TRIBAL MEMBER NEWS
The Rodeo Rider and the President
Rising rodeo star finds unusual ally in Western president
by Justin Carinci of the Polk County Itemizer Observer in Dallas, Ore. (reprinted with permission)
MONMOUTH - At age 8, Trinity
Hall had her first taste of the fierce
competition in rodeo. After one youth
event, she was hooked.
“It was an eye-opener,’’ Hall said.
“They were having fun but they took it
kind of seriously.”
Fortunately, Hall thrives under that
kind of pressure. Now a senior at Western
Oregon University, she ranks in the top
ten in the entire Northwest in two
different rodeo events.
The Polk County native holds
another honor at Western - she’s the
university’s only rodeo participant.
Since Western has no team, Hall
competes as an independent. As a
Western student, however, she needed
approval from a dean or the university
president to compete.
When Hall couldn’t find her dean,
she found herself in President Philip
Conn’s office.
“I was delighted to know Western
Oregon University has a rodeo team of
one,” Conn said. Hall was equally
surprised to find herself talking to a
major rodeo fan.
Conn served as president of
Dickinson State University in North
Dakota and chancellor of University of
Tennessee Martin, both rodeo cham
pions in their respective regions. A
bronc rider statue graces Conn’s desk.
Conn gladly signed Hall’s
paperwork. Under National Intercol
legiate Rodeo Association rules, Hall
also needed an advisor.
Conn stepped in again, if only in
name. “Technically that’s true,” he said
of his advisor title. “We joke about that.
“My advice is ‘stay on the horse.’”
That advice serves Hall well for
barrel racing. In that event, riders
maneuver the horse around three barrels
as quickly as possible.
Hall is ranked in the top five for
the event in all of Washington, Oregon,
and Idaho.
Conn also encouraged her to get off
the horse sometimes, like for the goat
tying event. Hall holds nothing back in
that event, jumping off her horse at a
run to throw' and tie the goat.
The speed and the unpredictability
of animals make goat tying one of the
12
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Siletz News
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Misti and Brian Bellinger with their
new baby, Blake Conner
Blake Joins
Bellinger Family
by proud grandpa Dub Bellinger
Congratulations to Brian and Misti
Bellinger and their brand new baby,
Blake Conner Bellinger.
Trinity Hall
most dangerous events, Hall said. “I’ve
been dragged and stepped on by the horse.”
Scrapes and bruises don’t deter Hall.
She hopes to turn professional after college.
As a woman in rodeo, however,
Hall has fewer options. On the college
circuit, she competes in three events,
including breakaway cattle roping.
In the National Professional Rodeo
Association, rodeo’s pro circuit, Hall
would be limited to barrel racing. Only
men compete in the remaining events.
She’d like to have more doors open
to women - she challenges sexist
comments when she hears them. But
she doesn’t expect to turn the chauvinist
cowboy culture around by herself.
“It would be a tough battle,” Hall said.
Not that Hall has shied from tough
battles before. She works with her coach
in Hermiston every chance she gets.
That dedication shows in her
academic goals as well. She studied at
Lewis-Clark State College in Idaho and
Blue Mountain Community College in
Pendleton, earning an associate’s
degree in secondary education.
Hall, a Native American (Siletz), won
a Diversity Scholarship from Western
Oregon University’s Multicultural
Student Services and Programs. She has
a 3.8 grade-point average on her way
to a public administration degree.
January 2004
Hall gets real-world experience as
an intern for the City of Dallas, working
in community development and human
resources. “It’s like a hands-on
government class,” said Community
Development Director Jerry Wyatt.
So far, she’s acing the class. “She
works really hard,” Wyatt said. “Give
her any assignment and she goes right
after it.”
Despite her government experi
ence, Hall’s career goal remains what
it was at age 12 - she wants to teach.
After considering high school, Hall now
wants to teach elementary school.
Hall doesn’t see her paths as cowgirl
and teacher as incongruous. She finds
parallels between training a horse for
rodeo and molding young minds to learn.
“You can see the progress a horse
makes just like a kid,” Hall said. As with
rodeo, success requires the teacher keep
learning. “You have to train for your
self; you have to train for the horse.”
Hall hopes the training pays off in
a trip to the national college rodeo finals
next summer in Casper, Wyo. If she
does go, Conn said he’d love to attend.
Conn wants to see Western repre
sented in the finals. He has fond memories
of representing other schools at nationals.
“We have a cowboy presidents gath
ering,” he said. “We swagger about and
act like we have something to do with it.”
Quality of Life
by Eva E. Clayton
At this time of year our people
have gone through a holiday season,
winter has brought her blanket of
chill, and the short day hours never
seem to be enough.
This, together with an important
council election looming on the
horizon, stretches the feeling of
good tiding.
Manipulation, voices of dis
content, group alignment, can put
us all at odds.
I feel our people need to be
careful and not revert to a grape
stomping mentality. It takes time to
make a fine wine.
People bruise easily, feelings
can and do run deep.
The twine of strength, respect,
and camaraderie must interweave
itself throughout our community,
our programs/services, and within
our business.
All must work together to
improve the quality of our lives. A
splintered arrow does not shoot
straight.