Jan 2020 Vol. 54 No. 1
Special Issue
Meet Your 2020 Tribal Election Candidates! | PAGE 7
C
NTENTS INSIDE
Leon John was honored at the Swinomish employee Christmas party for serving the Tribe for over 24 years. Not shown: Tracy James and Tracey Parker were the other two honoraries.
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Editor's Note Obituaries Community Happenings Meet Your 2020 Tribal Election Candidates! 2020 Provisional Adoptees Youth Spirit Program Calendar December Community Dinner + Honoring... Elders' Lunch Menu January Birthdays
Education
Dinner DECEMBER 16, 2019 – Marlys Baker was sworn in as a La Conner School Board member. Photo Courtesy of Kevin Paul
Come celebrate our Swinomish students as we acknowledge their academic achievements! Join us @ the swinomish youth center
wednesday, february 12 @ 5:30 PM QUESTIONS - MICHAEL VENDIOLA - (360) 466.7317
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editor’s NOTE Welcome to the Volume 54 of qyuuqs News! As I sit and reflect on the past decade, I have to refresh my memory regarding the many historic events that took place during the last 10 years. In a nutshell: You may recall that Apple released its first iPad in 2010; that same year Lady Gaga wore her iconic meat dress to the MTV Video Music Awards. Let’s not forget the viral videos and songs “What Does the Fox Say?” and “Baby Shark!” In 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage. Donald Trump was elected as the 45th president of the United States in 2016. According to the Washington Post, a record total of 28,869 people died of synthetic opioidrelated overdoses in 2017, a 46.4 percent increase from the previous year. The world witnessed millions of women and men marching in solidarity during the 2017 Women’s March. And last but not least, one of nature’s awe-inspiring sights, a solar eclipse occurred.
of our newly-constructed swedebs Park. Chairman Cladoosby was elected as president of the National Congress of American Indians in 2013, a position he served until 2017. In 2016, the Swinomish Dental Clinic hired the first dental health aid therapist in the Lower 48! In an effort to push back against the opioid epidemic, the Tribe took initiative by opening the Wellness Center in 2017; their treatment model is proving to be unique and one of the only truly integrated wellness centers of its kind in the United States. Another great moment in 2017, a movement towards self-determination at Swinomish as we continue to work together to reclaim the Tribe’s status as a true sovereign nation: Tribal members voted and approved the amendments to the Tribe’s Constitution. Notable enterprise achievements include the renovation and expansion of the Swinomish Casino & Lodge; we expanded our gas enterprises to include three gas stations; and the Tribe opened Swinomish Golf Links and the Swinomish Shellfish Company! Our tribal community continues to guide each other towards the path which our ancestors have carved for each of us. Each one, discovering their place within our Tribe and the surrounding communities with the guiding principle of loving, caring, and sharing.
What happened within the Swinomish Tribe? We hosted the Canoe Journey Paddle to Swinomish in Caroline Edwards 2011, where thousands of people walked on the shores goliahlitza
pedXa?Xa? (pud-HA-HA)
Moon of the Sacred Time The late December/January moon is the "moon of the sacred time." Both the final moon of the one yearly cycle and the beginning moon of the next cycle, it is a time for renewal and rebirth. Thus, it is also the perfect time for learning spiritual and cultural traditions from elders and the longhouse fire. Sea-run cutthroat trout, blackmouth salmon and steelhead are fished during the winter moons; ducks, geese, deer, and elk are hunted; and tools, baskets, and other items are constructed. Shellfish are collected during the nighttime low tides. Excerpt from ‘13 Moons: The 13 Lunar Phases, and How They Guide the Swinomish People’ By swelitub (Todd A. Mitchell) and Jamie L. Donatuto sw d bš qyuuqs News
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Obituraries
Douglas James Gunter "Dougie" Douglas was born to Julie Bobb and James Gunter on September 2, 1996 at the Skagit Valley Hospital in Mount Vernon, Washington. He is also a member of the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community.
Douglas is survived by his parents James Gunter and Julie Bobb, Swinomish. His paternal grandparents John and Wilma Sepulueda. Four sisters & brother: Joanna Santos (Ev), Marlys Baker (Ace Sr.), Sheri Chagnon (Cubby), Sarah Chagnon (Ian), Philysia & He attended school in Mount Vernon Schools. He Phillip DeLeon. Numerous aunts, uncles, cousins, earned his GED at the Northwest Indian College, neices and nephews. Swinomish Campus in 2018. He grew up here, in the Skagit Valley. He is preceded in death by maternal grandparents Ernest Bobb and Winona John Bobb; auntie Jeanie He was so proud of his heritage, always ready to learn. Bobb, Trudy Davidson-Bobb, and Alfreda "Beetle" He had the biggest heart and was a respectful man. He Bailey, and Brian Sattler. was so full of love it over flowed in his eyes, his smile and in his laugh. The families would like to thank-you all for your support and donations during our difficult time. Dougie had numerous friends and they were like brothers to the end. Special cousins Kurtis Perry, Isaias Guzman, Jacob Cruz, Austin Edwards, DJ Castillo, Nick, Tisha & Cookie, and Dominic.
Andrea N. Topaum Andrea Topaum passed away on Monday, December 23, 2019 in Bellingham, Washington. Andrea was born on September 11, 1994 to Cora Clark and Grover Topaum Jr. Andrea spent her life as a young girl with great-grandpa Stoney and great-grandma Baby Doll. Her grandpa Stoney took care of Andrea and Yaya until he became too sick. Grandpa Stoney asked Bully and Carrie to take care of her so she could grow up with her brothers and sisters, the Stone family is forever grateful to her mom Carrie and her dad Bully for taking her in as their own. Andrea attended La Conner schools and the Tulalip school. She worked for a summer with Tulalip Youth Services. Andrea traveled all over Indian Country with her dad to help him with his Veterans work. Andrea also enjoyed playing Sla Hal with her family. As a young girl Andrea and Yaya spent almost every day at Lone Tree with their 4 sw d bĹĄ qyuuqs News
grandpa. Andrea enjoyed watching the Seahawks and she also liked listening to music. But her children were her pride and joys. Andrea struggled for a few years to get well, she suffered in silence and never wanted to be a burden. Now she is free and back in the arms of her loving grandpa. Andrea is survived by her grandmother Virginia Stone, grandparents Roger Clark and Darla Stone. Grover Sr. and Alice Topaum, Cy and Karen Fryberg. Parents William Mc Lean Jr. and Carrie Fryberg. Dad Grover Topaum Jr. Siblings - William III, Colton, Latisha, Nora, Wilford, Nico, Anthony, Lloyd, Kandice, Martie Mc Lean and Kesha Fryberg. Preston Torres, Kendall Edwards, Emily Jimmy, Joel, Lavennah Shongutsie, Gabrielle, Alishia, Ardel, Virginia, and Louise Topaum. Numerous
aunts, uncles, cousins and friends. Special sister Leanna Johns (Yaya). Most importantly her children Jobe and Virginia Metcalf. The family would like to offer special acknowledgments to the care providers of Jobe and Virginia. Andrea is preceded in death by her grandpa Stoney; mom, Cora Clark; her great-grandmother Louis Fornsby; uncles Phillip Stone, Lance Fornsby, Clayton Day and auntie Lenora Siddle. Grandparents William Sr., and Miriam McLean, greatgrandparents James and Elizabeth Tom Scott; Ada Cagey. Greatgreat grandma Alice Dan, greatgrandparents Pudgy & Agatha Edwards; Allison Peter, Allison Timonthy, Tim Sr., Tommy Sr., and Putt Edwards Jr.; Tom Jr., and Julie Ann Edwards; Jason Topaum, Amelia John, Greg Topaum, Jr., Baby Jaymes Edwards Jr.
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COMMUNITY HAPPENINGS JANUARY 15 *Community Dinner | 6PM @ Youth Center FEBRUARY 9 General Election | 8AM-1PM @ Social Services General Council to follow the General Election FEBRUARY 12 Education Dinner | 5:30PM @ Youth Center FEBRUARY 19 Community Dinner | 6PM @ Youth Center *Community Dinners are subject to change
HOLIDAYS
JANUARY 1 New Year's Day
JANUARY 20 Martin Luther King Jr. Day FEBRUARY 17 President's Day
NOTICE OF 2020
GENERAL ELECTION SUNDAY February 9, 2020 At the Social Services Building Voting Hours: 8AM-1PM
Senate Seat 1: Sophie E. Bailey, Incumbent Senate Seat 2: Brian Cladoosby, Incumbent Alana Quintasket General Council to follow General Election
GENERAL ELECTION DETERMINED PURSUANT TO STC 2-01.100(B)
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Meet Your 2020 Tribal Election Candidates! THE CANDIDATE INFORMATION WAS SUBMITTED BY THE SWINOMISH ELECTION BOARD. CANDIDATES WERE CERTIFIED PURSUANT TO STC 02-1.120(F). GENERAL ELECTION WILL OCCUR ON 2/9/2020 PURSUANT TO STC 02-1.100(B).
Senate Seat 1
Sophie E. Bailey
Official Goals & Objectives letter
I come before you for your support in the 2020 General Election. I would like to take this time to thank everyone for the opportunity to work on your behalf and also to work with other elected officials. Thank you for entrusting me to be a part of the decision making of our growing community in all respects to health, education and prosperity. We continue to strive towards many successes for our Community. My belief is for fairness and equal opportunity and I will continue to address these issues on behalf of everyone. I attend all community events to support all families. Being available to listen to their ideas and concerns and doing what I can to address these, is something I will continue to do if given the opportunity in this election, I promise to continue to strive for the betterment of all members. Thank you for your consideration in this election. Loving, Caring & Sharing Sophie Bailey sapelia
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Senate Seat 2
Brian Cladoosby
Official Goals & Objectives letter
First of all, I thank our Creator for allowing me to have the greatest job in the world. I have been blessed to be able to be on the Senate for the last 35 years and I consider it to be one of the most important jobs at Swinomish, to be able to have a positive impact on your people. I want to thank Nina for being by my side, not only the last 35 years as a Senator, but also the 44 years we have been together. She is the spiritual foundation for our family and I would not be where I am today without her in my life. God has blessed us with two beautiful daughters, La Vonne and Mary and La Vonne’s husband Tyler and two beautiful grandchildren, Bella and Nate. Nina and I feel so blessed that neither of our daughters do drugs or alcohol. The Bible says in Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way they should go: and while they are older, they will not depart from it.” It is a blessing to know our grandchildren are being raised in a home that is drug and alcohol free. My biggest goal is to destroy historical trauma one generation at a time. Most American’s do not know what that means for our community, historical trauma. We have had to deal with this for generations and I am starting to see positive results in our community because of the programs we have put in place. We have been plagued for too long with drug and alcohol abuse because of historical trauma. We are in a war and we can never put our guard down when it comes to this battle. We are seeing positive changes in our community because of our decision to be drug and alcohol free. We are seeing more and more kids being raised in drug and alcohol free homes. We are seeing our programs having a positive impact on our community when it comes to the war on drugs and alcohol we need to continue this fight as a community. Many of us are former drug and alcohol users and our community members never gave up on us. We are here because our community prayed for us and we are seeing these prayers answered. We can never give up on praying for anyone in our community that is still addicted to drugs and alcohol because our elders did not give up on us. I thank God our Senators are all drug and alcohol free. Homes, homes, homes, we need to continue to have a place for our people to have a place to live, especially our members in their 20’s who want to have their own place to live. We have done a great job providing jobs, now our focus has to be on homes. We need homeowners, rentals, apartment buildings, duplexes, triplexes, you get the idea, we need homes now. Thank you and God bless you. Brian Cladoosby
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Senate Seat 2
Alana Quintasket
Official Goals & Objectives letter
?u Ai Gelapu? ha?A ti d?iiSed ha?A ti dsye?ya?ya (my honorable relatives, my good family, my good friends)- I would like to begin by expressing gratitude to you, our ancestors, and the land and the water we come from. Without you, and them, I would not be here or be who I am. “Goals and objectives if elected to senate” Without prior experience, in this role, it is difficult to articulate what could be achievable as an individual. I can, however, share with you my perspective of what I believe the goal should be as a community. Every day we experience the impacts of colonization, I often dream of what an indigenous society might have been like 500, or 5000 years ago. I know that we will never be able to recreate that way of life, but it is important to take core values, knowledge and skills from then to bring healing to our people. We all carry the trauma and toxic stress of our ancestors from genocide, boarding schools and colonization - but we often forget that we also carry the resiliency and deep, sacred, valuable indigenous knowledge. One of the first things destroyed was our communities. We are fortunate to be in a time where we can learn our history, share it and reclaim our identities as Coast Salish people. This is where healing begins. Where we restore that unity, so we can move forward and create an environment and society where our people thrive. For so many years our people have been convinced that we must conform to systems that are not indigenous and to be dependent on someone else or the US government to make decisions for our futures, or that they have solutions for our problems. When we are the ones we have been waiting for. We are responsible for our relationships with each other, and our relationships with all living things that surround us the forest, the land, the water, and our non-human relatives that live with us. We do not own these things, and it is not our “right” to have them. These connections are medicine for our people, they have been since the beginning of time. We need to return to our ancestral indigenous teachings to heal, for the sake of future generations. When we have people who are still living in poverty, people that are homeless, and elders forced to live outside of the community - does this reinforce colonization or our core indigenous values? Ultimately, the goal should be to come together - learning, healing and moving forward and creating a healthy community environment where we can all thrive. Each one of us has a purpose, we all have a role in the community and we need to support one another in refining whatever “gift” has been bestowed upon you from our ancestors to contribute to our society. ?esbutbutlaVi Veda tiGitubuAed Ved (I raise my hands to you and thank you) for taking the time to read this. Alana Quintasket sw d bš qyuuqs News
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2020 PROVISIONAL ADOPTEES Ernest Reynolds Tandy Knight
Lulu Jarvis
Granville Knight
Esther Teeias
Ernest Reynolds Provisional Member
Gabrielle Weightman Alvin Dan
Randall Weightman
Provisional Member Enrolled Swinomish No Swinomish Affiliation
ATTENTION: AFTER-HOURS HOUSING & UTILITY EMERGENCIES
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Leona (Dan) Weightman
Gabrielle Weightman Provisional Member
Pauline Damien
YOUTH SPIRIT PROGRAM JANUARY 7 YSP Resumes: Winter Activities Start
Winter Activities
6th grade & up Tues-Wed-Thurs, 2:40-4:30pm
Tuesdays
DREAMCATCHERS
JANUARY 8 Native American Parent Advisory Meeting 6PM @ District Office JANUARY 28 Early Release: YSP OPEN 11:35AM-1:30PM FEBRUARY 18 No School - Professional Development Day: YSP CLOSED MARCH 15 No School - MidWinter Break: YSP CLOSED
Wednesdays
COOKING
MARCH 18 Early Release: YSP OPEN 11:35AM-1:30PM MARCH 19 Early Release: YSP OPEN 11:35AM-1:30PM APRIL 6-10 Spring Break: YSP CLOSED APRIL 14 YSP Resumes: Spring Activities Start
Thursdays
STORYTELLING
YOUTHSPIRIT Questions? Julia Ortiz 360.466.7278 Tanisha Gobert 360.499.9446 Leah Gobert 360.399.8505 sw d bš qyuuqs News
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DECEMBER COMMUNITY DINNER
Our Honored Elders
Michael Wilbur Sr. Kim Murphy
Honoring Jesse Edwards & Sandy Wilbur for Their Service to Recreation & Prevention at the Youth Center Combined, Jesse Edwards and Sandy Wilbur have worked 29+ years with our future generations at the Swinomish Youth Center. Best of luck to you in your new jobs!
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JANUARY 2020
ELDERS’ LUNCH
1 WED
*Lunch served Mon-Thurs. No take away meals until 11AM. Call (360) 466.3980 to cancel home delivery.
2 THURS
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
No Service
Milk served with all meals.
6 MON
7 TUES
8 WED
9 THURS
No Service
Meat Lasagna Broc/Caul/Carrots Peaches
Fish & Oysters Rice Green Beans Fruit Cocktail
Sausage Egg Sandwich Potato Patty Fruit Salad
13 MON
14 TUES
15 WED
16 THURS
Chicken Patty Sandwich Potato Chips Coleslaw Oranges
Pork Roast/Gravy Cabbage/Potato French Bread Applesauce
Fish & Oysters Scallop Potatoes/Rolls Mixed Green Salad Pears
Eggs & Bacon Pancake Berries Vegetable Juice
20 MON
21 TUES
22 WED
23 THURS
Fish & Oysters Fry Bread Glazed Carrots Berries
Eggs & Ham Hash Browns Pineapple Vegetable Juice
Martin Luther King Jr. Day! Split Pea Soup No Service Tuna Sandwich Vegetable Tray Fresh Fruit Bowl 27 MON
28 TUES
29 WED
30 THURS
Hamburgers Lettuce/Tomato/Onion Baked Beans Tatar Tots Fresh Fruit Bowl
Vegetable Beef Stew Oven Rolls Berries
Fish & Oysters Rice Brussels Sprouts Oranges
Cheese Quiche English Muffin Mixed Fruit Salad Vegetable Juice
Community Dinner January 15
6PM Youth Center sw d bš qyuuqs News
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CURRENT OPEN POSITIONS
To view details about open positions and download our General Employment Application, visit swinomishcasinoandlodge.com/careers. All positions are “Open until filled” unless specified. Email applications to: jobs@swinomishcasino.com Fax applications to: (360) 299.1677 Mail or hand deliver to: Swinomish Casino & Lodge 12885 Casino Drive, Anacortes, WA 98221 Questions? Call Human Resources at (360) 299.1642
FACILITIES CUSTODIAN (FT) HEAVY DUTY CLEANER (OC) MAINTENANCE TECH (FT) FOOD & BEVERAGE BAR BACK (FT, PT) CARVER'S CAFE COOK (PT) COCKTAIL SERVER (PT) SPORTS BAR COOK (FT) GAMING KENO RUNNER/WRITER (PT) TABLE GAMES DEALER (FT) LODGE GUEST SATISFACTION ASSOC (FT) MARKETING MARKETING INTERN (PT) SECURITY SECURITY OFFICER (FT) SURVEILLANCE SURVEILLANCE OBSERVER (FT)
HUMAN RESOURCES & TRIBAL EMPLOYMENT RIGHTS OFFICE (TERO) JOB OPENINGS • • • • • • • • • • • •
Housing Authority -Maintenance Bailiff/Administrative Court Clerk Indian Child Welfare Act Attorney Legal File Clerk Environmental Management Specialist Certified Medical Assistant Health Services Director Grants Administrator Systems Administrator Tribal Mental Health Counselor Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Police Officer
Full descriptions of the job announcements listed above are available on the Swinomish website: swinomish-nsn.gov/resources/human-resources
HOW TO APPLY: Return completed application, cover letter, and resume to: Personnel Office Swinomish Indian Tribal Community 11404 Moorage Way La Conner, WA 98257 Fax applications to: (360) 466.1348 Or email to: hr@swinomish.nsn.us Questions? Call the Personnel Office at (360) 466.7347
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As a full-time employee, you will be eligible for a comprehensive benefit package including medical, dental, vision, life insurance, retirement planning, and more. Other perks include generous paid time off and discounted meals.
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PRSRT STD US Postage Paid Permit #35 ANACORTES, WA
17337 Reservation Road La Conner, WA 98257 qyuuqs@swinomish.nsn.us
Recyclable Paper
OR CURRENT RESIDENT
I AM SWINOMISH. I WILL GRADUATE. Swinomish youth sit with Santa at the Christmas Eve party!