By D. PARVAZ
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

There's not much in the way of youth activities on the reservation -- which is why teens tend to hang out on the other side of the I-5 in Marysville. There they have access to a movie theater, a Fred Meyer store and a number of strip malls.

For pre-teens, the reservation has a Boys & Girls Club wired with a computer room for educational games and a library for self-paced reading programs.

Even in this close-knit community, teen pregnancies and drug use seem to plague young tribal members.

"We have all the same social issues that your community has to deal with," says John McCoy, director of government affairs for the Tulalip Tribes. "From our point of view, it's magnified because we're a smaller group."

And you can tell a lot about about a community's potential by how it deals with the challenges faced by its youth.

"A few years ago, we started the Medicine Wheel," says McCoy, pointing to a poster with a circular mosaic of life symbolizing a philosophy of treating the person as a whole. "Through this process, we rebuild their self-esteem."

This includes making sure they have food and housing, as well as addressing cultural issues that can trigger these problems.

Scott Graham, director of the Youth Hope House which provides drug and alcohol out-patient treatment as well as a prevention program, works with the reservation's teen population.

"I think that wherever kids are, you're going to hear 'I'm bored.' A lot of people don't have cars here, so that becomes an issue," says Graham.

The Youth House also takes the medicine wheel approach in treating teens, including taking kids to powwows and other social activities, and linking them with resources.

The Tulalip Tribes emphasize education and have even included a line item in the annual budget for higher education. The tribe pays for full tuition and books. It also provides a small stipend for living expenses for tribal members who go to college.

A poster of this year's Tulalip Tribes high school graduates hangs in the hallway of the Tribal Center. It includes the names of each student's parents and grandparents -- proof that this community cares about who its people are, where they came from and where they are going.