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About Siletz news / (Siletz, OR) 199?-current | View Entire Issue (May 1, 2001)
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR To the editor: I don’t know about you, but I’m glad tribal elections are over. We now can get back on track working together toward common goals: 1. Improve the mental and physical healing of our people. 2. Continue to upgrade and make available homes, where comfort and joy strengthen our family circle. 3. Look toward economic development as a survival tool for continued success of our tribe as a whole. 4. Through education, open doorways of enlightenment that reach the curiosity of our young and the hearts of our elders. A community’s quilt that reaches beyond the boundaries of our reservation can be a comforter of warmth. Block by building block, gaining strength from the security of its binding, it takes on a life of its own. We as people with common goals, our rich texture of color, breathe life into this quilt. We are only as strong as the bindings that hold us together. I Say Count Me In! Here I place my square; I am ready to begin, First I’ll address my comers where ravel can set in. I’ll bind my edges to a family member a long lost friend, Where peace and harmony can start to mend. I ’ll choose a color that describes just me. With a strong binding stitch a good neighbor 1 will be. Stitch by stitch, knot by knot, Not one single person taken for granted or forgot. Block by block as our neighborhood grows, We gain strength row by row. Square by square a community quilt transforms, The binding to commitment and giving are born. Respectfully submitted, Eva E. Clayton To the editor: We are sending this letter to introduce you to a newly formed Internet-based company, Winds That Whisper. We started this company with a simple idea ... to create a place where Indian peoples of all Nations could reach a worldwide market, sharing their talents and craftsmanship as well as the traditions and history of the American Indian. Winds That Whisper is dedicated to working with Indians across the nation as an avenue to opportunities that perhaps have not before been available, affording them the opportunity to make their talents available to all who seek them. The following will explain more detail what we are working to achieve with our Web site and what it will be offering. Guiding Eagles: This will be an online-based mentoring program for the youth of our nation to offer them guidance from those who have attained their own accomplishments. We are aware that many children don’t have access to the Internet, let alone computers. Therefore, it is our goal to acquire computers to donate to the schools so that the young people will not only be able to utilize them for educational purposes, but as a means to contact their mentors for the guidance they will receive. Lost Angels: This program is in memory of all the families who were tom apart, the children taken from their families and their culture, the parents who had their children taken from them. It is also for those seeking their parents and true heritage. Whispered Legends: We will use this area to tell the origins of the dreamcatcher, the pipe, and various other items. This will also help to explain why we will not be selling them. This will also be a place to share stories and legends of all nations. We are also seeking those who would like to sell their handcrafted and unique items on our Web site. A computer will not be required, but we must have a way to contact anyone wishing to join us. Twenty-five percent of the profits from the sales of these items will be used to support the above-mentioned programs and will eventually go toward the opening of a future store. We would also like to post any current events on our site (i.e. pow-wows, craft fairs) that you might have. For more information, please contact Sue Hegarty at 1-866-480-0635, fax 808-421-0478, or e-mail at windsthatwhisper@aol.com; or Karon Newton at 972-686-0530 or fax 972-613-2359; snail mail: 3255 Gus Thomason, Suite 122-276, Mesquite, TX 75150. Sincerely, Nyland Youngbear Winds That Whisper Eddy Ehret (r) helps Monique Lane make moccasins at the Siletz Tribal Youth Center during spring break. The Siletz Tribal Education, Culture, and Pow- Wow programs hosted a grand re-opening of the youth center with cultural crafts and movies, plus field trips for swimming and roller skating. Twenty-four Rendi Keller and her mom, Angela Keller, work on a beading project at the children took part in the crafts and more than 40 went on the field trips. youth center during spring break. 4 □ Siletz News □ May 2001
