April 2012 - Swinomish Indian Tribal Community

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swədəbš qyuuqs Page 16 Being Frank Traditional foods are treaty foods March 5th, 2012 By Billy Frank, Jr., Chairman NWIFC These short, cold, rainy and sometimes snowy days of winter always make me think about our treaties. It was during this time of year more than 150 years ago that the U. S. government negotiated most of its treaties with tribes here in western Washington. The federal government wanted our homeland. They viewed us as sovereign nations with independent authority to govern our people, lands and resources. We were treated the same as any free nation in the world because that’s what we were then and still are today. Through the treaties we reserved the things that were most important to us as a people. Among them was the right to fish, hunt and gather shellfish and other traditional foods to feed ourselves and preserve our cultures. That’s why I am excited about the new hunting department at the Puyallup Tribe of Indians. It’s aimed at strengthening the tribe’s traditional connection to wildlife by improving hunter access to deer, elk and other game for tribal members to eat. The tribe also is promoting hunting by educating young people. Wildlife habitat in western Washington is disappearing rapidly. Deer, elk and other wildlife are being crowded into smaller and smaller areas in the remaining good habitat, making it difficult for tribal members to exercise their treaty hunting rights. Spring stinging nettles Photo courtesy Elise Krohn If we lose our ability to hunt, we lose an important source of traditional food, and we can’t afford to do that. Indian people evolved eating traditional foods like elk, salmon, clams and berries. These are the foods that are best for our bodies. That’s why part of the hunting department’s mission is to help connect tribal members with sources for game meat. Tribal hunters hunt for food, not for sport. They traditionally hunt not only for themselves, but for their extended families. It’s common for tribes to designate hunters to harvest wildlife for ceremonies, as wells as for tribal elders and others who are unable to hunt for themselves. Helping tribal members incorporate more traditional foods in their diets is also the goal of the Food Sovereignty Program at Northwest Indian College’s campus on the Muckleshoot Tribe’s reservation near Auburn. Food sovereignty is the right of people to eat healthy traditional foods that are produced sustainably and don’t harm the environment. The program grew from a project by the Muckleshoot, Tulalip and Suquamish tribes and the Burke Museum at the University of Washington. The museum developed a list of traditional foods that Indian people ate before non-Indians arrived in western Washington. The Food Sovereignty program helps tribal members make those foods – such as nettles, camas, huckleberries, salmon and wild game – part of their everyday lives. The project reminds us that to have traditional foods, we must continue to be good natural resources managers. Our treaties recognize that food is at the center of our cultures. Indian tribes are sovereign nations, and part of that sovereignty includes access to the traditional foods needed to keep ourselves and our communities healthy and strong. Billy Frank Jr. is the chairman of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission. For more information, contact: Tony Meyer or Emmett O’Connell, NWIFC, (360) 438-1181
swədəbš qyuuqs Page 17 From the Tribal Archive: Theresa Trebon, Tribal Archivist 50 Years Ago: Swinomish joins the Century 21 Statewide Beautification Campaign April 22 marks the 42 anniversary of Earth Day, a key environmental event that reminds us of the need to care for our planet in a focused way. But just 8 years before the birth of Earth Day, in 1962, a grand exposition opened in Seattle that many still recall, one that shaped how Washingtonians care for their public spaces. On April 21 of that year President John F. Kennedy pressed the same telegraph key that started the Alaska-Yukon- Pacific Exposition in Seattle in 1909, only “this time, instead of a simple coast-to-coast electronic signal, the key triggered a radio telescope in Maine, which picked up an Century 21 Poster 1962 impulse from a star 10,000 light years away,” and aimed it towards Seattle to start the Century 21 World’s Fair. Preparations for the fair began in earnest in 1960 with a focus on improving Washington through the Century 21 State Beautification Committee: Swinomish was the first Indian community to get on board. The Swinomish Ladies Welfare Club (see March 2012 Kee Yoks) had been working on “home and garden improvement” in S w i - nomish since t h e Century 21 Dahlia Seeds Sent by Century 21 Beautification Committee to Swinomish -1960 Found in Swinomish Fish Plant -2007 early 1940s but the invitation to join the Century 21 effort spurred them to greater action. The club appointed a committee headed by Laura Wilbur, and assisted by Bertha Dan, Irene Siddle and Marie Charles to launch a year-round beautification and home improvement campaign at Swinomish. Irene John was named to head of the “bulldozing committee” to contact home owners who need bulldozing to clear lots and brush; Claude Wilbur would man the dozer. On May 26, 1960, the Puget Sound Mail announced that the effort was fully underway. One area that proved challenging was the large “back lots” of the homes bordering Front S t r e e t in the village. The solution was to a r - range f o r t h e Tribal Community to take Puget Sound Mail May 12, 1960 over those large unused back areas and “plant Hawthorne trees along the street so that the people living down below will have more privacy in their backyards.” That June, a large gunnysack of dahlia bulbs arrived, courtesy of the Century 21 Beautification Committee, and the Ladies Welfare Club directed their planting in the village, particularly around the tennis court area, now the site of the medical clinic. Free seeds also were distributed and it was reported that Alfred Sampson had created a “nice rockery on the corner of his lot.” Plans got underway to erect the first sign at the entrance to the reservation announcing one’s arrival to the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community. In September, Swinomish was invited to Seattle where they were presented a special plaque at an awards ceremony honoring those who participated in the beautification effort: it was the only Puget Sound Mail 9-22-1960 Indian tribe to participate or be so honored. The beautification started by the Ladies Welfare club in the 1940s, and taken to greater heights in preparation for Century 21, paved the way for the Tribe’s embrace of Earth Day and the important values it represents. Whether it’s the annual spring and fall clean up days, recycling efforts in the tribal buildings and public events, protecting the environment, or celebrating Earth Day itself, Swinomish is carrying on the tradition of caring for this planet we all call home.
Page 1 and 2: qyuuqs (Kee Yoks) swədəbš qyuuqs
Page 3 and 4: swədəbš qyuuqs Chairman’s Mess
Page 5 and 6: swədəbš qyuuqs WOMEN’S EMPOWER
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Page 9 and 10: swədəbš qyuuqs Swinomish Casino
Page 11 and 12: swədəbš qyuuqs Page 11 The Earth
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Page 15: swədəbš qyuuqs swedebS Community
Page 19 and 20: swədəbš qyuuqs Education: Page 1
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Page 33 and 34: swədəbš qyuuqs Submitted by: Tar
Page 37 and 38: swədəbš qyuuqs Page 37 Happy Bir
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April 2012 - Swinomish Indian Tribal Community

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