Deborah Parker, vice chair of the Tulalip Tribes of Washington state, reacts to President Barack Obama signing the Violence Against Women Act in 2013 in Washington.
This Thursday, three Native American tribes are changing how they administer justice.
For almost four decades, a U.S. Supreme Court ruling has barred tribes from prosecuting non-American Indian defendants. But as part of last year's re-authorization of the Violence Against Women Act, a new program now allows tribes to try some non-Indian defendants in domestic abuse cases.
Ross Reynolds talks with Tulalip Tribe Chairman Mel Sheldon about a federal pilot program that will allow the Tulalip Tribe to prosecute non-tribal members who are accused of domestic violence on the reservation.
Ross Reynolds talks with U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., about her letter to the National Football League urging it to get rid of the Washington Redskins' name.
Musician Clarence Clearwater, like so many Navajos, has moved off the reservation for work. He performs on the Grand Canyon Railway, the lone Indian among dozens of cowboys and train robbers entertaining tourists.
"I always tell people I'm there to temper the cowboys," says Clearwater. "I'm there to give people the knowledge that there was more of the West than just cowboys."
Back in the 1850s, the United States negotiated a series of five treaties with the coastal tribes living in what is now Washington state. The treaties secured a majority of the land for the state and broke the tribes up into reservations. But of less interest to early white settlers were water rights. Native Americans kept their right to fish along coastal waters. However, over the decades those rights have been disputed.
Ramona Morris, 82, is a Lummi elder and has lived on the reservation near Bellingham, Wash., her whole life. To her, salmon is more than food: it's a way of life.
The Salish Sea is a network of waterways that run from northwestern Washington to British Columbia. The waters of the Salish Sea are home to some of the richest marine life on the planet. The Lummi Tribe of Northern Washington rely on the abundance of these waters, but the fish have been in decline for the last century and a half.
(Left to right) Billy Frank, a veteran of the fish wars, Hank Adams, a tribal advocate, and Shawn Yanity, chairman of the Stillaguamish Tribe confer in Olympia.
We've reserved the slideshow above for a collection of reader-submitted photos from local demonstrations in 2013. Submit yours to pictures@kuow.org. In this photo: A scene from fast food workers demonstrating in Seattle on May 31, 2013.
Credit Heather Villanueva
Local couple Otts Bolisay and Ken Thompson join a demonstration on June 26, 2013, the day DOMA was struck down in the U.S. Supreme Court.
Credit Heather Villanueva
Heather Villanueva took this photo at an immigrants rights rally on May 1, 2013. She participated in these rallies as the 'Community Strength Organizer' for SEIU Healthcare 775NW
As we looked back on the last year, debating which stories to highlight here, we noticed a trend that surprised us: 2013 was a year of activism and protest in the Seattle area.
Pacific lamprey serve as an important food source for Northwest tribes. Their populations have dramatically declined throughout the Columbia River system.
Pacific lamprey were once a major staple in Northwest tribes’ diets. The oils were a source of nutrition. Babies used lamprey tails as teething rings.
Now, as numbers decline, lamprey only make it to the table during ceremonies or special occasions. Washington biologists hope to turn those numbers around and in doing so, may create the world's first lamprey hatchery.
Nooksack tribal police stand outside the courthouse during a disenrollment hearing.
Credit KUOW Photo/Liz Jones
A housing development on the Nooksack reservation, where 306 members face being disenrolled. They received a letter, calling an ancestor of theirs into question.
Credit KUOW Photo/Liz Jones
Another view of the Nooksack tribal reservation near the Canadian border. If the disenrollments go through, the tribe will have been reduced by 15 percent.
On December 6, 2013 at Town Hall in Seattle, reporter Ashley Ahearn moderated a discussion with Jay Julius, Lummi councilmember; and tribal law experts Mason Morisett and Knoll Lowney about an ongoing battle over a coal terminal, proposed to be built at Cherry Point, a sacred site for the Lummi.
Cathy Sampson-Kruse is a member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation. Police arrested her after she laid down in front of the so-called megaload bound for Canada.
Jay Julius is a Lummi tribal council member and fisherman. He cites the Pacific International Terminals' non-permitted actions at Cherry Point as a source of tribal opposition to the Gateway Pacific Terminal.
Credit EarthFix/KUOW Photo/Ashley Ahearn
Western Washington University Anthropology Professor Sarah Campbell believes more human remains are at the historic site where digging occurred.
Credit EarthFix/KUOW Photo/Ashley Ahearn
Arrow point found at site 45WH1.
Credit EarthFix/KUOW Photo/Ashley Ahearn
Lummi tribal council member Jay Julius points to an area of Cherry Point that was disturbed by Pacific International Terminals.
Three summers ago, the company that hopes to build the largest coal terminal in North America failed to obtain the permits it needed before bulldozing more than four miles of roads and clearing more than nine acres.
