Suquamish Tribe Begins Preplanning COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution

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A newly formed preplanning group from the Suquamish Tribe’s Emergency Operations Center gathered online this week to begin early preparations for vaccination distribution to Tribal members and staff in the coming months.

Dubbed the COVID-19 Vaccine Planning Subcommittee, the task group consists of Suquamish Tribe Acting Co-Director Jamie Gooby, EOC Manager Cherrie May, Community Health Nurse Barbara Hoffman, Tribal Attorney Melody Allen, Marion Forsman-Boushie Early Learning Center School Nurse Renee Hommel, EOC Public Information Officer Jon Anderson, and Emergency Management Consultant Eric Quitslund.

The first meeting of the planning group focused on reviewing the Tribe’s Pandemic Response Plan, getting an overview of medical countermeasures, and beginning the work of assessing vaccination priority groups.

“At this point, there are still a lot of unknowns in terms when the first vaccine will be approved, when – and in what quantities – it will be available, and how it will need to be controlled and administered,” said May. “So, this first meeting was really centered on what kind of questions we need to be asking and what potential scenarios we need to be thinking through.”

Also of paramount concern is vaccine safety.

“We will be listening to and consulting with the medical and scientific experts we know and trust,” said Gooby. “That will play a big role in which vaccine Tribal Council ultimately opts to make available and when Tribal government decides to deploy it.”

Currently, there are 11 vaccines now in the final “Phase 3” level of testing, including four underway in the United States. Phase 3 testing for each potential vaccine involves some 30,000 volunteers, who take either the candidate vaccine or a placebo, across dozens of sites around the country.

Vaccines work by training your body’s natural defenses to recognize and fight off viruses.  “If the body is exposed to those disease-causing germs later, the body is immediately ready to destroy them, preventing illness,” according to the World Health Organization.

New rules from the Food and Drug Administration issued on Oct. 6, suggest the earliest the first COVID-19 vaccine might be approved for emergency use is mid to late November, with large-scale availability ramping up over several months after approval.

Complete the Census: Help your Family, Help your Tribe

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Upcoming Forums for Suquamish Tribal Members

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Here’s a rundown of the next online Forums scheduled for Suquamish Tribal members:

Sept. 3 – Enterprise: Suquamish Evergreen Corporation: Agate Dreams and Token

Sept. 10 – Cultural Sharing: Song and Dance

Sept. 17 – PME Casino Resort, Retail, White Horse, Kiana Lodge

 

Forum are held online every Thursday at 4:30pm. Link and login information is sent via the Tribe’s free Suquamish Updates Now (SUN) text service. Suquamish Tribe members can sign up for SUN here.

 

A Special Gift to the Class of 2020 from the Suquamish Tribal Elders

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Recognizing these unprecedented times, the Suquamish Tribal Elders, in cooperation with the Suquamish Tribe Human Services Elders Program, offer this special video gift to the graduating Class of 2020.

Suquamish Tribe Seeking Education Superintendent

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Suquamish Remembers Chief Seattle

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Every year, for as long as anyone can remember, the Suquamish Tribe — alongside friends and allies — has gathered in late August at the grave of Chief Seattle to remember their great ancestor and his many accomplishments.
This year, things must be done a little differently, but we can still gather together to remember. Please join Suquamish Elder Marilyn Wandrey in this special Chief Seattle celebration at his grave site in Suquamish.
Music credit:
Bearon’s Floor Song
Sacred Water Canoe Family
Composed by James Old Coyote

CKA and other local schools to start school year online

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The Chief Kitsap Academy School Board told parents it would begin the upcoming school year with all classes completely online.
The decision comes as other schools in the area – including the Bainbridge Island, North Kitsap and Central Kitsap school districts – have all announced similar plans.
The announcement comes in the wake of a July 27 determination by the Kitsap Public Health District that it was not safe “to open schools for traditional classroom learning in August or September” amidst rising rates of COVID-19 infections throughout the county and state.
In a letter to parents July 28, CKA Principal Lucy Dafoe said the school would hold a series of meetings for students and parents leading into the new school year, which starts Sept. 2.
“There will be an online Educational Forum moderated by Robin L.W. Sigo. We will have grade-level student and parent orientations. We hope to schedule the meetings in-person, socially distanced and held outside,” wrote Dafoe. “We will also have an online orientation if you do not feel comfortable attending in person. We want to make sure everyone has good information as we start distance learning.”
Dafoe encouraged parents to reach out with any questions or concerns.
“We will get more information out to you soon. In the meantime, please turn in enrollment applications so that we have accurate student counts,” said Dafoe.
For those still considering school options for the coming year, CKA – a 6th- through-12th grade school, which led the region in providing online education as the pandemic started – is still accepting applications for new students for the coming term.

Suquamish Government hosts online Q&A forums for Tribal members

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The Suquamish Tribal Government is holding a series of online forums for Tribal members to hear the latest from government departments and ask questions of program leaders.

The forums are held every Tuesday and Thursday, starting at 4:30pm Suquamish Time. These forums are for Tribal members only.

A link to each forum is sent via the Suquamish Updates Now (SUN) text and email service. (If you haven’t signed up for the free SUN service yet, you can do that here.)

Here’s the schedule for the upcoming forums:

July 23
Housing, Community Development, and Land Use

July 28
Health, Wellness, and COVID response, including behavioral telehealth efforts

July 30
Finance and Budget

Aug 4
Fisheries, Natural Resources, Treaty Protection, with a focus on cockles, forestry, and U&A battles

Aug 6
Suquamish Police Department, with a focus on community-oriented policing and de-escalation

Aug 11
Education, with an emphasis on school re-opening plans

Suquamish Tribe files notice of intent to sue King County for ongoing sewage spills

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‘The People of the Clear Salt Water’ say Puget Sound community deserves better

SUQUAMISH, WA – The Suquamish Tribe announced its intention to sue King County for repeatedly releasing untreated or improperly treated sewage into the Puget Sound.

In a letter dated July 21, 2020, the Tribe gives King County officials 60 days’ notice of the Tribe’s intent to file a lawsuit for the county’s ongoing violations of the Clean Water Act and its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit.

According to public records, King County discharged hundreds of thousands of gallons of untreated or improperly treated sewage from the West Point Wastewater Treatment Plant, located on the shores of Seattle’s Discovery Park, into Puget Sound in 2018 and 2019. King County is also responsible for a number of NPDES permit violations, discharging effluent wastewater into Puget Sound between 2015 and 2020. These discharges occurred at the West Point Treatment Plant, as well as other treatment facilities, and Combined Sewer Outfalls, on the shores of Centennial Park on Elliot Bay in downtown Seattle, and near Alki Beach in West Seattle.

“The waters of Puget Sound and the entire Salish Sea are the Tribe’s most treasured resource. We are obliged to protect these waters, not only for ourselves but for all who rely on them for healthy seafood, recreation, and cultural practices,” said Suquamish Tribal Chairman Leonard Forsman. “We acknowledge that King County has invested and will invest more to improve their wastewater treatment system, but the Suquamish Tribe and its members are frustrated by the ongoing sewage releases and King County’s other pollution violations in Puget Sound, which continue to harm marine water quality and the Tribe’s ability to exercise reserved treaty rights and engage in cultural activities.  We are running out of time and need swifter action.  We look forward to discussions with King County, through our long-standing government-to-government relationship, during this 60 day notice period.”

In the July 21 letter, the Suquamish Tribe notified King County that it is responsible for at least 11 significant illegal discharges of untreated sewage from the West Point Treatment plant into the Tribe’s treaty-protected fishing areas, with individual discharge events ranging from 50,000 gallons to 2.1 million gallons.

The Tribe also notified King County that between 2015 and 2020, it violated effluent wastewater discharge permit limits for pH and chlorine at the West Point Treatment Plant, as well as the Elliott West and Alki Combined Sewer Outfalls.

In 2013, King County entered into a Consent Decree with the State of Washington, and the Environmental Protection Agency to address serious and ongoing sewage discharges from its wastewater treatment facilities and combined sewer outfalls that were in violation of the Clean Water Act. Notwithstanding a series of enforcement actions against King County, Clean Water Act violations have continued, including major releases from the West Point Treatment Plant.

The Suquamish Tribe – known as “The People of the Clear Salt Water” in their Southern Lushootseed language – have fished and gathered shellfish in and near the Puget Sound since time immemorial. The waters of Elliott Bay and other waterways into which King County has been discharging untreated sewage make up much of the Tribe’s treaty-protected fishing and shellfish harvesting areas.

“This lawsuit is not just about how these dangerous spills affect the Suquamish Tribe,” said Chairman Forsman. “The entire Puget Sound community deserves clean water. The shellfish, the orca, and all sea life rely on clean water, and all of our children – and children’s children – deserve clean water.”

“This is why the Clean Water Act was created. It’s time for King County to increase their commitment to protecting our shared waters,” said Chairman Forsman.

A copy of the letter of intent is available here.