The latest sea lion count in Astoria’s East Mooring Basin was a record 2,340, shattering last year’s record 1,420. Theresa Tillson/Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
California sea lions are literally piling into Astoria’s East Mooring Basin. They’ve taken over every square foot of the boat docks, and they’re even lying on top of each other for lack of space.
The latest sea lion count in the marina tallied a record 2,340 – a “mind-boggling number,” according to Bryan Wright of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.
“The male sea lions that migrate up the coast in the spring and winter, they’re probably having a hard time finding food in the usual places where they forage,” he said. “Whereas the lower Columbia River has a relative abundance of food with the smelt run and the early stages of the salmon run.”
Sea lions cover the boat docks in Astoria’s East Mooring Basin. Steve Jeffries, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
Wright said biologists have noticed a jump in sea lion numbers in the lower Columbia River that corresponds with several years of strong smelt runs in the river.
The usual sea lion counts in Astoria’s East Mooring Basin ranged from 100-300. Last year set a record with 1,420 sea lions. This year’s numbers shatter that record.
“It’s doubled and then doubled again and then increased even more, not quite doubling this year,” Wright said. “This year we’ve had a record number of California sea lions in the lower river near Astoria, following on the last two years, which at the time were historic numbers.”
Steve Jeffries, marine mammal biologist with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, photographed a huge group of 6,422 harbor seals at the mouth of the Columbia last month. He said seals also follow the smelt runs, which have been significant the past two years.
More than 6,000 harbor seals were documented near the mouth of the Columbia River at Desdemona Sands. Steve Jeffries/Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
He noted the California sea lion population of around 300,000 “is about as large as it’s ever been,” so changes in food availability are more likely to have an impact. In California, warm water has shifted the sea lions’ food base farther from shore, where females have their pups, he said.
“The females have to forage farther out, and they basically abandon their pups because they have to search farther and longer,” he said. “Their normal prey they eat has been disrupted. So they spend more time foraging and at some point their pups have to nurse.”
Wright said a big question now is how many sea lions will stay in the Columbia River and eat returning spring salmon. Oregon and Washington have authorization to kill some of the sea lions to protect threatened salmon and steelhead at Bonneville Dam.
Retiring of the flags is performed by veterans during the, Sunday, March 29, 2015, Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Celebration held at the Tulalip Boys & Girls Club. (Tulalip News Photo/ Brandi N. Montreuil)
By Brandi N. Montreuil, Tulalip News
TULALIP – A celebration was held today at the Tulalip Boys & Girls Club to mark the national ‘Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day.’
Due to the unpopularity of the conflict, veterans returning home were often forgotten and abused, suffering years of post stress disorder. In 2011, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed a resolution to provide Vietnam veterans a proper welcome home. March 30, the day all U.S. troops and support-troops withdrew from Vietnam, was designated a national day of welcome. The resolution authored by North Carolina senator Richard Burr called the resolution, “a day to give our Vietnam veterans a warm, long-overdue welcome home.”
A friendship round dance is performed by attendees to the, Sunday, March 29, 2015, Welcome Home Vietnam Celebration held at the Tulalip Boys & Girls Club. (Tulalip News Photo/ Brandi N. Montreuil)
On March 30, 1973, all U.S. troops withdrew from Vietnam under the terms of the Treaty of Paris. More than 58,000 members of the United States Armed Forces had lost their lives while more than 300,000 were wounded during the conflict.
Today veterans in the Tulalip community came together to celebrate all the veterans who returned home and to honor those who lost their lives serving their country.
Veterans of the Tulalip community perform a song for veterans during the, Sunday, March 29, 2015, Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Celebration held at the Tulalip Boys & Girls Club. (Tulalip News Photo/ Brandi N. Montreuil)
The celebration was organized by Tulalip veteran Andy James who served in the Marines during the conflict. The event featured a potluck style meal and small pow wow.
Thank you to all those who have served. We honor your sacrifice and welcome you home.
Brandi N. Montreuil: 360-913-5402; bmontreuil@tulalipnews.com
Grant allows Marysville School District to reimburse school officials for overtime in wake of school shooting last October
Source: Press Release
(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senators Patty Murray (D-WA) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA), and U.S. Representatives Rick Larsen (D-WA-02) and Suzan DelBene (D-WA-01) applauded the announcement that their request for federal support for Marysville School District has been approved. The grant of $50,000 will go to the school district in the next several days. After the devastating shooting at Marysville-Pilchuck High School in October 2014, Senators Murray and Cantwell and Reps. Larsen and DelBene wrote a letter to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on January 12th, 2015 for a grant to help offset the costs the district incurred in the aftermath of the shooting.
“I am so glad to see the Marysville community receive support to help compensate staff and personnel who acted as heroes after such a tragic event, sacrificing their time, energy, and resources to the school,” said Senator Patty Murray. “This is just a small step in helping them down the long road of recovery, and I know that Marysville is strong enough to keep moving forward while remembering the loved ones lost that day last October.”
“My focus remains on helping the Marysville community heal from this terrible tragedy, and I welcome today’s announcement that vital support is coming for the Marysville-Pilchuck School District,”said Senator Maria Cantwell. “We stand with students, school employees and area residents who were affected, and are inspired by the resilience and unity this community has shown.”
“The Marysville and Tulalip communities remain resilient and strong after last year’s tragedy, and I hope this grant will offer additional support as students, teachers, families and the communities continue to recover,” said Congressman Larsen.
“After a tragedy like this, lives are changed forever and we will always remember the young lives lost,” said Congresswoman DelBene. “I hope these funds help those who gave their time and expertise to support their community in the aftermath of this heartbreaking event.”
Project SERV (School Emergency Response to Violence) grants, issued through the Department of Education, provide funding for short- and long-term education- related services for school districts and institutions of higher education to help these educational institutions recover from violent or traumatic events. The Project SERV grant going to the Marysville School District will help reimburse the school district for transportation expenditures, as extra funds were needed to ensure students were able to get to school, as well as costs for substitute teachers, who stood in for classroom staff who were unable to immediately return to work following the tragedy.
Click here to see the letter the members wrote requesting the grant in January.
Jay Miranda, Tulalip Boys & Girls Club games room director stands in front of the special display that houses the medals won in the March 7, 2015 Boys & Girls Club of Snohomish County Games Tournament. (Tulalip News Photo/ Brandi N. Montreuil)
By Brandi N. Montreuil, Tulalip News
TULALIP – Tulalip Boys & Girls Club gaming team had an incredible performance at this year’s annual Snohomish County Boys & Girls Club Game Tournament on March 7. Players in the Tulalip team took home 12 medals including several first place spots, in a variety of game categories.
The annual event brings together club teams from around the county to compete in games such as bumper pool, checkers, pool, foosball, ping-pong and card games. This year the event was held at the Everett Boys & Girls Club.
The Tulalip team placed in the top three slots for each game category. Tulalip club members Gaylan Grey placed first in checkers and pool, and second in bumper pool. Terrance Phillips second in ping-pong, Mauricio Garcia first in foosball, Joshua Miranda third in pool, and Maximo Gonzalez third in checkers. Matthew Miranda placed first in ping-pong and second in foosball, while Marcella Gonzalez placed second in speed cards and Ayrik Miranda placed first in pool and third in bumper pool.
Tulalip Games Room Director Jay Miranda explains the tournament is more than just a bunch of kids playing games. Unlike other popular sport choices such as basketball and football, games in the tournament are played individually. They also help the kids develop skills that they can use later in life.
Medals won during the March 7, 2015 Boys & Girls Club of Snohomish County hang in a special display area inside the Tulalip Boys & Girls Club. (Tulalip News Photo/ Brandi N. Montreuil)
“These games teach the kids strategic thinking, along with critical thinking skills. Bumper pool and pool are games about angles which helps in math at school because they have to look at the angles before they make their move. They have to calculate before they shoot,” said Miranda, who has been the director for just under year and incorporates a philosophy of fair play and respect with players.
“I tell the kids, when you get older you will learn life isn’t fair, but as long as you keep trying you will overcome the things that seem unfair in life. I tell them to always play to win,” said Miranda.
Unlike other clubs in the Boys & Girls Club of America chain, the club at Tulalip is uniquely tailored to the population it serves, which has a large percentage of Native American youth.
“We teach more than just the rules of the games. We teach about having morals and standards for personal growth and we incorporate traditional cultural teachings in our club,” Miranda said. “If there was no games room it would impact the other departments in the club with an overflow of kids. The games room gives them a competitive outlet. If we lose the games room, the kids lose the feeling of accomplishment.”
“This year was a great accomplishment,” Miranda said. “In last year’s tournament we had only three players, but this year we had seven and they did great.”
Brandi N. Montreuil: 360-913-5402; bmontreuil@tulalipnews.com
Recycling is the process of collecting and processing materials that would otherwise be thrown away as trash and turning them into new products. Recycling benefits your community and the environment. As a sovereign tribal nation, the Tulalip Tribes’ core values includes conserving natural resources and sustaining our surrounding environment for future generations. That is why two years ago the Tulalip Tribes set out to implement a tribal wide recycling initiative.
The Solid Waste department was renamed the Solid Waste and Recycling department and was put in charge of the step-by-step process to bring a recycle, reduce, and reuse mantra to the reservation.
The first step took place on the tribal government level. The Tulalip and Quil Ceda Village (QCV) administration buildings received new recycling bins that separated cans, paper, and plastic into their own compartments. These bins were placed in specific common areas of each floor within the Tulalip Administration Building. In some cases, like the commonly populated first floor reception area and second floor lunch area, more specific type of recycling collection bins were used. These bins designated trash/organic, cans, plastic, and white paper only into their compartment.
What started out as voluntary program with the larger, more specific recycling bins on each floor had to evolve as it was observed employees were continuing to put their recyclables in their desk-side garbage bin. The bottom line was that it was more convenient to put recyclables in the desk-side garbage, rather than getting up and walking to the end of isle recycling bins.
“When we started our recycling program about two years ago it was a very small program. Mostly only our tribal government buildings were participating,” says Sam Davis, Solid Waste and Recycling Manager. “There wasn’t a lot of participation. People weren’t getting up and going to the end of the isles to dispose of their recycling, so last year I decided to make it easier and more convenient for everyone. We got these little desk-side recycling bins. We put the recycling bins at each and every desk. In all, we put over 700 desk-side recycling bins in tribal government buildings and Quil Ceda Village.”
Staff at Solid Waste and Recycling noticed a huge increase of recycling output once the smaller bins were put desk-side. It showed that Tulalip employees were consciously aware of what they could and couldn’t recycle, but the recycling program has to be convenient as well.
In 2014, with the larger end-of-isle bins and smaller desk-side bins in place, the Tribal Government collected and recycled 40.76 tons (81,520 pounds) of recyclable materials. Before the implementation of the tribal wide recycling initiative all of that 40.76 tons of recyclable materials would have gone the way of garbage and sent to landfills.
“It’s great to see the Tribal Government recycled 40.76 tons of paper, cardboard, plastic and aluminum,” says Davis. “In the next two years I’d like to double that amount. If you were to walk around and look in employee’s’ garbage you’ll still find recyclables in there. In 2014, the Tribal Government had an output of 726,820 pounds of garbage. I’d say that a 100,000 pounds of that is probably recyclable.”
The second step of the tribal wide recycling initiative took place on the residential level. The Solid Waste and Recycling department made life easier for community members by providing curbside recycling pickup services. They proveded a single-stream recycling bin that allows for community members to put all their recyclables into one bin without sorting. You have an easy way to reduce your impact on the environment and these materials are diverted from going into a landfill. The recycling collection crews come around on one of two days depending on your area and empty all curbside recycling bins. For Silver Village and Battle Creek residents, the pickup day is Thursday afternoon. For Y-site and Mission Highlands residents, the pickup day is Friday afternoon.
“Now, we have moved on to our tribal housing homes. We have put recycling bins at every single one of our housing homes except for the homes on the Quil, which is our next step,” continues Davis. “It’s been a step-by-step process because of the cost of each bin. It’s a onetime cost of $95 for each residential recycling bin, so it’ll take a while to recoup that cost, but in my eyes it’s worth it to not see all that recyclable material go to a landfill.
“It’s starting to get to where we want it to. Last month (February 2015) housing recycling did 4.41 tons, which is over 8,000 pounds. My goal is to get to 10,000 pounds a month for housing recycling.”
The residential housing recycling program started very slowly as recycling was a new concept for many in the Tulalip community, but, as the program continues to build momentum, more and more materials once considered garbage are now being recycled. In fact, Tulalip housing members are recycling nearly three times as much as they were only months ago. In October and November of 2014 there was an average of 1.81 tons of recycling collected, whereas in February 2015 there was 4.41 tons of recycling collected.
“I think it’s just people getting used to the program and us being consistent with our pickup. Knowing that we are actually doing something with it,” Davis says of the surge in residential recycling. “Follow through: I think that’s a big thing is knowing that if they put in that little bit of extra time to sort thru and fill their recyclable bin that we are going to be there to pick it up. We want to continue to educate our tribal members so that everything that can be recycled is being recycled.
“Recycling is not just a cost savings for us, it’s our way of looking out for our great-great-grandkids. The future generations.”
Volunteers make necklaces for Boys & Girls Club auction
Photo/Tulalip Boys & Girls Club
By Micheal Rios, Tulalip News
On Monday March 23, Tulalip employees from all entities, Tulalip Resort Casino (TRC), Quil Ceda Village and Tulalip Admin, came together to make necklaces in support of Tulalip’s upcoming Boys & Girls Club auction. The necklace making event was held in the upstairs conference room of the TRC’s administration building from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
The goal is to create 250 hand-made necklaces that will be sold as keepsakes for those attending the 17th Annual Tulalip Boys & Girls Club Auction held on Saturday, May 9 at the TRC.
“This is our 17th annual Boys & Girls Club auction for Tulalip. All the funds raised from the necklace keepsakes go into our restricted account and are used strictly for Tulalip Boys & Girls Club,” explains Diane Prouty, Program Director for Tulalip’s Boys & Girls Club. “In the past the funds have been used for building improvements, remodels, a new roof, and whatever needs to be done in that form.
“The necklaces we are making sell for $100 apiece. The kids help put them in the bags so they have had their hands on them, but they are too intricate to have the kids make them. We have volunteers from the Resort Casino and all other entities to help come in and make these necklaces. Its wonderful people want to come in on their lunch and help. It’s great because it’s all for the kids.”
Every year the Boys & Girls Club annual auction has a theme and this year’s is a Seahawks theme. The hand-made necklaces consist of Seahawks colored beads (blue and green) and bone carved beads, including an orca tail center ornament.
Volunteers from the Boys & Girls Club and Tulalip Resort Casino making keepsake necklaces. Photo/Micheal Rios
When the necklace making concluded for the day the volunteers had made about 60 necklaces. They have many more to make at the next necklace making session on Monday, March 30from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. in the upstairs conference room located behind the Casino, accessible through the Casino Administration entrance. No experience is necessary to help make these necklaces and support our Tulalip youth. As an added incentive the TRC provides a complimentary catered lunch for all volunteers.
“We made about 60 necklaces for the Boys & Girls Club Auction. These necklaces are part of the fundraising we will be doing during the auction,” says Anita Rutherford, Administrative Assistant to the President & EVP at Tulalip Resort Casino. “If you can come and help us next Monday, March 30 from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. we appreciate your support for the Tulalip Boys & Girls Club.
“Diane Prouty will be here with all the beads and wire. No experience is necessary! We will meet again in the Upstairs Conference Room located behind the Casino (go to the Administration Entrance). Lunch will be at noon. Call 6-1111 if you need directions. Thank you, I hope to see everyone next Monday. We can get this done for the kids!”
iStock Interior transferred $5M to the Scholarship Fund for American Indian/Alaska Native students authorized by the Cobell settlement. So where are they?
The U.S. Interior Department has transferred $5 million to the Scholarship Fund for American Indian/Alaska Native students authorized by the Cobell settlement.
So where are all the scholarships?
Turk Cobell and Alex Pearl, members of the Board of Trustees for the Cobell Education Scholarship Fund, spoke with ICTMN about the status of the scholarship program recently.
Some of the $5 million will go directly to scholarships and some will be held back, Pearl said. “This is meant to be a perpetual fund so that Indian students can be going to college and receiving Cobell Scholarship Funds well after we’re long gone. It operates like any other Scholarship Funds where you restrict a portion of it so that the fund can continue for years and years and years.”
How much money will be available immediately for scholarships is something the American Indian Graduate Center and the trustees are still talking about, Pearl said.
The AIGC and the trustees are also working on the eligibility criteria for the scholarships. “Since we’re just sort of getting the wheels going on working with the American Indian Graduate Center [eligibility criteria are] something that we’re working with them on, just trying to figure out what makes sense, what’s feasible, what we need to do,” Pearl said.
One thing is certain: the scholarships will go only to AI/AN students. Pearl said, “That is set by statute; the settlement requires that the scholarship funds be used for American Indian/Alaska Native students.”
The American Indian Graduate Center is the “recipient organization” for the Scholarship Fund. Its duties include establishing the eligibility criteria for the scholarships as well as managing and administering the fund. A few months ago, the American Indian College Fund was selected to be the recipient organization, with the AIGC getting 20 percent of the funds to support graduate students, but that arrangement has been changed. Now the AIGC will administer the funds for both undergraduate and graduate students. Scholarships will also be available for certificate programs and vocational training.
A five-member Board of Trustees will oversee the fund and report on the AIGC’s work. Two of the board’s members were selected by Interior Secretary Sally Jewell and two by the lead plaintiffs in the Cobellsuit.
Jewell appointed Jean O’Brien, Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Mississippi Band of the White Earth Ojibwa, of the University of Minnesota, a professor of history and chair of the University of Minnesota Department of American Indian Studies. Jewell’s other appointee is Pamela Agoyo, Kewa, Cochiti and Ohkay Owingeh Pueblos, director of American Indian Student Services and special assistant to the president for American Indian Affairs at the University of New Mexico.
The plaintiffs selected Turk Cobell, Blackfeet, Elouise Cobell’s son and founder and president of Native Hospitality Advisors, and Alex Pearl, Chickasaw, an assistant professor of law and associate director of the Center for Water Law and Policy at Texas Tech University School of Law. The AIGC will select the fifth member of the board.
The $3.4-billion Cobellsettlement, signed by President Barack Obama in 2010, ended the 16-year lawsuit brought by Elouise Cobell, Blackfeet, against the U.S. government for mismanaging trust funds for AI/AN landowners.
As part of the settlement, copy.9 billion was set aside for the Lands Buy-Back Program for Indian Nations. Under the program, the federal government is buying back fractionated land interests from individual owners and putting them in the hands of tribal governments.
Contributions to the Scholarship Fund, which is intended to be an incentive for landowners to sell, are based on the payments made for fractionated land interests, according to a formula specified in the Cobellsettlement. If the amount of the land purchase is less than $200, copy0 will be paid to the holding fund; if it is between $200 and $500, the payment is $25, and if it is more than $500, five percent of the purchase price goes to the fund.
How much money will eventually end up in the scholarship fund is not yet known. “It depends on the type of sales that occur through the Land Buy-Back program and we won’t know how much that’s going to be until 10 years have passed since the settlement agreement,” Pearl said. The maximum amount that could go into the fund from the program is $60 million.
In addition, “the principal amount of any class member funds in an Individual Indian Money (IIM) account for which the whereabouts are unknown and left unclaimed for five years,” and “any leftover funds from the administration of the Settlement (after all payments under the Settlement are made)” could boost the fund later, according to the Department of Interior.
The AIGC and the board of trustees are focused on getting scholarships into the hands of students as quickly as possible. P. “Sam” Deloria, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, is director of the AIGC. He said in an email: “At the moment, it is safe to say that we expect to be funding Cobell Scholarships for this fall.”
Pearl said: “We are really excited to start distributing some funds as quickly as is feasible and we’re excited about the potential for Native students to succeed in undergraduate and graduate programs.”
On Sunday, April 5, Savor An Awe-inspiring Culinary Adventure for the Entire Family at Tulalip Resort
Tulalip, Washington — A dining sanctuary for the senses, Tulalip Resort Casino presents their signature Easter Buffet Brunch on Sunday, April 5, featuring an awe-inspiring culinary adventure for the entire family. Adults and children can celebrate the holiday in grand style in the Tulalip Resort Casino Orca Ballroom, with seating from 11:30am to 2:00pm.Enjoy an array of specialties, such as the made-to-order Omelet Station, slow-roasted Beef Brisket, Mexican Caesar, Linguini and Clams and Cheese Tortelloni pasta station, and Jambalaya, to Buttermilk Pancakes and Belgian Waffle display with crispy fried wings and gravy. And for the sweet tooth in all of us—a plethora of dessert delights, featuring Lemon Bundt Cakes, Easter Sugar Cookies, Whole Carrot Cakes, and New York Cheese Cake.
Children can enjoy their very own kid’s knee-high buffet, featuring Mini Pepperoni Pizzas, Chicken Strips, Macaroni and Cheese Bites, and Mini Burgers.
This unforgettable brunch is priced at $40 inclusive for adults and $22 for children ages 4 to 12. Reservations* are highly recommended and can be made by calling 360-716-6888.
*Note: All reservations will have preassigned tables; each reservation will require prepayment at time of booking and is non-refundable; parties of 10 or more will be placed within close proximity of each other.
At the very first Tribal Marijuana Conference held last weekend in Tulalip, WA, the former chairman of the Moapa Paiute tribe, William Anderson, tall and dignified and walking with a cane, explained to me what brought him: “I was just laying in bed in pain. I couldn’t get up, I couldn’t get up to go to the bathroom or go to the kitchen because I was in so much pain.”
An infection in his foot had spread to his spine and deteriorated the bone, exposing nerves. Doctors replaced the bone with titanium steel. For two years, the infection, even with prescription creams and antibiotics, kept coming back. The Indian Health Service recommended amputation of his foot.
“I just prayed to the Great Creator, ‘Please, help me with my pain. Please, help me get up so I can function as a normal human being.’”
Then he remembered a documentary he had seen years earlier about medical marijuana, and how it was used by cancer patients for pain relief. He ordered a topical cannabis ointment, and when he applied it he felt immediate relief.
The conference brought together some 75 tribal representatives, along with hundreds from the state and federal level in addition to cannabis industry leaders on the Tulalip tribe’s $200 million resort and casino in Washington state. This was in response to a Department of Justice memo directing US attorneys nationwide not to prosecute federally-recognized tribes conducting marijuana-related businesses on reservation land—so long as they meet nine criteria, including the prevention of criminal elements from profiting from marijuana sales, and keeping cannabis products away from minors.
While most of the presentations at the conference addressed the legal, infrastructural, and financial concerns of running a marijuana business on the reservation, Anderson’s story highlights the incredible medical needs faced by many tribal members.
Native Americans have the highest rates of high-risk drinking and suicide of any American ethnic group, according to research from the NIH and CDC, respectively. In the past two decades, opioid deaths and cancer rates have continued to climb. On Anderson’s reservation, tribal members’ health had been harmed by a coal power plant that blew coal ash through their community; its waste ponds poisoning their ground water. They fought back and shut down the plant, but this story is all too common throughout “Indian Country;” Native American communities pay a heavy price, both in regards to environmental and public health, for US energy development.
Amanda Reiman, manager of marijuana law and policy at the Drug Policy Alliance, assured tribal leaders at the conference that cannabis could actually help Native American communities battling addiction. A recent study (paywall) found that marijuana acts not as a “gateway drug,” as it is often characterized, but as a less harmful replacement for alcohol. In states that have legalized medical marijuana, the researchers found that the number of alcohol-related traffic fatalities per year decreased by as much as 11%. It is estimated that, in the United States, alcohol-related deaths total 88,000 per year. The statistics are even more dire for Native American communities: nearly 11.7% of Native American deaths are alcohol-related, compared to 3.3% for all Americans.
Another study published just last year in JAMA Internal Medicine found that opioid mortality rates were lower by 25% in states that had legalized medical marijuana. Native Americans have seen opioid-related (prescription painkiller) deaths increase since 2000 to a rate that is 3 times that of African-Americans and Hispanics, according to the CDC. Nationally, these drugs now kill more people than car crashes.
As the medical establishment has reigned in opioid over-prescription, patients who had become addicted to painkillers have increasingly turned to heroin—once associated with big cities, but now a booming trade in poorer, rural areas. Last week, the Saginaw Chippewa tribe in Michigan banished two tribal members for trafficking in heroin. On Feb. 20, a couple from the Lummi tribe in Washington state were sentenced to prison for conspiracy to distribute heroin and methamphetamine.
“Heroin and methamphetamine trafficking has no place in any of our communities, least of all on tribal lands,” said acting US attorney for the Western district of Washington, Annette L. Hayes. “Last week I convened a heroin summit to focus community resources on battling what has become a growing epidemic of opioid abuse. I commend the work of our tribal partners, the Lummi, to lead in the effort to prevent heroin use and overdose deaths.”
Meanwhile, yet another study made headlines after finding marijuana to be 114 times less deadly than alcohol. Alcohol, followed by heroin and cocaine, was found to be the most dangerous recreational drug. Tobacco came in fourth, and cannabis a distant last.
With all the research and evidence regarding the safety and innocuousness of marijuana piling up, it is no wonder that the federal government has taken baby steps to revise its once harsh prohibition of the drug. For example, a US district judge in Sacramento, CA, heard the final arguments on Feb. 11 on a hearing regarding the constitutionality of the 1970 Controlled Substances Act that classified marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug. This is the first reconsideration of the act’s claims that marijuana has “no accepted medical use”—a rather foolish assertion considering that that 23 states and the District of Columbia now permit the distribution and consumption of medical marijuana. She is expected to rule within the next week.
Still, many Native Americans, long used to fighting addiction in their communities, see the opportunity for the sale of marijuana on their lands as yet another Trojan horse delivered by the US government. They worry about its implementation.
Troy Eid, chair of president Obama’s Indian Law and Order Commission was cautious. “I think it is very good for tribes to look at and think about how they might want to influence changes in the federal law,” he said. “Having said that, there are no changes in federal law here. I can tell you as a former US attorney, the nine different criteria that they laid out are not sufficient to provide protections to tribes or tribal members, tribal citizens. So, you are really rolling the dice.”
For Native American communities, the issue of marijuana legalization represents both unique challenges and prospects for success. It hinges on careful negotiation with multiple federal agencies, from the DEA to the IRS. The unique relationship federally-recognized tribes have with the US as “domestic dependent nations”—a designation that recognizes both the inherent sovereignty of pre-existing indigenous nations, but also reflects the power of the US to limit the exercise of that sovereignty—is a careful dance that tribes have had to conduct with the most powerful nation in the world for decades; and this new opportunity may serve as a long-awaited chance to restructure that relationship, just as casino-gaming did a generation ago.
“This issue was a historic moment for the United States,” Robert Odawi Porter of Odawi Law PLLC, a former president of the Seneca Nation of New York, and one of the organizers of the conference explained to me, “and what the Justice Department did was to invite ‘Indian Country’ to have a historical moment. No different than any other major decision our ancestors have had to make. Tribal leaders are now going to have the same opportunity to think through whether legalizing marijuana was a good thing.”
The conference ended with tribal leaders agreeing to meet again in Las Vegas on Mar. 12 at the Reservation Economic Summit to vote on a charter for a new inter-tribal cannabis trade organization.
Douglas Berman, a presenter at the conference, and a professor of law at Ohio State University, noted, “There are relatively few industries with so many novel dimensions to it that haven’t already gotten commercialized to the point it is difficult for new players to enter.”
“I think tribes can be first to market here. I really do,” said Hilary Bricken, a cannabis attorney in Washington state, and another of the organizers of the conference. She urged tribes to consider entering the marijuana banking services industry. Although Bank of America has agreed to handle Washington state’s marijuana tax income, only small credit unions have taken on lending to legal, licensed marijuana businesses. A few tribes have gotten involved as payday lenders, but full realization of reservations as “off-shore banking” magnates on the mainland US has not yet occurred. A niche banking services market like marijuana could provide the impetus.
Les Parks, vice chairman of the Tulalip tribe’s board of directors, shared a video of a local Seattle television-news report on the medical marijuana extract CBD, which is used to relieve epileptic seizures and hold big dreams for tribes in the pharmaceutical industry. “We can lead this country in CBD drug development and be the next big pharmaceutical company,” he said.
A number of Native Americans came with cannabis company partners to the conference. William Anderson was one of them. He is working with Strainz, a medical cannabis products and services company.
“This cannot just be about making a quick buck, but about economic development and being more independent, not dependent on the government, which I don’t like but is unfortunately the reality for our people,” Anderson explained.
As a former tribal chairman, he’s had experience doing just that. Under his leadership, his tribe not only got rid of the coal plant, but opened the first solar plant on any reservation in the country, and has since been approved to build a second.
But in the end Anderson is a believer in the power of medical marijuana to help Native American people deal with chronic pain. “I’m really grateful to be here today, to just talk and to shake hands with people,” he said. “This is what I want to bring to Indian people out there. To show that there are other ways to get help.”
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Sea lions cover the boat docks in Astoria’s East Mooring Basin. Steve Jeffries, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
More than 6,000 harbor seals were documented near the mouth of the Columbia River at Desdemona Sands. Steve Jeffries/Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
