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New documentary explores Indigenous families’ long history of forced separation

By Micheal Rios, Tulalip News; Photos courtesy of Upstander Project & SIFF

There has been a nationwide controversy over the United States government’s immigration policy in recent weeks. The sweeping wave of shock and disgust directed at the Trump Administration resulted from national news outlets detailing immigrant children being separated from their parents after being caught entering the U.S. illegally from Mexico.

For Native America, visual confirmation of the federal government forcibly removing innocent children from their parents, while arguing it’s for the good of the child, is nothing new. ‘Kill the Indian, save the man’ was a long-lasting theme by which Native children were separated from their communities and put into boarding schools or even unwillingly placed with white families.

For much of the last century, the United States government maintained a genocidal policy that forcibly removed Native American children from their homes and placed them into white communities. As recently as the 1970’s, one in four Native children nationwide were living in non-Native foster care, adoptive homes, or boarding schools.* Many of them faced traumatic physical and emotional abuse by white adults in effort to erase their cultural identity and history.

It’s hard to know just how many children experienced this separation phenomenon of the 19^th and 20^th centuries because there was no system in place to account for them and many disappeared.

Stolen children, racism, devastated families, and a cultural genocide resulting from government sanctioned atrocities committed against Native peoples are topics thoroughly explored and weaved together in the intense, feature-length documentary Dawnland.

“Today, Native American children are far more likely than other children to grow up away from their families and tribes,” stated Dawnland Co-Director Adam Mazo. “Many of us are familiar with popular culture’s portrayal of the westward expansion, Indian wars, and boarding schools. We are often taught to think that these occurred in a distant time, disconnected from people who are alive here now.”

Dawnland sheds light on the decades of forced assimilation and misguided child welfare policy that devastated generations of Indigenous people. Revealing the untold narrative of Native child removal in the United States, the film goes behind-the-scenes as a state-sanctioned Truth and Reconciliation Commission goes to the Wabanaki tribal community of Maine with the sole purpose of recording the actual history of this policy and to witness sacred moments of truth telling and healing.

The film follows both Native and non-Native commissioners as they travel across the state speaking to tribes of the Wabanaki people. These recorded meetings, the first state government sanctioned of their kind, produce intimate and harrowing moments of truth and reconciliation. But they soon discover these atrocities are more than just history, as current state policy continues to shatter Wabanaki families and threaten the tribe’s very existence. What begins as a learning process evolves into a modern fight for a people’s inalienable human rights.*

As part of this year’s Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF), a special public screening of Dawnland was held at the Seattle Central Library. Sponsored by Tulalip Tribes Charitable Fund, the screening was a hit as the library’s auditorium was filled to max capacity to watch the extraordinary documentary.

“The film will air on Independent Lens nationally on PBS in the 2018-2019 season and we’re super excited,” said filmmaker Adam Mazo in a Crosscut interview. “As far as we know this will be the first time that Wabanaki people are featured on a nationally televised program.”

*Source: Dawnland and SIFF press materials

Safe Zone: Tulalip Family Advocacy assures client safety

By Kalvin Valdillez, Tulalip News

Did you know that the Child Advocacy Center, the Legacy of Healing and the Family Advocacy building, home to beda?chelh and Family Haven, are considered ‘safe zones’? The programs, which are all departments of Tulalip Family Advocacy, wanted to spread the word about the safe zones to help the community get a better understanding of what the zones are and why they were established for the protection of their clients.

“There are three properties out here that have a safety zone policy through the tribe,” explains Jade Carela, Tulalip Child Advocacy Center Manger. “Soon I’ll be getting signs that say Safety Zone, so people know that they’re entering a safe zone. Basically, what safety zone means is people with certain things in their background will not be allowed on the property. And that’s for the safety of our children and clients we work with.”

Jade further explained that beda?chelh and the Legacy of Healing both had safety zone policies in place with the tribe for a number of years. According to the policies, the purpose of the safe zones is to provide a safe environment at each of the Family Advocacy sites. The policies vary depending on the program but are similar in that they prohibit persons convicted of crimes against children, domestic violence and sexual offense from the property; as well as those subject to an ongoing investigation of a sexual offense.

Since the policy’s establishment at the Child Advocacy Center, she has seen a positive impact on the kids, who often worry about their security when at the center, reassuring them that they are safe and out of harm’s way.

The Child Advocacy Center, the Legacy of Healing and beda?chelh all work with survivors of sexual and domestic abuse in a certain capacity. The safe zones help assure their clients that their abuser and anyone convicted of domestic or sexual assault are not allowed on the property at any given time. All properties took extra precautions in providing client security, requiring visitors to meet certain credentials before granting entrance at each site. People with a history of domestic or sexual violence will be asked to leave the property, if they refuse to leave or the situation escalates, the authorities will be contacted to remove them from the premises.

Jade is spreading awareness about the safe zones to survivors, to let them know that the programs provide a safe space. And to those who have been previously convicted of a crime, Jades states their services are still available to them, and they can meet with those clients off-property.

“Because someone has something in their background doesn’t mean we won’t help them,” says Jade. “This policy is in no way stating that we won’t help you, it is strictly to ensure our children and adult victims feel safe. I work with these victims daily and I see how important it is to them, how safe these places are. I personally know that people can change and can grow, I get that, but we need places on this reservation for our victims of crime to feel they are completely safe and know that no one, no matter how long ago their crime was committed, will be allowed on the property.”

For further details regarding the safe zones and what services the programs offer please contact the Child Advocacy Center at (360) 716-5437; the Legacy of Healing at (360) 716-4100; Family Haven at (360) 716-4402; or beda?chelh at (360) 716-3284.

Teachings of the cedar tree

By Micheal Rios, Tulalip News; Photos courtesy of Natosha Gobin & Theresa Sheldon, Tulalip Tribal members

“Pray, pull, peel …it’s so peaceful being out there. Being disconnected from the busyness of daily life is refreshing and that silence is healing,” reflected tribal member Natosha Gobin of her day spent walking in the shadows of her ancestors near Lake Chaplain, harvesting cedar. “It’s amazing to watch the experienced ones of the group pull strips and separate them with ease. This is just one of the many ways to stay connected with not only each other but our ancestors, through keeping their teachings alive.”

Coast Salish tribes believe the Creator gave their people cedar as a gift. Traditionally, a prayer was offered to honor the spirit of the tree before harvesting its bark, branches and roots. Their ancestors taught them the importance of respecting cedar and understanding how it is to be used, so that it will be protected for future generations.

Cedar was the perfect resource, providing tools, baskets, bowls and carvings in addition to having medicinal and spiritual purposes. The highly sought after inner bark was separated into strips or shredded for weaving. The processed bark was then used like wool and crafted into clothing, baskets and hats.

Those same traditional teachings are practiced today and passed down to the next generation. Over the weekend of June 15, the Tulalip Tribes membership was given the opportunity to participate in the cultural upbringings of their ancestors by journeying into their ancestral woodlands and gathering cedar. Led by Forestry staff from Tulalip’s Natural Resources Department, participating tribal members ventured just north of Sultan to Lake Chaplain, located on the outskirts of the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.

The annual cedar harvest showcases a partnership between several agencies working as a team to coordinate this culturally significant opportunity. The Tulalip Natural Resource’s Timber, Fish, and Wildlife Program generally arranges a cedar harvesting site for the upcoming season by utilizing existing relationships with off-reservation landowners and the Washington State Department of Natural Resources.

“We have grown and maintained a wonderful working relationship with the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR), who provides opportunities to pull cedar bark from trees within DNR’s timber stands that would otherwise not be available to tribal members,” explained David Grover, Tulalip Tribes Forestry Program. “Having opportunities not just to acquire the bark itself, but also to spend time practicing the cultural tradition of harvesting from the cedar trees, and passing that tradition on to the tribal youth is invaluable for the tribe.

“This [opportunity] also offers the DNR foresters that help us on site during these events a chance to gain a better understanding of the forest resources they manage, as well as a unique glimpse into the different types of relationships people have with those resources that are not tied to timber sales,” added Grover.

The relationship Coast Salish peoples have with cedar cannot be understated. Our ancestors relied on the magnificent tree as an integral part of their life on the Northwest Coast. From birth to death, the powerful cedar provided generously for the needs of the people – materially, ceremonially and medicinally. Those teachings have not been lost.

Master weavers, elders, and youth alike all echo the very same cedar harvesting technique employed by their ancestors. With a small ax and carving knife, they skillfully remove strips of bark from designated cedar trees. They then shave off a small section of the rough bark, revealing a smooth tan inner layer. After harvest, the cedar strips are typically laid out to dry for a year before being made into baskets and hats or used in regalia.

Many Tulalip youth participated in the three-day cedar harvesting event, gathering strips for elders and learning techniques of separating the smooth inner bark from the rough outer bark. For some tribal members it was their very first trip to gather cedar, while for others it was another step in the continual journey to connect with the spirits of past and present.

“Thankful for Natural Resources and the Rediscovery Program who constantly advocate and work hard so we can have access to gathering locations,” shared tribal member Theresa Sheldon. “Their work is appreciated and much needed as more and more traditional areas are being gated off and made harder to access.

“Taking our children out to learn how our people harvested cedar is a gift. We were able to share with our young ones that our people have always cared for the grandmother Cedar trees and in return they care for us by providing clothing and protection from the elements. Appreciating each other, sharing our energy together, and respecting our ancestors by teaching our children how to value nature is who we are as a people.”

23rd Annual Lushootseed Language Camp, July 9-13 and July 16-20

Diana Lynn Hunt

Diana Lynn Hunt was born on September 8, 1946 in Chicago, IL, and passed away on June 20, 2018 with family and her dogs at her side.

Her early life was marked by struggle and hardship, which instilled in her a strong work ethic. She lived in numerous places across the country, including Reno, San Francisco, and Sedro-Wooley. Intensely proud and private, Diana was enigmatic. She was known by many, yet by few.

Much of her career was spent in the gaming industry, including a stint at Harrah’s Casino in Reno, NV. Upon moving to Everett, she began working for the Tulalip Resort Casino, ultimately staying there for almost twenty years. Affectionately known as “Big Red”, she was the small and fierce Assistant Pit Manager until her retirement several years ago.

A lover of animals, Lord of the Rings, and opera, Diana also read widely, including many sci-fi and mystery novels.

Though predeceased by her son, Michael Yancey, and great-grandson Joseph Michaels, Diana is survived by her husband, John, her daughters Carmen (Steve) Michaels, Michelle (Steve Harris) Rick, and Joanna (Jen Ham) Hunt, as well as eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to your local Planned Parenthood or the ACLU.