Stories

Electron Hydro and executive cop to charge related to illegally dumping turf in Puyallup River

Electron Hydro and executive cop to charge related to illegally dumping turf in Puyallup River

By Ernest A. Jasmin, Puyallup Tribal News Editor In February, Electron Hydro LLC and Chief Operating Officer Thom Fischer pleaded guilty to a single criminal count in connection with polluting the Puyallup River in 2020. The plea concluded a case brought by Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson that relied on evidence gathered by the Puyallup Tribe in its efforts to document the impact of illegally dumped artificial turf at the site of Electron Hydro’s 120-year-old dam near Mount Rainier National Park. The company placed old turf into a temporary flow bypass channel during the summer of 2020, topping it with…
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Reclaiming & Revitalization

Reclaiming & Revitalization

By Katie Manzanares Oregon Trail videogame 2022 receives Indigenous audit Recently, a new version of the Oregon Trail video game has been released not so coincidently during Native American Heritage Month. The game essentially promoted the westward movement, which wasn’t good for Native people who were forced to be relocated and lost traditional lands. Many Americans traveled the route that was sure to provide work and a better way of life. I had to see if the game had changed from the first time I played it as a third grader on a computer version that was a pixelated green-screen…
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Puyallup School District to amend Tribal relationship and implement Since Time Immemorial Curriculum

Puyallup School District to amend Tribal relationship and implement Since Time Immemorial Curriculum

By Puyallup Tribal News Staff The Puyallup School District sits on the traditional homelands of the Puyallup people. The Puyallup School Board voted 4-0 on Oct. 17 to amend its relations with the Puyallup Tribe and ensure accurate implementation of Since Time Immemorial (STI) curriculum. The adoption came at the end of a school board meeting in which several community members urged the board to ensure Since Time Immemorial curriculum was in place. In 2015, the Legislature passed Senate Bill 5433 modifying the original 2005 legislation, now requiring the Since Time Immemorial: Tribal Sovereignty in Washington State or other Tribally-developed…
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A message from Dr. Shelton: Looking back at 2020 and forward to 2021

A message from Dr. Shelton: Looking back at 2020 and forward to 2021

In reflecting over the last year, I am thankful of how well the Tribal community has handled the COVID-19 crisis. Tribal Council was proactive from the beginning of the pandemic – stopping gatherings and encouraging people to work from home, even before it was widely recommended. The COVID team helped with many protocols and responses to small outbreaks. Overall, we have done better than other Tribal communities and what was expected. Thank you all for playing a part. But of course, we are not done! Soon the vaccine will be available (as soon as early January), and we encourage everyone…
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Toy donations brighten the holidays for CLS families

Toy donations brighten the holidays for CLS families

Chief Leschi Schools held its annual Toys for Tots event on Dec. 21. “Thank you to the Puyallup Tribe of Indians for providing ‘Toys for Tots’ for our families in need this holiday season,” CLS posted on Facebook. “Families were able to pick from a variety of tables with items for babies to teenagers.” Puyallup Tribal Council Vice Chairwoman Sylvia Miller, Council Member James Rideout and Superintendent Marc Brouillet helped set up the event, which included adequate spacing for families to select stuffed animals, games and other toys in a socially distanced manner. Council Vice Chairwoman Sylvia Miller (left) and…
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Tribe’s charitable donations help feed the hungry in Pierce County

Historically, the Puyallups were known to exhibit generous and welcoming behavior to all people (friends and strangers) who enter their lands. Today, this continues to ring true with their efforts to stop hunger locally. Even while reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Puyallup Tribe of Indians was able to provide charitable contributions of $568,000 in the first two quarters of 2020. The third and fourth quarter information will be made available at a later date. Charitable contributions are part of the Tribe’s gaming compact with the state. Four organizations that received large donations ($50,000 or more) are helping in the…
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Dorothy Earl shares family’s fry bread recipe for future generations

Dorothy Earl shares family’s fry bread recipe for future generations

By Lisa Pemberton, Puyallup Tribal News Editor Puyallup Tribal Member Dorothy Earl has been making fry bread for more than 40 years. She estimates she’s probably made about 200,000 pieces of fry bread – for youth dinners, funerals, the 2018 Canoe Journey and other special events over the years. Earl, who is the cook at the Little Wild Wolves Youth Center and known to many as “Auntie Dot,” uses a baking powder fry bread recipe that was passed down to her by her great-auntie on her mom’s side of the family. “It originated in Yakima, where I grew up,” Earl…
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