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New Location
Tribal Cultural Affairs: Serving Washington’s Tribes
Washington Arts Commission
Sky Bear video with our own Taylor Krise at the start of the video!
Tribal Cultural Affairs: Serving Washington’s Tribes – YouTube
Indigenous Peoples Day at Squaxin Park
https://www.theolympian.com/news/local/article293992254.html
Showing now on Netflix
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15181360
We have a few notable changes to our hours of operation
going into the new season:
Salish Cliffs Grille
8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m .
Daily
Boardwalk
Breakfast
6:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Daily
Pizza and Ice Cream only
11:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Monday – Wednesday
Starlight
Bar Service
Monday – Thursday 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m.
Friday – 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m.
Saturday – 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m.
Sunday – 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m.
Food Service
Sunday – Thursday 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Friday – Saturday 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Breakfast Served Friday and Saturday 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
All other venues remain unchanged at this time.
Squaxin Celebrates Two Major Events
in Olympia on Traditional Lands:
Healing of the Waters/Festival of Steh-Chass
and Billy Frank, Jr. Trail Signage Ceremony
Zoltan Grossman, TESC Professor – Two events in Olympia, led by the Squaxin Island Tribe and local allies, celebrated the pending removal of the 5th Avenue Dam and the legacy of Nisqually treaty rights leader Billy Frank, Jr. The events showed how tribally led alliances – to heal landscapes and waterways from the harms of settler colonialism – are deepening in the Salish Sea region.
On Saturday, August 17, the second annual Festival of the Steh-Chass was held at Heritage Park, with talks, drumming and singing, workshops, art/science demonstrations, and a Healing of the Waters ceremony. The event celebrated “the cultural and ecological restoration of the Deschutes estuary and the upcoming removal of the 5th Avenue dam [built in 1951]. It was also a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Boldt Decision, which reaffirms tribal treaty rights to an equal share of salmon as well as co-management of this and other vital resources.
Steh-Chass refers to both the landscape and the original inhabitants of the Deschutes Estuary and Budd Inlet. The Steh-Chass cultural legacy was interrupted by colonial actions, like damming the Deschutes river and the persecution of Squaxin Island people, who were forcibly removed from access to critical food/medicinal sources of the Steh-Chass and beyond. Regional indigenous leaders like Billy Frank, Jr. were part of a resistance that led to the Fish Wars of the ‘60s and ‘70s. The 5th Avenue dam was a notable site for fish-in demonstrations.
The First Festival of the Steh-Chass was held in 2018, advocating for dam removal, and the State agreed in 2022.
“Saving this estuary, this ecosystem, is good for every single one of you and this entire community and the health of this entire community and your grandchildren,” Chairman Kris Peters said. “Its not just for us. Its not even about us; its about our ancestors and about future generations.”
On Monday morning, August 19, a ceremony honoring treaty rights and environmental leader Billy Frank, Jr. was held at Billy Frank, Jr. Park, next to the Port of Olympia at Northpoint (end of Marine Drive NE), the starting point for the Billy Frank, Jr. Trail. The event paid tribute to the environmental leader and treaty rights activist, Billy Frank, Jr., and presented a new series of educational kiosks and interpretive signs that celebrate his achievements.
The signs were recently installed along the Billy Frank, Jr. trail and in the park terminus, each highlighting a unique aspect of Frank, the Squaxin Island Tribe, and the life cycle of salmon. Informational markers were also installed to provide education about the native plants already lining the trail, and to commemorate canoe landings. Squaxin Island Tribe Chairman Kristopher Peters and Tribal Council Secretary Jim Peters spoke at both events, and Squaxin Drummer and Singers performed a drum ceremony and dances. Squaxin Island Museum director Charlene Krise also spoke at the Festival, along with a moving statement from a Squaxin youth. Muckleshoot singers and dancers also performed. Port Commissioner Bob Iyall (a Nisqually tribal member) also spoke at the Billy Frank, Jr. Park event.
Healing of the Waters
Slideshow of more photos HERE
* Video by Steve Bloom, The Olympian:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIJ_i9_ofik
* Videos by Zoltan Grossman, TESC Professor:
Sue Patnude of the Deschutes Estuary Restoration Team (DERT)
Billy Frank, Jr. Trail Signage
* Click on map to enlarge
First Salmon Ceremony 2024
Click HERE for the slideshow
Canoe Journey 2024
Photos by Dorinda Thein, Charlene Krise, Deanna Hawks, and David Seymour
More will be added as they come in.
Click HERE for the slideshow
Fox 13
Squaxin Tribe fights to save
Puget Sound’s vanishing underwater kelp forests
See the Fox 13 video and article HERE
Griffin School District
Griffin parents, we are trying to get an accurate count on how many buses we need to transport the Griffin kids. If you have a child/children riding the Squaxin Transit bus, please call Windy at (360) 480-1402. We just want to make sure we have enough room for all the littles this year.
Do you have active medical insurance?
If not, reach out to . . .
DHHS representative:
Liz Mcknight
Telephone: (360) 432-3920 OR Cell: (253) 719-3208
Tuesdays and Thursdays
Why is medical insurance important?
• Improve health outcome
• Emergency hospital support
• Access to wider network of providers
• Reduce medical costs
Are you 65 years old or older with Medicare insurance?
Do you have Medicare Part D?
If not, Reach out to . . .
Jaclyn Meyer
Location: Squaxin Island Health Clinic, downstairs
Telephone: (360) 432-3922
Medicare supplemental insurances assistance for Mason County
Senior Services for South Sound
222 Columbia St NW, Olympia WA 98501
(360) 586-6181 ext. 134.
Natural Resources Memo to Shellfish Harvesters:
As a group, you have harvested 618,000 pounds in the first 7 months of this season, with more to go before this season is over at the end of November! As great as this is, we have been fielding many more complaints than usual, so we thought we would send out a gentle reminder of the basic guidelines we ask you to follow when participating in treaty harvests.
- These are drug and alcohol-free events! It is unlawful for tribal members or assistants to harvest shellfish while under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol. This is per Squaxin Island Tribal Code Section 7.04.160.
- Starting and stopping on time – Please respect these times and dig within the times set within the regulations. Often the monitor needs to designate the digging area at the beginning of the harvest so that the next group has some unharvested ground for their dig.
- Trash – Please pick up your trash and take it with you off the beaches. There is no one to come behind you and clean up what is left after a dig.
- Wet Dig on the Channel – This means digging in the water with a wet fork, not on the edge with a dry fork. If you are dry digging on a Channel dig, you are not digging in the Channel, you are digging on the Eastside or Westside beaches. Off Channel harvesting impacts the surveys on these beaches and the next year’s quotas.
- Be on time at the pick-up location and check in with the monitor or they will have to fill the vacant spot.
- Please do not walk off the beach across private tidelands or uplands, because that is trespassing. If you come on the barge, leave on the barge.
- And please be respectful and cooperate with the monitors and buying crew so that they can do their job!
Thank you for your patience and cooperation!
Attention Hunters & Gatherers:
New hunting and gathering rules and restrictions for our Green Diamond access agreement beginning August 1st (See Map):
- Elson Road – Hunting commences one day after the last day of WDFW State Late Buck season GMU 651 November 18 through February 28.
- Kennedy Creek NO Shooting Zone Area – See map. This no shooting area is still open for gathering.
- Kennedy Creek – Hunting and gathering
Click on map to enlarge
NEW Green Diamond Property-Mineral Block: Open to hunting and gathering
The following area is open to Squaxin Island hunters and gatherers, as per the access agreement with the Green Diamond Resources Company, as of August 1. 2024: For motorized access on existing roads, as well as walk-in-access on existing roads, and trails.
UPDATE 8/1/2024:
Lock will be on gate by the afternoon of August 1st. The access gate will be the ML1000 gate at the southwest corner of the unit off of SR7. Please see new map.
ALERT!
New burn ban in effect!
Fires are no longer permitted, including recreational fires.
Please note this also applies to Squaxin Island and all tribally owned properties as well as the reservation community.
Lets help keep things green and healthy!
PRESS RELEASE
Mason County Fire Marshal
Date: July 11, 11 AM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
By Proclamation by the State Commissioner of Public Lands, effective immediately all outdoor burning including campfires and charcoal briquettes are restricted through September 30, 2024. This date may be shortened or extended depending on fire conditions. Please note these restrictions do not apply to pizza ovens, smokers, propane fire pits or propane bar-b-ques. This ban is prompted by multiple wildfires that are actively burning across the state. Your cooperation in keeping Mason County fire safe is appreciated.
Squaxin Transit Grocery Store Routes
WHEN:
Tuesdays and Thursdays
10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
SERVICES OFFERED:
Free rides to and from grocery stores
Grocery order pickup for community members
HOW TO BOOK:
Call us at (360) 480-1402
Squaxin Island tribe gets federal grant to remove 5th Avenue Dam
Read The Olympian story HERE
Hazard Mitigation Plan
The Squaxin Island Tribe’s Hazard Mitigation Plan identifies the natural hazards we are most susceptible to, like earthquakes, severe weather, wildfires, and climate change, and helps us identify ways we can become more resilient towards them. We’d love for you to take a peek at our latest draft and provide feedback or ask questions.
See the plan HERE
In short – our greatest concerns are listed below in order of impact to the community. What can you do to be more prepared for each one?
The dental clinic now has emergency walk-in time available from 8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. on Mondays and Tuesdays.
Patients will be seen on a first come, first served basis. These openings are available for anyone who has already registered with the clinic.
If you would like to schedule an appointment for any other days or times, please contact us at (360) 432-3881.
We look forward to seeing you!
New Enrollment Needs Request Form
https://squaxin.formstack.com/forms/enrollment_appointment_needs_request
