edits, Vendiola wrote that in his new position in the state Office of Native Education, “I will get the chance to apply my academic and cultural skills to support Native education.”

Vendiola, Swinomish/Lummi, has been editor of qyuuqs, the Swinomish Tribe’s monthly news magazine, since November 2011. During his editorship, he expanded the magazine’s news coverage, elevated its graphic design and news presentation, and established features designed to improve the reader’s grasp of the Lushootseed language. He helped establish the communications department at the Swinomish Tribe.

In addition to serving as editor of qyuuqs, Vendiola has served as coordinator/activities adviser at Western Washington University since August 1998. He was director of student activities at Northwest Indian College from September 1995 to July 1998. He was recruitment and retention specialist at Skagit Valley College from August 1991 to August 1993. He also founded The Philomath Groove, a project that instills love of learning through the use of mixed media.

Vendiola earned a doctorate in educational leadership and policy studies in 2013 from the University of Washington. He earned a master’s degree in adult education administration in 1997 from Western Washington University. He earned a bachelor’s in American cultural studies in 1994 from Western Washington.

Quileute Tribe celebrates discovery of historic rock carving

A fisherman stumbled upon a rock carving that appears to show a legendary battle in Quileute mythology. As historic finds go, it’s “the most important, at least in this modern day” for the tribe.

Mark Harrison / The Seattle TimesAn old petroglyph found by a fisherman in the Calawah River was celebrated with a ceremony by a group of Quileute tribal members before it was moved to the tribal headquarters in La Push. State archaeologists authenticated the carving and think it may date to around or before the mid-1700s. — Mark Harrison / The Seattle Times
An old petroglyph found by a fisherman in the Calawah River was celebrated with a ceremony by a group of Quileute tribal members before it was moved to the tribal headquarters in La Push. State archaeologists authenticated the carving and think it may date to around or before the mid-1700s.

By Joseph O’Sullivan, Seattle Times Olympia bureau

OUTSIDE OF FORKS, Clallam County — There hadn’t been any good fishing on the Calawah River the day last December when Erik Wasankari and his son Reid found the rock.

It was a damp, cold day when the pair, on their lunch break, saw the rock and walked into the river, which was running shallow, to inspect it.

It was big — about 2 feet in diameter, with a domelike top filled with grooves and small depressions. Reid scraped off some moss so they could see it better.

All Wasankari could make out were “just some triangles and rectangles and shapes,” but he realized they had found something special.

“The symbols that we saw were too unique,” said Wasankari, a 44-year-old contractor who grew up in the area and now lives in Gig Harbor.

The rock they stumbled upon appears to be a carving that depicts a legendary battle in Quileute mythology, according to tribal and state officials.

Chas Woodruff, chairman of the Quileute Nation’s Tribal Council, describes the historic find for the tribe as “ the most important, at least in this modern day.”

Up to 1,000 pounds

When tribal and state officials, including Woodruff and state Commissioner of Public Lands Peter Goldmark gathered Wednesday for a ceremony to celebrate the rock’s discovery, you couldn’t walk across the Calawah River. The mud-tinted river was square in the middle of a storm that was dumping several inches of rain on the region and sending whitecaps and dead trees hurtling downstream.

The rock — which could weigh up to 1,000 pounds — had been hauled up to the river bank by a power winch.

Standing near it just before the ceremony were Lee Stilson and Eugene Jackson. Stilson retired just last week as state lands archaeologist for the state Department of Natural Resources; Jackson is a Quileute tribal member.

The two talked about what they could see on the rock’s surface. Stilson pointed out the head of what is believed to be K’wati, a transformative figure in Quileute mythology. With his finger, Stilson traced K’wati’s head, beak and distinctive comb, and then K’wati’s tongue, which leads to another figure on the rock, believed to be the Red Lizard.

The tongue is a power symbol and weapon for Northwest tribes, Stilson explained. Jackson, who has done some carving himself, agreed.

“Anything that comes out of the mouth is an offensive design — that animal is showing his power,” Jackson said.

Stilson and Jackson wondered if the rock could have been a trail marker.

“On the 1893 General Land Office map, they show a trail here,” Stilson said.

As state archaeologist, Stilson helped authenticate the rock. Whoever carved it used not a metal tool but stone, he said. That means it’s a “pre-contact” artifact, one made before Europeans moved into the region. Stilson guessed it dates to around or before the mid-1700s.

Stilson described such a significant discovery as a gift to end his 44-year archaeological career.

“It’s a phenomenal work of art,” he said, more than once.

Jackson’s connection is more personal. He said the rock could have been moved downstream over the centuries from land where his ancestors lived. And he brought his 7-year-old son, Frank, to see the carving and show him “who he is, where he comes from.”

“Bad monster”

The Red Lizard, according to Quileute legend, made his home near the narrowest point of land between the Calawah and Sol Duc rivers and stopped people using it as a shortcut from one to the other. K’wati, a figure of good who was known as the “transformer” and turned the Quileutes from wolves into people, eventually killed the Red Lizard, who had a much poorer reputation.

“He was a very bad monster … his urine, actually, if you stepped on it, it would kill you,” Quileute Tribal Councilman Justin “Rio” Jaime told those gathered at the ceremony.

The rock will go on display in La Push, as a welcome addition to help tell the tribe’s history. Of this, the Quileute don’t have much — in the late 1880s, a European settler set La Push afire. Along with homes and fishing equipment, the tribe lost almost all its pre-contact artifacts.

But Marion Jackson, Eugene’ Jackson’s younger sister, who also came to the ceremony, doesn’t think of the rock as just something from the past.

“I’m excited,” said Marion Jackson, as she stood just a few feet from it. “I feel like our ancestors are definitely talking to us.”

Seattle, Portland Could Set Records For Warmth In 2014

Portland's skyline looking northJami Dwyer Wikimedia — Portland’s skyline looking north
Jami Dwyer Wikimedia

By Chris Lehman, NW News Network

2014 could be the warmest year on record for both Seattle and Portland.

With about one week left, Seattle is on track to narrowly break the mark set in 1995 for its warmest year on record. Portland is just shy of breaking its 1992 record, but a warmer than normal final week of the year could push the Rose City over the top.

Cory Newman, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Portland, said a hotter-than-normal summer brought up the average temperature in the region.

“And especially that was most notable with overnight low temperatures this summer and early fall,” he said. “A lot of locations were way, way above normal on levels that we haven’t seen.”

But Newman added that 2014 was a year of contrasts. In February, some lower elevation parts of Oregon received their heaviest snowfall in many years.

Boise is not on track to break a warmth record this year. The National Weather Service says 2014 will probably be the 5th or 6th warmest year on record for Idaho’s capital.