Tulalip, Washington

The Tulalip Tribes of Washington (, ), formerly known as the Tulalip Tribes of the Tulalip Reservation, is a federally recognized tribe of Duwamish, Snohomish, Snoqualmie, Skagit, Suiattle, Samish, and Stillaguamish people. They are South and Central Coast Salish peoples of indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast. Their tribes are located in the mid-Puget Sound region of Washington.

Tulalip leader John McCoy was a member of the Washington State Legislature from 2003 to 2020. For a time he served as the only Native American in the legislature, at other times being joined by Jeff Morris, an Alaskan Native (Tsimpshian) who was elected in 1996 with two other Alaskan Natives, Dino Rossi (Tlingit) and Jim Dunn (Aleut). In 2002, the Tulalip Tribes also exerted political power by allying with other tribes across the state and defeating a state Supreme Court candidate "with a long track record of opposing tribal interests."

Name

The term ''Tulalip'' (originally ) comes from the Snohomish dialect. It was used in 1855 to describe the tribes who joined on the Tulalip Reservation established by treaty with the federal government. They included the Duwamish, Snohomish, Snoqualmie, Skagit, Suiattle, Samish, and Stillaguamish peoples, all of whom are South and Central Coast Salish peoples.

Reservation

The Tulalip Indian Reservation was established by the Treaty of Point Elliot in 1855 and by Executive Order of US President Ulysses S. Grant on January 22, 1873. The reservation lies on Port Susan in western Snohomish County, adjacent to the western border of the city of Marysville. It has a land area of and a 2020 census population of 10,969 persons residing within its boundaries. The reservation's largest community is Tulalip Bay.

The Tulalip people settled onto reservation lands after signing the Point Elliott Treaty with the former Washington Territory on January 22, 1855. The reservation was intended to serve most of the tribes in the Puget Sound region, but plans were scaled back after additional reservations were added. The Tulalip Indian Reservation now comprises the western half of the Marysville–Tulalip community, which was divided by the construction of Interstate 5 in the 1950s and 1960s. Marysville is an incorporated city and lies east of the freeway. A section of the reservation was home to a federal ammunition depot established during World War II and later used by Boeing for chemical weapons testing and storage.

The Marysville School District serves both the city and the reservation. To accommodate a growing population, in 2008 it opened three new schools, built of prefabricated, modular units that operate and look like traditional construction, at its site on the reservation. This large campus is now called the Marysville Secondary Campus; it contains Heritage High School, Marysville Arts and Technology High School, and an elementary school. The two high schools share a gym and commons center. In 2022, the Tulalip Tribes announced plans to build their own elementary school that would use an alternative, indigenous-focused education model that had been trialed at Heritage High School.

Economy

The tribe has developed Quil Ceda Village as a municipality within the reservation. It also developed a business park to provide jobs and tax income for the tribe, and to diversify its economy. Situated alongside Interstate 5, the business park includes the tribe's first gaming casino, Quil Ceda Creek Casino; the second, the $72 million Tulalip Resort Casino, and a $130 million associated 12-story luxury hotel.

Retail businesses include Walmart and Home Depot. In 2004, the tribe signed a deal with Chelsea Property Group to develop an outlet mall on the reservation. The company agreed to develop 100 to 120 stores on 47 acres of land near the tribe's casino and the Quil Ceda Business Park. The contract is expected to yield $1.2 million annually in revenues for the tribe. The deal runs for 75 years. The outlet mall, Seattle Premium Outlet, opened in 2005; a variety of restaurants have also opened.

In August 2011, the tribe opened the on the reservation. The center includes museum exhibits of Tulalip history and artifacts, classrooms, an archaeological repository, a longhouse, and research library. Attached is a nature preserve.

Communities

* Cathan
* John Sam Lake
* Priest Point
* Quil Ceda Village
* Shaker Church
* Stimson Crossing
* Tulalip Bay
* Weallup Lake

Government

The Tulalip Tribes are headquartered in Tulalip, Washington. The tribe is governed by a seven-member, democratically elected Board of Directors, whose members fill designated roles as officers. Directors are elected to serve three year terms. The current tribal administration is as follows:

* Chairwoman: Teri Gobin
* Vice Chairwoman: Misty Napeahi
* Secretary: Theresa Sheldon
* Treasurer: Hazen Shopbell
* Council member: Glen Gobin
* Council member: Marlin Fryberg Jr.
* Council member: Debra Posey

The Tulalip Tribes has defined its rules for membership in the tribe. Membership is based on January 1, 1935, Tulalip census roll; new applicants must prove descent from persons on that roll and that their parents were residents of the Tulalip Reservation at the time of the individual's birth. It does not require a minimum blood quantum.

Judicial system: Pilot project of VAWA 2013

The US Supreme Court's majority opinion in '' Oliphant v. Suquamish Indian Tribe'' (1978) affirmed that tribal courts were not allowed to have jurisdiction over a non-Indian person in a criminal case on the reservation. Through the passage of the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 (VAWA 2013), signed into law on March 7, 2013, by President Barack Obama, tribal courts have been authorized to exercise special criminal jurisdiction over certain crimes of domestic and dating violence.

This new law generally took effect on March 7, 2015. It also authorized a voluntary "Pilot Project" to allow certain tribes to begin exercising special jurisdiction beginning February 20, 2014.Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation