Tulalip News

Talking Stick 2014: Drama, Dance, and the Electric Powwow in Vancouver

source: fullcircle.caA performer on stage at the 2013 Talking Stick Festival in Vancouver, Britich Columbia. The 2014 edition of the fest is now underway. — source: fullcircle.ca
A performer on stage at the 2013 Talking Stick Festival in Vancouver, Britich Columbia. The 2014 edition of the fest is now underway.

Alex Jacobs, 2/19/14, ICTMN

Talking Stick, the annual Native arts takeover of Vancouver, BC, is here. For the record, we’ll call it by its full name:

“FULL CIRCLE, First Nations Performance Company, presents the 21^st Annual TALKING STICK FESTIVAL.”

That is indeed a mouthful, but you will always need many words, emotions and hand signs to describe what happens every February into March in Vancouver BC, when these First Nations artists and performers stage their events. These are the descriptions but its best to see and hear the actors, poets, musicians and dancers put all their energy, work, love and passion into these performances.

Yesterday, February 18, the festival opened up at The Roundhouse with music, dance, stories, food and drink at Wax hoks Shqalawin (Open Your Hearts). And with that, we were off and running. Here’s a rundown of the happenings you should investigate if you’re in Vancouver from now through March 2:

From Talking Stick to Microphone, Feb 21 at Café Deux Soleils, led by “East Van ghetto poet” Zaccheus Jackson (who has twice represented Vancouver and Western Canada at the Individual World Poetry Slam), this is a selection of this country’s best independent musicians and slam poets going head to head.

A Tribe Called Red

W2 Media, Live Nation & Talking Stick Festival present Salish Coast Live with A Tribe Called Red. ATCR will be performing at Salish Coast LIVE, Feb. 22, with Ostwelve, Mat the Alien, Lido Pimienta, Self Evident, VJs Kinotropy + Heidrogen, and Tsleil-Waututh artists. Buy tickets early as this show will sell out in advance. First Films, New Voices, 3 nights of films and talkback, from the Indigenous Independent Digital Film-making Program at Capilano University, Feb 19, 20, 21. Festival Opening Pow Wow at the Roundhouse, Feb.23.

The following productions have several shows throughout the Festival:

Raven Meets the Monkey King. JJ is an inquisitive 11 year old who dreams of becoming a rich and famous treasure hunter. She buys a mysterious box from a garage sale and inside finds an authentic Raven Mask wrapped in an original Chinese Opera poster depicting the Monkey King. In removing them she inadvertently sets free the spirits of the Raven and the Monkey King, who were trapped in the box for ninety years. These two tricksters share their stories and life lessons with JJ. An exuberant tale of how our lives are transformed by the people we meet, the choices we make and the stories we tell.

In Spirit (formerly Quilchena). In 1978 Monica Jack will be thirteen years old soon and her dad proudly presents her with a new bike. Sharing in his excitement, Monica rides the bike to show her friend who lives only a few houses up the road. Failing to return for dinner, a makeshift search party finds only her bike, tossed into some bushes at the side of highway 5A. For eighteen years, her family and friends imagine Monica into adulthood. This is a haunting journey inside the missing Monica’s experience. This is a story of the tragedy of a peoples systemically abused by an uncaring government, it is also the story of a community who banded together to ensure their missing child is never forgotten. This is a tour de force performance by Sera-Lys McArthur. Director/playwright Tara Beagan and Designer Moro were named in NOW Magazine’s Top Ten Theatre Artists for their work on Quilchena.

For the Pleasure of Seeing Her Again

For the Pleasure of Seeing Her Again. Michel Tremblay’s hilarious and heartrending tribute to his mother; Kevin Loring is the narrator, regaling us with tales about his feisty mother – a born storyteller with a love of exaggeration and invention. Margo Kane, as Nana, exasperates the son she so fiercely loves – yet proves an inspiration for his art. One of the hits of Western Canada Theatre’s 2011-12 Season, critically praised, the piece was invited by the prestigious Magnetic North Theatre Festival to perform in Ottawa in June 2013.

The Hours That Remain , a Gwaandak Theatre production in association with New Harlem Productions. This play explores the story of a woman haunted by the disappearance of her sister. Denise desperately seeks to find answers to Michelle’s disappearance and is visited by her missing sister in a series of visions. In confronting the pervasive reality of missing women in Canada, we are also faced with the legacy of loss endured by families, friends and community.

Convergence

Convergence, on February 26 and 27 at The Roundhouse. Convergence occurs where two strong ocean currents meet, merge, and transform. Propelled by opposing forces, their movement and strength increases as they intersect and coalesce. Two main currents of contemporary aboriginal dance, one more deeply rooted in ancient dance practices and the other more firmly grounded in contemporary dance, are once again reaching a crucial moment of convergence. The momentum of this transformation pushes past boundaries and categorization. It necessitates a deeper understanding of the diversity of contemporary Aboriginal dance. Two evenings examine two main currents of contemporary Aboriginal dance, one more deeply rooted in ancient dance practices share the stage with others more firmly grounded in contemporary dance.

Spirit of Transforming, a new work by Dancers of Damelahamid’s. Opening performance by the Eastern Sky Ambassadors. Spirit of Transforming is the signature new dance work by the Dancers of Damelahamid. It combines the richness and beauty of the tradition of masked dances of the Gitxsan and also explores presenting this genre in a minimalistic way- the very essence of this dance form.

Skins, is a new improvisation based dance work by Rosy Simas (Seneca) which investigates what we hold in our skin. Performed by Rosy Simas and Taja Will from Minneapolis. Over the past 20 years, Simas has created more than 40 original works. In 2013 she was awarded a Native Arts and Culture Foundation Dance Fellowship, and a NEFA National Dance Project award for her new work “We Wait in the Darkness.”

Going To Water: Dancer/Choreographer Maura Garcia (Cherokee/Mattamuskeet) collaborates with others to create genre-spanning art. Themes of social justice, Indigenous identity and the rhythms of the natural world run throughout her creations. Maura will present the solo performance “Going to Water”, which represents the traditional Cherokee ceremony of going to water. It speaks to the rebellious nature of water and of Indigenous people, continuing to make a way despite all obstructions.

NeoIndigenA: Set in a future Indigena with an unbroken continuum of Indigenous knowledge, NeoIndigenA is a ritual journey between Skyworld, Earthworld and Underworld. Santee Smith’s solo performance boldly moves us through sacred pathways of human connection, accompanied by musical collaborators Jesse Zubot, Cris Derksen and Michael Red and featuring elemental voices of Inuit singers Tanya Tagaq and Nelson Tagoona.

Ch’odza (she is dancing)

CH’ODZA (She is Dancing): Raven Spirit Dance, 10 years celebration, Feb 28, The Roundhouse.

“It seems to be, the farther we reach out, the deeper we understand home.” – Michelle Olson

Northern Journey, Choreographer: Michelle Olson, is a contemporary dance performance inspired by the land we carry inside of us. This internal landscape carves out the pathways that lead to our animal instinct and lead us to images that hold our human experience. Inspired by the Porcupine caribou herd and a First Nations traditional story about the caribou, this piece inhabits a place of ice, water, loneliness and transformation.

Spine of the Mother, Choreographer: Starr Muranko, is a collaborative project between contemporary artists in Canada and Peru exploring the relationship between the geography of the Andes Mountain range and traditional and contemporary dance movement in the Americas. “Spine of Mother Earth” is a name given by Indigenous Elders in South America to the Mountain ranges that span from the base in Argentina, through the Americas and end at the tip of Alaska. This column or axis connects the people of the North and the South who have traveled and communicated along this mountain range for thousands of years.

Screening of short-film “A Common Experience”, Based on the play by Yvette Nolan, “Dear Mr. Buchwald”. In 2008 the Government of Canada formally apologized for the treatment of Aboriginal people in the Indian Residential School system. In moving towards healing and reconciliation the government established the “Common Experience Payment”, a program that pays former students for their suffering. It is the story of one applicant, Helen Thundercloud, as told through the eyes of her daughter, Yvette Nolan.

Staged reading from “Red Mother”, Conceived, written and performed by Muriel Miguel of Spiderwoman Theatre – NYC.

Crystal Shawanda

Northern Lights, on Feb 28^th at Djavad Mowafaghian World Arts Centre, 149 West Hastings Street , Vancouver. An evening celebrating Northern writers and artists with keynote from Keavy Martin (University of Alberta): readings from Sanaaq, the first novel written in Inuktitut and recently translated into English; and a screening of the short film Amaqqut Nunaat: Country of Wolves. The evening is capped with the delightful antics of Raven’s Radio Hour out of Alaska – a spoof of 40’s style radio shows, which blends traditional Alaska Native stories with song, dance and comedy, written and performed by Ed Bourgeois and Jack Dalton.

The Festival ends with a Crystal Shawanda Concert with Wayne LaVallee opening, March 1 at The Cultch.

You should probably start with on-line auctions and benefits, where you can purchase hotel accommodations, fine dining meals, ski packages, fine art prints, tix to the International Women’s Film Festival, Ballet, Orchestra and there’s always the big Whistler BC Resort vacation package up for grabs. During the Festival, there’s also art exhibits, Pow Wow, short films, panel discussions by First Nations professionals, story-telling, and as always the wrap party to celebrate another year. Go to FullCircle.ca for details and tickets, if you search Talking Stick Festival you will end up there also.

Corps Announces The Scope Of Longview Coal Export Review

Source: Cassandra Profita, OPB

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has announced which environmental impacts it will consider in its review of the Millennium Bulk Terminals coal export project in Longview, Wash.

The Millennium project would export 48 million tons of coal a year to Asia. It would ship the coal by rail from Montana and Wyoming to a terminal in Longview, where it would be loaded onto vessels and sent overseas.

In a 12-page memo, the Corps on Tuesday outlined which parts of that process it will consider in reviewing the project’s environmental impacts to the air, water, wildlife and people.

Despite requests from the public to include broader impacts of mining, shipping and burning the coal, the Corps is limiting the scope of its environmental review to the project site.

Washington state recently announced it will include a wider array of environmental impacts in its review of the project.

The decision comes after public agencies collected more than 200,000 comments from the public. Many people asked the Corps to consider the impacts of railroad traffic congestion along the entire delivery route, as well as the pollution created by mining the coal and burning it in power plants overseas.

But in its memo, the agency says:

“Many activities of concern to the public, such as rail traffic, coal mining, shipping coal and burning it overseas are outside the Corps’ responsibility.”

Instead, its environmental review will be limited to the 190-acre project site and the immediate vicinity around Longview. It includes about 50 acres of the Columbia River, where the project would build piers and dredge for ships.

In addition to environmental impacts, the review will also look at the jobs and tax benefits created by the project as well as the demand on public services and utilities.

When the Corps completes its review, the public will be invited to comment on a draft document. A final environmental impact statement will outline what the developer needs to do to offset the impacts of the project.

Millenium Bulk Terminals: Longview, Wash.

A $640 million terminal that would eventually export 44 million tons of coal at a private brownfield site near Longview, Wash. It’s a joint venture of Australia’s Ambre Energy and Arch Coal, the second-largest coal producer in the U.S.

Players: Alcoa, Ambre Energy, Arch Coal

Full Capacity: To be reached by 2018

Export Plans: 48.5 million short tons/year

Trains: 16 trains/day (8 full and 8 empty)

Train Cars: 960/day

Vessels: 2/day

What’s Next: On Feb. 12, 2014 the Washington Department of Ecology announced what environmental impacts it will consider in its review of the Millennium Bulk Terminal. In September 2013, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced split from what was to be a joint review process. They will conduct a “separate but synchronized environmental review and public scoping process.” The corps’ review will be narrower in scope than that of Washington state. For more information on how to submit comments and to learn details for the public meetings visit the official EIS website.

Protecting traditional knowledge: Tulalip participates in U.N. conference on protection of indigenous identities

By Andrew Gobin, Tulalip News

The Tulalip Tribes continues to participate in United Nations discussions about protecting the traditional knowledge of indigenous peoples, including oral histories and language, cultural expression, and genetic resources. Ray Fryberg Sr. and Preston Hardison of the Tulalip tribes Natural Resources Department traveled to Geneva, Switzerland, for the 13^th conference on traditional knowledge and biodiversity February 3^rd-7^th. The meetings potentially will conclude with an international treaty protecting indigenous peoples’ rights to their knowledge and any gains therein. Although the international treaty would protect traditional knowledge on a global scale, the real fight is here at home in the United State who has remained one of the strongest opponents to intellectual property rights on a global scale.

“As Indian tribes across the U.S. enter the national and global markets, the need to protect their traditional knowledge has become more prevalent,” said Hardison. “Especially with casinos, the tribes have brands, logos, and now traditional art that is being put out there.”

This touches on one aspect of the intellectual property debate on traditional knowledge; cultural expression. The use of art to brand Tulalip as a business, as a destination, now is vulnerable to being taken and used in ways other than intended, without the permission of the artist or Tulalip.

“We don’t want to set the rules,” he added, “we want tribes to be recognized as having the right to determine how, where, and why their knowledge is shared. Each culture has its own rules dictating those things, it should be up to those people to determine.”

Tulalip has been involved in this discussion at the U.N. since 2001, represented at 12 of the 14 meetings on indigenous knowledge and biodiversity. What they are working towards is a treaty that protects indigenous people on a global scale, recognizing their inherent rights to resources and traditional knowledge, so that those things may not be exploited. Currently, the exploitation of traditional knowledge and resources jeopardizes the survival of indigenous cultures around the world, essentially stripping them of access to their identities.

Ray Fryberg was selected to co-chair the committee of indigenous leaders that spoke to the issue of intellectual property rights. According to reports from the U.N., he was selected for his vast traditional knowledge and passion for preserving all that is encompassed in traditional knowledge, including genetic and natural resources and cultural expression.

Although Tulalip is sovereign, they are not recognized by the U.N. as a sovereign state. They have no seat, no vote, but they do have a consulting voice. Tulalip has to bid for support from other sovereigns, facing opposition most from the U.S.

“For tribes, pressure for protection has to come from within the U.S., not outside. And Tulalip is just about the only one that is in position to do it,” explained Hardison.

Hardison, along with Terry Williams who also works for Tulalip Natural Resources, have continued to be instrumental in the progress for protecting traditional knowledge. They have been involved since 2001, working together at 11 conference meetings, and were key players in the passing of the Nagoya Protocol, which protects the exploitation of genetic resources. The U.S. is not a nation signatory to the Nagoya Protocol.

Current laws in the U.S. have no teeth. The Native American Arts and Crafts Act prevents non Indians from marketing things as Native American art, but it doesn’t prevent the use of traditional methods and materials for personal gains. The Native American Graves and Repatriation Act allows for remains and artifacts to come back to tribes if the tribes can prove relationship to or historic connection, putting the burden of proof on the tribes. Tulalip continues to fight on the international stage for these rights, strengthening their position to protect these rights at home in the United States.

Andrew Gobin is a reporter with the See-Yaht-Sub, a publication of the Tulalip Tribes Communications Department.
Email: agobin@tulaliptribes-nsn.gov
Phone: (360) 716.4188

Celebrating Killers: Yes, Natives Should Care About a Dead Black Teen

Source: AP, The Florida Times-Union, Bob MackMichael Dunn smiles at his parents during a break in his trial in Jacksonville, Fla. Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2014. Dunn was found guilty of attempted second-degree murder in the shooting death of Jordan Davis in November 2012, but the jury was unable to reach a decision on the charge of murder. — Source: AP, The Florida Times-Union, Bob Mack
Michael Dunn smiles at his parents during a break in his trial in Jacksonville, Fla. Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2014. Dunn was found guilty of attempted second-degree murder in the shooting death of Jordan Davis in November 2012, but the jury was unable to reach a decision on the charge of murder.

Gyasi Ross, ICTMN

The original inhabitants of Turtle Island are not an island. As much as we might want to pretend otherwise, we are not the remote tribes in the Amazon. No, Natives of the United States are increasingly American with all of the benefits and burdens of Americans that affect us like everyone else.

Cable TV. Internet. Materialism. Pop music. Miley Cyrus. Gangnam Style.

Racism. White supremacy.

1955: Emmett Till, a 14-year-old boy who was murdered in Mississippi for allegedly flirting with a white woman. His killers, two white men who later admitted their guilt, were acquitted.

Sure, we all know that Black lives don’t mean anything to America. That’s been proven for centuries—Emmett Till, James Craig Anderson, James Byrd, Trayvon Martin, Jordan Davis—these are just a tiny fraction of the victims. But here’s a news bulletin: Native American lives mean absolutely nothing to America. Just like Black lives. Just like Mexican lives.

We’re not special. At all. As Martin Luther King Jr. properly recognized, the first instances of white supremacy were not against Black folks on this continent, but instead against Natives:

“Our nation was born in genocide when it embraced the doctrine that the original American, the Indian, was an inferior race. Even before there were large numbers of Negroes on our shore, the scar of racial hatred had already disfigured colonial society.” Martin Luther King, Jr.

Almost two years ago, I wrote about why Native people should be concerned about the senseless killing of Trayvon Martin. We should be concerned any time a person of color is killed simply because of the color of their skin. That’s what happened to our ancestors, as Martin Luther King, Jr. said—because we were (and are) seen as an “inferior race.” I know there are many of our people who have accepted the lie/legal fiction that the Native people of this continent are not a race, but a political group. However, there are many Natives who are still racially Native with brown skin and dark features and who are very ripe to be, like Trayvon Martin and Jordan Davis, the victims of white supremacy.

A ‘hunting license’ issued at the infamous Good Ol’ Boys Roundup, an annual whites only event run by agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in southern Tennessee from 1980-1996.

Native Mothers and Fathers: your brown skin little Indian boys’ lives are in danger. Teach them that their beautiful brown skin and powerful long, dark hair puts them in danger. Tell your beautiful brown little Indian girls that they’re a target to be sexually assaulted just for being them—it’s a fact. Let them know that their attackers—both the boys and girls—will never be punished. In fact, they will be celebrated. Hold those powerful descendants of the first people of this continent close. Tell them that you love them. Every single time they go outside or to the store or to the mall, there is a possibility that they can be tried, convicted and executed of being too brown, too scary, too virile. “Their hair is too long.” “They have too many tattoos.” Treasure their time—their lives mean nothing to America. In fact IF, God forbid, they were to be tragically killed, there are many who would celebrate that death.

Little Indian boys like thug music, too. Like Jordan Davis. Little Indian boys wear hoodies, too. Like Trayvon Martin.

They are no different than these little Black boys who keep getting killed for being Black. Their crime is the color of their skin; they are tried and convicted in the blink of an eye. Now, I know that there are Natives who don’t like Black folks, and Black folks who don’t like Natives, therefore we see each other as “different.” “It’s just those ghetto Black boys getting killed.” or “It’s just those damn Indians getting killed.”

White supremacy doesn’t see any of as any different. At all. How do I know this?

Because white supremacy celebrates those who kill us.

Killer Michael Dunn was somehow convicted of attempted murder, but not murder. Killer George Zimmerman will have a reality show at some point and was already scheduled to be in a celebrity(!!) boxing match, profiting from the name he made while killing Trayvon Martin. Bernhard Goetz—pre-reality TV—became a semi-celebrity and had people willing to pay his legal defense. The point? People celebrate when white people kill young Black men.

As MLK pointed out, celebrating those who take brown lives ain’t nuthin’ new.

1890: Chief Spotted Elk lies dad in the shnow after the massacre at Wounded Knee. Twenty soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor for their deeds.

1916: After Black teenager Jesse Washington confessed and was found guilty of murdering a white woman, he was dragged from the Waco, Texas, courthouse by an angry mob who hung him from a tree outside city hall. He was doused with oil and repeatedly lowered into a bonfire, and members of the mob cut off his fingers, toes and genitals.

1890: Mass grave for the Lakota dead at Wounded Knee.

Christopher Columbus. Kit Carson. The 20 Medal of Honor winners of the Wounded Knee Massacre. Abraham Lincoln—the Great Emancipator, Honest Abe—ordering the largest mass execution in US History when he ordered 38 Natives killed in Mankato, Minnesota.

We’re in this together. These murders affect us. My son carries the royal lineage of chiefs and spiritual healers and protector/warriors, yet he is a suspect each and every time he goes outside because of his powerful brown skin. Just like the little Black boys. Just like every other brown man in this Nation. We gotta stop lying to ourselves that we’re somehow different and protect our babies together.

Gyasi Ross
Blackfeet Nation/Suquamish Territories
Attorney/Author/Dad
New Book, “How to Say I Love You in Indian”—order today!!
www.cutbankcreekpress.com
Twitter: @BigIndianGyasi

Government Push for Oil Drives Ecuadorian Tribes to War

Typically, due to a lack of direct representation and a diminished voting base, indigenous groups worldwide are subject to exploitation and a corruption of their rights.

Ecuador Oil Protest — An indigenous woman confronts police guarding the venue where Ecuadorian government officials were meeting with oil company representatives in Quito, Ecuador, Thursday Nov. 28, 2013. Ecuador is looking for private investment to explore oil drilling in its Amazon region and received three bids for oil licensing Wednesday. Indigenous groups from the area are opposed to the government plan. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)

By Frederick Reese, Mint Press News

Ecuador’s broken promise to not drill for oil in the territory of several of the nation’s indigenous people has touched off a tribal war and nearly universal condemnation from the international community.

Ecuador, a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, finds itself forced to find new oil sources to satisfy the nation’s ballooning debt to China. The government’s drilling in Yasuni National Park, one of the world’s most ecologically fragile, has been called inexcusable and reckless by locals for the damage it is causing.

Yasuni National Park is home to many species of flora and fauna that exist nowhere else in the world and to several indigenous tribes that have had no contact to the outside world.

A generation ago, the Waorani (also known as the Huaorani, the Waos or the Waodani) — a culturally-isolated indigenous group, started to find its territory challenged by illegal logging. The situation was made worse by American missionaries who worked to moved the Waorani away from its hunting and gathering traditional existence in the rainforest to permanent villages, such as Yawepare, where the Waorani is forced to live in makeshift shacks with no running water or electricity.

This missionary intervention, coordinated by the Ecuadorian government — cleared large blocks of land around the Auca Road for oil extraction. This has led to major contamination of the drilling sites, due to oil and chemical spills under Texaco management. Chevron, which acquired Texaco, was sued by the Yasuni tribes and was ordered to pay $18 billion in 2011 in restitution. Chevron has rejected the judgment and, as Chevron has no active assets in Ecuador, cannot be forced to pay.

This has created a situation in which those who desperately wish to be left alone have grown dangerously even more desperate. The Taromenane, a voluntarily isolated group that violently resisted the missionaries’ attempt to “civilize” them have allegedly increased its attacks on neighboring tribes. While inter-tribal feuds have existed for generations, they have accelerated with the increased presence of outsiders on its tribal lands.

In one cited example, more than 20 Taromenane, mostly women and children, were killed by the Waorani after a Waorani elder and his wife were allegedly killed by the Taromenane. This happened under the supposed protection of the Ecuadorian government. Two Taromenane girls were kidnapped by the Waorani; Ecuadorian officials were only able to recover the eldest girl, with the youngest still in Waorani custody. According to the tribes involved, this is recognized as being in compliance with their traditional mode of justice.

“I protest because it is my home,” said Alicia Cahuiya, a Waorani leader who was invited to speak to the National Assembly after the Assembly voted to open drilling in the Yasuni National Forest.

After Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa won re-election in March, he proposed the opening of drilling in the Yasuni but offered to postpone to leave the oil in the ground if the international community donated the $3.6 billion his country would have lost in revenue. In August, Correa abandoned this plan when only $17 million was donated.

“Yes, there is oil there, but I do not agree with the oil exploitation. We should be consulted about Yasuní. Our elders do not agree with any of this,” Cahuiya said. “Why are the Taromenane tribe people being killed fighting the Huaorani? Because you opened a road into the jungle! We don’t want any of that! Let us live like Waoranis. That is what we want!”

Typically, due to a lack of direct representation and a diminished voting base, indigenous groups worldwide are subject to exploitation and a corruption of their rights. Due to this, many indigenous groups have been hit with rampant poverty, lack of essential services and denial of legal access and protection.

Zero waste policy

By Monica Brown, Tulalip News

Most items can be recycled today and Tulalip’s Solid Waste and Recycling Departments are in the early stages of a long term goal aimed at a zero waste policy. Within the Tulalip Tribes there are 41 buildings, outside of the administration building, that recycle.

Samuel Davis, the coordinator of Tulalip’s Solid Waste and Recycling Department explains that, “It is important to change the mindset of people and the role they can play when it comes to recycling. I really want us all to be stewards of our environment and to look out for the future of our land and our children.”

Currently, the waste disposal budget for Tulalip is $250,000.00 per year and includes all Tulalip Tribal Government entities, along with tribal members that dump at Shelco. “That number is too high so we are trying to find ways, through recycling and other avenues, to lower the amount of waste we send to our land-fills,” Davis states.

While there are multiple locations throughout the admin building to toss recyclables, Davis said they were noticing the bins were not being used as much as they should have been and that a majority of the garbage being hauled out was filled with recyclable items. So, they decided to put a recycling bin at every desk to make it that much simpler for everyone to recycle.

“One of our next steps is to start an educational program on what can be recycled and just how important it is to recycle,” said Davis. Since most items can be recycled, the other issue is the item should be clean when it is tossed into the recycling. The cleaner the container, the more it is worth in the recyclables market. Most recycling facilities sort items by type (paper, plastic, glass, metal) and then by quality. When an item is of poor quality the facility must do more work to get the item in usable shape.

Providing a clean or near clean recyclable item can save money for the city and taxpayers. But, how clean is clean? The container does not need to be squeaky clean, just without food is acceptable. An example would be a finished yogurt cup; the yogurt has been all scooped out and can be tossed in the bin but if you were to lightly rinse out the container that will make it better quality.

The white paper cups provided at the admin building and at nearly every coffee stand are not recyclable. This information had me personally reconsidering what I use to eat my morning oatmeal. The cups have an inner plastic coating that keeps the paper from absorbing liquids but makes the cup very difficult to recycle. Although the white cups are not recyclable the Styrofoam provided at the admin is. Davis explains, “Styrene foam (Styrofoam) is ground up, compressed and densified into blocks, which are then manufactured into plastic products such as picture frames, TV & computer cases, office equipment and other plastic products. There are only a few companies in the area that do recycle Styrofoam and we are in the process of working with them to get bins for that purpose.”

At the admin, if everyone brought in their own reusable containers, coffee cups and water bottles this would reduce the amount of waste hauled out, which is not only good for the Tribe’s budget but also the environment. Check the Waste Management website at www.wmnorthwest.com for more detailed information about recycling do’s and don’ts.

While most items can be recycled here is a list of items that can’t be recycled: soiled paper, soiled cardboard, wrapping paper, laminated paper, paper covered in foil, frozen-food boxes, blueprints, thermal fax paper, pet food bags and dryer sheets.

Mystery illness decimating sea star populations

D. Gordon E. Robertson / WikipediaOchre sea stars have been dying off, and biologists are unsure why. — D. Gordon E. Robertson / Wikipedia
Ochre sea stars have been dying off, and biologists are unsure why.

By Bill Sheets, The Herald

MUKILTEO — It’s an iconic summertime image in the Northwest: children playing on the shoreline at low tide, shoveling sand into plastic pails while purple and orange sea stars cling to exposed rocks nearby.

On some beaches this summer, that scene likely will be missing the sea stars.

A mysterious condition is killing sea stars — commonly known as starfish — by the thousands all along the Pacific Coast of North America, from Alaska to Baja California.

The ochre sea star, the colorful type often seen clinging to those rocks, is one of the hardest-hit species, said Drew Harvell, a Cornell University biology professor working on the problem for the University of Washington’s Friday Harbor Laboratories.

Sea stars, she said, “are emblematic; people have them on their T-shirts, for heaven’s sake.”

Local populations in the inland waters of Western Washington — including in Mukilteo and Edmonds — have been nearly wiped out just in the past few months, researchers and divers say.

The stars are turning to jelly and disintegrating. A group of researchers is working to find out why.

“It’s extremely difficult to pinpoint the exact cause,” said Ben Miner, an associate professor of biology at Western Washington University in Bellingham.

He recently collected samples of sick and dead sea stars in Mukilteo and Edmonds.

The prevailing theory so far, Harvell said, is that the deaths are being caused by a pathogen, bacteria or a virus, as opposed to a broader environmental condition such as ocean acidification.

Other types of organisms are not experiencing similar death rates, she said. The scourge has been more pronounced in inland waters than on the outer coast.

Populations in Oregon, compared to those in Washington and California, have mostly been spared.

Some inland waters have been hit hard by the die-off, while other areas, such as the harbors at Langley and Coupeville on Whidbey Island, still have healthy populations, Miner said.

Sea stars that live in ultraviolet-light-filtered water in aquariums are mostly healthy, while those that live in unfiltered water are more often showing signs of disease, Miner said.

While the evidence so far points to a pathogen, “that certainly doesn’t preclude the possibility that there are other things in the water that are weakening their immune systems and allowing them to get sick,” Miner said. “It has the potential to be a combination.”

If it is bacteria or a virus, it’s uncertain whether humans are contributing to the problem, Harvell said.

“Once we know what it is, we’ll have a much better idea of what the answer to that is,” she said.

Another theory is that the condition is caused by radiation that has drifted across the ocean from the nuclear power plant in Fukushima, Japan, which suffered a meltdown after the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

If that were true, many more creatures would be affected, researchers said.

“It’s unlikely to be the direct cause,” Miner said.

There are several hundred species of sea stars worldwide and about 25 in the Pacific Northwest, he said.

“About half of those species appear susceptible,” Miner said.

Large “sunflower” stars, which have up to 20 arms and can be more than 3 feet across, have taken the brunt of the plague along with the ochre stars, Harvell said.

Kimber Chard, of Edmonds, a scuba diver who frequents the waters of Edmonds and Mukilteo, said he began noticing dying sea stars about nine months ago.

“The sunflower stars used to be everywhere,” Chard said. He used to see up to 30 of them per dive. Now it’s down to two or three.

“There used to be so many of them, and they’re just so few.”

Sea stars are echinoderms, in the same phylum as sea urchins, sand dollars and sea cucumbers. Sea stars are voracious eaters, sucking down clams, mussels, barnacles, snails, other echinoderms and even each other, researchers said. As a result, their losses could send big shock waves through the food chain.

Scientists at universities along the West Coast and at Cornell in Ithaca, N.Y., have teamed with aquariums and divers to work on the problem.

Miner is placing healthy sea stars in tanks with sickly ones to test the contagiousness of the condition. Samples of sick stars are being tested at a marine lab on Marrowstone Island near Port Townsend. Some are frozen, preserved and sent to Cornell researcher Ian Hewson.

“He has the capability to test for bacteria and viruses and he’s worked incredibly hard all fall,” Harvell said.

Miner said he hopes to have some study results to report within a couple of months.

“We’re just watching which way it goes and how fast it goes,” he said.

NW Native Art Show Seeking Vendor Applications from Qualified Artists

– Join Top Native Artists from the Northwest and Beyond in Portland, Oregon –

The NW Native Art Show is now accepting vendor applications from qualified artists through the end of February. The NW Native Art Show will take place July 19^th & 20^th, 2014, in beautiful downtown Portland, Oregon, at Director Park. This event will feature top artists from the Northwest and beyond in addition to drum groups and traditional Native dancing.

Applications can be downloaded at www.NWNativeArtShow.com and there is a $25 application fee. Applications will be reviewed and approved as they are received. Booth fees are $225 for single artists or collaborative artists and include 5’x10’ tented space, one table and two chairs. Artists are invited to enjoy an Artist Hospitality Tent as well as an Artist Reception on Friday night preceding the event. Artists are also invited to submit their work in a juried competition with cash prizes for Best in Show ($1,000) and Best in Category ($500). Categories to be judged are: Basketry, Jewelry, Wood Carving and Sculptures.

ART SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

All art must be the artist’s original work. The Northwest Native Art Show does not allow imported, manufactured or mass produced items. Artists must comply with current state, national and international laws and regulations with regard to the use of endangered species materials in their works. Use of such materials should be disclosed, in writing, to the consumer.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Artists can learn more at www.NWativeArtShow.com, click on “Artists’ Corner.” Interested artists may also call 503.752.2412 or email NWNAtiveArtShow@Moran-Consulting.com.

The NW Native Art Show is presented by Moran Consulting, a Native American-owned small business. A portion of the proceeds raised from the NW Native Art Show will benefit the National Indian Child Welfare Association (NICWA).

Tulalip Heritage defeats Mt. Rainier Lutheran

Dontae Jones with the rebound for Tulalip. *Andrew Gobin/Tulalip News*

By Andrew Gobin, Tulalip News

The Tulalip Heritage Hawks crushed the Mt. Rainier Lutheran Hawks at tonight’s game at Heritage High School in the first tri-district championship game. Both teams opened strong, keeping up with one another. Then in the last minutes of the first quarter, Tulalip pulled away, building on a 7 point lead that ended in a win by nearly 20 points, 76-48 Tulalip.

Shawn Sanchey drives to the hoop for a lay up, passing Rainier defense. Andrew Gobin/Tulalip News — Shawn Sanchey drives to the hoop for a lay up, passing Rainier defense. *Andrew Gobin/Tulalip News*

The win was hard earned. Tempers flared in the first quarter, leading to taunting fouls on both teams. The second quarter they tightened up, playing a clean game with minimal fouls. It seemed like the tables might have turned with Rainier sinking nothing but three pointers, but the hawks pushed on, relentlessly driving the ball to the hoop. The third quarter was all about the fouls with both teams showing signs of fatigue, lacking precision in the execution of plays, scored 71-47 Tulalip.

Rainier fouled Brandon Jones causing him to hit the court hard in the 3rd quarter. Andrew Gobin/Tulalip News — Rainier fouled Brandon Jones causing him to hit the court hard in the 3rd quarter. *Andrew Gobin/Tulalip News*

Both teams played hard, showing their fatigue in the fourth quarter. The starters, who had played the entire game, were pulled on both teams, as the fresh players took the court. Alan Enick scored an amazing three pointer in the final minutes of the game, further sealing the win for Tulalip.

Tulalip: 22, 17, 32, 5 Total 76
Rainier: 15, 9, 23, 1 Total 48

Dontae Jones 5, Brandon Jones 8, Bradley Fryberg 19, Robert Miles Jr. 12, Shawn Sanchey 9, Keanu Hamilton 20, Alan Enick 3.

Andrew Gobin is a reporter with the See-Yaht-Sub, a publication of the Tulalip Tribes Communications Department.
Email: agobin@tulaliptribes-nsn.gov
Phone: (360) 716.4188

District One 1B Champions: Tulalip Heritage Hawks advance to Tri-districts

Tulalip Heritage Hawks win District One 1B Championship. Andrew Gobin/Tulalip News — Tulalip Heritage Hawks win District One 1B Championship. *Andrew Gobin/Tulalip News*

Article and photos by Andrew Gobin, Tulalip News

After a great season the Tulalip Heritage Hawks dominate the District One 1B Championships, taking home the second trophy for Tulalip. Facing rival Blackhawks from Lummi in the final game, Tulalip played an intense game. The Hawks only lost one game this season, their first game this season against the Lummi Blackhawks.

The first game of the championship series was to be played against Providence Classical Christian February 8^th, but was forfeit by Providence Classical advancing Heritage to the winner’s bracket. Game two pitted the Hawks against Grace Academy on February 11^th, with the Hawks leading the game by 10 points, winning 61-48.

February 13^th was game three, the final game for the championship title, was by far the most intense. The Hawks held a narrow lead throughout the game, and at times there was a fear of losing that lead. Driven by last year’s upset at this very game, the Hawks were not about to let their lead go without a fight.

Brandon Jones with a rebound for Tulalip. This led to a 3 point shot, maintaining their lead. *Andrew Gobin/Tulalip News*

Lummi won the tip off, then ten seconds into the game Bradley Fryberg with an amazing steal from the top of the key, ran the ball down the court for a lay up. Two points and Tulalip was in the lead. You can catch the replay on the Tulalip News Facebook page. The teams met as equals on the court, returning shot for shot keeping them neck and neck. It was a game decided by fouls, as are every rivalry game between the Hawks and the Blackhawks. The last three games of last year, including the championship upset, were lost within 2 points. This year, the Hawks prevailed, winning the title of District One 1B champions, advancing them on to Tri-Districts and hopefully the State Championships.

Senior Shawn Sachey said, “This is a great feeling. We worked hard as a team, Lummi was a hard team to beat, but we won. We have a good chance of going to state, but we’ll see. We haven’t played anyone from over the mountains yet.”

Brandon Jones, also a senior, said, “The game went excellent. Scoring first gave us a lot of momentum. I just want to thank God for the win.”

New addition to the team, sophomore Ayrik Miranda, said, “We came out with intensity, andwe kept that through the game.”

Head Coach Marlin Fryberg Jr. was very pleased with the way the team played, attributing the success of the game to crucial time outs he used to refocus his players.

“Anytime we lost momentum, I called a time out and regrouped the boys. We really played the way we wanted to, the way we practiced. The last four minutes of the game, three of their starters were on the bench. But it was really the foul shots, especially those last foul shots, that sealed the win.”

This is the second time the Tulalip Heritage Hawks have won the district championships, advancing to tri-districts starting February 18^th.

For game times, stats, photos, and updates, checkout Tulalip News on Facebook or tulalipnews.com. Watch the games live on tulaliptv.com.

Andrew Gobin is a reporter with the See-Yaht-Sub, a publication of the Tulalip Tribes Communications Department.
Email: agobin@tulaliptribes-nsn.gov
Phone: (360) 716.4188