TULALIP — As the family of school shooter Jaylen Fryberg makes final funeral arrangements, the Tulalip community senses the world is watching.
Death within the tribes is a time for families and friends to gather privately to grieve. Protecting and supporting those families is the tribes’ foremost priority.
In an effort to bring understanding to their customs, the Tulalip Tribes released a statement Wednesday, denouncing the “horrific actions” of the 15-year-old tribal member who killed two classmates and wounded three others in Friday’s shooting in the Marysville Pilchuck High School cafeteria.
The tribes described the shootings as the “acts of an individual, not a family, not a tribe.”
“As we grieve our losses and pray for the recovery of the injured, the Tulalip Tribes continue to work with our neighbors in the Marysville community,” the statement said.
Their grief is extended to the shooter’s family.
“The tribe holds up our people who are struggling through times of loss,” the statement said. “We are supporting the family of Jaylen Fryberg in their time of loss, but that does not mean we condone his actions.”
Two tribal leaders shared similar thoughts with Marysville School District parents Tuesday night.
Les Parks, vice chairman of the Tulalip Tribes board of directors, called the school shootings “a heinous crime” but said the tribes will support all of the families of the teens.
“Together, all of our hearts were broken,” he said, urging unity across the Marysville and Tulalip communities, which are physically divided by I-5.
Tribal Chairman Herman Williams attended Marysville schools and said generations of his family will follow in his footsteps.
For now, the tribes are trying to support and protect the families with teens in hospitals and to help with funeral preparations, he said.
“This two weeks is going to be hard on all of us,” Williams said.
Traditionally, the days following a death are a quiet time. A time to come to a close, a time to heal as a community.
Jaylen Fryberg shot five of his friends, including two cousins, before taking his own life. Zoe Galasso died Friday. She will be buried Saturday. Gia Soriano died Sunday as a result of her injuries. Andrew Fryberg and Shaylee Chuckulnaskit remain in intensive care. Nate Hatch is now listed in satisfactory condition at a Seattle hospital.
“As our communities continue to come together to deal with this tragic event, our thoughts and prayers continue to go out to the families of Zoe Galasso and Gia Soriano,” the tribes’ statement read. “We continue to pray for the recovery of Andrew Fryberg, Nate Hatch and Shaylee Chuckulnaskit and their families.”
The Marysville and Tulalip communities wait for answers they may never find.
“Parents and children alike are struggling to understand what caused him to act in such a manner. Even though we may never know why, there can be no justification for taking the lives of others,” the statement said.
There were concerns in the community that the customary silence would cause misunderstanding, prompting the tribe’s statement early Wednesday morning.
Tribal member Clarissa Young-Weiser sees Tulalip and Marysville in grief, leaning on each other. “I grew up with my family roots on one side of the tracks and my education and friends on the other,” she said. “I’m glad to see the two communities united.”
Rikki King contributed to this story. Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446, stevick@heraldnet.com
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