TRIBAL PROGRAM NEWS
Join Elders Work Experience
The Elders Program has funding
available from 2002 excess pledge
revenue for the Elders Work Experience
(WEX) Program. Currently, five elders
are working, two have pending place
ments, and 23 slots still are available.
This is open to all Siletz Tribal
elders regardless of where they reside.
The pay is $6.90 per hour (state of
Oregon minimum wage) for a
maximum of 20 hours per week. The
total number of hours available per slot
is 360. This is 90 workdays at four
hours per day; it doesn’t include
vacation, sick leave, or other benefits.
The types of positions are depend
ent on the field of work the elder is
willing and capable of performing. This
can be in a position that’s normally
volunteer service, in an office setting,
or working on special projects. There’s
no limitation on the type of placement.
Eligibility Requirements
•
The elder must be listed on the
official Siletz Tribal roll dated
May 16, 1978, and older than age
55 on the date of application.
•
The elder must supply an original
Social Security card.
•
The elder must supply a current
state-issued identification/dri ver’s
license or Siletz Tribal ID.
•
The elder must be unemployed or
underemployed (currently working
at a job that pays less than Elder
WEX would) for at least 30 days
prior to the date of application.
If you would like to participate, call
Angela Ramirez at 1-800-922-1399,
ext. 225, or 541-444-8225 to make an
appointment to complete an application.
Caregivers
Conference
Coming Up
Mark your calendars!
The next Caregivers Conference,
“Loving Care of Our Elders,” will
be held Feb. 13, 2004, at the Siletz
Tribal Community Center from 11 a.m.
to 3 p.m.
The registration deadline has been
extended to Feb. 6. Contact Angela
Ramirez at 1-800-922-1399, ext. 225,
or 541 -444-8225 to register. The con
ference is free.
Anyone who provides assistance
to a Siletz Tribal elder is welcome to
attend. Elders -encourage your
caregiver to attend! Caregivers - join
us so you can take care of yourself!
Nu’-wee-ya’
(our words)
Introduction to the
Athabaskan Language
Open to tribal members
of all ages
Siletz
Siletz Tribal Community Center
March 8-6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Portland
Portland Area Office
March 11-6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Salem
Salem Area Office
March 16 - 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Eugene
Eugene Area Office
March 4-6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
For more information, contact
Bud Lane at the Siletz Cultural
Department at 1-800-922-1399,
ext. 320, or 541-444-8320, or
e-mail budl@ctsi.nsn.us.
Well by golly, it did snow. But not
when it was supposed to. It was to snow
Nov. 7 about seven inches at 7,000 feet
elevation. Oh, well.
Sent my four-wheel drive unit in to
be worked on, then when it’s needed,
where is it? In a nice warm enclosed
shop. Seems that parts are hard to come
by, the right parts that is.
Nowadays, it seems that! one cannot
order a part for, say, a ‘98 Ford and get
the right part the first time even if one
has the right numbers. On this maze, it
took, I think, four times to get the right
gears to roll up the window.
It used to be, in the good old days,
one could order, say, a part for a ‘48
Plymouth. That part would fit all years
from 1939 till ‘49 or later. Or say a Ford,
a 1938 Ford truck with a mighty 85-horse
engine. When the Mallory ignition was
replaced with a regular distributor with
just a little alteration, could put a regular
distributor on the motor.
Over the years, I think that I’ve had
40 cars or more, three brand new ones
- a Henry J. Kaiser, a Chev and a Mazda.
Some of them only drove once or twice;
of course, they cost a leg and an arm
too, my goodness.
I paid $10 for a ‘37 Laffette, drove
it two or three times. Seems that any
passengers kinda objected to the canvas
over the passenger side of the window
or maybe having the door held on with
bailing wire. I don’t know. No one seemed
to object to the fenders of the Fords
being held off the tires with bailing wire.
Bailing wire and sometimes barbed
wire from a fence was all that was
needed to run. The old Model A some
times had barbed wire from the
distributor to the spark plug.
I learned to drive when I was about
6, an old Model T truck. My uncle worked
for Kernville Logging Co., in Kernville.
He was away all week and came home
on weekends. I’d have to help him
gather wood with that old monster. He
would crank it up and away we would
go. The gas tank was on the dashboard
and it held a quart of gas. That way it
could go uphill; with the regular gas
tank, we would have to back up any hill.
Well now, I kinda liked the idea of
driving that rig, so when he’d go to work,
I’d go to the shop and get behind that
wheel and drive like crazy. As time went
by, though, that became boring and I
wanted the real thing. That was the
beginning of the end of the good times.
I’d crank and crank, get kicked, cry,
then crank and crank to no avail. Now
I don’t know what I did that my uncle
would know what I was doing. But he’d
then show me what I did wrong and
tell me not to do it.
Well, he’d go to work and out to
the shop I would go. Sure enough, what
he said and showed me worked. I’d take
that ol’ truck out to the field and drive
around. I guess I didn’t think about
tracks but when my uncle came home,
this angel was sitting there with the halo.
Then I started hauling wood, I’d
drive that thing a half-mile or more to
get one limb and bring it back. Boy,
was I accomplishing something. Now
Uncle became a little aggressive, saying
if I'm going to drive that truck, I had
to do something and bringing back one
stick of wood wasn’t doing anything.
The fun was over. No longer was
it fun to start to drive now that I had to.
Now, I’d hope that it wouldn’t start, but
it always did. That ol’ truck hauled a
lot of hay and wood until my uncle
bought a Ford tractor.
Now we had an ol’ Fordson tractor
that one didn’t really want to use much.
In the morning, all the oil had to be
drained out, taken into the house and
warmed up, then put back in. Then the
thing could be cranked.
Well in all my wisdom and having
seen the neighbors park their cars on a
hill to start them by coasting down the
hill, I knew that the old Fordson would
do the same thing. Uncle said no, it
won’t coast to a start.
Naturally, being around 9, I knew
more then he, so he let me set that rig
up almost a half-mile from the house.
The next day, I went out to prove it
would start. Well, this hill is pretty steep,
so that tractor did get some speed up. I
snapped the clutch and both of those big
cleated wheels slid,
Uncle was right, warm drive will push
start. I had to drain the oil, pack it to the
house, warm it up, and take it back.
Another life’s lesson learned the
hard way. Seems all my lessons are the
hard way. Janet says it's because I'm
stubborn. This I deny. I’m determined.
February 2004 □
Siletz News
□
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