Section B • Page 2 • tacomaweekly.com • Friday, July 14, 2017
PUYALLUP TRIBAL IMPACT Supporting the Economic Growth of Our Community
PHOTO BY STEVE DUNKELBERGER
Federal, regional, state and local leaders gathered with the Puyallup Tribal Council to officially cut the ribbon on the Tribe’s new state-of-the-art Salish Cancer Center (SCC) in the spring of 2015. Joining in on the event were (back row from left): former Fife Mayor Tim Curtis; former Congressman Norm Dicks and Puyallup Tribal Council Vice-Chairman Larry LaPointe; (front row from left) Puyallup Tribal Council Members Marguerite Edwards and Sylvia Miller; Puyallup Vice-Chairwoman Roleen Hargrove; Senator Maria Cantwell; Puyallup Chairman Bill Sterud; Gov. Jay Inslee; then Lieutenant Governor Brad Owen; Congressman Denny Heck; and Puyallup Tribal Council Members David Bean and Tim Reynon.
The most urban of Native American tribes, the Puyallup Tribe of Indians continues to be a critical component of the South Sound economy. As Pierce County’s sixth largest employer, a donor to a broad range of charitable organizations, and a major funder of housing, roads, education and environmental projects, the Puyallup Tribe stands as a model for taking care of not only its
own membership, but sharing its wealth among the broader community as well. The Puyallup Tribe is one of the largest employers in Pierce County. With a payroll of more than 3,100 people that work in the Tribe’s businesses, government, economic development corporation, school, and health and housing authorities – approximately 70 percent of whom are non-Native –
employees enjoy competitive wages and benefits. In 2015 the Tribe spent over $491 million. This spending supports communities by providing good wages and generous benefits to individuals, and through purchases of goods and services from local suppliers, vendors, contractors, construction companies and more.
From sponsoring local charities, non-profit organizations, social welfare projects and events that may otherwise suffer or cease to exist, to protecting the environment, funding crime prevention, city improvement projects and healthcare, the Tribe maintains its commitment to honoring its destiny as “the generous people,” the meaning of the Tribe’s very name “Puyallup.”
TRIBE HONORS ALL VETERANS WITH MEMORIAL WALL Under a beautiful, sunny sky on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, 2015, the Puyallup Tribe held the formal dedication ceremony for its new Veterans Memorial Wall. Gathering outside of Takopid Health Center with men and women in dress uniforms representing many branches of military service, tribal members mixed with friends and family, visitors and honored guests for this important occasion. A number of honored guests were present for the dedication, including U.S. Senator Patty Murray; U.S. Representative Denny Heck; Jim Baumgart, policy advisor on behalf of Washington State Governor Jay Inslee; and Steven J. Gill, tribal liaison and administrator for the Veterans Services Division of the Washington State Dept. of Veterans Affairs. “Every time I come here, I always see something new and exciting happening in your community,” Murray said. “Many people may not realize that nationwide, Native Americans have one of the highest representations in the military, so the memorial is well deserved to say the least, and it’s wonderful to see one that so beautifully reflects the Tribe’s connection to our natural environment.” The memorial features benches to sit on, new landscaping to admire including young evergreen trees and eight bronze medallions, 36-inches in diameter and representing the eight branches of service: Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Merchant Marines, National Guard and Air National Guard. Six flag poles line the outer rim of the memorial to fly the American flag, Puyallup Tribe of Indians flag, Canadian flag, Washington State
Six flags were raised for the first time on the day of the dedication ceremony.
flag, Tribal Veterans flag and the POW/MIA flag. Puyallup Tribal Council Chairman Bill Sterud gave the opening remarks before inviting the rest of the Tribal Council up to the podium. “Today, here, we have a place of peace – a place to think of our veterans in a good way, a place of honor for a special group of men and women, a place to give special recognition for without our veterans and their sacrifices, what would our world be?“ he said. “I’m honored and humbled to be a part of this Veterans Day celebration and the dedication of this amazing Veterans Memorial Wall.”
Puyallup Vice-Chairwoman Roleen Hargrove described the memorial as “a sacred circle filled with a lot of blood, sweat and tears that was constructed with love, with gratitude and most of all with honor.” “When you come, we invite you – our veterans invite you – to come within this circle and pray, recognize and most of all honor all of our veterans, all of our ancestors, for the fight that they have gone through to get us to where we are today,” she said. “Please, whenever you come don’t just pass by – enter and remember those that fight for our freedom, Native and non-Native alike.”
STEWARDS OF THE LAND AND WATERS Puyallup Tribe dedicates resources to protecting steelhead Caring for the environment and all living creatures has always been a way of life for the Puyallup Tribe of Indians. Going back untold centuries before the first settlers arrived and up to the present day, the Tribe has never faltered in being caretakers of the natural world, and this is shown admirably in the Tribe’s efforts to protect our waterways and the varieties of fish that live there. Most recently, one of the Tribe’s two fisheries has taken proactive measures to save a disappearing run of wild steelhead by installing an acclimation pond on the White River, one of six acclimation ponds installed and operated by the Tribe’s Fisheries Department. With wild steelhead stocks thorughouth the Northwest showing less than stellar survival, this new and different approach will hopefully improve return rates of wild steelhead. The acclimation pond was added in 2016 and is the only one dedicated to bringing steelhead out of the hatchery and into the wild in order to boost their numbers and bring more adults back. “Twenty years ago, we had strong numbers with upward of 2,000 adults returning to the White River alone,” said the Tribe’s Resource Protection Manager Russ Ladley, “and now their numbers have averaged around 300 over
When filled with water, this acclimation pond can hold between 25,000 and 50,000 juvenile steelhead and should produce between 200-300 adults.
the past decade. That’s when we decided we’ve got to do something.” One of the proven methods of improving survival is to take fish away from a totally artificial environment and put them in a more natural environment during the early
imprinting stage of their rearing. This is what an acclimation pond achieves, and in this case the new acclimation pond moves juvenile steelhead up to the headwaters in a more natural water temperature regime. This removes the young fish from the water provided from ground water wells at the hatchery and places them in a “real world environment,” as fish behavior is greatly influenced by water temperature. “In this case, we typically move the fish in January or February and rear them in those ponds for about four to five months and then cut them loose,” Ladley said. “They’re allowed to volitionally move out so you basically open up a screen where they can move out into the creeks which then go to the mainstem White River and then into the Puyallup on their way to Commencemnt Bay.” The pond can hold between 25,000 and 50,000 juvenile steelhead and should produce between 200-300 adults back to this operation. It will take three years to determine returning numbers. As Ladley explained it, “You get the water’s natural chemistry going to the fish, the fish imprint on that as their home and two to three years from now will hopefully head back there to spawn.”
For more information about the Puyallup Tribe of Indians, visit www.puyallup-tribe.com.