Category: Tulalip News

Women’s March 2018

Deborah Parker, Tulalip tribal member and committed cultural advocate, gives an opening speech at the Women’s March in Olympia.

By Micheal Rios, Tulalip News; photos courtesy Theresa Sheldon and Matt Remle

On January 21, 2018, tens of thousands filled the streets of Seattle and Olympia to participate in the Women’s March. Many heard a rallying cry to action that Saturday morning, which coincided with the first anniversary of Donald Trump’s presidency.

The Women’s March is a women-led movement bringing together people of all genders, races, cultures, political affiliations, and backgrounds to affirm our shared humanity and pronounce a bold message of resistance and self-determination. Occurring in its second consecutive year, the highly anticipated Women’s March 2.0 created a powerful campaign to ignite thousands of activists and new leaders.

Theresa Sheldon, Tulalip Tribes Board of Director, (second from left) at the Women’s March.

Indigenous women led the marches in Seattle and Olympia, highlighting the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women (MMIW). The Indigenous presence, featuring hundreds of proud Natives wearing their traditional tribal regalia supporting families of MMIW victims in attendance, sought to bring awareness to the widespread cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women and colonial gender-based violence in the United States and Canada.

“To my dear relatives, welcome to the Coash Salish territory. Thank you all for being here,” stated Deborah Parker, Tulalip tribal member and committed cultural advocate, in her opening speech. “We stand together united. We stand together with one heart, one mind. We will be singing the Women’s Warrior Song that comes from our First Nations sister’s in British Columbia. During the last verse we raise our fist in solidarity. We raise our fist and we honor the missing and murdered indigenous women from all over these lands. We remember our lost sisters, daughters, aunties, mothers, grandmothers and cousins.”

Indigenous women leading the march in Seattle.

Women’s March 2.0 marked one full year of the U.S. under Trump’s administration, which coincidentally was also the day the federal government shut down because of a budget impasse. The last 365-days has been a year filled with battles over women’s rights, immigration, and health care issues, but also gave rise to the #MeToo social media movement that aimed to demonstrate the widespread prevalence of sexual assault and harassment.

“Absolutely amazing organizing Native women did across Turtle Island in bringing forth the issue of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, and bringing forward the families and loved ones of MMIW for support, healing, encouragement,” described Lakota tribal member and local Native American activist, Matt Remle. “I personally witnessed many tears shed, hugs shared, songs of encouragement sung and good medicine put forward. It was pretty emotional when the families who have had loved ones murdered or go missing were brought on stage to be acknowledged and lifted up. That’s how it should be, supporting, uplifting, encouraging and helping however best one can. That’s powerful and I have absolute love for our [women] across Turtle Island for doing this.”

Across the nation, hundreds of thousands of people gathered in city streets to peacefully demonstrate the power of women and showcase a desire for change. The issues, from reproductive rights to better representation of women of color to awareness for missing and murdered Indegeous women, were as varied as the sign-waving, pink-hat-wearing attendees. However, the​ ​implication was clear: women are poised to take power and they intend to.

Klayton Sheldon urged his mother, Theresa, to join the march.

“Tulalip Tribes was well represented in today’s Women’s March that was dedicated to our Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. Thankful to see leadership so active,” said Theresa Sheldon, Tulalip Tribes Board of Director, who was urged by her young son, Klayton, to attend the march. “This is the weekend we are remembering and commemorating our 1855 Point Elliott Treaty which was signed on January 22. It’s only appropriate that we take the time to acknowledge our ancestors and those who are still negatively impacted by all the forced federal policies that did not work, but caused great harm. We are resilient and we are healing and growing!”

Make your home safer by properly disposing unused/expired drugs and sharps

By Kelvin Lee, Tulalip Clinical Pharmacy, Pharmacy Director

I am pleased to announce the new Expired/Unused Drugs and Sharps disposal services at the Tulalip Clinical Pharmacy.  We installed two secured aluminum kiosks inside the pharmacy consultation area to take unused/expired drugs and used sharps from our patients at no charge ($5 disposal fee for non-customers).  We hope the new service  will help remove these hazardous items from your homes and prevent unnecessary accidents from happening.

Patients who wish to use this service please ask for assistance at the pharmacy counter before putting any disposal items into the kiosks.   To ensure proper disposal, we appreciate your cooperation in adhering to the following policies:

Expired/unused drug disposal kiosk

Acceptable disposal items:

  • unused or expired prescription medications (including controlled substances)
  • over-the counter medications
  • pet medications

Unacceptable disposal items:

  • Illegal drugs
  • Inhalers
  • Lotions/liquids
  • Aerosol Cans
  • Needles
  • Hydrogen Peroxide

All drugs must be in their original containers/vials.  Loose pills cannot be put into the kiosk.

Sharps return kiosk

All sharps must be disposed in an approved sharps container that can fit into the chute opening of the kiosk (8” X 14.25” X 11”), approx. 8.2 Quarts.    Tulalip Clinical Pharmacy will not accept loose sharps, unapproved or oversized sharps containers.

Weekly Wednesday Weaving Workshops at Hibulb

By Kalvin Valdillez, Tulalip News 

The Hibulb Cultural Center and Museum hosts a lineup of classes that teach the Tulalip and Marysville communities about the traditional lifeways of the northwest Indigenous Peoples. Such classes include drum making, carving, beading, traditional flute demonstrations as well as storytelling and poetry nights. A series of classes that regularly attracts newcomers are the Weaving Gathering Workshops where participants learn how to weave an assortment of items including cedar baskets, loom blankets and regalia such as headbands, hats, neckties and purses.

The workshops are taught in an open-forum style class setting that encourages attendees to work on personal projects and visit while mastering the art of weaving. In preparation for the annual Treaty Days Commemoration, a group of dedicated weavers have been working persistently, meeting each week since December, to create headbands to gift to the speakers as well as the floor and table managers during the ceremony.

All ages are welcome to attend the weekly weaving sessions. The museum also invites weavers of any skill levels to participate during the gatherings. Cedar kits are available for purchase to help beginners get started.

“They’ll show anyone interested in learning, especially little kids. They’ll make little roses and small baskets with them,” says Hibulb Cultural Center Education Curator and Tulalip Weaver, Lena Jones. “It’s a place where people have the room and space to create whatever they want.”

The workshops are held every Wednesday from 5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the Hibulb Cultural Center Classrooms. For additional information please contact the museum at (360) 716-2600.

After suffering first L, Hawks bounce back with three Ws

By Micheal Rios, Tulalip News 

The Tulalip Heritage boys basketball team opened the season undefeated with a (9-0) record. As they powered through the NW1B league, so did league foe Cedar Park Christian (11-0). This set up a battle of the unbeaten on January 5 at Francy J. Sheldon gymnasium.

Cedar Park proved during the game that their bigger, stronger backcourt was able to keep Heritage off the boards and prevent them from attacking the basket. The Hawks had lots of difficulty manufacturing points in the 1st half and trailed 13-34 at halftime. In the 2nd half, the Hawks got back to running and playing their style, but their deficit was too large. Their winning streak was snapped with a 43-60 defeat.

Coming off their first loss of the season, the Hawks responded by putting up a season-high in points when they whooped Shoreline Christian, 87-53. They followed that up with a 70-32 blowout win over Providence Classical Christian.

Next up was rival Lummi Nation, in a home game played on Tuesday, January 16. With the gym packed full of fans for both sides, the environment was prime for a competitive game. Lummi came out with a solid game plan of slowing down the pace of play to throw the Hawks off their game. It worked over the first three quarters. The Hawks are so accustomed to playing up-tempo and using their combination of speed and athleticism to get transition buckets that Lummi’s slow, methodical pace gave them fits.

At the end of the 3rd quarter, the game was tied at 34-34. In the 4th quarter, the Hawks were finally able to bust the game open with their senior players leading the offensive charge. Josh Iukes hit two clutch 3-pointers and Nashone Whitebear scored 8 points in a four-minute frenzy, giving Tulalip the momentum to take home victory. Up by several baskets, Tulalip focused in on Lummi’s key scorer and prevented him from scoring down the stretch.

When the final game buzzer sounded, the Hawks had earned a hard fought 52-40 W. Josh led the Hawks in scoring with 13 points, while Nashone, Jr. Shay, and Rodney Barber each added 10 points.

The Hawks look to keep getting better in their half-court sets, as a looming matchup with Cedar Park on January 26 will surely go a long way to dictating who wins the NW1B crown. Next up for the Hawks is a road game at Lopez before returning home on Tuesday, January 23, for Senior Night versus Grace Academy.

Lady Hawks continue to soar

By Micheal Rios, Tulalip News 

The 3-game losing skid to begin the season has been all but forgotten for the Tulalip Heritage Lady Hawks, who are currently in the midst of an impressive 10-game winning streak. During the streak, the Heritage squad has been employing a lethal two-pronged attack led by senior forward Deandra Grant owning the painted area and senior guard Keryn Parks attacking from the perimeter.

As the season has progressed, so have the shooting touches of guards Georgie Randall and Deachae Jones. With the role players accepting larger roles and knocking down clutch shots when Deandra and Keryn are double-teamed, the Lady Hawks have been dominant.

That dominance was on full display on January 5 when Heritage obliterated Cedar Park Christian, 68-9. The girls followed up with a 57-28 hammering of Shoreline Christian on January 9. Then archrival Lummi Nation came to town on Tuesday, January 16.

Lummi always plays Tulalip tough, and for a Lady Hawks team blowing out opponents left and right, a competitive game was much needed. In the 1st half, Lummi’s outside shooting took advantage of the Heritage zone defense and kept the game close. Leading by only 6 points at halftime, 32-26, the girls now had an opportune time to shift their game into the next gear.

In the 2nd half, Tulalip moved the ball exceptionally well and got lots of open looks from their key players. Deandra and Keryn did their work inside, while Georgie and Deachae knocked down big shots from long-distance. The team defense locked in on the Lummi shooters and did a much better job of contesting their jumpers. Heritage’s engaged play led to a 22-7 run spanning the final two quarters, allowing them to pull away for a 69-49 victory.

Keryn led all scorers with 21 points, Deandra added 20 points, and Georgie chipped in 18 points.

“At halftime, we talked about how Lummi was double teaming me and Keryn whenever we had the ball,” explained Deandra, who finished with a game-high 21 rebounds. “In the 2nd half, once we figured out how to play through those double teams by passing it around the perimeter, they couldn’t stop us. We picked up our pace and got more intense, too, which is how we want to play.”

“It’s always a rivalry with Lummi,” added Keryn. “They have some really good players who make us compete harder, which pushes me to do better. It’s been awesome seeing other girls raise their play, too. Georgie scoring 18 points was clutch for us. She’s a sharp shooter and the more we can get good looks for her, the better.”

The 20-point win over Lummi is just another in a series of blowouts the Lady Hawks have been notching during their 10-game winning streak. They will play one more home game on Tuesday, January 23, versus Grace Academy that will double as Senior Night.

Tulalip prepares for Treaty Days

“We honor the good intentions our ancestors had for us in negotiating and signing the treaty. I encourage young folks to listen to their elders when they talk about the treaty and our sovereignty. Understanding the treaty will help you understand the influence it has in every aspect of our lifeways. It accepts the fact that our people have the right to organize themselves, protect our way of life, and care for our resources. Our tribes have significant control of, and rights to, important natural resources such as fishing. As our language and culture become stronger, we are able to help others understand how to take care of the earth and one another.”
– Lena Jones

By Kalvin Valdillez, Tulalip News 

Numerous northwest native nations including tribal leaders of the Snohomish, Lummi, Swinomish and Suquamish people met with Washington Territory Governor Isaac Stevens one hundred and sixty-three years ago this January 22. During this gathering, the Coast Salish people would sign the Point Elliott Treaty, which granted the United States Government an enormous area of land for white settlement that now makes up Washington’s King, Snohomish, Skagit and Whatcom counties. The treaty also established the Tulalip, Port Madison, Swinomish and Lummi reservations. In exchange for ceding such a large portion of land, the tribes reserved the right to fish on their usual and accustomed grounds.

Tribal communities would face difficult years after the signing of the treaty, including the boarding school era. Fifty years after the signing of the Point Elliott Treaty of 1855, the Tulalip Indian Boarding School opened. Native children were forced to attend these schools to learn to live the new westernized lifestyle. The institutions were established to ‘civilize’ the Indigenous population, but while in the boarding schools the kids were often punished, physically and mentally, for speaking their traditional language and practicing their spiritual and cultural traditions.

During these times the U.S. Government outlawed traditions such as songs, dances and language that the Coast Salish tribes practiced for generations. Longhouses were demolished and modern day houses were erected on the reservations. The people were to learn the ways of agriculture to become farmers.

The people of the land were in the middle of forced assimilation when the last hereditary chief of the Snohomish, William Shelton, stepped in to save his people’s heritage. By convincing the right people, including the Tulalip Superintendent and the Secretary of Interior, to build a longhouse in Tulalip, William created a way for the tribes who signed the Point Elliott Treaty to practice their traditional ways of life once a year. William informed U.S. Government officials that the people would be celebrating the anniversary of the treaty, which they did. However, this short amount of time was often used to teach the younger generations their culture that seemed to be slipping away at an alarming rate. The annual gathering became known as Treaty Days, as the yearly potlatch often extends into the early morning of the following day. Though the horrific boarding school era has since passed and the practice of traditional lifeways are no longer punishable by law, the annual Treaty Days’ commemoration is still celebrated every January at the longhouse overlooking Tulalip Bay.

As the Tulalip community prepares for the 104th Treaty Days Commemoration on Friday January 19, 2018, a handful of Tulalip tribal members took a moment to reflect on the Point Elliott Treaty of 1855 as well as Treaty Days.

“I think it’s a responsibility that keeps passing down from generations of those who actually signed the treaty. And also living on the reservation and protecting those rights that were reserved for us as well as the spiritual and cultural way of life. I think that we have the responsibility to revisit the treaty all the time so we know we are keeping our younger people abreast and informed as much as possible. Because we gave up a lot in the treaty to keep our sovereignty to be able to determine our own future and our own direction in our tribal path.” – Ray Fryberg
“The Point Elliott Treaty is important to me because it has to do with our tribal rights and how we live.” – Image Enick
“Treaty Days is a commemoration of the signing of the 1855 Point Elliott that affected the coastal tribes. At this time, we remember and acknowledge our ancestors that signed the treaty and reflect on the importance of that treaty, who we are as a people and how to continue our way of life.”
– Inez Bill
“The treaty is literally my livelihood. We fight for our rights every day, fighting to keep our treaty rights. I want my kid’s kids to come out here and be able to exercise their treaty rights. Not everyone has to be a fisherman, but it should be there if they want to exercise it.”
– Brian Green
“The treaty is important because it talks about our history and it connects me with my ancestors.”
– Deandra Grant

Early Learning Academy Hosts Executive Function seminar at Parent Café 

Parent Lynzi Raya and son at the BJTELA Parent Café. The two-day workshop taught the importance of executive function skills in early childhood development.

By Kalvin Valdillez, Tulalip News 

Recent studies show that executive function skills begin to develop in children between the ages of birth to five. Although executive function skills aren’t fully developed until the age of twenty-five, the foundation for these skills are strongest when trained at a young age.

You might be wondering, what are executive function skills? By definition they are a set of cognitive processes that are necessary for cognitive control of behavior, selecting and successfully monitoring behaviors that facilitate the attainment of chosen goals. In other words, they are skills we use day-to-day to manage our lives and accomplish our goals. Executive function skills include impulse control, working memory, organization, task initiation, metacognition, stress tolerance, time management, planning/prioritization, emotional control, response inhibition and sustained attention.

The Betty J. Taylor Early Learning Academy hosted a two-day workshop informing parents about executive function skills on January 10 and 11. During the Parent Café, attendees were treated to snacks and beverages while viewing videos showing studies of executive function skills in early childhood as well as a presentation by ECEAP Manager Stephanie Pitman.

“I wanted to give a presentation on executive function skills because so often parents are concerned about their kiddos not knowing the ABC’s, their colors or shapes. But really for true life success, they need to have impulse control, working memory and mental flexibility. That is the basis for all other learning in the future,” says Stephanie.

During the training the parents openly talked with one another about these skills and how they pertained to their children, asking and offering parent-to-parent advice. At the end of the seminar the parents took a quiz in which they learned a little bit about their personal executive function skills strengths and weaknesses and discussed how to improve them.

“This class taught me that it’s the little things that are taught over time. I think it’s important because anything you can do to help better your children is great,” expressed Early Learning Academy Parent, Mary Cameron Perillo.

“It’s more engrained when you can get them [during ages] birth to five,” states Stephanie. “Executive function is what they’re going to have to learn in life. I may not need to know my colors or algebra in my daily life but I am going to have to know how to get along with others. I am going to have to know how to exercise impulse control and how to deal with stress. Adults use this every day, that’s the skills we need for lifelong success.”

For more information, please contact the Betty J. Early Learning Academy at (360) 716-4250.