In a fight for federal recognition, the Chinook Indian Nation and Clatsop-Nehalem Confederated Tribes are each bringing their own history books to the debate.
A bill introduced in Congress this year would recognize Oregon’s Clatsop-Nehalem tribes, granting them the same rights to sovereignty and self-determination as the more than 550 other federally recognized Native American tribes.
That doesn’t sit well with the leaders of the Chinook Nation — 3,000 members comprising Cathlamet, Lower Chinook, Wahkiakum, Willapa and Clatsop tribes. They say the Clatsop-Nehalem are historically part of the Chinook Nation and that recognizing them separately would undercut the Chinooks’ 160-year-old drive for federal recognition.
“We want people to know we are the Clatsop people, and when it comes to that tip of Oregon there (the Lower Columbia), we’re there and we’re not going away,” said Sam Robinson, vice chairman of the Chinook Nation. “To have a group just come out of nowhere is a little bit disturbing.”
But Clatsop-Nehalem Council member David Stowe said the group hasn’t come out of nowhere, and that the history of the confederated tribes has been well-documented.
“The Chinook have a history of sour grapes,” Stowe said. “… but our restoration doesn’t impact the rights of anybody. They’ll have exactly what they have right now, and we hope they get restoration as well.”
At stake for both tribes is the ability to become sovereign and restore rights to land, hunting and fishing rights as well as partake in services offered by the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Competing press releases sent out in September from both tribal councils disagree on the history of the Clatsop people.
The Chinook Nation says its 1950 constitution was drafted by its five member tribes in reference to 1851 treaties, and the federal government recognized the Clatsop’s relationship with the Lower Chinook in 1958.
“The history with the Clatsop-Nehalem is pretty fresh, compared to thousands of years of history the Chinook folks have,” Robinson said.
But the Clatsop-Nehalem say that despite centuries of trade along the Columbia River and marriages with other tribes, the Clatsop have been a distinct entity since before Europeans arrived.
About 25 percent of Chinook enrollment is Clatsop, according to the Chinook Nation, and any splintering could lessen those numbers.
“We just feel it’s not right. Because they won’t take all of our folks” for federal recognition, Robinson said.
The Clatsop-Nehalem don’t see the problem, however.
“Clatsop that are enrolled with the Chinook, Quinault, Grand Ronde or Chehalis tribes or other tribes are free to choose their enrollment status,” the Clatsop-Nehalem press release reads. “Our restoration will not change their status or member benefits in any way. We have no desire to make any claims of any kind in the Chinook homeland in Washington.”
Those of Clatsop descent may also have other tribal connections in their bloodline. Robinson gave the example that he is descended from Lower Chinook, Willapa Chinook and Chehalis tribes. The amount of ancestry needed to enroll in a tribe is up to individual tribes’ governments.
BIA Northwest Regional Director Stan Speaks says it’s impossible to know what will happen before recognition is granted, and it is “premature to think fellow members are going to abandon one group and go with the other.”
The restoration bill before Congress, introduced by Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore.), asks for little more than recognition. Land, hunting and fishing rights have all been left out of the equation.
“That’s very contentious,” said Stowe, the Clatsop council member. “(Asking for more) creates a whole whirlwind and lessens our chances of restoration. At the end of the day what’s important to us, what’s important for our identity is recognition of our tribe.”
The term restoration is used by both sides of the debate. The Clatsop and Nehalem tribes were “terminated” by the federal government in the 1950s under the Western Oregon Indian Termination Act. That severed ties between the government and the tribes in a new policy toward Native Americans. The policy was later reversed for many of the terminated tribes, excepting the Clatsop and Nehalem. Stowe says the act of termination is recognition in and of itself because the Clatsop and Nehalem tribes are listed in the law.
The five tribes of the Chinook Nation — including the Clatsop — were recognized at the end of the Clinton administration, only to have the status revoked 18 months later by the Bush administration.
“We felt it was an injustice for them to be recognized and have it yanked form them, that was horrible, and it was equally an injustice we were terminated in 1954,” Stowe said.
The argument between the groups is centered around those living north or south of the Columbia River, though both sides agree that the divide can be arbitrary.
Dick Basch, the vice chairman of the Clatsop-Nehalem Confederated Tribes, supports efforts to get his tribes recognized, but he is “saddened” by the fighting it has caused.
“We are Lower Columbia Indians that should be supporting each other and working for the benefit of all of us,” Basch said. “We’re all Indian people and just because some of our families went south and others went north doesn’t mean that we have to battle each other.”
Robinson and the Chinook agree on the principle of unity.
“Some folks say, “Well they’re Oregon Clatsop or they’re Washington Clatsop.’ … But the river wasn’t a divider — it was just a highway for us.”
Heritage Hawks defensive end #20 Willy Enick sets to make a tackle Photo/ Brandi N. Montreuil, Tulalip News
By Brandi N. Montreuil, Tulalip News
MARYSVILLE – The game winner had been decided with eight minutes remaining in the second quarter during the Tulalip Heritage Hawks varsity football game against the Crescent Bay Loggers, 49-0, played on Saturday, October 4.
Hawks offense played a majority of the game as a result of the Hawks incredible defense, which prevented the Loggers from advancing past the 40-yard line. But in a surprising move, the Loggers, coached by Darrell Yount, discontinued the game in the second quarter with 8:21 remaining, making it the quickest win thus far in the season for the Hawks.
Robert Miles Jr. led the Hawks with four touchdowns and Ayrik Miranda threw for three touchdown passes.
Heritage Hawks 43 6 – 49
Crescent Bay 0 0 – 0
You can watch all Heritage Hawks home games on Tulalip TV or online at www.tulaliptv.com.
Brandi N. Montreuil: 360-913-5402; bmontreuil@tulalipnews.com
Like most chefs, Sean Sherman practically lives in the kitchen. But in his spare time, this member of the Oglala Lakota tribe has been on a quest to identify the foods his ancestors ate on the Great Plains before European settlers appeared on the scene. After years of researching and experimenting with “pre-colonization” foods, he’s preparing to open a restaurant in the Twin Cities this winter that showcases those foods, reborn for contemporary palates.
Sherman, who calls himself the Sioux Chef, grew up on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. It’s where he first started to learn about the traditional foods of the Plains, whether it was hunting animals like pronghorn antelope and grouse,or picking chokecherries for wojapi, a berry soup.
“We were close to the Badlands and its sand hills, which is not the best growing area by far,” says Sherman, who’s now 40. “But we would also spend weeks in the Black Hills, crawling around and learning stuff.”
Sherman’s grandfather was among the first Native American children to go to mission schools on the reservation, and he was one of Sherman’s first teachers. Forced assimilation during the 19th and early 20th century wiped out much of Native American food culture across the country. When his grandfather died when Sherman was 18, he was left with many unanswered questions.
In the meantime, Sherman worked his way up in the restaurant world, eventually becoming an executive chef at Minneapolis’ La Bodega in 2000. Around the same time, he had the idea to write a Lakota cookbook. Although there were some Native American cookbooks already on the market, he says he found that most of them focused on the Southwest or made too many generalizations about food across regions and tribes.
When he tried to learn more about the wild game — and especially the plants — native to the Great Plains, he came up short. He says many Americans don’t have a sense of the Lakota diet beyond bison or frybread. (Frybread is actually a fairly recent addition and has a complicated history.)
“There wasn’t a lot of information out there, so I devised my own [research] plan,” he says. “I spent years studying wild edibles and ethnobotany.”
He learned more from oral histories and also started reading historical first-contact accounts written by Europeans, although they weren’t always helpful.
“A lot of those first-contact reports focused on what the men were doing [hunting], not on what the women were doing — processing all of the food,” he says.
One of his breakthroughs came when he lived in Mexico for a while. He discovered that the traditional methods of drying and grinding food in that region were similar to those his tribe had once used, and indigenous people all across North America were working with ingredients like corn, beans and squash.
Back in Minnesota, he continued to try and piece together a picture of the traditional diet of the local Dakota and Ojibwe tribes. He also spent a lot of time traveling across the state, adding more staples to his growing list, including bison, venison, rabbit, river and lake fish, trout, duck, quail, maple sugar, sage, sumac, plums, timpsula or wild turnip, wild rice, purslane, amaranth, maize, and various wildflowers.
Identifying the ingredients has only been half of the challenge, however. He’s also had to figure out how to preserve everything. He’s relied mostly on a food dehydrator (for efficiency), but he’s also experimented with drying by sun and wood fire.
“I want to figure out how I can use wild flavors in season, because they might be gone in a two-week period,” he says. “The biggest part of the Native American cuisine is just that method of preserving foods. That’s what people were doing during the whole summer season — preparing for the next long winter.”
Sherman started Sioux Chef as a catering business in Minneapolis and hopes to open his restaurant sometime this winter in the Twin Cities. He says the area’s diverse population and vibrant food scene offer the “best platform to showcase what we can do with these foods.”
Some chefs have tried similar concepts in other regions. Nephi Craig brings Apache and Navajo influences to the food he prepares at the Sunrise Park Resort Hotel in Arizona. The Misitam Cafe in the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., has won national acclaim.
Sherman says his restaurant will feature a seasonal menu with family-style dishes, like wild rice flatbread, cedar-braised bison, smoked turkey wasna, seared walleye with sumac and maple sugar and balsam fir iced tea. Most of his ingredients will be sourced from local farms. Some farms, like Wozupi, work with local tribes to grow indigenous plants and preserve heirloom seeds.
Sherman says his goal is to bring a sophisticated touch to traditional ingredients, and he hopes it will be a way to share old traditions with new diners. “We need this kind of restaurant all over the place,” he says.
But other groups on reservations are interested in reviving pre-colonization foods to reincorporate them into local diets. The Traditional Western Apache Diet Project and the Crow Creek Fresh Food Initiative are offshoots of a food sovereignty movement that is picking up steam on several reservations around the country. A recent study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture also found that several indigenous foods that aren’t widely consumed anymore are highly nutritious.
If his restaurant is successful, Sherman hopes he can expand the concept and create similar ones across the country, training young Native American chefs in keeping their tribes’ best culinary traditions alive.
Heritage High School students are using art and social media to learn about domestic abuse and how to prevent it. Photo\Brandi N. Montreuil, Tulalip News
By Brandi N. Montreuil, Tulalip News
TULALIP – Every October the nation is splashed with a dose of bright pink, as result of a national campaign to bring attention to breast cancer. This campaign has resulted in an increased number of early detection screenings and a decrease in death rates since 1989. Since 1987, purple ribbons have begun to be associated with the month as well, as a result of the domestic violence awareness and education campaign. Both campaigns have resulted in successful lifesaving education. However, incidents of domestic violence are still at epidemic proportions.
To bring awareness to the dangers of intimate partner violence happening in her community, Heritage High School art teacher Cerissa Gobin, decided to use the platform of the popular social media trend ‘women crush Wednesdays,’ to educate and engage students about the dangers of domestic violence and teen-dating violence. Instead of picking a women who is admired for beauty as the crush of the day, Gobin is asking students to think about Native women who are missing or murdered as a result of intimate partner violence.
“In the spirit of ‘women crush Wednesday,’ I wanted the class to do some research on the missing and murdered aboriginal women in Canada. It really is an issue that affects all us women around the world, because we, as Native women, are the ones that are the least represented and the ones that are highly victimized,” said Gobin, who is also a Tulalip tribal member.
As part of the in-class project, students are researching the current statistics of aboriginal women murdered and missing in Canada, along with the current statistics of domestic violence in Indian country. Students are also learning about dating violence experienced in their own age group. Students will then use the research they have completed to create a piece using art mediums such as poetry, multi-media, sculpture, photography, painting, drawing, or sculpture. The project will need to include statistics and what the student has learned.
Tulalip Tribes Councilwoman Deborah Parker spoke to the students about putting an end to abuse. Photo/ Brandi N. Montreuil, Tulalip News
In support of the student project, Tulalip Tribes Councilwoman Deborah Parker gave a special presentation about her work in educating the public about the plight of First Nations women and her work regarding Violence Against Women Act.
“It is not an easy conversation that our fathers or even mothers have had with our young men,” said Parker, to a dozen male and female students during her presentation on September 25. “How do we treat our women? Sometimes we see how our dad treated our mom and that is the way we treat our partners, or how our moms treated our dads, because domestic violence can go both ways. We have broken systems here in Tulalip, but also throughout our indigenous communities. It is a difficult issue to talk about. Nobody wants to talk about sexual assault and physical abuse.”
According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, “on average, nearly 20 people per minute are victims of physical violence by an intimate partner in the United States.” These statistics mean that 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men will experience some form of domestic violence from their intimate partner, regardless of age, economic status, sexual orientation, gender, race, religion or nationality.
In Indian country the statistics are even more alarming. According to a 2008 Centers for Disease Control study, “39 percent of Native women in the U.S. identified as victims of intimate partner violence in their lifetime, a rate higher than any other race of ethnicity surveyed.” The report also points out that most crimes go unreported due to a belief that nothing will be done.
According to the CDC teen-dating violence is defined as, “physical, sexual, or psychological/emotional violence within a dating relationship, as well as stalking.” The CDC also states that 1 in 5 women and 1 in 7 men in high school reported experiencing abuse from their partner while dating. And “many teens do not report abuse because they are afraid to tell friends or family. Teens often think some behaviors, like teasing and name calling are a ‘normal’ part of a relationship.”
Although many school districts, including the Marysville School District, have a zero tolerance policy towards bullying in any form, many incidents of dating violence that happen within school boundaries are never reported.
“It is not only my goal, but the goal of the Tulalip Board of Directors and the goal of our Tribe, that we stop this type of abuse. We stop the madness and we stop putting down each other, whether you are male or female. To our men, if you think this issue is not about you, it is absolutely about you. Part of your role historically as Native men is to promote our women. It is not to harm. It is not to hurt, to disregard, but to uphold our women,” said Parker.
“I don’t want to see our kids bullied. I don’t want to see our young kids raped and abused. People ask me why I am so passionate about this, it is because I was one of those kids. I was one of those kids who were abused. You are the heartbeat of our nation. You are the heartbeat of our people. I don’t want you to walk away from here today feeling disempowered. You are never alone. We stand together,” said Parker.
For more information about teen-dating violence, please visit the website www.loveisrespect.org. If you feel you may be a victim of domestic violence or have questions, please contact the 24/7 hotline at 1-866-331-9474 or text “loveis” to 22522. You may also contact the Tulalip Legacy of Healing Advocacy Center & Safe House at 360-716-4100.
Brandi N. Montreuil: 360-913-5402: bmontreuil@tulalipnews.com
By Kyle Taylor Lucas, Special to Tulalip News
This is the third in a series of stories on Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) and the intersection of disproportionately high substance abuse, behavioral, and health disparities in American Indians as compared to the general population.
A landmark 25-year research project by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Kaiser Permanente has linked childhood trauma to major chronic illness and social problems such as heart disease, diabetes, depression, heart disease, diabetes, violence, suicide, and early death.
Begun in the 1980s, “The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study is one of the largest investigations ever conducted to assess associations between childhood maltreatment and later-life health and well-being,” said the CDC. The study included more than 17,000 patients who provided detailed information about childhood abuse, neglect, and family dysfunction. Since the breakthrough study, hundreds of scientific articles, workshops, and conferences have helped practitioners better understand the importance of reducing childhood adversity to overcome myriad social and health issues facing American society. Learn more about the ACEs Study here: http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/acestudy/. See the ACEs questionnaire, here: http://www.acestudy.org/files/ACE_Score_Calculator.pdf.
Federal Program Helps Build Family Resiliency with Home Visiting and Early Childhood Parenting Education
The Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program (MIECHV) is a federal and state partnership administered by the Healthy Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and the Administration for Children and Families (ACF).
The MIECHV program was established by the Congress in 2010 with an initial $1.5 billion investment. In March 2014, Congress extended funding through March 2015. Said, the HRSA, “While decades of scientific research has shown home visiting improves child and family outcomes, the program is the first nationwide expansion of home visiting.”
Consistent with research on ACE reduction, the program is based upon scientific research, which shows that home visits by a nurse, social worker, or early childhood educator during pregnancy and in the first years of life prevent child abuse and neglect, encourage positive parenting, and promote child development and school readiness. An HRSA white paper cites a recent Pew Charitable Trusts study that showed “every dollar invested in home visiting yields up to a $9.50 return to society.”
The program supports pregnant families and parents of children to age five to access resources and develop necessary skills for raising healthy children. All of the HRSA-supported home visiting programs are locally managed and voluntary.
According to the HRSA, “The Home Visiting legislation prioritizes American Indian and Alaska Native populations through the inclusion of a three percent set-aside for discretionary grants to Indian Tribes, consortia of Tribes, Tribal Organizations, and urban Indian organizations. Currently, the program supports 25 Tribal grantees’ home visiting programs.”
Several tribes and tribal organizations in Washington State have applied for MIECHV funding and have established programs that will help to reduce ACEs among their members and simultaneously help establish benchmarks and data long missing.
South Puget Intertribal Planning Agency (SPIPA) – Helping Build Family Resiliency by Increasing Traditional Native Parenting Practices
The South Puget Intertribal Planning Agency (SPIPA) is one of several local tribal organizations and tribes that have undertaken training and applying intervention and have begun measurements similar to the ACE Study indicators to address generational trauma, support prevention programs, and to strengthen families.
SPIPA is a five-tribe consortium that supports each tribe’s vision of success and wellness. Its mission is “to deliver social, human, and health services and provide training and technical assistance, resource development and planning” to its member tribal communities—the Chehalis, Nisqually, Shoalwater Bay, Skokomish and Squaxin Island Tribes.
Founded in 1976, despite a challenging economy, SPIPA strives to carry its past successes forward. In its most recent annual report, SPIPA Chairman Dan Gleason said, “While much has changed for the better at the five Tribes, the underlying issues that made the formation of SPIPA necessary still exist. These issues center on self-sufficiency for our families, youth, and elders as they strive to overcome external forces that are barriers to their personal, educational, and career development.”
Asked how SPIPA incorporates the ACE indicators in its work, Jennifer Olson, SPIPA Data Analyst and Evaluator, said, “We are doing some pretty exciting things about addressing early childhood trauma and the ACE Study, but we don’t use the term. We talk about it more in terms of historical trauma. We use a similar intervention and measurements to the ACEs within our own cultural context.”
Olson, who has been with SPIPA for the path fifteen years, earned MA degrees in both Public Health and Community Planning from the University of Iowa. Her work is focused on grant writing and program evaluation.
Olson said their staff has taken ACEs training, and “We have found the ACE measurements dove-tail nicely with our work. They especially align with our work on intergenerational trauma and diabetes.”
SPIPA is starting the fourth year of a six year project supported by federal MIECHV funding from the Administration for Children and Families. It is a Healthy Families Home Visiting Program geared toward tribes. “The Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe and United Indians also received funding in that cycle,” said Olson. The program emphasizes culturally appropriate parenting skills to develop happy, healthy, well-adjusted children. “We blend our program to give support in teaching the basics of parenting to pregnant families and those with children up to three years of age,” said Olson.
SPIPA has an approximate budget of $450,000 to $600,000 to fund, in part, six home visitors (five of whom are tribal members) for four tribes and “We also have urban Indian Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) offices in Tacoma and Bremerton,” added Olson.
A longstanding obstacle in Indian Country is lack of benchmark data making it difficult to measure success which could help communities to secure continued program funding to both reduce ACEs and fill the data gap for other programs. Asked how SPIPA measures success, Olson replied, “We have served over 120 families that are now getting developmental screening who were not previously screened. Four tribes and two urban Indian sites now have early intervention services for birth to three.” Included among their early intervention services are child development screening, parenting education, family wellness assessment, resource/referrals, parent-child interaction activities, ‘Positive Indian Parenting,’ and child development classes.
“In terms of measurement and evaluation tools, SPIPA incorporates some of the federal goals of improving maternal/infant health, reducing child injuries or maltreatment, increasing school readiness, access to healthcare, addressing family violence, family economic self-sufficiency, and referrals for other community resources,” said Olson. She emphasized that it is also important to their member tribes to include a “full program” measurement in which they ask, “Does this program increase traditional Native parenting practices?”
SPIPA does developmental screening with a tool called the “Ages and Stages Questionnaire,” and they utilize an annual survey that incorporates screening for domestic violence, depression, parental stress, family planning and other parenting issues. They have a family assessment called “Life Skills Progression,” which both identifies development and stresses in the family’s health.
Asked about foster care, adolescents, and teen suicide, Olson noted they have a foster care program, but they are not yet applying the ACE Study to adolescents. She added, “We do screen for all ten of the ACE questions at least once per year and routinely with all of our home visits.” SPIPA incorporates the ACE measurements in its work with parents and guardians, and foster home families, for substance abuse and domestic violence screenings among others.
“It is sometimes hard to convince families how critical early childhood education, parenting education, and continuing support are to the family. We meet twice a month with families. This is a new concept for many, so we try to emphasize early screening and intervention,” added Olson.
The SPIPA Healthy Families Home Visiting Program grant has another two to three years and Olson is hopeful the program’s funding will be continued indefinitely, but it is dependant upon congressional approval.
The United Indians of All Tribes Foundation – Reducing ACEs in Urban Indian Population through Culturally Relevant Parenting Program
The United Indians of All Tribes Foundation (UIATF) is a non-profit corporation in Seattle. UIATF was founded in 1970 when a group of Northwest Indians and supporters, led by the late Bernie Whitebear, engaged in an occupation to reclaim Fort Lawton as a land base for urban Indians. Eventually, a twenty-acre site was secured at Discovery Park, and in 1977 the Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center was completed. The UIATF provides social, education, economic opportunities, and cultural activities for the local urban Indian community.
One of the Foundation’s central services for the urban Indian community is the Ina Maka Family Program with its goal to improve family bonds by visiting in the home, making referrals and coordinating with community resources and support. Their work aims to reduce crime and/or domestic violence by making improvements in family self-sufficiency. They focus on “prevention of injuries, child abuse, neglect or maltreatment, and reducing emergency room visits, improving school readiness and achievement.”
In 2012, the Ina Maka Family Program began a five-year home visiting program funded by the HRSA and ACF. As noted, ACE research has established the link between infant, early childhood home visiting and family health. In 2012, the Ina Maka Family Program conducted a community needs assessment among members and service providers, the results of which they have used to develop a home visiting program.
Katie Hess, who is Program Manager for the Ina Maka Family Program, has been with the foundation for almost three years. Hess is part Native Hawaiian and earned her MA in Public Health from the University of Washington. She was born and raised in Seattle and went to Berkley where she earned a B.A. in Creative Literature.
Speaking to the UIATF’s work to reduce ACEs, Hess discussed the results of their qualitative and quantitative data collection, which she said, “provides contextual support for the need for home visiting in the King County American Indian/Alaska Native (AIAN) community and guidance for our choice of the appropriate curriculum that will best fit the needs of our community.”
Hess noted, “We are participating on the tribal side of this, but there is also state expansion. At the same time we received our five-year project, the state is using a public-private program through “Thrive by Five” for home visiting programs. The state side is where most of the home visiting money is coming from. They’re doing work with tribes, too, and have recently funded a two-year home visiting (promising practice) program for a tribe.”
In terms of measurements, Hess said, “What’s really special about this program is that we work closely with an evaluator, and we have real vigorous measurements. We established our own measurements. We looked at what’s a realistic measure and how to measure change. For example, breast feeding. We’re only seven months in and data takes awhile to collect, but we also will be doing more qualitative measurement.”
Asked about what she considers the foundation’s next milestone, Hess said, “Oh good question! We only have another year and a half of home visiting in our five-year project. For us, our goal is to ensure our program and data is strong enough to ensure continued funding.” Hess emphasized that in their data and evaluation process, they affirm theirs as a full-service urban Indian organization providing critical services that are “culturally designed.”
The Ina Maka Family Program used a survey tool and results to identify all of the components of its home visiting program. “We have an advisory board that helps guide our work, so we’ve also included pieces that were not in the assessment. It’s going very well. We have about 29 families and we’re still recruiting,” said Hess.
Noting that their home visitors are on a learning curve, Hess nonetheless expressed confidence in their training and program. “Three of our four home visitors are tribal. All have training in curriculum. We also have two elders, two grandmothers working in our program who advise and guide our home visitors. They have a lot of experience in early childhood education. They go on some of the home visits. The other piece that we do is we work with an evaluator. We’re constantly making changes and enhancements to ensure it’s a good fit for our Indian community.”
Asked whether they had utilized the ACE measurements, Hess said, “ACE was not part of our original assessment because people were only starting to talk about it two years ago.” However, she stressed how valuable the ACE measurements are. She explained why. “From a programmatic perspective we want to ensure that we have the tools in place to help our clients so that they are not re-traumatized. Our home visitors are familiar with the ACEs and have an understanding of generational trauma, but we want to ensure that the trainers are prepared. We just haven’t gotten there yet. It can be a really slow process,” but she said they wanted to get it right before including the ACE questions.
In terms of its other efforts to address childhood adversity, Hess replied that at United Indians, “We’re doing our best; we have a workforce program where individuals can receive support to find employment or educational opportunities. We have a Department of Corrections program that provides religious and cultural services with a chaplain, other activities, and helps to coordinate powwows.”
Asked whether their programs include training on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD), Hess noted that while theirs is still a new program, all home visitors have prior training on FASD, and it is on the list for further specialized incorporation into their programs.
Speaking to teen suicide education and prevention, Hess noted, “There is nothing in the schools, but there are several other programs in the Seattle area that we partner with—Clear Sky, and Red Eagle Soaring—a youth theater group, and we partner with Seattle Public Schools education program. We will be opening up an ECAP [Early Childhood Assistance Program] in January at Daybreak Star and geared toward school readiness and long-term school success.”
Although the program is not presently applying the ACE Study questions in their surveys and home visits, as does SPIPA, they do intend to incorporate the research after further training. It is evident that their Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program addresses the findings of the ACE Study and subsequent research—that reducing childhood adversity is essential to overcome myriad social and health issues facing society and disproportionately—the American Indian and Alaska Native communities.
Hess said, “I love doing this work because home visiting has great potential for families and to make some big changes in the long run for the urban Indian families we serve.”
Next in the Series
Both the SPIPA and UIATF tribal programs and overall MIECHV program data thus far demonstrates tribal communities are creating resiliency among their members by reducing adverse childhood experiences. The final story in this series will look at subsequent ACEs research, including neurobiology, epigenetics, and the developing brain. Because ACEs extend beyond the nuclear family to educational and child welfare policies, and to institutional racism in police, courts, and other institutions controlling the lives of Indians, those intersections are reviewed. Finally, the series will explore the potential of ACEs measurement in prevention and for building resiliency for American Indian people and tribes.
Kyle Taylor Lucas is a freelance journalist and speaker. She is a member of The Tulalip Tribes and can be reached at KyleTaylorLucas@msn.com / Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/kyletaylorlucas / 360.259.0535 cell
Councilwoman Theresa Sheldon (left) was elected to the Executive Council of the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians
Submitted by Francesca Hillery Tulalip Tribes Public Affairs
Councilwoman Theresa Sheldon was elected to the Executive Council of the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI) at the annual convention, held September 22-25th and hosted by the Confederated Tribes of Umatilla, Oregon. Councilwoman Sheldon will serve the ATNI Executive Council as Assistant Secretary.
Fawn Sharp (Quinault) was re-elected as ATNI president along with newly elected 2nd Vice President, Alfred Momee (Coeur d’Alene).
The Executive Council is responsible for upholding the policies and general direction, as set through various ATNI committees by way of resolutions, and to carry out the duties and directives as set by the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians member tribes.
Councilwoman Sheldon has been an ATNI delegate for the Tulalip Tribes since 2006, where as a legislative policy analyst she wrote and submitted resolutions on behalf of the Tulalip Tribes on transportation, taxation, education, voting rights, homeland security, and law & justice. She has served as the Native Vote co-chair for ATNI since 2008.
“The Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians is one of the strongest Native American organizations in the country. This is a reflection of our determination to defend our treaties and to take care of our communities,” said Councilwoman Sheldon. “ATNI member tribes recognize the fact that we stronger together. I am honored to serve as Assistant Secretary to the Executive Council and proud to represent the Tulalip Tribes on a regional and national platform,” she concluded.
In 1953 Tulalip leader Sebastian Williams, along with other Northwest Tribal leaders, came together to discuss the need for a formal Northwest Indian organization. This meeting formalized and created a constitution and bylaws for the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indian (ATNI). Its purpose was “to form a united front against the IRS and illegal taxation of Native American tribes”. Immediately after ATNI was created, the termination era was introduced, that were federal policies meant to eliminate the political relationship between federal governments and the tribes, therefore dissolving all federal services to the tribes. Tribal leaders continued to meet and unite together over on-going issues of Indian healthcare, fishing rights, tribal sovereignty, and economic development.
ATNI is a nonprofit organization representing 57 northwest tribal governments from Oregon, Idaho, Washington, southeast Alaska, Northern California and Western Montana. ATNI is an organization whose foundation is composed of the people it is meant to serve – the Native peoples of the Northwest.
Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead has invited Northwest tribal leaders on an all-expenses-paid trip to see the coal operations in his state. | credit: Michael Werner
By: Ashley Ahearn, Tony Schick, and Cassandra Profita, OPB
Treaty fishing rights give Northwest tribes extra clout when it comes to the future of proposed coal terminals on the Columbia River and Puget Sound.
That’s not lost on the governor of Wyoming, a big proponent of coal exports.
Gov. Matt Mead is inviting Northwest tribal leaders on an all-expenses-paid trip to coal country in Northeastern Wyoming, according to an email obtained by EarthFix.
The governor’s invitation went out to tribes in Oregon and Washington, including the Umatilla, Yakama, Swinomish and the Lummi.
The governor’s office did not answer specific questions about the invitations, but released a statement saying the trip would “showcase Wyoming’s coal and rail industries, the benefits of low sulfur coal, world class reclamation and the economic benefits coal provides to the local community.”
The statement, sent by email from Michelle Panos, the governor’s interim communications director, says that Wyoming has been hosting policy makers from the Pacific Northwest for the last few years, and “Wyoming recognizes tribal leaders as key policy makers.”
Courting Coal’s Critics?
Tribes have been vocal critics of coal exports in the Northwest, and their treaty fishing rights give them unique power to stop terminal developments. It’s unclear whether the free trip to Wyoming is intended to change their stance.
The two-day tour would visit one of the largest coal mines in the world, a power plant and rail operations, according to a Sept. 25 email sent by Loyd Drain, executive director of the Wyoming Infrastructure Authority. And the state of Wyoming would pick up the tab.
Yakama fishers protest coal exports. Credit: Courtney Flatt.
“The Wyoming Infrastructure Authority, an instrumentality of the state of Wyoming, would be pleased to provide for the cost of airfare; lodging; transportation in Wyoming; and meals,” Drain wrote in one of the emails.
The invitation calls the tour “an opportunity with an up-close look at the operations being conducted in an environmentally friendly manner.”
Drain did not respond to requests for comment.
Chuck Sams, spokesman for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, said the chairman of his tribal council, Gary Burke, received an invitation last week but hasn’t decided whether he will accept.
“We received an email from the governor of Wyoming inviting us out,” Sams said. “We haven’t made any decisions regarding the invitation.”
Earlier this year, the Umatilla and several other tribes argued successfully that a proposed coal export project on the Columbia River would interfere with their tribal fishing rights.
The state of Oregon denied a permit needed to build a dock for the Morrow Pacific project in part because tribal members say they fish at the proposed dock site.
Mead Sees Exports In Coal’s Future
Gov. Matt Mead visits Longview. Credit Cassandra Profita
Mead visited another proposed coal export terminal site in Longview, Washington, earlier this year to show his support for the project and tour the facility. The Millennium Bulk Terminals project would export up to 44 million tons of coal a year from Wyoming and Montana to Asia.
“That’s a lot of coal, but relative to the amount of coal we produce it’s 10 percent,” Mead said during his visit. “So this port and other ports are important to Wyoming in terms of the coal industry.”
Wyoming produces around 400 million tons of coal a year. With the U.S. tightening regulations for coal-fired power plants, Mead said he sees exports as a key part of the coal industry’s future.
Not All Tribes Agree
The Powder River Basin coal reserves of Wyoming and Montana are partly located on tribal land. The Crow Nation signed a deal with Cloud Peak Energy, giving that company the option to mine up to 1.4 billion tons of Crow coal. Some of the coal mined there would be exported through terminals proposed to be built in Washington. The move pits the Crow against tribes in the Northwest, which oppose coal exports.
“The economic viability of the Crow Nation is closely tied to our ability ship natural resources, especially coal, out of Montana,” said Crow Tribal Chairman Darrin Old Coyote. “Energy exports are a key piece of our future well-being and we are encouraged by this proposed rail and port infrastructure in the Northwest that will help grow interstate commerce.”
As for the all-expenses-paid trip to Wyoming coal country, Timothy Ballew, tribal chairman of the Lummi Nation, whose lands are adjacent to the site of the proposed Gateway Pacific Terminal, said he will not be attending.
Chairman Ballew and the Lummi council sent a letter in response to the Wyoming governor’s offer. In it, Ballew said, “there is no purpose to be served by accepting your offer. We are well aware of the nature of the coal mining industry and its impacts on the environment.”
The Seattle City Council has voted to celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day on the same day as the federally recognized holiday, Columbus Day.
The resolution that passed unanimously Monday honors the contributions and culture of Native Americans and the indigenous community in Seattle. Indigenous Peoples’ Day will be celebrated on the second Monday in October.
Tribal members and other supporters say the move recognizes the rich history of people who have inhabited the area for centuries.
“This action will allow us to bring into current present day our valuable and rich history, and it’s there for future generations to learn,” said Fawn Sharp, president of the Quinault Indian Nation on the Olympic Peninsula. She is also president of the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians.
“Nobody discovered Seattle, Washington,” she said to a round of applause.
Several Italian-Americans and others objected to the move, saying Indigenous Peoples’ Day honors one group while disregarding the Italian heritage of others.
Columbus Day is a federal holiday that commemorates the arrival of Christopher Columbus, who was Italian, in the Americas on Oct. 12, 1492. It’s not a legal state holiday in Washington.
“We don’t argue with the idea of Indigenous Peoples’ Day. We do have a big problem of it coming at the expense of what essentially is Italian Heritage Day,” said Ralph Fascitelli, an Italian-American who lives in Seattle, speaking outside the meeting.
“This is a big insult to those of us of Italian heritage. We feel disrespected,” Fascitelli said. He added, “America wouldn’t be America without Christopher Columbus.”
Seattle Mayor Ed Murray is expected to sign the resolution Oct. 13, his spokesman Jason Kelly said.
The Bellingham City Council also is concerned that Columbus Day offends some Native Americans. It will consider an ordinance Oct. 13 to recognize the second Monday in October as Coast Salish Day.
The Seattle School Board decided last week to have its schools observe Indigenous Peoples’ Day on the same day as Columbus Day. Earlier this year, Minneapolis also decided to designate that day as Indigenous Peoples’ Day. South Dakota, meanwhile, celebrates Native American Day.
Seattle councilmember Bruce Harrell said he understood the concerns from people in the Italian-American community, but he said, “I make no excuses for this legislation.” He said he co-sponsored the resolution because he believes the city won’t be successful in its social programs and outreach until “we fully recognize the evils of our past.”
Councilmember Nick Licata, who is Italian-American, said he didn’t see the legislation as taking something away, but rather allowing everyone to celebrate a new day where everyone’s strength is recognized.
David Bean, a member of the Puyallup Tribal Council, told councilmembers the resolution demonstrates that the city values tribal members’ history, culture, welfare and contributions to the community.
Concern over more scrutiny – and possibly a lawsuit – has prompted residents of a town in Maine to rename a private road to something less offensive.
In August, the board of selectman in Wiscasset, Maine voted s 3-1-1 to name a road there “Redskins Drive” after the now-defunct name of the town’s high school. In 2011, the school’s mascot and name were changed to the Wolverines. Recently, property owners of where the road is located submitted a request to rename it “Micmac Drive” to evade further confrontation.
A letter signed by property owners, dated September 23, gave consent to change the road name “to avoid any further conflict or potential lawsuits with the Indian tribes in the state.” They offered Micmac Road as an alternative, The Times Record reported.
Activist and artist Gregg Deal of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe commended the move to change the name, but he questioned the ubiquitous practice of honoring Native Americans by naming streets and cities after them.
“I think it’s a good move to get away from a racial slur for street name, but I still find it disconcerting that they want to gravitate towards something Indian,” he told ICTMN. “It looks like a case of romanticism. Naming a road after a tribe to honor – that seems really strange when you begin to look at the history and relations with the people and even the specific tribes.”
Deal, who advocates for changing the name of the Washington football team, added sovereign nations have the right to decide whether or not they want to be honored in such a manner.
“If the [Micmac] are all about it, I honor their decision and their right to make such decisions for themselves. I do, however, question the constant need to honor indigenous people in weird materialistic and arbitrary ways.”
Regardless that the name “Redskins” is no longer the high school mascot, and given the road’s name is on its way to a change, people in the town of Wiscasset still have affection for the old moniker.
“It doesn’t bother me,” Julie Groleau told ABC-affiliate WMTW. “The word redskin – I know some people may look at it as derogatory but, um, it’s part of the heritage of the United States and it’s like a tribute to Native American Indians. I don’t think of the term as something bad.”
Chief Edward Peter Paul of the Aroostook Band of Micmacs told The Lincoln County News he approves of the name Micmac Drive, according to The Associated Press.
The selectman will consider the name change on Tuesday. Representatives of Wiscasset did not respond for comment.
Scientists are snatching fish from Rhinoceros Auklets to find out how much pollution they’re exposed to in their diets. Seabird populations in Puget Sound have declined since the 1970s. | credit: Peter Hodum
SEATTLE — Seabird populations in Puget Sound have declined since the 1970s and scientists believe pollution is partially to blame.
But how do you prove that? Study what the seabirds are eating. A new paper published in the journal Marine Pollution Bulletin found that seabirds in Puget Sound are eating fish that are two to four times more contaminated than fish on Washington’s outer coast.
To gather the data, scientists camped out on three remote islands – one in Puget Sound and the other two on Washington’s outer coast – that are nesting spots for Rhinoceros Auklets, a small dark seabird shaped “like a football,” said Tom Good, the lead author of the study and a biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Seattle.
Good and his team waited in the dark for the mom and dad auklets to fly home with beaks full of fish for their chicks. Then, when the birds landed, the scientists flashed on their headlamps, startling the birds so they would drop their fish.
Watch: Rhinoceros Auklets landing at a remote island as scientists wait.
“It’s called spotlighting,” Good explained.
“It sounds worse than it is,” Good said, “but yeah, we’re stealing food from the mouths of babes, basically.”
Good didn’t harm any birds in his research. And the confiscated fish provided an immense amount of data.
Chinook salmon, sandlance and herring were the main items on the auklet menu. The top three pollutants found in the fish were PCBs, DDT and flame retardants.
Salmon samples taken from auklets on Tatoosh Island, near the mouth of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, had the lowest levels of contaminants, when compared to salmon caught at the other two islands in Puget Sound and along Washington’s outer coast.
