Suquamish Tribal Council Extends Limited Government Operations

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For the health and safety of the Tribal community, Suquamish Tribal Council has extended temporary remote government operations until June 7, 2020.

A limited number of staff members are available to respond to urgent issues. They can be reached via telephone at the numbers below, or via email. Please call (360) 598-4334 for general questions.

You may also contact our response team by sending emails to: covid_questions@suquamish.nsn.us and check our Facebook page here. You can also check the COVID-19 Updates page on the official Suquamish Tribe website here.

The Suquamish Police Department

The Police Department lobby will be available to drop off child support payments, applications, housing payments, and other government-related paperwork. Staff and officers can also forward messages to other Tribal departments as needed.

Lobby Hours:
Mon-Fri – 8am to 4:30pm
Contact
Front Desk: (360) 598-4334
Emergency: call or text 911

Telework and On-call Services
Communications: (360) 394-7184/7102
Community Development: (360) 394-8415
Emergency Work Orders: (360) 900-7050
Emergency Utilities: (360) 710-3223
Elders Meals: (360) 394-8413
Health Benefits: (360) 394-8466
Human Resources: (360) 394-8409
Human Services: (360) 394-8465
IT Help Desk: (360) 394-8485
Finance: (360) 394-8430
Fisheries: (360) 394-8438
Tribal Child Welfare: (360) 394-8480
Tribal Court: (360) 394-8697

Wellness Center
Therapists are meeting with existing clients through phone/video sessions. A contact list of providers is available here.

Contact
Front desk: (360) 394-8558
Wellness Fax – (360) 598-1724
Emergency: call or text 911
Crises Hotline: (888) 910-0416
Chat: www.imhurting.org

8 Tips to Break Out of the COVID Funk

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Boost your balance, amplify awareness, and increase well-being with these simple tricks you can try now

During all the changes, closures, and social isolation due to the COVID-19 outbreak, it is important to maintain balance and a healthy lifestyle. Stop a moment and take inventory of all the areas of your life. You may find a need to plan and act with increased intention and awareness during this time, to promote and maintain physical, mental, social, emotional, and spiritual health and well-being.

 

Here are 8 tips:

  1. Take one step at a time

It is easy to become overwhelmed, anxious, or scared when faced with extreme situations and obstacles. Focus on what you can control. Focus on what will produce feelings of joy, pride, and comfort. Stay informed, but limit your exposure to social media and the news. Focus on today, and find ways to feel productive.

 

  1. Be kind

Be supportive, forgiving, and kind to others, including when you are online. Offer thanks to important people in your life. Also – be gentle to yourself. Acknowledge your strengths. Smile.

 

  1. Be flexible

In the face of adversity and challenge, adapt. Change your plans and expectations. Look for and discover new ways of doing and being. Explore and be creative. Try something new. Start that project you’ve been thinking about for months.

 

  1. Plan ahead

If you are feeling overwhelmed because each day feels chaotic, develop a schedule. Budget your time. Set limits, expectations and boundaries for yourself and for your family. This could include things like reducing screen time, increasing sleep or exercise, or scheduling quality time to do an activity with your family or friends (in person… or online!)

 

  1. Stay positive

Don’t allow yourself to hyper-focus on the negative; think and speak in a positive way. Model this for others who are struggling. Don’t criticize others, and don’t criticize yourself.

 

  1. Take care of yourself

Don’t neglect the basics: Get plenty of sleep. Exercise regularly. Eat healthy. Drink water. Reduce or eliminate alcohol and drugs (now is a great time to quit smoking!). Pray, meditate, or journal daily. You will be better prepared and equipped to help others if you are taking care of yourself.

 

  1. Take care of others

Reach out to someone you haven’t heard from in a few days. Send an email, a text, or a Snap. Give a family member a call. Be aware of other people’s needs. Don’t hoard! – take what you need. Give.

 

  1. Relax and enjoy today

Look for the bright part of each day and give thanks. Don’t dwell on thoughts such as “I wish this was over!” Focus on what you have today, and what you can do with your time and energy. Find ways to calm down if you find your stress levels too high. Share these ideas with others. It may sound wild to say, but: enjoy this journey.

 

Jonathan Glover, LICSW, is the mental health supervisor at the Suquamish Wellness Center. If you have questions, or to request services, please call the main phone number: (360) 394-8601.

Suquamish Court Extends Modified Operations

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The Suquamish Tribal Court extended its modified operations until at least May 15 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The Court is striving to address the needs of the community, while taking every precaution to keep community members healthy and prevent the spread of the coronavirus,” reads an updated Emergency Administrative Order, signed by Chief Judge Cindy K. Smith on April 30.

As part of the order, all criminal cases and jury trials are delayed until the court resumes normal operations, tentatively slated for May 18. This date, however, may be extended depending on the status of the public health emergency.

Meanwhile, all civil and child welfare cases have been rescheduled to June 2020.

The Court continues to be available “to hear all matters of an urgent nature, including requests for all types of protection orders and emergency child welfare orders.”

Any hearings will continue to be conducted via video teleconference.

Questions should be sent to the court clerks at suquamishcourt@suquamish.nsn.us or by calling (360) 394-8697.

The full order can viewed here.

May Suquamish News Available Now

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Suquamish Tribe extends modified operations

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The Suquamish Tribal Council has extended the order on Temporary Remote Tribal Government Operations until May 18, 2020.

This action was taken to minimize the spread of the COVID-19 virus. The full resolution can viewed here.

For information about how to contact Tribal government staff or obtain services during this time, please check here.

Update from Chairman Forsman

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An update from Suquamish Tribe Chairman Leonard Forsman on Tribal operations in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

 

Chiefstick Case Needs Further Review

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By Suquamish Tribal Council
(Published in the Kitsap Sun, April 23, 2020)

The news that Kitsap County will not press charges against the police officer who caused the death of Stonechild Chiefstick is of concern to the Suquamish Tribe. That local police were unable to manage an uncomfortable situation involving a person of color without violence has become all too common. We believe that this was a preventable homicide. This father of five, a valued member of our community, did not have to die.

There were other options. He could have been asked to leave the crowded July 3 gathering when it was evident that he was experiencing either a mental health or substance abuse episode. That opportunity was clearly present during the first encounter with the police, as shown in the police body cam footage.

Had police officers used de-escalation methods and more skillfully handled the interaction, the encounter could have ended peacefully. Stonechild Chiefstick’s children could still have their father. Poulsbo residents could have looked forward to future July 3rd celebrations free from the remembered trauma of a violent death. More of the Tribal community would have been able to visualize Poulsbo as a safe place to shop and visit.

While we recognize that the decision about whether to prosecute a particular officer for a particular act is a complex one, we have concerns that extend beyond the scope of this decision, in particular the failure to use the earlier contact as an opportunity to de-escalate the situation or to remove Chiefstick from the premises.

Officer Keller may not be charged, but he is still responsible. The other officers at the scene should also be held to account. In failing to de-escalate this situation, they contributed to the death of one man, the irreplaceable loss of a father, son, brother, and partner to others. And their actions traumatized an entire community.

We look forward to the Poulsbo Police Department’s internal review of this incident, and expect it will be thorough and objective, and address the behavior of all the officers at the scene. The Suquamish Tribe will continue to review the report, and will have further statements and/or actions based on this review.

Earth Day Message from Chairman Forsman

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Wishing you well on this, the 50th anniversary of Earth Day.

Chief Seattle (Suquamish/Duwamish), whose words are cited by environmentalists worldwide, said in 1854: “Yonder sky that has wept tears of compassion upon my people for centuries untold, and which to us appears changeless and eternal, may change.”

In his lifetime, Chief Seattle, witnessed extraordinary change. He was there when the first contact with a European explorer occurred. And decades later, as settlers poured into the Puget Sound region, he secured the sovereign territories we now call reservations.

He assured that we who are alive seven generations later would have the right to hunt and fish, and to visit the graves of our ancestors. On his gravesite here in Suquamish are embossed words from his famous speech.

“Our ancestors never forget this beautiful world that gave them being,” he said. “They still love its verdant valleys, its murmuring rivers, its magnificent mountains…and every part of this soil is sacred in the estimation of my people. Every hillside, every valley, every plain and grove, has been hallowed by some sad or happy event in days long vanished.”

In 1970, the first Earth Day was launched by people who likewise treasured the natural world. Shortly after, the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, and the Endangered Species Act were enacted, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was created.

Today those accomplishments are under attack. EPA regulations that protect air, water, wetlands, and natural habitats are being weakened and dismantled.

The Suquamish Tribe has joined many other Tribes and organizations in the Northwest to fight this short-sighted and greed-driven deregulation. We oppose allowing polluters to make our seafood more toxic and permitting reckless development to block fish passage and destroy sensitive wetlands. This destruction is an affront to our treaty rights and the rights of all our people to protect our critical habitat.

“Today is fair. Tomorrow it may be overcast with clouds,” said Chief Seattle.

Today, as we shelter in place amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, the days do indeed feel dark. Few of us imagined this was to come. And yet it was not hard to see that things were changing. Like the pandemic, which at first seemed a distant threat, the climate crisis is suddenly upon us, and it is endangering sea life and oceans along with shorelines, glaciers, food supplies, and forests.

“Even the rocks, which seem to be dumb and dead as they swelter in the sun along the silent shore, thrill with memories of stirring events connected with the lives of my people,” Chief Seattle said.

On this 50th anniversary of Earth Day, we should honor this land and celebrate its waters, and we should assess our way of life and its impacts on fragile ecosystems.

Together, we must push back against the President’s misguided deregulatory efforts, and renew the fight that was started 50 years ago with the same passion for life, and love for our lands and waters that got us this far.

Tribal Court Orders Suspension in Payments

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The Suquamish Tribal Court issued an Emergency Administrative Order this week that all court-ordered payment plans are now suspended through April and May.

“The Court is striving to address the needs of the community, while taking every precaution to keep community members healthy and prevent the spread of the coronavirus,” reads the order, signed by Chief Judge Cindy K. Smith on April 20. “Due to the pandemic, many people are not able to work and may be facing financial hardships.”

The order adds that those who had recently fallen behind on fishing fine payments, but were current as of March 1, will now be deemed current and will be able to obtain a sticker from the Court to show they are eligible to fish.

Those who were not current on their fishing fine payments as of March 1 are still not eligible to fish. However, Tribal members who get their payments up to date through March will be then be eligible.

The order also makes clear that the suspension of payments does not effect that total amount owed.

For more information email suquamishcourt@suquamish.nsn.us or call (360) 394-8697.

The full Emergency Order can be viewed here.

In a Fitness Rut? Try Something New with These Free Resources

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If you find yourself in a fitness rut, it may be time to find a new groove, says Suquamish Tribe’s Fitness Center manager and exercise expert Stephanie Kunold.

Just because everyone needs to be staying at home right now, doesn’t mean you can’t try something new, she says. In fact, now more than ever it’s important to push your body and boost your immune system with exercise.

“If nothing else, spending more time at home right now means we can spend some of that time trying out new ways of improving our fitness. Even if we just spent half an hour a day trying something new on YouTube, chances are great we’d find a workout style we really love,” says Kunold. “Or even just try new areas outdoors to walk with your family or dog.”

To help you get you focused on a new fitness path, consider checking out this 8-step workout booster plan from EXOS on beating the exercise breakdown that many find themselves wrestling with right now, says Kunold.

One great tip: Keep it quick and simple.

“Adjusting to your new normal means that you might not have time for your favorite hour-long run or bike ride. That makes committing to workouts that are quick, simple, and easy to fit in between home-schooling, conference calls, and cooking meals a must,” writes EXOS author Kara Hawking.

If you’re ready to get moving with something new, here’s five free workouts on YouTube — all a half hour or less — that Kunold recommends sampling to help kickstart to your revamped exercise program:

15-Minute Beginner’s At-Home Cardio Workout – Everyone has to start somewhere. And when it comes to cardio, working out in the comfort of your own home is a great place to start. You don’t need any equipment for this workout, just a can-do attitude.

Family Friendly Fun Workout — Get your heart rate up in your living room with this fun workout from Class FitSugar host Anna Renderer. Featuring cardio moves that feel like games and challenges where the winner gets prizes — like choosing what’s for dinner — this workout is the perfect way for the family to get active together.

30-Minute No-Equipment HIIT Workout – High Intensity Interval Training, or HIIT for short, will definitely help you take it up a notch. Torch calories with this HIIT workout from Le Sweat founder Charlee Atkins.  Includes three circuits that are going to get your heart rate up and have you feeling the burn.

30-minutes or less Yoga classes – This 59-class series promises to have something for everyone, with enough variety to please everyone from beginners to experts.

30-Minute Hip-Hop Fit Workout – Get ready to unleash your inner dance and fitness beast with Hip-Hop Fit creator Mike Peele! This class is for everyone from beginners to advanced. Just get ready to push your mind and body to the next level!

EXOS Livestream – If you prefer live, but socially distanced workouts, try the EXOS livestream, with exercise programming for all levels, as well as yoga and meditation sessions, and even kids’ workouts.

Finally, says Kunold, don’t forget to follow Suquamish Fitness Center’s Facebook page where there are two new daily workouts posted Monday through Friday. One offers simple no-equipment body weight exercises and other is designed for those who have some basic fitness gear.