TULALIP — Drums and applause filled the Tulalip Resort Casino on Tuesday, as hundreds celebrated new strides in addressing the opioid crisis.
Away from the walls of the governor’s conference room Tuesday, tribal members and lawmakers witnessed Gov. Jay Inslee sign into law a fleet of bills to help prevent drug overdoses, fortify behavioral health services for tribes and honor a Tulalip leader.
The stroke of a pen made it official. The curriculum responsible for teaching students in public schools about tribal history, government and culture in the Pacific Northwest will now be renamed after late Tulalip state Sen. John McCoy.
McCoy led the effort to create the foundational curriculum in 2005 as a state representative. Then in 2015, as a state senator, he helped pass another bill mandating the curriculum in schools, rather than just encourage it. After representing Tulalip and Everett in the Legislature for nearly two decades, McCoy retired in 2020. Last year, he died at the age of 79.
“He worked so hard and so long. He asked our people what they wanted, and they said this,” McCoy’s wife, Jeannie, said in an interview. “Everyone said it couldn’t be done.”
His career focused on working to help people know about the true history of Washington tribes, said Teri Gobin, chair of the Tulalip Tribes.
“These children are benefiting from what he has brought to the state,” she said. “In Olympia and D.C., he broke down barriers and built bridges.”
John McCoy’s traditional name is enshrined as part of the new curriculum title: “The John McCoy (lulilaš) Since Time Immemorial curriculum.” The bill marks the first time a Lushootseed word will be incorporated into Washington law.
“My heart is thinking of John McCoy right now,” Inslee said as he signed the bill.
Other bills Inslee signed Tuesday aimed to bolster tribal sovereignty and give tribal members easier access to behavioral health treatment. One of those incorporates tribes under the Involuntary Treatment Act, removing a barrier that had prevented tribal members from accessing behavioral health or substance use treatment.
“Tribal programs are delivering some of the best health care in our state,” Inslee said before signing the bill, “and are staffed by highly qualified providers with unique knowledge and understanding of the complex factors in the behavioral health system.”
Gobin said Washington is setting an example for other tribes across the country with the passage of these bills.
In a public hearing in January, Tulalip Tribes Vice Chair Misty Napeahi told lawmakers the story of one tribal member who would still be alive if the bill had passed earlier.
Gina Blatchford needed help, Napeahi said. But state law at the time wouldn’t allow the tribes to involuntarily commit her into treatment through the court system.
Before she could get the treatment she needed, she died in a hit and run last year while walking along I-5.
“I hope that you can all hear the pain in my heart and in my voice on what has happened here,” Napeahi told legislators in January.
Since 2017, the Tulalip Tribes has lost 65 tribal members to “drug- and opioid-related impacts,” Napeahi said. Tulalip has just over 5,000 members.
Inslee also signed legislation making it mandatory for public schools and higher education institutions to incorporate overdose prevention education in their teachings.
“Education is one of the central components of our strategy to fight the opioid epidemic,” Inslee said.
The bill will ensure the state’s youth are protected, he said.
Another bill signed into law Tuesday requires all public schools to stock naloxone, an overdose reversing medication.
Inslee said: “We will not let fentanyl get to the lives of these young people.”
Jenelle Baumbach: 360-352-8623; jenelle.baumbach@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @jenelleclar.
Sydney Jackson: 425-339-3430; sydney.jackson@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @_sydneyajackson.
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