Friends & Relatives Radio Hour

Before Kevin Villars there was Enrique Medina. Enrique, head of the Lummi HS track coach, lead the team to win state title with only 4 people. After he left he was replaced by Kevin Villars who had to pick up the pieces Enrique left. From that time the team has grown, including 26 boys and 12 girls (a 4 fold increase). Kevin himself began in track only after he was forced to partake in it before he could play baseball. However, once the opportunity to play baseball came he decided to stay with track, even going on to beat his school’s record. Similar to this is how Mike got involved, because he had to be talked into joining track by his cousin. Yet when he did he fell in love with the field. Mike’s sophomore year happened to also be the year Kevin took over as coach. He came in to witness Mike’s team pushing it hard due to a disqualification they experienced freshmen year. Kevin realized their synergy and changed a few things, changes that helped them reach state that year. A bond soon formed between the coach and the student, and now Kevin approaches Mike like another son. Heading to State was a great a achievement. Even so the system screwed them over, putting them in the lowest heat. This meant it would be tough for them to score onto the top ten. The coached wished them luck, and hoped they could get in at least 8th place. But when the announcements came it’d seemed that they hadn’t even scored that when the announcers moved past 3rd place without calling on the Lummi nation. That year, they got in 2nd place. To Kevin, a miracle had just occured This year Mike was injured for 3/4th of the time, and so in state his team only scored 9th place. Yet the year wasn’t all bad news for Mike, as he was able to get a scholarship for a school in California. Part of this is due to Kevin’s investment in his athletes being first good students, then good citizens, and helping them with their futures. That is, if their willing to do the hard work. From this, and with Mike’s future, both coach and athlete seek to put Lummi on the map in college circles and beyond.

Dana Wilson, a Lummi fisherman, believes that the more salmon disappear, the more Coast Salish peoples lose their knowledge of the salmon, and fishing, as a way of life. Dana also believes that the State of Washington sees habitat restoration as an expensive endeavor, and that we all need to push ourselves to make sacrifices for salmons’ future. David Montgomery, a UW professor of geology, wrote the book, King of Fish: The Thousand-Year Run of Salmon, which details the historical events that hinder salmon conservation. His knowledge of geomorphology casts an image of the salmon that is both resilient and under threat as salmon management is ignored in our changing landscape. Dana and David believe that the time to do something for the salmon is now.  David Montgomery UW Profile: https://www.ess.washington.edu/people/profile.php?pid=montgomery-- david  A Bellingham Herald Article featuring Dana Wilson:  http://www.bellinghamherald.com/news/local/article44514417.html

We invited our friend Nancy Shippentower-Games to speak at the Whatcom Human Rights Task Force’s 20 th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Human Rights Conference, at Whatcom Community College. The title of the 2018 conference was “50 Years of freedom or 50 Years of fear?; Chaos or Community? Where do we go from here?” Shippentower-Games speaks of the courage it takes to organize communities in the face of societal oppression. She believes that in sharing her story she passes the values of education and cross-cultural connection to the public.

Nancy Shippentower is a member of the Northwest Fishing Commission, a member of the Puyallup nation, and a fighter for tribal and fishing rights. Her parents are Jackie McCloud and Tom McCloud. She grew up in a family invested in the fishing wars during the 50’ and 60’s. She told us about how her father and their relatives went to jail for 60 days. When they were in jail the other inmates didn’t believe that they were there for fishing, and they asked the guards if they were telling the truth. Unlike many people in jail, her family were denied early release. Billy Frank jr. was her uncle, and he joined them in jail, was even kept in jail an additional week. Soon after he became the spokesperson for the tribes in Washington who fought for their fishing rights. Darrell mentions that he did speak very well and very strong, able to unite the tribes around his mind. She told us the story of when her father went to jail when she was 8 years old. At this time they were very poor (though she never saw it that way then) and she had to go to Woolworth to get her shoes fixed. This was exciting because she could see her daddy. Yet when she went to meet him there was only a steel wall. So little was the opening in it, that she could only see his eyes. She wanted to grab him so much she couldn’t help but cry. Nancy then saw the rest of her family, including her cousins and uncle who made her laugh. Yet when they went back to their cells they all cried for how forsaken their wives and daughters were with them in prison. However the women didn’t let themselves become forsaken. Instead they banded together and went fishing, helped each other, and fed each other. But do not believe that because they were strong that they took the jails and detentions lightly, for whenever the possibility of jail came up, a family meeting would be called to determine if the family members should go through with the stand. They did believe in what they were doing. Darrell then asked Nancy about when her mother got involved in fighting for Treaty and fishing rights. However Nancy answered that her mother not only stood for those pillars, but also for the poor, the welfare system, a decent education, empowerment to women and fixing the foster care system for children. When she got to this note, Nancy described a story of when her mother wrote a letter called “operation Rotten Apple” about how Native kids were being taken from their homes and given to non native homes. Soon after that she received a house call from a social worker who delivered her cousins unto her saying “Here’s your rotten apples, you can have them.” After this her mother started taking in kids who had no home. Darrell and Nancy then discussed how her mother also fought for Sweat Lodges inside Prison. This began shortly after she got invited to the American Indian Brotherhood. She had learned that many native men and women couldn’t practice their religion due to the absence of Sweat Lodges to worship in, about how to fast and pray to the creator people had to put themselves in solitary. Nancy’s mother was so tenacious, she actually got banned from prisons, but she got back inside after she appealed to the upper levels of government. She also tried encouraging the inmates for after jail by bringing in celebrities like Jane Fonda and Dick Gregory (who is featured in the podcast later). Darrell then brought up her Minnesota visit which happened around 1969 or 8. Nancy was supposed to be married in New York, Six Nations but changed her mind. On the way back in Minnesota they met Dennis Banks and Russell Means and the Vernon Bellecourt who then came to Washington state. They all had plans to make an American Indian Movement, which her mother became a founder of. She wound up adopting almost all of them due to how much they listened to her and respected her age. Darrell asked about Nancy’s connection to Tulalip, to which Nancy responded “my mother is Tulalip.” Nancy then discussed her Grandparents and their experience with boarding schools. She told Nancy of many things; sending kids to Alaska when it was cold, and Arizona when it was hot; how you couldn’t make friends with anyone because who knew if they’d die or not?; how young girls were raped by teachers or priests when they reached puberty. Her grandfather even explained that nuns wear long dresses to hide the pregnancies they got from raping young men. Her grandma went from foster home to foster home. When she was on 1rst Avenue in seattle though, she learned how to cook international food. She taught him all how to cook all kinds of food. But she also brought strength as she had to hide and protect her little sisters whenever they would come home from drinking. She, her cousins Warren Haze and Mannie from Tulalip and would protect her little girls. Her grandfather was John Wrenicker but Nancy never really knew him well. Her grandparents were friends that ran from the boarding schools together together, but they didn’t last. She also explained that Louretta Joseph was her first cousin and was a Henry, Leroy Henry was her grandma’s father. Apparently Nancy’s mother wanted to be buried next to her dad but decided to ultimately be buried next to her grandma. Nancy then talked about the occupy Cascadia movement which was spearheaded by Ramona Bennett. This movement tried to keep the FBI from selling the Cascadia diagnostic center for troubled kids. At the time it was basically another jail, but it was till on Puyallup land, so they went in and took it over so the country could give it back to them. Responding to Darrell’s question about what it was that her parents left her, Nancy answered: love, compassion and spirituality. She reminisces about how good her parents were; about how her Father taught his daughters about being strong, even taking them to karate to teach them how to defend themselves. Fixing cars, changing tires and never let a man push you down, those were other lessons they taught their children. Her mom taught her how to can and a lot of things at her house. With 7 other kids in the house, there were assigned roles to accomplish. When Nancy was pregnant with her son she was nominated by her father to the Fishing Commission at Puyallup. From there she was elected Chairman, and the only women on the commission. She then got on Northwest Indian Fisheries, were she had to go to a meeting in Seattle. There she met Allison and Kathy when the northern tribes wanted to intercept the salmon. When their policy rep wanted to have their side step down, Nacny stood up and said “You want a fishing war? I will give you a fishing war.” And then went to battle with the northern tribes which, Nancy reminded Darrell, includes Lummi. She expressed she didn’t want to fight with the tribes, but that it was necessary to grapple after Boldt gave away half the fish. However a deal was reached with all the tribes, though it took 6 to 8 months of negotiations. Nancy reminded us that gillnetters did not have treaty rights, and Governor Rosalini wanted to turn this state into a competitive fishing state. This lead Nancy to remember a meeting she took her 12 year old daughter to during the fishing wars. Despite there being only a few native people there, the mob got extremely hostile. The people there allowed a mob to get riled up, and she wasn’t sure what would happen, but the police came and escorted them to their car. Even then though people followed them out with the police and Nancy half suspected them to follow her home.. Dick Gregory wound up getting involved with Nancy’s family and the fishing wars. He was really good at throwing benefits for the Tribes and Native rights. In fact he was arrested for protesting! He was charged and convicted in Jail, which inspired Marilyn Brando to get involved. However when he was arrested the police didn’t charge him, they just wanted his autograph. When Dick went to jail, an encampment to support him was set up by Nancy’s mom across from the jail. She didn’t let adults come in, feeling that there needed to be only young people in the encampment. Then one night the Black Panthers came by, for they were upset that Dick was in jail for fishing rights. During their stay, Jackie McCloud was the only person willing to meet with them. Turns out Dick’s commitment to the cause led him to a hunger strike after Robert Comp, Nancy Nugyett and Bill Cosby couldn’t convince the judge to let Dick go. He wound up almost dying during his hunger strike. The guards sent for his wife to try and convince him to eat, but she simply asked him what he wanted her to do, to which he said “if Im going to die for this cause, Im going to die for this cause.” After which the judge realized Dick really would die on his watch, got scared, and ordered Dick’s release. After his release there was a huge arrest at the encampment. Darrell note that this wasn’t necessary. Nancy’s mother went down to unite with the Black Panthers. Nancy notes that their fights were almost the exact same as Native fights but without treaty rights, and that their ancestors didn’t have a choice in coming to America Nancy ended the podcast with these words: to stay strong and stop the negativity that keep seeping into the modern movements. People need to be careful what they bring into the movements. If there’s a leader, support them, do not become jealous and envious as Nancy saw with the leaders of her past. There’s nothing but love for human beings. Only politicians and education makes people racist. On her final note, Nancy tells Darrell how she saw someone on the news claim that the president only wants to make America white again. But as Nancy points out “America was never white! Before anyone came here everyone was brown. Where’s their education at?”

Jeremiah Julius spoke with Darrell about his seventh year elected to the council, now the Chairman of Lummi nations. Jeremiah introduces himself as a father of three and an avid fisherman who loves serving his people. He is in his first 30 days as the chairman, and it feels like “drinking water from a firehose.” He’s already formed a team, setting the goals and plans they’ll seek to accomplish in the upcoming years as he continues to adjust to this eye-opening and fulfilling job. Jeremiah recounts that the council has done good things already in the small time he’s been elected, and will continue to do good things with the whole community while rebuilding relationships both outside and within. He has already set such a precedence. Within the first day, he called a meeting with the council and his team. This helped set the stage for cooperation and doing everything in line with who we are and what we value. Looking to his first 100 days in office, Jeremiah wants to find out how to go beyond just communicating with the community, and move into community involvement with the council. He does not have any fantasies that such a task will be easy, but all the more he is committed to bridging the gap. The first week he and his team participated in a retreat where they listed the priorities in Lummi including; continual strengthening of Sovereignty and treaty rights; investment in community development; an emphasis on Health just as the council emphasized last year; economic development including diversifying past gaming; taxing outside government as a sovereign nation and finding a way around dual taxation. He is painfully aware of the unmet needs that keep getting unfulfilled during budget time, and wishes to fulfill them eventually. Darrel asked Jeremiah how and if he has been prepared for this new responsibility in leadership. Jeremiah admitted that its impossible to fill the shoes of past leaders, but being able to grow up with those leaders and on the water, with the importance of what defines us and who we give him the strength he uses to this day. He noted that his experience with hunting and preparing ducks with his friends and family was another way he had become prepared for leadership. Self-education too was very important, as he asked everyone what to read then went ahead and read those books. Books about business, how to set trends, how to look to the future beyond the now. There really isn’t one right way to become prepared as a leader of the Lummi Nation, but in the end, Jeremiah admitted it was how he learned from his parents, grandparents, and children. The most important lessons he learned were these: being Lummi, being a fisherman, knowing what the water means to him, and how it connects him to his grandpa, his children, his aunts and uncles. He moved on to the importance of homeland beyond just the reservation and the need for partnership with governments on equal footing, of looking beyond the paternalistic attitude that has been put upon the Lummi nation and getting off the ‘menu’ and onto the table. He states that the Lummi nation has gotten to the table, unlike the past years. Darrell then reminded him of how his own aunt and mother closed down the ferry terminal, how Larry Kinley went to Washington DC to get a place at the table and how this place at the table lays a foundation for leadership. Jeremiah went over the threats to sovereignty and treaty rights and the situation of children in the ‘system’. He himself had father figures to raise him after his own father died, but many children, he reminds us, do not have that and are caught in the ‘system’. The need to belong to a family and Lummi nations, of mothers to sons, daughters to fathers, these things need to be strengthened and preserved. Yet there is also the breakage of net pens that release alien fish species into our waters. Culverts and pollution have attacked the salmon and driven their numbers low, threatening the survival of Lummi Nation. This and the problem of judicial reversals on high also loom. The fact is, there are outside entities have a hard time viewing the senior water rights held by the Lummi Nation. In all of these threats, Jeremiah is concerned how to pierce through the misleads and lies that outside communities will swallow in the upcoming times. How do we send out the message of who we are when they do not know who we are? How do you deliver that message? Those attempts to make it ‘us’ vs ‘them’, how do you stop that? The new chairman does not know the answer, but he knows that we do not pick fights. When we do fight it is necessary. Quoting Darrell, Jeremiah said “we fight the fight and we never give up. We fight good fights.” He also noted that its always to protect; Either archeological sites or fish streams, there is a need to stop and look at what yesterday held to know where all this destruction and development is moving us towards. Delivering the message will be hard, but it is being done says Jeremiah. As an example, he brought up the victory of Xwe’chi’eXen, where the outside was educated about who the Lummi nation are. With all this heaviness, could there possibly be words of encouragement? Yes, and Jeremiah reminds us all: “We together do so much. We do great things, we hold ceremonies, when we come together as families it is a feeling that cannot be replaced, it cannot be beaten by any other feeling. That’s what we need in our community. There’s so much work and celebration that must be done. Lets do it together. Lets fight together, not with one another. Lets celebrate together, with one another, lets love together.” At the end he pleaded for all to think about what they say before they say it, especially with social media where things can never be taken back. When were courage’s, it’ll encourage the youth without saying a single word. What we do now the future leaders will do also.

In this episode, We go through the ages of the 60's & 70's of what was going on around the Lummi Rez with our Host Darrell Hillaire & his guest Robert Muzzy. They talk about music and what was happening around them during the release of these songs. This is a fun episode full of great hits, so make sure you turn up your volume while listening to this one!

In this episode of Friends & Relatives, we gather a group of women together to talk about the current situation that has come up in today's mainstream discussion. We gather opinions from the youngest of our guests as well as the knowledge of the oldest. We hope that you enjoy the cross spectrum of views that we were able to gather from these wonderful women :) 

Dana will speak about the changes of the Salish Sea through the lens of someone who has spent a lifetime on its water. In addition, he will remark on what he considers high priority research needs.

Tonight on Friends and Relatives we have the honor of interviewing one of Indian countries main leaders.

he Nooksack Tribe to talk to us about the upcoming War Canoe season upon us,

Talk to us about your journey and what lead you to become a Dr. for you and your people

Get to know Tim Ballew II

In today’s show, we’re recognizing of the 160th anniversary of the Point Elliot Treaty of 1855.