The Tulalip (pronounced Tuh’-lay-lup) Tribes, successors in interest to the Snohomish, Snoqualmie, Skykomish, and other allied tribes and bands signatory to the 1855 Treaty of Point Elliott. Our tribal population is over 5,000 and growing, with 2,700 members residing on the 22,000 acres Tulalip Indian Reservation located north of Everett and the Snohomish River and west of Marysville, Washington. The Reservation is rich with natural resources: marine waters, tidelands, freshwater creeks and lakes, wetlands, forests, and developable land. The Tulalip Reservation was reserved for the use and benefit of Indian tribes and bands signatory to the Treaty of Point Elliott of January 22, 1855. Its boundaries were established by the 1855 Treaty and by Executive Order of President U.S. Grant dated December 23, 1873. It was created to provide a permanent home for the Snohomish, Snoqualmie, Skagit, Suiattle, Samish, and Stillaguamish Tribes and allied bands living in the region.
When Tulalip organized in 1934 under the Indian Reorganization Act (IRA), we agreed to adopt the name “Tulalip Tribes” from the Salish word describing the prominent bay on the Reservation. The Federal Government recognizes the Tulalip Tribes as a sovereign Indian Tribe operating under a Tribal Constitution approved by the Secretary of Interior. Our status as a sovereign entity maintains our right to self-govern as a “nation within a nation” and includes the inherent right as a government to raise revenue for our community. These rights are critical, as while the U.S. Government in exchange for Tribal land, did pledge by treaty funding for education and other social services – that support has been nominal. Today 92% of our government services, tribal member entitlements, family and senior housing, education, health, and dental services, law enforcement, fire protection, infrastructure improvements, and economic growth are funded from within.
The reservation is governed by a board of seven directors chosen by Tribal members for three-year terms of service- a modern version of the separate Tribal Councils that governed our Tribes and allied bands for thousands of years here in Puget Sound.
Of the over 3,500 employees working for the Tulalip Tribes, more than two-thirds are working in the Tribes’ business enterprises: Tulalip Resort Casino, Quil Ceda Creek Casino, Tulalip Bingo, Leasing, Tulalip Broadband, Salish Networks, Tulalip Data Services, Tulalip Liquor & Smoke Shop, and Quil Ceda Village.
