TRIBAL MEMBER NEWS
ATNI and Other Highlights
by Rosemary Breon Landis
Lisa Brown and Alyssa Scott, JO, work on Alyssas elk hide and deer hide-
fringed regalia with nahset (clam) shells for the New Year’s Nadosh or
Feather Dance on Dec. 29.
Siletz Beader Uses Craft to
Help Youth
by Cate Montana, Indian Country Today (reprinted with permission)
Siletz, Ore. - Lisa Brown’s
business is beads. But her passion is
using traditional beadworking to help
the young people of the Siletz Tribe
learn traditional values and ways.
By day, the 40-year-old Siletz
member works for the tribe as a youth
prevention coordinator. At night, her
dining room table gets cleared, the
scissors, beads, and elk hide come out,
and Brown can be found helping
women and young girls of the tribe
make the traditional regalia necessary
for them to participate in the tribe’s
semi-annual solstice Nadosh, or world
renewal Feather Dance.
Brown started her beading
business, Water of Life, five years ago.
But unlike most entrepreneurs, she is
not so much into the business of making
money as she is into making a difference
for her people.
Water of Life has three parallel
applications. The simplest is
economics.
Through Water of Life, Brown
sells commissioned, one-of-a-kind
traditional necklaces, headbands,
pouches, purses, and other kinds of
beaded materials. Each piece is a labor
of love. Because she has a regular job,
Brown can only take on a few
commissions at one time.
Most of her sales come through
word of mouth, the Internet, and from
booth sales at pow-wows. Occasionally,
the tribe permits sales at the
tribal administration building on
the reservation.
At pow-wows, Brown doesn’t
charge the usual 50 percent commission
from other Indian artists. Instead, she
charges each artist 5 percent to 10
percent to help defray her own costs and
asks that they help run the booth with
her. A former Native American Business
Network (ONABEN) business
counselor for her tribe, Brown uses the
booth time for coaching up-and-coming
artists and artisans.
“It’s a good deal for them and a
good deal for me,” she says. “I get help.
Plus they learn how to do sales. They
learn how to market their product and
that sort of stuff.”
The second role of her business is
cultural. Through Water of Life, Brown
helps tribal members who want to
participate in tribal dances learn how
to create their own regalia. She also
creates regalia for others - which is no
small task.
As a means of improving communications with our tribal family.
Chairman Dee has requested that all Council members write articles this year
that highlight their Council activities and duties. I also will submit confidential
articles to Nesika Illahee.
This month begins the third year of my term. I will continue to work
hard for all of you. After committee assignments, I’ll be more program specific.
Bureau and Indian Health self-governance issues will remain a priority for
me. We met with BIA self-governance, area office, and regional area
representatives to discuss tribal options regarding changes in the regulations
for financial assistance and social service programs on Feb. 1.
The Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI) held its meetings in
Portland this quarter. Enough Tribal Council members attended to cover all
subjects. We will work with Tom Ball from the Oregon Social Learning Center
on a project with at least six other tribes. Either Jessie or I will attend the
quarterly meetings.
'
Tribes are beginning to be involved in protecting their intellectual property
by writing research codes. Colville and Siletz are the two Northwest tribes
that have codes in place. Benchmarks will be set to help us with data that we
need for our long-range planning.
The Education Committee continues to receive updates on Chemawa
Indian School. Two positions are open on the school board, one from Idaho
and one from Montana. Please suggest names to Mr. Reimer at the BIA offices
in Portland. It is critical that a full school board makes decisions regarding
issues at Chemawa.
The Office of Indian Education told us that the authority of the school
board is to hire, fire, and have budget authority. It is my understanding that
facilities/property has other overriding rules that govern decisions on land
and buildings. The National Indian School Board Association will hold its
meeting in Portland this year.
The changes to the formula that are proposed for Contract Health will hurt
the Northwest. Our area depends on Contract Health instead of hospitals. Any
reallocation will result in less money coming to the Northwest. Indian Health
Service (IHS) workgroups are meeting in Albuquerque in March. Many ATNI
tribes will attend those meetings to voice objections to the proposed changes. The
tribes also have to decide how new diabetes dollars will be distributed.
The last highlight from the weeklong meetings was a consu 1 tation meeting
on a BIA needs assessment regarding the location of a regional juvenile justice
center. Several tribes have no place to house their juvenile offenders. Also,
alternatives to sending juveniles to jail were discussed. We will be able to use
this data for planning purposes.
It takes one giant elk hide, about
19 to 21 square feet, for a woman’s dress
and a 12- to-15-square-foot elk hide for a
young girl’s dress. Each one requires three
to four deer hides to be cut into strips for
fringe and a couple of thousand shells,
pine nuts, and beads for decoration. The
shells and pine nuts may either be
gathered by hand, ground and prepared
for use, or purchased from a supply house.
Each shell, nut, and bead is individually
applied and basket wrapped.
It takes Brown about eight months
to make each dress and sometimes even
longer for the women and girls she
coaches. Although Brown keeps her
fees as low as possible and does a lot of
barter, the cost in both time and
materials can be prohibitive for many
tribal members.
But cultural revival among the
Siletz is intense. In the 1980s, the
annual regional pow-wow at Siletz
triggered a desire amongst tribal
members to restore their ancient dances
and celebrations. This in turn fueled the
need
for traditional
regalia.
Approximately 30 young women, 15
adult women, and six little girls now
dance along with 25 young boys and
15 men. But Brown says the numbers
of tribal members who want to dance
and can't because they lack regalia is
even higher.
March 2001
(See Lisa on page 21)
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Siletz News
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