Members of the Army Corp of Engineers, Seattle division, meet with Tulalip Tribal members to tour the Qwuloolt Estuary. Photo/Andrew Gobin
By Andrew Gobin, Tulalip News
The Army Corps of Engineers toured the Qwuloolt Estuary, located in Marysville, on Wednesday, June 25, as part of a transitional period. Colonel Bruce Estok is stepping down from his position with the corps, and is introducing his successor, Colonel John Buck, to some of the communities and projects the corps is involved with. The Qwuloolt Estuary project is an example of successful collaboration between the corps and local communities with specific interests.
Col. Buck said, “The corps’ primary focus is Puget Sound. This is a great example of the corps and the tribe coming together to tackle a hard problem, which is to restore the Puget Sound ecosystem. This project is 20 years in the making, and it’s exciting to see the work happening.”
The Qwuloolt Estuary was chosen as a project site tour for a few reasons, mainly the unique relationship the corps has with Tulalip, and the importance of the project in reaching the goal of restoring the waters of Puget Sound.
“The estuary has been deemed a crucial habitat for salmon for a long time. It is crucial to any watershed. It is the place where life happens, where the land meets the sea,” said Kurt Nelson, Environmental Division Manager for the Tulalip Natural Resources Department.
“This project, the way it was organized and designed, it didn’t quite fit the corps’ normal procedures. This is a unique project,” Nelson added. “What we need for the future is a way to make procedures more flexible for unique situations, like this one.”
Col. Estok explained that the corps projects are not really part of the president’s budget, mostly due to a lack of feasibility plan. Because of that, funding is often uncertain, so the projects remain uncertain right up until the first day work actually begins.
“Tulalip Tribes is our unofficial sponsor,” said Col. Estok.
He and Nelson explained that the funding for Qwuloolt largely comes from 21 grants the tribe secured to cover project costs. Grant funding often has time constraints, which means the funds might not be available by the time the Army Corps of Engineers process is complete. That is one major obstacle that had to be overcome for Qwuloolt.
Tulalip Tribes Vice Chairman Les Parks, who represented the council at the site tour, said, “We appreciate that you guys came out, especially Colonel Buck, taking the helm now. The health of Puget Sound is faltering, and projects like this will help to restore it.”
Col. Estok noted that this is not the first collaborative effort between the corps and the Tulalip Tribes.
“We have the first in-lieu fee mitigation plan with a tribe. That’s a good relationship, one that we want to keep building on,” he said.
For more information about the Qwuloolt Estuary, visit www.qwuloolt.org.
WASHINGTON (AP) – The chairman of the Spirit Lake Indian Tribe said Tuesday that his reservation in northeastern North Dakota still has difficulty handling child protection issues and finding resources.
“The problems still remain,” Leander R. McDonald told a House subcommittee hearing organized by U.S. Rep. Kevin Cramer. “We continue to struggle to meet the child protection needs of our community.”
McDonald said the Spirit Lake Indian Reservation is trying to change its culture and improve the way it handles justice and child care issues. But he said tribal officials have struggled to fill key social worker positions and have found limited help from the federal government.
Cramer, a North Dakota Republican, said he pushed for the hearing because he is trying to gauge whether Congress needs to take action in order to improve conditions at the reservation. He said he was disturbed by repeated cases of child abuse and two cases involving child deaths on the reservation.
“The system is failing,” he said.
Spirit Lake has had numerous documented cases of child abuse, and last year federal prosecutors successfully tried two cases involving child deaths on the reservation. The tribe has ousted a former chairman and taken other steps to fix what officials have called a broken child protection system, since it initially came under fire in 2012.
Last year, the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs intervened, taking over some operations to try and improve conditions. The agency assigned seven agents to the reservation.
Tribal members agreed about a year ago to remove Chairman Roger Yankton Sr. in a recall vote, saying his administration was corrupt and ineffective and had allowed a culture of child abuse and child sexual abuse to worsen on the reservation. Yankton has denied the allegations.
Members of Congress seemed skeptical Tuesday that enough was being done to correct dire problems on the reservation. Earlier in the hearing, Cramer and other members of the House Natural Resources subcommittee on Indian and Alaska Native Affairs pressed federal officials about why more wasn’t being done.
Rep. Don Young was dismissive when addressing remarks from Michael S. Black, director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Young said he was annoyed the bureau had not accomplished more during its stewardship of Spirit Lake.
“This is good words,” the Alaska Republican said. “It doesn’t necessarily accomplish something.”
Black and another federal official, Joo Yeum Chang, an associate commissioner with the Administration for Children and Families, defended the federal response and said they were doing the best they could with limited resources.
Black said conditions had improved but that his agency simply didn’t have enough resources to deal with all of Spirit Lake’s issues.
“We’re reaching a point where we’re talking to other tribes to try and recruit some of them,” he said. “To have them come up and address issues they can help us resolve.”
He added, “I think we as a community have been making progress.”
Graduates of the Tulalip TERO Construction Training Center.
By Andrew Gobin, Tulalip News
TULALIP – Tulalip TERO celebrated the first graduating class of the new TERO Construction Training Center June 12. Students graduating at the TCTC celebratory lunch showcased their final projects. Tribal leaders, program staff, former staff, and students shared words about what the day meant.
“What you’re doing here is building a foundation for your careers,” began Tim Wilson, a program manager for the Department of Labor and Industry. “There is nothing in this world you can’t do if you put your mind to it. This foundation you’ve built will help in that.”
Wilson congratulated the students, and honored them and staff for the work to make the TCTC program a successful reality.
“I was on the phone the other day, talking to someone back in D.C., and we were discussing national issues and apprenticeship. I was able to say, ‘Well guess what. I’ve got the first tribal pre-apprenticeship program,’ and there was silence on the line,” he said.
Tulalip’s new TCTC program is the first state recognized pre-apprenticeship program fully operated by a tribal entity. Washington State Labor Board categorized it as a “pre-apprentice” program , whose graduates are qualified to join various trade unions and their respective apprenticeship programs. Upon completion of the coursework students are ready to safely enter the construction work environment.
“This program is a learning opportunity for our members and other Native Americans. It gives our people a chance to learn a trade and contribute to the building of our community. Many of the program’s graduates go on to full employment with our tribal construction department, or with one of the many construction companies in the region,” said Tulalip Tribes Chairman Herman Williams. “We’re very proud of those who have completed the first year of our newly recognized pre-apprentice program.”
The Tulalip Construction Training program has been in existence for over a decade and over the years has been managed by both the Tulalip College Center and The Tribal Employment Rights Office (TERO) and has also been funded by different grants. This past year it reverted to TERO management and with the change has come a shift in emphasis from simply providing the vocational training program to advocating and helping with job placement after students complete the program and exposuring students to the various trades through speakers from trade unions and representatives from certification programs. If students choose to stick with the trades as a career pathway they can expect to make a good living.
The Tulalip Tribes operates the TCTC in partnership with Edmonds Community College, offering training in the construction trades to its members, as well as other Native Americans, in order to help them obtain the necessary skills to enter the job market
“Edmonds Community College is proud to be a partner with the Tulalip Tribes in providing this opportunity for students to acquire job-ready skills in the Construction Industry Training program,” said Andy Williams from the Edmonds Community College business program. “Many of the graduates earn employment in the construction trades upon graduation, earning good wages and contributing to the economy and the community. This is a great educational model initiated by the Tulalip Tribes, and Edmonds Community College is honored to participate.”
TERO program staff, past and present, could not be more proud of their students, honoring the work they were able to accomplish.
The ten week course provides students instruction in the basics of the construction trade. Students are also awarded a flagging certification, First AID/CPR, and an OSHA 10 Hour Safety Card. In addition to these necessary construction skills, at the Tulalip TCTC students learn a set of values to guide and drive them towards successful careers.
Mark Newland speaks to his graduates during the Tulalip TERO Construction Training Center Graduation luncheon. Photo: Andrew Gobin/Tulalip News
Mark Newland one of the instructors for the program, has worked with TERO for many years, formerly with the NACTEP program, offered some final words of guidance to his students. “I don’t worry about my reputation, I worry about my character. Because if you take care of your character, your reputation will take care of itself.”
Newland was praised for his dedication to the program, called “the soul of this organization, and a great role model.”
He talked about the pride the students should feel not only about the work they’ve done for themselves, but what it means for years to come, saying, “One of the great things about being a carpenter is, for the next 20 years, you will drive by a project and be able to say to yourself, ‘Hey…I did that.’ That is something to be proud of.”
Andrew Gobin is a staff reporter with the Tulalip News See-Yaht-Sub, a publication of the Tulalip Tribes Communications Department. Email: agobin@tulalipnews.com Phone: (360) 716.4188
RECIFE, BRAZIL— Chris Wondolowski, the first tribally enrolled American Indian to participate at the World Cup, will be on the field as the U.S. Men’s National Team will plays Germany at noon, Thursday, June 26 in the World Cup in Recife, Brazil.
Wondolowski is a tribal citizen of the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma. He is a forward on the U.S. team.
Wondolowski plays Major League Soccer for the San Jose Earthquake. He is known by the nickname “Wondo.”
In 2013, Wondolwski tallied 11 goals and three assists in 29 MLS games, becoming the 11th player in league history to record double-digit goals in four consecutive seasons.
Wondolowski was born into the Kiowa Tribe through his mother, Janis Hoyt. He was given a tribal name, Bau Daigh, pronounced Bowe Dye, which means “warrior coming over the hill.”
His brother, Stephen Wondolowski, is also a professional soccer player.
AquaBounty fish are genetically modified to grow twice as quickly as regular salmon. The salmon in the foreground is a natural Atlantic salmon, in the background is the AquAdvantage Transgenic salmon. Photo: AquaBounty Technologies
By Andrew Gobin, Tulalip News
Salmon is a crucial resource for many Salish tribes, including the Tulalip people who are historically referred to as the Salmon People for their relationship to the salmon. But what happens when there are no more salmon returning? What happens to the culture and identity of the Tulalip Tribes? Today, the ongoing discussion over the fish consumption rate and the proposed increase in water pollution allowed in watersheds around Washington State pose real threats to the survival of wild salmon, and in turn the Tulalip way of life. The salmon resource is already at a high risk for extinction, with wild Chinook (King Salmon) and Steelhead runs recently added to the endangered species list. Over the last four years a new threat has grown very rapidly, skirting around cultural and environmental policies through an ongoing debate under the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Genetically-engineered salmon, known as AquAdvantage Salmon, developed by AquaBounty Technologies, present risks to natural salmon production, the environment, and Tulalip culture and identity.
Mike Crewson of the Tulalip Tribes Natural Resource Department explained some of the immediate threats posed by AquAdvantage salmon.
“While genetically-modified agriculture has been permitted for years and engineered crops are widely used in processed foods, this would be the first genetically-modified animal allowed for human consumption in the United States. Like other farmed fish, they will compete with the U.S. salmon market and tribal economies dependent on fishing, especially if the technology spreads,” he said.
AquAdvantage salmon are genetically-engineered using genes from different species of fish, not genetically modified through selective breeding techniques. AquaBounty uses a growth hormone gene from Chinook Salmon and a promoter gene from an eelpout (an eel-like fish) that speeds up the growth cycle. That combination of genetic code is then inserted into the DNA of Atlantic Salmon. The eelpout gene keeps the Chinook growth-hormone gene producing year-round. The result is an Atlantic salmon that grows to market size in 16-18 months rather than the three to five years required for Pacific salmon to reach full size. If the FDA approves genetically-engineered salmon for human consumption and they enter the market, they will be cheaper and grow much faster, which could decimate Puget Sound tribal economies and others dependent upon fishing.
The threat to genetic purity is crucial to realize in the genetically engineered salmon debate as well. A lawsuit recently filed in the State of Washington prevented the release of nearly one million hatchery steelhead throughout the state, under the guise of protecting natural steelhead runs from such consequences.
“The spotlight is on hatcheries right now, with particular undue scrutiny regarding the possible genetic effects hatchery fish could have on natural salmon populations. And that’s even when they come from the same stock as the wild fish,” explained Crewson. “State and federal regulators are even opposed to the transfer of native Pacific salmon between watersheds. While fishermen and others remain unsure how this technology could compete with native Pacific salmon, especially if the technology spreads, it is highly doubtful that the fishery regulatory agencies would ever allow genetically-engineered salmon into a region with wild salmon populations.”
The FDA decided that AquAdvantage fish require no labeling, meaning that consumers would not know whether or not the salmon they purchase is genetically-engineered or modified. For the Tulalip Tribes, the salmon people, this poses a threat to the very essence of our cultural identity. Some would say, the general public has a right to know what they are eating, especially Tribal members who may buy salmon that they presume are native for cultural, subsistence, and religious purposes, such as the wild salmon celebrated at the annual First Salmon Ceremony.
“These cheaper, quickly-maturing, genetically-engineered salmon grown in hatcheries are just another gimmick that takes the focus off of the need to protect and restore salmon habitat and rebuild self-sustaining wild salmon populations. Essentially, this undermines the Tribes’ and other’s salmon recovery focus on rebuilding natural salmon runs by restoring habitat and protecting the environment needed to support healthy natural and hatchery production. There is not a need to develop genetically-engineered fish that live their whole life in hatcheries. There is, however, a need to restore habitats and the environment to sustain long-term wild salmon populations to meet treaty-reserved harvest obligations,” Crewson said.
At the 40th Anniversary of the Boldt Decision in February, the late Billy Frank Jr. reiterated that the importance of protecting the future of the salmon resource was just as important as the right to harvest the resource. Because, if there is no resource, what good is your right?
To date, the Muckleshoot tribe is the only tribe in Washington State, if not the nation, to officially oppose the FDA consideration of genetically-engineered salmon for human consumption. The Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians and the National Congress of American Indians recently released official statements in support of Muckleshoot’s opposition.
Andrew Gobin: 360-716-4188; agobin@tulalipnews.com
The people enter the longhouse led by an important visitor carried on a bed of ferns, cedars boughs, and salmonberries. As the people enter they announce that our visitor is hikw siyab yubech, Big Chief King Salmon, gathering around him in the center of the longhouse, rejoicing in his return and the promise he represents. The annual Salmon Ceremony celebrates the return of the King Salmon, the first salmon run of the year. It is a time for the people to all share in the first returning salmon. It is here that the yearly blessing of the fishermen takes place, praying for their safety and a bountiful season.
Helen Fenrich and Joanne Jones perform the blessing of the fishermen. 1997 Photo courtesy of the family of Stan and Joanne Jones
“We are thankful the fishermen have made it through another season. This is the reason we have the blessing of the fishermen, we ask the Great Spirit to bring them home safe, and ensure a good salmon catch,” said longtime ceremony leader, Stan Jones, Scho-Hallem.
For 24 years, my entire life, I have been raised with the salmon ceremony. I have attended all but one, and do not see myself missing any others. When practice starts, it is my favorite time of the year. For two months before the actual ceremony, families come together every week to share a meal, share the teachings, and share the songs and dances. I take great pride in seeing the ceremony continue and grow, and I am grateful to be a part of it. I’m thankful to carry on the work so many have handed down, thankful to see the familiar faces, and glad to see new faces.
Me, Andrew Gobin, leading the Snohomish War Dance for the first time in 1997. Derek Jones and James Whitebear follow. Photo courtesy of Stan and JoAnn Jones
Glen Gobin, Tee-Chulh, who leads the ceremony today said, “This is the first year we have entered with the welcome song and not been able to fit everyone around the longhouse floor.”
In my lifetime, the number of participants has steadily grown. But over the last four or five years, many young people have started to come to practice, and continue to return year after year. This could not have been possible had the Salmon Ceremony been lost, as it almost was. Revived in 1974, thanks to the work of Harriet Shelton Dover, Morris and Bertha Dan, Molly Hatch, Daisy Williams, Stan and JoAnn Jones, Bernie and Delores Gobin, Neil Moses, Louie Moses, Bobby Moses, and many more, the ceremony continues today.
Harriette Shelton Dover speaks about the history of the salmon ceremony and how it was revived. 1976 Photo courtesy of Stan and JoAnn Jones
In First Salmon Ceremony Then and Now, Harriette Shelton Dover, Hiyultsa, was filmed as she spoke about the revival of the ceremony. “Morris Dan and I, we were cousins. And we talked about the salmon ceremony, which had been, really, disappeared, because all of the Indians were discouraged from speaking the Indian language. And so, this Salmon Ceremony is a revival of the Snohomish Tribe’s Salmon Ceremony.”
The Salmon Ceremony continues today. It is as much a place for learning as it is a place for celebration. During the weeks’ prior practices, families gather to teach new participants, ranging from small children up to their grandparents, the songs and dances, and what they mean literally and what they mean for our people. Many cultural values are discussed at practice as well, working to preserve the essence of our culture along with the songs and dances.
“We remember an almighty Creator, that we call, in our language, Dukwibulth. Dukwibulth created all the earth, all of its people. He created us. He created the salmon for our use,” said Hiyultsa.
We depend on the salmon in many ways for local economies and for cultural subsistence. One of the many teachings brought out at the ceremony each year is the importance of our visitor.
Glen Gobin leads the Salmon Ceremony, entering with the Snohomish Welcome Song. 2000 Photo: The Seattle Times
“He is a scout for the salmon people,” said Tee-Chulh. “If we treat him with respect, if we receive him in a good way, and if we acknowledge his sacrifice for us to eat, he will return to the salmon village and tell his people that we are good people. And we will have a good fishing season that will sustain us through the year.”
“He is our grandfather,” added Patti Gobin, Squatalq, Glen’s sister who passes down the teachings she received from Hiyultsa at each practice. “Long before we were human, we were the salmon people. We still call ourselves the salmon people. Our grandfather allowed us to become human so long as we remembered who we are and where we come from. And so he comes every year to see if we remember and to see how we live our lives.”
His return symbolizes the return of a healthy salmon run, which our people depend on to survive, in many ways; as a source of income, and as a primary food source. A ceremonial feast to honor and celebrate that begins with the sharing of a small piece of fish and a drink of water, symbolic of everyone sharing in the salmon returning and the life that the water provides for our people.
For a few years now, the issues of climate change and environmental preservation and protection have been talked about on the long house floor at the salmon ceremony. Today, in the State of Washington, there is legislation being moved that would make regulations on industrial pollution more lenient. That legislation has direct impacts on the salmon and the people that depend on them.
“That piece of fish that we share in, that small amount we will all eat, that is equal to what the state is saying you can eat in a month without health risk. That’s not just us [Indian people], that’s everybody. And so, when we as tribes fight this, we do it for everyone,” said Tee-Chulh.
The Tulalip First Salmon Ceremony is about many things, but above all is the importance of culture. Our culture, the culture of the salmon people, extends far beyond our traditional customs to the values placed on caring for the environment and respecting the natural world. My grandfather, Bernie Gobin (Kia-Kia), always talked about respecting our resources, not taking them for granted.
Ray Fryberg Sr, Stan Jones Sr, and Stan “Sonny” Jones Jr. lead the people out to greet our visitor. 1983 Photo: Stan and JoAnn Jones
Ray Fryberg Sr., Sdatalq, often shares a story that I appreciate. He was fishing with his grandmother, and there were lots of fish around, but his grandmother only ever caught enough to fill her small canoe and went home. When he asked why she didn’t stay and take more salmon home to sell or to keep, she simply replied that she left them so they would be there tomorrow.
The value in that story is to make sure there is enough salmon, enough of any natural resource, for tomorrow, for the next generation. That doesn’t just mean not overharvesting, it means protecting the environment so that the resource continues to not only survive, but thrive. If you take care of the resource it will continue to take care of you, and that is what salmon ceremony about today.
Andrew Gobin is a staff reporter with the Tulalip News See-Yaht-Sub, a publication of the Tulalip Tribes Communications Department. Email: agobin@tulalipnews.com Phone: (360) 716.4188
APTN National News OTTAWA–The Supreme Court of Canada has granted a declaration of Aboriginal title to the Tsilhqot’in over 1,750 square kilometres of territory in a historic ruling handed down Thursday.
This is the first time the high court has ever granted a declaration of Aboriginal title to a First Nation. The ruling also acknowledges Indigenous nations can claim occupancy and control over vast swaths of land beyond specific settlement sites, provides more clarity on Aboriginal title and sets out the parameters for government “incursion” into land under Aboriginal title.
The ruling also hands a final victory to the Tsilhqot’in Nation, which encompasses six communities with a population of about 3,000 people, over British Columbia in a long-running battle, which included blockades, over logging permits in their claimed territory.
“I would allow the appeal and grant a declaration of Aboriginal title over the area at issue, as requested by the Tsilhqot’in,” said the unanimous ruling, written by Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin. “I further declare that British Columbia breached its duty to consult owed to the Tsilhqot’in through its land use planning and forestry authorization.”
British Columbia and Ottawa both opposed the Tsilhqot’in claim to title.
The Supreme Court blasted the B.C. Court of Appeal, which had overturned a lower court ruling on what territory the Tsilhqot’in could claim under Aboriginal title. The high court found the Court of Appeal’s definition of occupancy too narrow.
“There is no suggestion in the jurisprudence or scholarship that Aboriginal title is confined to specific village sites or farms, as the court of appeal held,” said the ruling. “Rather, a culturally sensitive approach suggests that regular use of territories for hunting, fishing, trapping and foraging is ‘sufficient’ use to ground Aboriginal title.”
The high court said that Aboriginal title could be declared over territory “over which the group exercised effective control at the time of assertion of European sovereignty.”
Tsilhqot’in Nation Tribal Chair Joe Alphonse called the ruling “amazing” and said it marked the beginning of a “new Canada.”
Alphonse said the ruling also sent a message to Canada’s political leaders.
“It sends a strong message to all provincial leaders and Stephen Harper to deal with us in an honourable and respectful way,” he said.
A judge found probable cause Wednesday to support an accusation that a 28-year-old Seattle woman was one of two women who burglarized Gov. Jay Inslee’s private office in the Legislative Building in Olympia on June 15.
Thurston County Superior Court Judge Gary Tabor said there is probable cause to support accusations that Rachel Kamiya committed second-degree burglary, third-degree theft and third-degree possession of stolen property. However, Tabor allowed Kamiya to be released on her personal recognizance, meaning she was released from custody at the Thurston County Jail without having to post bail.
Kamiya, who has no prior criminal record, was arrested Tuesday afternoon at a coffee shop in Capitol Hill in Seattle where she works.
On Monday night, a Washington State Patrol segreant arrested the other suspect, Emily Huntzicker, 22. The sergeant arrested Huntzicker when he pulled her vehicle over for speeding on Interstate 5 in Chehalis. During the stop, the sergeant noticed a ceremonial WSP campaign hat lying on the floor of Huntzicker’s vehicle that was similar to a WSP hat reported stolen during the burglary of Inslee’s office.
Huntzicker gave a full confession, and helped State Patrol detectives find Kamiya, court papers state. As of Tuesday afternoon, Huntzicker, who is from Beaverton, Oregon, had been released from the Thurston County Jail after posting $2,000 bail.
WSP spokesman Bob Calkins said Tuesday that neither of the suspects realized they had burglarized the governor’s office.
Items reported stolen during the burglary included the WSP hat, a Native American blanket from the Squaxin Island Tribe, a bottle of wine, a Native American mask and a framed photo of Inslee and retired basketball star Earvin “Magic” Johnson.
According to court papers, Kamiya also stole a framed photo of Inslee and former President Bill Clinton. Kamiya recognized Clinton, but “could not recognize the second male in the photograph (Governor Inslee),” court papers state.
Huntzicker has told detectives that she and her friend had been drinking alcohol and were walking on the Capitol Campus about 7 p.m., when they came to an open window on the second floor of the Legislative Building, court papers state. Calkins has said that the suspects had to have boosted one or the other up onto the ledge in order to enter Inslee’s second-floor office.
WSP has clear surveillance footage of the women rummaging around Inslee’s office for about 10 minutes, taking items, court papers state. Calkins has said high-value items were passed up in favor of the seemingly random items that were stolen.
When a trooper visited Kamiya Tuesday at the Capitol Hill coffee shop where she works, Kamiya said “she had intended on returning the items back to the Capitol building and turning herself in to law enforcement,” court papers state.
Both suspects are tentatively scheduled for arraignments in Thurston County Superior Court in Olympia on July 8.
Read more here: http://www.theolympian.com/2014/06/25/3199633/second-suspect-in-break-in-of.html#storylink=cpy
A woman carries a girl from their home as a SWAT team searching for a suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings enters the building in Watertown, Mass., Friday, April 19, 2013. (AP/Charles Krupa)
SWAT teams were designed to capture dangerous criminals, but unnecessary SWAT deployments are putting innocent lives at risk.
A new report from the American Civil Liberties Union compares U.S. police officers’ treatment of American citizens to the U.S. military’s treatment of the country’s enemies in 800 different instances.
In its report, “War Comes Home,” the ACLU determined that police departments throughout the U.S. are growing increasingly militarized.
State and local law enforcement agencies are unnecessarily employing military-grade weapons and tactics used in war zones to police American citizens — especially in communities of color — without first obtaining public permission or implementing any sort of oversight program. This is happening even though law enforcement agencies are supposed to use the minimum amount of force necessary and not violate the civil rights of any individual.
From 2011 to 2012, 50 percent of Americans affected by unnecessary SWAT deployments were black or Latino, according to the report, while whites were only affected about 20 percent of the time.
Of all SWAT deployments in that same year, 62 percent were for drug-related searches in which heavily armed SWAT teams, which often included 20 or more officers outfitted with assault rifles and grenades, served search warrants to homes.
Officers would sometimes use dangerous equipment such as flashbang grenades to temporarily blind and deafen residents before searching a home.
SWAT teams often conducted no-knock raids if the homeowner was suspected of possessing a weapon — even a legally-owned firearm. In these no-knock raids, officers broke down doors and smashed windows in order to enter homes. They screamed at the people inside, telling them to get on the floor, while often pointing weapons at the individuals, even when there were children present.
Due to the violent nature of the SWAT teams entrances, many innocent people were seriously hurt or even killed. For example, Tarika Wilson, 26, was holding her 14-month-old son when the SWAT team broke down the front door of her home and began shooting. Wilson’s son was shot, but survived, and she was fatally wounded in the officers’ search for her boyfriend, a suspected drug dealer.
Other victims who were not suspects included Eurie Stampe, 68, who was shot and killed while watching a baseball in his pajamas when a SWAT team entered his home, and 19-month-old Bounkham Phonesavanh, who was put into a medically induced coma after a flash grenade was thrown into his crib, piercing his cheek and chest and scarring his body with third-degree burns.
Although SWAT teams were designed to apprehend school shooters, hostage takers and escaped felons, 8 in 10 SWAT raids were initiated solely for the purpose of serving a search warrant. Only about 7 percent of the SWAT raids were “for hostage, barricade, or active shooter scenarios.”
As the ACLU reported, “Law enforcement agencies have become equipped to carry out these SWAT missions in part by federal programs such as the Department of Defense’s 1033 Program, the Department of Homeland Security’s grants to local law enforcement agencies, and the Department of Justice’s Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program.”
In 36 percent of the SWAT raids, no contraband was found, but the ACLU noted that this figure may be closer to 65 percent, since there are incomplete police reports for a number of raids that produced nothing.
While the ACLU’s report is full of startling data proving the existence of an increasingly militarized law enforcement community throughout the U.S., the advocacy group ultimately concluded that the report was incomplete because “[d]ata collecting and reporting in the context of SWAT was at best sporadic and at worst virtually nonexistent.”
An inspirational video featuring Native American youth from this year’s Leadership Development Camp shows viewers who the youth are and who they are not—mascots, savages, alcoholics, drug addicts.
A black and white silent portion of the video has students each holding up a sign saying what they are not, like “I am not a mascot,” and “I am not a savage.” The students are then seen in color and explaining what they are—beautiful, a basketball player, a dreamer, a leader, the next cultural generation.
“We’re proud of our culture and never will ever hide it,” one of the students in the video says.
The Leadership Development Camp is designed for youth ages 13 to 17 from the Coeur d’Alene Reservation. Its goal is to develop leadership skills, resiliency, and strengthen academic skills.
The camp brings the students to the Washington State University Pullman campus for a week-long stay.
“Through participation in team building and sports activities and culturally responsive specialized academic seminars, this one-week residential camp offers students a chance to develop new skills, experience college life, and reflect upon and prepare to meet their goals for the future,” says information with the video.
