I have zero interest in talking politics with someone who publicly and on paper denounces the Point No Point Treaty of 1855. Councilmember Lowe has not properly tracked all the money siphoned to the tribes through traditional non-tribal sources and agencies. The BIA obviously does not provide them all the funds they get now. The U. S Department of Commerce has long funded the tribes. That will most likely stop. County tax payers paid 1 million to match that grant. They paid 5 million for the re-compete grant. No Viki Lowe will not tell the real story about how the tribe ,county and cities joined an international charter to re-negotiate a treaty without authority from Congress, to bogart our local economy. Apparently something they all feel righteous about since we are such terrible colonizers. But they always hoped they could hide everything over at SERN and NODC. That did not happen it all got out. Now they have to own up to the treaty malfeasance the last 14 years.
As Vicki Lowe stated the tribes fund their projects "through a mix of federal grants and economic development". Federal grants ? So the citizen tax payer pays for grants to the tribes and then pays more taxes to cover the taxes the tribes do not pay. Fairness, equity, equality and equal are noticeably absent from that scenario. Jim Stoffer has it spot on with "can a community truly work together when not everyone is subject to the same rules?" The indigenous peoples who were wrongly treated and their abusers NO LONGER LIVE. Entertaining special and unique ancestry rights above all others is not compatible with equality. If USA tribes seek sovereignty, they must be treated the same as all other sovereign nations. It is the BOTH AND that is not working. Become friends and neighbors; not friends and neighbors with rights and privileges above all other occupants of this land.
To shame the Colonizer. They have to tax the local colonizers instead of getting tribal art funds from BIA. They could get grants from all these minority non-profits. But they don't. They come after the local colonizer. They must pay for the bad relationship beyond what the treaty paid for and beyond what colonizers pay to the BIA. Because they are "guests" on ancestral lands. They finally said the quiet parts out loud.
Its written and now publicly stated by Navarra Carr. Jim Stoffer said to my County Commissioners that " we gather on tribal lands." That means just like Carr Stoffer thinks the Point No Point Treaty does not exist, and I am just a "guest" that they can screw over because of my colonizer past. Not only that but as we keep hearing we need to pay for art and events to remind us how shitty we have treated minorities. Paying the BIA is the second double down to the tune of 4-6 million per tribe depending on the party in power. The third triple down is 50 percent of BIA is made up of tribal members. They prioritize tribal hiring. They have actually pinned 5 or more Colonizer fees on local homeowners. The tribe is down with the struggle to eliminate property rights and change the racial make up of communities and erect statues and display art that reminds us of how we came in and colonized. Say nothing about the courts that gave them Boldt or the incredible technology they experienced in their lifetimes because of the rapid advance of technology once we were free from church and king. They are the ones with hate and retribution not me. I just thought I had a treaty and thought all that money to the BIA was for more than just a job placement program for tribal members to get a grand a week to play hide and seek.
Yes they did John, they have been saying it for the last 10 years I’ve lived here and probably before that……if we weren’t here who would go to their casino, stores, restaurants & need their services they are so graciously providing? Visiting guests & a few tribal members? After we’ve given so much to right some kind of war wrong & this is how we are thanked……
"Today is National Indigenous People's Day. Port Angeles School District recognizes the importance of honoring indigenous history, traditions, languages, and cultures of Indigenous people in the district, local area, State of Washington, United States, and worldwide. We acknowledge that we are on the indigenous lands of Coast Salish people, who have reserved territory rights to this land, specifically the Klallam Tribes. We thank these caretakers of this land, who have lived and continue to live here since Time Immemorial. PASD is committed to acknowledging The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe and all Native American Peoples' commitment to remembering their past, honoring their ancestors, and preserving and revitalizing their culture and heritage. We are grateful to work in consultation with The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe and all Native American Peoples' commitment to remembering their past, honoring their ancestors, and preserving and revitalizing their culture and heritage. We are grateful to work in consultation with The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe to provide education to staff, families, and students on the Klallam People and all Native Indigenous People. We do this by furthering the advancement of classes taught at Port Angeles High School and Stevens Middle School, including Klallam Language, Native American Studies, Washington State Tribes, and United States History from the Native American Perspective. Please join us in recognizing the importance of Indigenous Peoples, history, traditions, cultures, and languages, which have thrived and lived here since time immemorial.
I taught basic skills English at a community college about 25 years ago, a bunch of kids who couldn’t recognize a complete sentence if it hit them in the head with a baseball bat. Today, they wouldn’t let me in the front door for what they consider outdated insistence on concepts like they/their/them always being plural.
You have to hand it to Obama. He created and facilitated the NGO AND Soros leveraging machine. In private Stoffer begs for understanding in public he virtue signals because to stack chips comfortably you have to sing the global song, to get the local opportunity. They all do. Johnston, Gilden. All the school board mafia.,
As has been previously asserted, and as often as possible on my part, "The narrative need not be true or accurate, only that it resonates with the audience." A very effective concept utilized in indoctrination, commonly called education, is the splicing of both ends of thought, thereby creating a loop, an echo chamber. If one reverses the direction of travel in the loop, one can explain to those who speak in loops that either direction sends the same message, noise and propaganda. The presenter may get physical, like their predecessors, the Brown Shirts; Sal Alinski's handbook is their bible. Tax-exempt foundations (laundering services), like "retired" politicians such as the Clintons, Obamas, et al., who cannot seem to satisfy their greed while in Office continue their parasitic, tax-exempt drain of other's earned values, then pass the reigns to their children. Out of context language and jibberish are the languages of activists, idiots, and lemmings. "If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, then baffle them with..."
So, so so glad we pulled the grandkids out of the public schools here. They're crap. Liberty University has a k thru 12 program that's about 3 grand a year.
This may sound stupid but I don’t think the tribes could have existed on their own without some kind of government help & treaties in a war they lost. Another words if Americans had their land & tribes had theirs could tribes have what they have today without our ancestors creating what they created to live civil, schools, judicial, economy, automobiles, washing machines, stoves, travel, communications, etc……no they wouldn’t….tribes wouldnt even have guns to hunt. Tribes would still be in canoes, hunting with bow and arrows and communicating with smoke signals. What have the tribes done for Americans really except fight. Lowe saying JST stepped in to provide medical & provide jobs is mute. There is always someone looking for BUSINESS opportunities & JST seized the opportunity that’s all. They aren’t in business out of the kindness of their heart they are in business to make $$. When Vicki Lowe talks about all they do to contribute & the tribe pushes how much they do for the community, let’s really take a look at years gone by like tribes do to justify how terrible Americans have been to them & look at the whole picture. Apples for apples past and present. Let’s get the scales out and really see where it all weighs out.
They are ground floor partners in America and deserve a 13th share from The corporations and colleges. Not a punishment and retribution against colonizers
What does "Time Immemorial" mean? Surviving the Ice Age in this area thousands of years ago is impressive; but are the tribes responsible for the extinction of the woolly mammoth?
"In 1874, under the leadership of Tulsmetum (“Lord James Balch”), the S’Klallam people living in the Dungeness area decided that to survive, they had to adopt a new value system that included property ownership. The Jamestown community pooled $500 in gold coins and purchased the 210 acres along the Strait, now called Jamestown."
I did not steal my land, I bought it, with blood, sweat, and tears (and smiles too). Now the "governments" want me to pay "rent" (tax) to stay on my property. I am paying more and more every year and receiving less and less in return. So who is stealing who's property? I, as well as the rule writers, pledge allegiance to ONE NATION. I was born in this country, the United States of America, and am thankful to enjoy the benefits and obligations that attach to that citizenship, as should all people fortunate enough to enjoy the same, equally not equitably.
Yeah, soon the property tax alone will price us out and we'll have no choice but to sell and move. When that happens, we'll own nothing and be happy, I'm told.
Jim Stoffer is a colossal meddler from elsewhere. Not only did he protect pedos while on the Sequim School Board, he has now involved himself with education at a regional level, ESD 114. Brace yourselves.
There are several great responses here to which I fully agree. Probably with a much better understanding than I have. So my response and/or question may seem ignorant to which I apologize. I'm not clear on how the business structure works. So she was saying, as an example, because they stepped up and opened a business when the community was in need they are now free of things like having to pay property taxes etc? If so, I'm a bit confused. When anyone opens a business here, are they not bringing to the community something of need? From the initial idea they have to find a location and then getting an immense loan to fund such business for years to come, they are still responsible for any and all taxes and expenses they go with having such business. I think that whatever so called treaty was signed centuries ago it was insanely written. I just can't understand why anyone would write some contact if such magnitude with an indefinite clause to it which means it can and will be exploited indefinitely. But it seems to be what it is and nothing can be done about it. Yes such clear and awesome posts like this can draw attention to and point out significant issues such as this along with I'm pretty sure many other issues In sure they tribes with forever exploit but the question is, is this only a means of venting the obvious? Because of such idiotic contracts, treaties or whatever being written, other than venting, is there anything they anyone can really do about it?
Wouldn't it be fantastic to have your business except from those tax burdens? Instead, more and more taxes, licenses, permits and fees are stacked on every year, cutting into the profitability of every business. The last 30 years have hollowed out the middle class, largely due to exporting manufacturing to China. The globalists and communists who call themselves Democrats have now turned their focus inward, and are currently working to bankrupt everyone who owns property or runs a business. Well, everyone except the tribes, that is. Its smooth sailing for them!
I think I understand your statement, but please consider becoming involved somehow. I don't see anything that this man can do as being lasting unless Congress passes a law. As such, becoming involved leads to local changes for balance.
Agreed, MK, involvement in some capacity is absolutely imperitive. Our Republic has been established via independents working for a common goal. Our adversaries are well-versed, organized, and "liberally"-funded to assure our acquiesence to their demands.
I saw a documentary narrated by Obama. He emphasized actually what you're referring to. Forget about Big Brother and focus on your own local and state level issues. But when you have beliefs like this that was recently a part of another post . "Constructing 45 homes would be a boom for the local economy. Electricians, street graders, surveyors, plumbers, concrete workers, and land surveyors would all get a bite of the apple — a big part of the Opportunity Fund’s criteria for selecting recipients. Habitat’s programs “create jobs, wages, tax revenue, and business activities in the communities where Habitat works" then you can attend all the local meetings you want and scream from the highest mountain and nothing will change. To many people swallow this toxic Kool aid and there's nothing that can be done. These are nothing more than temporary objectives that will have indefinite consequences and devastating effects on our community that the blind don't see and the rich don't give a damn about.
A housing program subject to racial disparity...on purpose to change the entire make up of a community without jobs for the people to work at. Just a program to sit in.
I do understand your assertion, Brad. The current scenario has happened before, with some who are weaker than others "jumping ship" when the sea gets rough, just enough to cause a serious list to port. Our Republic and all it represents, requires ongoing, preventive maintenance, and management of weights and balance to ensure our integrity and to prevent insideous cancers from eroding our foundation.
Well that's a valid viewpoint to a degree. That's exactly why after 45 years of voting for and supporting what was once the Democratic Party and has now changed to the Extreme Liberal Party, I cast my vote for him too. However, you have to remember what his primary objective is. To get as much stuff as possible down to the individual state levels so they can deal with whatever insanity issues they have without government intervention. Basically saying that We the people have to take control of the insanity within our state. The entire West Coast is cocooned in extreme liberal insanity which unfortunately in most cases, he has no control over.
You got my curiosity up...they started posting "grant & contract revenue" in 2012, so I don't know what it was before that. But, I looked at those reports and from 2012 through 2024 (minus 2021 which isn't posted), that revenue adds up to $129,360,220. Whether or not that includes everything, I'm not sure.
The total amount on my initial post is for grants and contracts only (I don't know if that includes BIA, I do know they get regular scheduled payments but don't know from who).
Total revenue for 2024 alone was $85,877,685. Aside from grants and contracts of $18,734,282 there are 7 more line items adding to the total:
Indirect revenue $2,731,241
Dividends $5,610,000
Terminal allocation agreements (I don't know what this is) $3,733,176
Taxes $5,041,932
Charges for Services/340B (340B lets them pay less for drugs) $47,224,427
The 574 tribes split 2.9 billion this year. That is what went to the BIA. That comes out to around 4 million per tribe. I am told they use that money to pay off politicos.
I am not knocking their medical clinic as it is well run and has a very good staff (minimal turnover compared to OMC), but we are all footing the bill for their profits there as well. Has anyone noticed there are pretty much no longer any private practice physicians in Sequim. Now we can get our care from massive big box facilities like OMC and Jamestown who all receive extra funding. OMC gets to charge more and gets facility use fees. Jamestown receive even more funding per patient through cost-based reimbursement from Medicare and Medicaid for services provided as a specially designated rural health clinic (essentially getting double the payment for the same services). Someday both those extra revenue streams may dry up, then the house of cards might fall down as we all know our healthcare system is unsustainable as it continues to such on the tit of our federal deficit.
There's an advantage the Clinic has when attached to the tribe, and as such could be argued why OMC is having some of their challenges. It can't be ruled out, because it's real.
Has anyone looked at whether the tribe is getting medical reimbursement at JST clinic from BIA just for native americans or for natives AND anyone else? I worked in medical care on a native american reservation and the BIA funded the clinic/hospital. I wonder what the reimbursement/payment situation is here in Sequim.
In a conversation with my now retired doctor he informed me that the tribal clinics were always reimbursed more from Medicare and and for some medical care TWICE as much.Could some explain to me why.Thank you.
Yes I believe Tribes should be offered certain tax exemptions due to stolen land but a business that sells marijuana needs to pay Taxes as well as gas stations and casinos. I can see medical being tax exempt and property taxes as well. It high time we all pay our way!
No one stole anything. Conquered is the correct term. The same thing tribes did to each other for thousands of years, we just did so more effectively, with better technology and grit. We should never apolgoize for that. It's easy to forget because we live in a time of such great abundance, but things weren't always so easy. Our ancestors bled and died for a better future. The tribes should asymilate. We should have never allowed this "nation inside a nation" insanity in the first place.
My family history includes being burnt out of home and scalped by local Indians. I guess I'm supposed to ask for reparations from this tribe, across the country and across the centuries from the guilty tribe.
Stolen land sounds like a trigger to me. The tribes got a 1.9 billion dollar settlement in 2016 and they got millions per year given to the BIA. They are making their claims of stolen land based on the original treaty which they now have abandoned and renegotiated, hence the "we live on ancestral lands" and are "guests." Guests don't have land to have stolen. I was that way too once(Sympathetic) but it started to add up. If you can't include the truth in your assessment that land was stolen you are not being complete or fair. If anyone owes them anything its the corporations and colleges. Homeowners are a convenient target for communists. Tribes are a few letters away from of communist government. (Communal) They took the liberal bait at the NGO and now they have a broken treaty to go along with your broken relationship that "stole.'
Anyone who receives benefit from any services or products renderd, no matter the provider entity, should contiribute to the costs thereof. No one stole anything from anyone, any more than earned values are being usurped (stolen) by government of various levels.
You know, I didn't have a problem with the Tribe until they forced the MAT clinic down our throats. OK, so far, my biggest fears of it attracting hundreds of addict vagrants to the area has not materialized, but the amount they milk the federal government for each treatment is ripping off the taxpayers, in my opinion. I don't recall the details, but they milk Medicaid something like $400 for every treatment, while all the other MAT clinics in P.A. charge a small fraction of that. I may be wrong-- this is from memory, and I've mostly forgotten about it. But....
The Towne road debacle where they intentionally breeched the levee prematurely has caused me great ire against the Tribe. And, I suspect that their "wetlands restoration" was intended to flood 3 Crabs so they could acquire more land for pennies on the dollar. And, their owning Ozias through big contributions MAINLY pisses me off against Ozias, but that doesn't let the Tribe off the hook for doing so.
The main problem I have with the Tribe is that they do what's best for the Tribe even if it's the worst for the rest of us. On one hand, if they were impoverished, one could understand this. But their income is much greater than most of ours, and they have no regard for anyone but themselves. Rather than choosing actions that better the entire community, they do what's best for them, with no regard for the consequences. And yes, all these salmon projects and dam removals that they push for are not necessary if they didn't decimate the salmon by skirting the rules that apply to everyone else. We're limited to 2 salmon/day, with a hook and line, while they're unlimited and fish with nets. That's 2 fish for us and 200,000 for them. Then WE get stuck with the tax bill to restore the salmon and habitat.
So, the Tribe is not on my favorites list, to put it mildly.
Americans have a history and so does the JSK. They fought their own native peoples and so did Americans….No One Important you are so right the disparity is mind boggling especially when it comes down to fish….water, what about air?
Climate alarmism is the biggest hoax ever perpetrated on humanity. Governments use it as an excuse to tax us and restrict our rights. If the Tribe is involved in any of this BS, they can go to hell!
Lowe wants to shame you into silence. Disagree with her twisted view of reality, and it's YOU who are devisive... Well Lowe, you are transparently pandering to the Tribe with faulty reasoning.
Vicki has forgotten where she lives, who she has worked with! That she is working for a man who was incapable of managing his own household… that ended in tragedy and demise… what can you possibly expect to happen here …. The clinic can’t keep doctors or employees … where there is little to know EDUCATION… and poor PAY… paltry benifits… where the TRIBES fingers go you get half baked results! Unless it’s a maker and profit shaker… then still it gets ruined.
I don’t care if they provide a rehab center they are the drug dealer and disease maker… wave a flag look at me I did good to didn’t I ???? There are to many people that lie dead and dying waving that flag…. Your words are empty Vicky Lowe like spent can of beans… I see in my recycling bin!!!
I believe that the Watchdog only scratched the surface of the main problem with the Lowe-Stoffer line of argument. Yes, Jamestown is a government. And yes, as a government, Jamestown does good things for the people. The problem with Jamestown as government, it is free to pick and choose which good works it decides to do. State, county, tax districts and local governments have no such choice. Sidewalks, roads, sewers, infrastructure must all be provided and paid for. Under this services Aegis, Jamestown is free to cherry pick those projects which happen to have a healthy Federal subsidy. Jamestown needs to pay for that infrastructure umbrella, just like every other American corporation. Nice trip guys but your argument comes up lite.
Jamestown does good things for the people, when it benefits them somehow. Their decisions are business based which is different from a government based decision.
Many good writers among this group. Thank you to all of you ! I've never lived anywhere that put a local Tribe on such a pedestal as JKT enjoys. They are a very small tribe and only about half of them live in this county. Yet, they are tax exempt in nearly every way. They and their local partners give lip service to all the good they provide but their focus is doing what brings them tax free profits and not paying property tax. The math is staggering and can't continue without real economic damage (hurt) to those who pay for all of it. There is no solution to our county fiscal issues except that everyone who lives here, owns homes here, operates a business here, has to share in the cost of county/city services. Getting grants from Indian Affairs or Dept of Commerce (federal tax payer funds) and using our county services does not exempt the tribe from paying a fair share. What they own here doesn't change any of that financial responsibility.
Is there a reason why the 5 Native American tribes can’t support each other to lift their people out of poverty?
They could build them homes, feed them, provide daycare, educate & employ them?
Or do the tribes want to collect money from their investments with help from tax payer money to reinvest in the tribal corporation & say, “We need help for our people, look how poor they are, they need help”? Is this how the tax payer money keeps rolling in for their corporate, scratch that, poverty needs?
The only 'reason' I can see is as you suggest, JKT is doing what is best for JKT having joined hands with local NGOs our County Commissioners. The way federal level grants have passed through to Native American Tribes is really adding to the poverty issues, many of which are much worse that we see here. Reservation tribes are given more than non-reservation tribes, and given with almost no oversight of how the money is spent. Usually the Chief receives the money and the Chief and his Councilmen control the money and the imbalance between how they can afford to live is significantly better then regular tribe members. It's sad and has been going on for decades and we as tax paying citizens are contributing to the poverty mess. I keep hoping DOGE will do a serious dig into this.
Answer to the last question in the article is NO. We cannot all live as equal partners when we do not all play by the same rules.
Ms. Lowe calls us "divisive" if we don't agree with HER. Not hardly. It is not right, nor fair. While I understand everything is not fair, my property taxes tell me I will not be here much longer. My taxes go up and up, while the Tribe gets more and more assets and less and less fee's. It is ridiculous for anyone to think they won an argument by calling those that do not agree with them, divisive. I'm not sure we will ever see the democrats and liberals in this state say enough is enough.
I have zero interest in talking politics with someone who publicly and on paper denounces the Point No Point Treaty of 1855. Councilmember Lowe has not properly tracked all the money siphoned to the tribes through traditional non-tribal sources and agencies. The BIA obviously does not provide them all the funds they get now. The U. S Department of Commerce has long funded the tribes. That will most likely stop. County tax payers paid 1 million to match that grant. They paid 5 million for the re-compete grant. No Viki Lowe will not tell the real story about how the tribe ,county and cities joined an international charter to re-negotiate a treaty without authority from Congress, to bogart our local economy. Apparently something they all feel righteous about since we are such terrible colonizers. But they always hoped they could hide everything over at SERN and NODC. That did not happen it all got out. Now they have to own up to the treaty malfeasance the last 14 years.
Which is why the tribes have remained steadfast and loyal to the elected Democrat officials. Its a profitable arrangement!
But without a treaty there is no "Boldt." Funny how there is a treaty when they need fish or a fish culvert...
Viki, Carr and Stoffer can speak into the federal court microphone, when they ask them about how colonizers are now "guests."
As Vicki Lowe stated the tribes fund their projects "through a mix of federal grants and economic development". Federal grants ? So the citizen tax payer pays for grants to the tribes and then pays more taxes to cover the taxes the tribes do not pay. Fairness, equity, equality and equal are noticeably absent from that scenario. Jim Stoffer has it spot on with "can a community truly work together when not everyone is subject to the same rules?" The indigenous peoples who were wrongly treated and their abusers NO LONGER LIVE. Entertaining special and unique ancestry rights above all others is not compatible with equality. If USA tribes seek sovereignty, they must be treated the same as all other sovereign nations. It is the BOTH AND that is not working. Become friends and neighbors; not friends and neighbors with rights and privileges above all other occupants of this land.
I especially want to end the land acknowledgement nonsense at Field Arts and Events Hall and other venues.
To shame the Colonizer. They have to tax the local colonizers instead of getting tribal art funds from BIA. They could get grants from all these minority non-profits. But they don't. They come after the local colonizer. They must pay for the bad relationship beyond what the treaty paid for and beyond what colonizers pay to the BIA. Because they are "guests" on ancestral lands. They finally said the quiet parts out loud.
So “colonizer” dollars have long supported JKT businesses and made them successful. We must be punished, over and over again.
Its written and now publicly stated by Navarra Carr. Jim Stoffer said to my County Commissioners that " we gather on tribal lands." That means just like Carr Stoffer thinks the Point No Point Treaty does not exist, and I am just a "guest" that they can screw over because of my colonizer past. Not only that but as we keep hearing we need to pay for art and events to remind us how shitty we have treated minorities. Paying the BIA is the second double down to the tune of 4-6 million per tribe depending on the party in power. The third triple down is 50 percent of BIA is made up of tribal members. They prioritize tribal hiring. They have actually pinned 5 or more Colonizer fees on local homeowners. The tribe is down with the struggle to eliminate property rights and change the racial make up of communities and erect statues and display art that reminds us of how we came in and colonized. Say nothing about the courts that gave them Boldt or the incredible technology they experienced in their lifetimes because of the rapid advance of technology once we were free from church and king. They are the ones with hate and retribution not me. I just thought I had a treaty and thought all that money to the BIA was for more than just a job placement program for tribal members to get a grand a week to play hide and seek.
Yes they did John, they have been saying it for the last 10 years I’ve lived here and probably before that……if we weren’t here who would go to their casino, stores, restaurants & need their services they are so graciously providing? Visiting guests & a few tribal members? After we’ve given so much to right some kind of war wrong & this is how we are thanked……
You better get busy.
PASD October 14, 2024 FB post:
"Today is National Indigenous People's Day. Port Angeles School District recognizes the importance of honoring indigenous history, traditions, languages, and cultures of Indigenous people in the district, local area, State of Washington, United States, and worldwide. We acknowledge that we are on the indigenous lands of Coast Salish people, who have reserved territory rights to this land, specifically the Klallam Tribes. We thank these caretakers of this land, who have lived and continue to live here since Time Immemorial. PASD is committed to acknowledging The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe and all Native American Peoples' commitment to remembering their past, honoring their ancestors, and preserving and revitalizing their culture and heritage. We are grateful to work in consultation with The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe and all Native American Peoples' commitment to remembering their past, honoring their ancestors, and preserving and revitalizing their culture and heritage. We are grateful to work in consultation with The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe to provide education to staff, families, and students on the Klallam People and all Native Indigenous People. We do this by furthering the advancement of classes taught at Port Angeles High School and Stevens Middle School, including Klallam Language, Native American Studies, Washington State Tribes, and United States History from the Native American Perspective. Please join us in recognizing the importance of Indigenous Peoples, history, traditions, cultures, and languages, which have thrived and lived here since time immemorial.
They should promote the teaching of basic skills at PAHS instead of the “Native American perspective.”
Colleges have to teach basic math now. They are showing up feeling like guilty colonizers that cant even do pre-algebra.
I taught basic skills English at a community college about 25 years ago, a bunch of kids who couldn’t recognize a complete sentence if it hit them in the head with a baseball bat. Today, they wouldn’t let me in the front door for what they consider outdated insistence on concepts like they/their/them always being plural.
You have to hand it to Obama. He created and facilitated the NGO AND Soros leveraging machine. In private Stoffer begs for understanding in public he virtue signals because to stack chips comfortably you have to sing the global song, to get the local opportunity. They all do. Johnston, Gilden. All the school board mafia.,
How do you think he became a deca-millionaire?
By 'shrewd' investments?
The corruption is staggering.😱
It's a clever campaign to influence the not yet formed minds of children and is repeated at other events.
As has been previously asserted, and as often as possible on my part, "The narrative need not be true or accurate, only that it resonates with the audience." A very effective concept utilized in indoctrination, commonly called education, is the splicing of both ends of thought, thereby creating a loop, an echo chamber. If one reverses the direction of travel in the loop, one can explain to those who speak in loops that either direction sends the same message, noise and propaganda. The presenter may get physical, like their predecessors, the Brown Shirts; Sal Alinski's handbook is their bible. Tax-exempt foundations (laundering services), like "retired" politicians such as the Clintons, Obamas, et al., who cannot seem to satisfy their greed while in Office continue their parasitic, tax-exempt drain of other's earned values, then pass the reigns to their children. Out of context language and jibberish are the languages of activists, idiots, and lemmings. "If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, then baffle them with..."
😎Thanks Timothy!
So, so so glad we pulled the grandkids out of the public schools here. They're crap. Liberty University has a k thru 12 program that's about 3 grand a year.
Turd
This may sound stupid but I don’t think the tribes could have existed on their own without some kind of government help & treaties in a war they lost. Another words if Americans had their land & tribes had theirs could tribes have what they have today without our ancestors creating what they created to live civil, schools, judicial, economy, automobiles, washing machines, stoves, travel, communications, etc……no they wouldn’t….tribes wouldnt even have guns to hunt. Tribes would still be in canoes, hunting with bow and arrows and communicating with smoke signals. What have the tribes done for Americans really except fight. Lowe saying JST stepped in to provide medical & provide jobs is mute. There is always someone looking for BUSINESS opportunities & JST seized the opportunity that’s all. They aren’t in business out of the kindness of their heart they are in business to make $$. When Vicki Lowe talks about all they do to contribute & the tribe pushes how much they do for the community, let’s really take a look at years gone by like tribes do to justify how terrible Americans have been to them & look at the whole picture. Apples for apples past and present. Let’s get the scales out and really see where it all weighs out.
They are ground floor partners in America and deserve a 13th share from The corporations and colleges. Not a punishment and retribution against colonizers
Paid for by property owners
What does "Time Immemorial" mean? Surviving the Ice Age in this area thousands of years ago is impressive; but are the tribes responsible for the extinction of the woolly mammoth?
The Sequim City Council would like you to know.
https://www.sequimwa.gov/1057/Jamestown-SKlallam-Tribe
"In 1874, under the leadership of Tulsmetum (“Lord James Balch”), the S’Klallam people living in the Dungeness area decided that to survive, they had to adopt a new value system that included property ownership. The Jamestown community pooled $500 in gold coins and purchased the 210 acres along the Strait, now called Jamestown."
They purportedly murdered some 'native' peoples on the Dungeness Spit to get some of that money.💰😱
Humanity is only responsible for the extinction of humanity...with help from self-serving (small g) gods.
Since time immemorial.🤠
"that we are on the indigenous lands of Coast Salish people, who have reserved territory rights to this land, specifically the Klallam Tribes."
Thanks... I see Stoffer and the rest of the School board mafia has been fed and bred, that there is no more Point No Point Treaty of 1855.
Is there a National Non-Indigenous Peoples Day ?
Yeah! Where’s white pride month?!?!
How many other 'native' peoples were killed, enslaved, displaced by other 'native' peoples?
The raiding and enslaving and killing were part of their normal life activities.
Let's stop the bullshit about the 'poor' natives!😊
They really do impact the white people so negatively
I did not steal my land, I bought it, with blood, sweat, and tears (and smiles too). Now the "governments" want me to pay "rent" (tax) to stay on my property. I am paying more and more every year and receiving less and less in return. So who is stealing who's property? I, as well as the rule writers, pledge allegiance to ONE NATION. I was born in this country, the United States of America, and am thankful to enjoy the benefits and obligations that attach to that citizenship, as should all people fortunate enough to enjoy the same, equally not equitably.
Yeah, soon the property tax alone will price us out and we'll have no choice but to sell and move. When that happens, we'll own nothing and be happy, I'm told.
To whom will you sell? Who will be able to afford to buy your property?
I'll tell you won't be able to afford it: working class Americans. You can deduce what individuals or corporations would be able to afford it.
That's 'their' plan.
Good thing we're not our bodies!😊
Jim Stoffer is a colossal meddler from elsewhere. Not only did he protect pedos while on the Sequim School Board, he has now involved himself with education at a regional level, ESD 114. Brace yourselves.
Evil😱
There are several great responses here to which I fully agree. Probably with a much better understanding than I have. So my response and/or question may seem ignorant to which I apologize. I'm not clear on how the business structure works. So she was saying, as an example, because they stepped up and opened a business when the community was in need they are now free of things like having to pay property taxes etc? If so, I'm a bit confused. When anyone opens a business here, are they not bringing to the community something of need? From the initial idea they have to find a location and then getting an immense loan to fund such business for years to come, they are still responsible for any and all taxes and expenses they go with having such business. I think that whatever so called treaty was signed centuries ago it was insanely written. I just can't understand why anyone would write some contact if such magnitude with an indefinite clause to it which means it can and will be exploited indefinitely. But it seems to be what it is and nothing can be done about it. Yes such clear and awesome posts like this can draw attention to and point out significant issues such as this along with I'm pretty sure many other issues In sure they tribes with forever exploit but the question is, is this only a means of venting the obvious? Because of such idiotic contracts, treaties or whatever being written, other than venting, is there anything they anyone can really do about it?
Off the top of my head because of how reasonable your post is.
Run for public office and be a sane voice of reason that represents every citizen equally and does not yield to special interests.
Wouldn't it be fantastic to have your business except from those tax burdens? Instead, more and more taxes, licenses, permits and fees are stacked on every year, cutting into the profitability of every business. The last 30 years have hollowed out the middle class, largely due to exporting manufacturing to China. The globalists and communists who call themselves Democrats have now turned their focus inward, and are currently working to bankrupt everyone who owns property or runs a business. Well, everyone except the tribes, that is. Its smooth sailing for them!
I voted for the man that I think will soon take care of this nonsense.
He is just consumed with fixing other broken pieces at the moment.
I think I understand your statement, but please consider becoming involved somehow. I don't see anything that this man can do as being lasting unless Congress passes a law. As such, becoming involved leads to local changes for balance.
Agreed, MK, involvement in some capacity is absolutely imperitive. Our Republic has been established via independents working for a common goal. Our adversaries are well-versed, organized, and "liberally"-funded to assure our acquiesence to their demands.
I apologize for my typos. I think I need to visit an optometrist. Very frustrating.
I saw a documentary narrated by Obama. He emphasized actually what you're referring to. Forget about Big Brother and focus on your own local and state level issues. But when you have beliefs like this that was recently a part of another post . "Constructing 45 homes would be a boom for the local economy. Electricians, street graders, surveyors, plumbers, concrete workers, and land surveyors would all get a bite of the apple — a big part of the Opportunity Fund’s criteria for selecting recipients. Habitat’s programs “create jobs, wages, tax revenue, and business activities in the communities where Habitat works" then you can attend all the local meetings you want and scream from the highest mountain and nothing will change. To many people swallow this toxic Kool aid and there's nothing that can be done. These are nothing more than temporary objectives that will have indefinite consequences and devastating effects on our community that the blind don't see and the rich don't give a damn about.
A housing program subject to racial disparity...on purpose to change the entire make up of a community without jobs for the people to work at. Just a program to sit in.
I do understand your assertion, Brad. The current scenario has happened before, with some who are weaker than others "jumping ship" when the sea gets rough, just enough to cause a serious list to port. Our Republic and all it represents, requires ongoing, preventive maintenance, and management of weights and balance to ensure our integrity and to prevent insideous cancers from eroding our foundation.
Well that's a valid viewpoint to a degree. That's exactly why after 45 years of voting for and supporting what was once the Democratic Party and has now changed to the Extreme Liberal Party, I cast my vote for him too. However, you have to remember what his primary objective is. To get as much stuff as possible down to the individual state levels so they can deal with whatever insanity issues they have without government intervention. Basically saying that We the people have to take control of the insanity within our state. The entire West Coast is cocooned in extreme liberal insanity which unfortunately in most cases, he has no control over.
Yes. Shut down the BIA and stop the double down. If that contribution is going to be ignored and under appreciated, time to shut the agency down.
Anyone know the total annual Federal subsidy, from all sources, to the JKT?
You got my curiosity up...they started posting "grant & contract revenue" in 2012, so I don't know what it was before that. But, I looked at those reports and from 2012 through 2024 (minus 2021 which isn't posted), that revenue adds up to $129,360,220. Whether or not that includes everything, I'm not sure.
You need to tell us to sit down before you post a number like that. My flabber just got gasted.
Sorry, I'll remember that next time :)
$216,000 per member?
Eye opening, isn't it.
There is revenue from JKT and there are BIA payouts.
The total amount on my initial post is for grants and contracts only (I don't know if that includes BIA, I do know they get regular scheduled payments but don't know from who).
Total revenue for 2024 alone was $85,877,685. Aside from grants and contracts of $18,734,282 there are 7 more line items adding to the total:
Indirect revenue $2,731,241
Dividends $5,610,000
Terminal allocation agreements (I don't know what this is) $3,733,176
Taxes $5,041,932
Charges for Services/340B (340B lets them pay less for drugs) $47,224,427
Sales $672,411
Other $2,130,217
The 574 tribes split 2.9 billion this year. That is what went to the BIA. That comes out to around 4 million per tribe. I am told they use that money to pay off politicos.
I am not knocking their medical clinic as it is well run and has a very good staff (minimal turnover compared to OMC), but we are all footing the bill for their profits there as well. Has anyone noticed there are pretty much no longer any private practice physicians in Sequim. Now we can get our care from massive big box facilities like OMC and Jamestown who all receive extra funding. OMC gets to charge more and gets facility use fees. Jamestown receive even more funding per patient through cost-based reimbursement from Medicare and Medicaid for services provided as a specially designated rural health clinic (essentially getting double the payment for the same services). Someday both those extra revenue streams may dry up, then the house of cards might fall down as we all know our healthcare system is unsustainable as it continues to such on the tit of our federal deficit.
There's an advantage the Clinic has when attached to the tribe, and as such could be argued why OMC is having some of their challenges. It can't be ruled out, because it's real.
Has anyone looked at whether the tribe is getting medical reimbursement at JST clinic from BIA just for native americans or for natives AND anyone else? I worked in medical care on a native american reservation and the BIA funded the clinic/hospital. I wonder what the reimbursement/payment situation is here in Sequim.
And when a monopoly (the JKT Clinic) denies service, there is very little left to choose from.
Dying is an evermore palatable concept.
Also what 'they' have planned for many of us anyway and inevitable for all.🤪
In a conversation with my now retired doctor he informed me that the tribal clinics were always reimbursed more from Medicare and and for some medical care TWICE as much.Could some explain to me why.Thank you.
Ponzi schemes are popular because they are profitable until they collapse.💰🧐
Yes I believe Tribes should be offered certain tax exemptions due to stolen land but a business that sells marijuana needs to pay Taxes as well as gas stations and casinos. I can see medical being tax exempt and property taxes as well. It high time we all pay our way!
No one stole anything. Conquered is the correct term. The same thing tribes did to each other for thousands of years, we just did so more effectively, with better technology and grit. We should never apolgoize for that. It's easy to forget because we live in a time of such great abundance, but things weren't always so easy. Our ancestors bled and died for a better future. The tribes should asymilate. We should have never allowed this "nation inside a nation" insanity in the first place.
Ditto…..thank you
My family history includes being burnt out of home and scalped by local Indians. I guess I'm supposed to ask for reparations from this tribe, across the country and across the centuries from the guilty tribe.
Sounds like a white trashy thing to say!
Stolen land sounds like a trigger to me. The tribes got a 1.9 billion dollar settlement in 2016 and they got millions per year given to the BIA. They are making their claims of stolen land based on the original treaty which they now have abandoned and renegotiated, hence the "we live on ancestral lands" and are "guests." Guests don't have land to have stolen. I was that way too once(Sympathetic) but it started to add up. If you can't include the truth in your assessment that land was stolen you are not being complete or fair. If anyone owes them anything its the corporations and colleges. Homeowners are a convenient target for communists. Tribes are a few letters away from of communist government. (Communal) They took the liberal bait at the NGO and now they have a broken treaty to go along with your broken relationship that "stole.'
Anyone who receives benefit from any services or products renderd, no matter the provider entity, should contiribute to the costs thereof. No one stole anything from anyone, any more than earned values are being usurped (stolen) by government of various levels.
It wasn't stolen.
There were too few of them left to hold out against an overwhelming force.
They were vanquished and do not deserve 'reparations' any more than we do for our mistreatment by 'the crown'.
This is life on Earth and it ain't pretty. Never has been.
We can do everything 'right' and every few thousand years a cataclysmic event occurs that sets us back to the Stone Age. Say la vie.🥸
You know, I didn't have a problem with the Tribe until they forced the MAT clinic down our throats. OK, so far, my biggest fears of it attracting hundreds of addict vagrants to the area has not materialized, but the amount they milk the federal government for each treatment is ripping off the taxpayers, in my opinion. I don't recall the details, but they milk Medicaid something like $400 for every treatment, while all the other MAT clinics in P.A. charge a small fraction of that. I may be wrong-- this is from memory, and I've mostly forgotten about it. But....
The Towne road debacle where they intentionally breeched the levee prematurely has caused me great ire against the Tribe. And, I suspect that their "wetlands restoration" was intended to flood 3 Crabs so they could acquire more land for pennies on the dollar. And, their owning Ozias through big contributions MAINLY pisses me off against Ozias, but that doesn't let the Tribe off the hook for doing so.
The main problem I have with the Tribe is that they do what's best for the Tribe even if it's the worst for the rest of us. On one hand, if they were impoverished, one could understand this. But their income is much greater than most of ours, and they have no regard for anyone but themselves. Rather than choosing actions that better the entire community, they do what's best for them, with no regard for the consequences. And yes, all these salmon projects and dam removals that they push for are not necessary if they didn't decimate the salmon by skirting the rules that apply to everyone else. We're limited to 2 salmon/day, with a hook and line, while they're unlimited and fish with nets. That's 2 fish for us and 200,000 for them. Then WE get stuck with the tax bill to restore the salmon and habitat.
So, the Tribe is not on my favorites list, to put it mildly.
Americans have a history and so does the JSK. They fought their own native peoples and so did Americans….No One Important you are so right the disparity is mind boggling especially when it comes down to fish….water, what about air?
Climate alarmism is the biggest hoax ever perpetrated on humanity. Governments use it as an excuse to tax us and restrict our rights. If the Tribe is involved in any of this BS, they can go to hell!
"Almost 90% of CCA-funded projects in Washington don’t reduce carbon emissions"
https://www.thecentersquare.com/washington/article_5c1270c4-f91c-11ef-8f88-0b9b529e3f03.html
How you managed to write that without mentioning her massive conflict of interest is impressive.
Lowe wants to shame you into silence. Disagree with her twisted view of reality, and it's YOU who are devisive... Well Lowe, you are transparently pandering to the Tribe with faulty reasoning.
She is the tribe.
Vicki has forgotten where she lives, who she has worked with! That she is working for a man who was incapable of managing his own household… that ended in tragedy and demise… what can you possibly expect to happen here …. The clinic can’t keep doctors or employees … where there is little to know EDUCATION… and poor PAY… paltry benifits… where the TRIBES fingers go you get half baked results! Unless it’s a maker and profit shaker… then still it gets ruined.
I don’t care if they provide a rehab center they are the drug dealer and disease maker… wave a flag look at me I did good to didn’t I ???? There are to many people that lie dead and dying waving that flag…. Your words are empty Vicky Lowe like spent can of beans… I see in my recycling bin!!!
I believe that the Watchdog only scratched the surface of the main problem with the Lowe-Stoffer line of argument. Yes, Jamestown is a government. And yes, as a government, Jamestown does good things for the people. The problem with Jamestown as government, it is free to pick and choose which good works it decides to do. State, county, tax districts and local governments have no such choice. Sidewalks, roads, sewers, infrastructure must all be provided and paid for. Under this services Aegis, Jamestown is free to cherry pick those projects which happen to have a healthy Federal subsidy. Jamestown needs to pay for that infrastructure umbrella, just like every other American corporation. Nice trip guys but your argument comes up lite.
Jamestown does good things for the people, when it benefits them somehow. Their decisions are business based which is different from a government based decision.
They are a corporation first and a government second. Corporations must pay taxes for the infrastructure upon which they build.
Many good writers among this group. Thank you to all of you ! I've never lived anywhere that put a local Tribe on such a pedestal as JKT enjoys. They are a very small tribe and only about half of them live in this county. Yet, they are tax exempt in nearly every way. They and their local partners give lip service to all the good they provide but their focus is doing what brings them tax free profits and not paying property tax. The math is staggering and can't continue without real economic damage (hurt) to those who pay for all of it. There is no solution to our county fiscal issues except that everyone who lives here, owns homes here, operates a business here, has to share in the cost of county/city services. Getting grants from Indian Affairs or Dept of Commerce (federal tax payer funds) and using our county services does not exempt the tribe from paying a fair share. What they own here doesn't change any of that financial responsibility.
Is there a reason why the 5 Native American tribes can’t support each other to lift their people out of poverty?
They could build them homes, feed them, provide daycare, educate & employ them?
Or do the tribes want to collect money from their investments with help from tax payer money to reinvest in the tribal corporation & say, “We need help for our people, look how poor they are, they need help”? Is this how the tax payer money keeps rolling in for their corporate, scratch that, poverty needs?
The only 'reason' I can see is as you suggest, JKT is doing what is best for JKT having joined hands with local NGOs our County Commissioners. The way federal level grants have passed through to Native American Tribes is really adding to the poverty issues, many of which are much worse that we see here. Reservation tribes are given more than non-reservation tribes, and given with almost no oversight of how the money is spent. Usually the Chief receives the money and the Chief and his Councilmen control the money and the imbalance between how they can afford to live is significantly better then regular tribe members. It's sad and has been going on for decades and we as tax paying citizens are contributing to the poverty mess. I keep hoping DOGE will do a serious dig into this.
Answer to the last question in the article is NO. We cannot all live as equal partners when we do not all play by the same rules.
Ms. Lowe calls us "divisive" if we don't agree with HER. Not hardly. It is not right, nor fair. While I understand everything is not fair, my property taxes tell me I will not be here much longer. My taxes go up and up, while the Tribe gets more and more assets and less and less fee's. It is ridiculous for anyone to think they won an argument by calling those that do not agree with them, divisive. I'm not sure we will ever see the democrats and liberals in this state say enough is enough.