TRIBAL PROGRAM NEWS
Prevention, con’t from page 9
Crossroads Program reviewed domestic
violence prevention.
Terry McDowell and a group of
community members came all the way from
the Portland and Salem areas. Buzz Berry
and Randy Austin shared songs and
knowledge of ceremonial traditions. Idea
Screen Printing, Siletz Tribal Elders, Tobacco
Prevention, and Alcohol/Drug Prevention
donated funds for T-shirts for participants.
Frank Simmons donated salmon and elk
meat, and Sandy Gordon, Sue George,
Anna Becerra, Robert Kentta, George
Nagel, and Janet Dair cooked the meal for
the participants.
As a result of this gathering, the Alcohol
and Drug Progrm staff hope to join with other
tribal programs in sponsoring quarterly
gatherings. This will be a time for people from
Siletz, Salem, Portland, Eugene, and other
communities to gather together, get to know
each other, have fun, and support each
other’s efforts to live “well.”
Watch for announcements about the
next Wellbriety activity. If you are interested
in making sure that you are informed, you
may call 541 -444-8286 or 1 -800-600-5599.
Prevention Dimension
Calendar
Oct. 7
Oct. 23
Oct. 25
Oct. 26
Oct. 28
Nov. 4
Nov. 7
Nov. 11
Nov. 17
Nov. 17
Nov. 18
Dec. 2
10
Title IX Indian Education Pow-
Wow, South Eugene High School
Town Hall (Underage Drinking)
Meeting, State Capitol, Salem
Madish (Nadosh - feather wand)
class - Siletz
No school (LCSD)
Prevention Halloween Dance,
Siletz Grange
Eugene Indian Education/JOM
Pow-Wow, Sheldon High School
Don’t forget to vote. Your vote
counts!
Chemawa Veterans Pow-Wow,
Salem
Siletz
School
Restoration
Pow-Wow
Wellbriety Walk to Dinner,
Government Hill, Siletz
Restoration Pow-Wow, Chinook
Winds Casino, Lincoln City
Lane
Community
College
Pow-Wow, Eugene
General Council Meeting
Nov. 4, 2000
Siletz Community Center
Government Hill - Siletz, Oregon
Agenda
1 p.m.
Call to Order
Invocation
Roll Call
Approval of Agenda
Approval of Minutes - Aug. 5,2000
General Council Concerns
Economic Development Report
Candidates’ Statements
Chairman’s Report
Announcements
Adjournment
Alcoholism: A Blinding Blight on Indian Country
by Jiselle Halfmoon
Alcoholism is known to the experts as a disease. Like a disease, you can predict its
course and it has recognizable symptoms. The highest alcoholism groups in the U.S. are
the Native Americans and the Inupiat.
Some 6.6 million children live in households with at least one alcoholic parent. Children
of alcoholics are more likely to become alcoholics, no matter how they are raised.
At the beginning of the 19th century, natives refused to drink to intoxication and had
no respect for the white men who did. Now it seems the other way around. In 1803, our
alcohol use was such a dilemma that the U.S. government outlawed selling or trading
alcohol to Native Americans. In 1953, it was reinstated to us. That day should have been
an indelible day in our history because it basically was the start of our own holocaust.
To Native Americans, alcoholism is a type of obscure initiation into the social world.
Most are proud to be drunks and even encourage it.
Alcohol makes you a person you are not. You black out and do things you would not
normally do while sober. Blacking out basically means “the lights are out, but nobody’s
home.” If alcohol came in a pill, it would be a tranquilizer and it would only be available by
prescription.
Alcohol also starts to change you in a gradual sense. Eventually it turns you into a
dark person who just doesn’t care anymore. Some people take it out on their families,
mainly the kids. Children cannot help your hangover, only you can.
Many people have a lot to say about alcohol because of their experiences. They talk
the talk, but don’t walk the walk. You can look at the facts and think you might need to quit,
but changes are not random or accidental. “You must actively participate in the development
of your own potential.” Alcohol will kill the alcoholic one way or another. Only 15 percent of
those with this disease seek treatment.
Today in Native America, there are no male role models in most Native American
families. This is so mostly because alcoholics are much like children. They are immature,
uncontrollable, and compulsive. Hard-core alcoholics cannot handle responsibility, so they
hide from it.
Where does that leave us today? We have this gap in our community and nobody
seems to care. We are quick to blame, but refuse to look at ourselves.
As long as this disease has been going on, only a handful of each generation has
been trying to make change. How long this disease goes on only depends on how long
people are willing to live their lives for others. When they are willing to stand up for
themselves, and say no to peer pressure and stop being puppets, this cycle can cease.
Alcohol also causes blindness. The blindness to see your wrongdoings, the blindness
to see your family’s pain, and the blindness that prevents you from seeing a better path.
Jiselle Halfmoon is a sophomore at Pendleton High School. Info or comments:
babettecowapoo. ctuir. com, 503-278-5363.