Tribal Head Start provides a multitude of items for students and families
By DeAnn Brown, Head Start Director,
and Lori Jay-Linstrom, Parent Involve-
ment Coordinator
We would like to give our reading
audience some interesting facts about
our Siletz Tribal Head Start program; this
information is just a fraction of the duties
on which our Head Start staff focuses.
This information was submitted by
Head Start Director DeAnn Brown, who
has been with our Head Start program
for 19 years.
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We currently serve 112 children – 47
in Siletz, 13 in Lincoln City, 17 in
Portland and 35 in Salem.
We offer a part-day/part-year Ameri-
can Indian preschool for children ages
3 and 4.
Children attend class four days per
week for 3½ hours per day.
All classrooms offer bus transporta-
tion, two meals per day, health and
developmental screening, and a bal-
anced curriculum of directed learning
activities and free play.
All of our classrooms use the Creative
Curriculum in combination with an
Emergent Curriculum to address the
developmental needs of students.
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To ensure our classrooms address
School Readiness, our program cor-
related the Head Start Early Learning
Framework to the State of Oregon’s
Common Core Standards for Kinder-
garten and identified School Readi-
ness Goals for each area. From this
list, Head Start parents, kindergarten
teachers, Policy Council and Tribal
Council selected those goals most
important for children as they enter
public school and these are the goals
on which we focus.
Our program also tracks all child
progress toward meeting School
Readiness Goals using the Teaching
Strategies Gold System. All class-
rooms enter their data on a quarterly
basis and reports are generated to
show the progress of each classroom
and for the program overall toward
meeting School Readiness Goals.
This information is shared with par-
ents during conferences and with the
Policy Council and Tribal Council,
Bitter greens for spring detox?
By Nancy Ludwig, MS, RD, LD, Siletz
Tribal Head Start Nutritionist
As part of my role as a consultant
nutritionist to Siletz Tribal Head Start,
I offer information for families. This
segment focuses on bitter greens with
dandelion greens as an example.
Cascade Anderson Geller, my first
herbal teacher, introduced me to the con-
cept of eating bitters in the spring to clean
up the body (or detox) after the winter to
get ready for the summer.
This was a new idea for me, yet she
explained that it is a custom deeply rooted
in cultures throughout the world. Bitters
also are used to stimulate the appetite or
at least to get the digestive juices flowing
so digestion will occur more properly.
When used traditionally, bitter herbs and
vegetables support a relatively gentle
detox when consumed with other nour-
ishing foods.
Many North American cookbooks fea-
ture the classic way to eat “wilted greens”
by taking a mess of wild greens and pour-
ing liberal amounts of hot bacon grease
over them (as a way to mask the bitterness).
American Indians of the Pacific
Northwest added eulachon grease (a
fish oil) to greens and fruits with strong
and/or unusual flavors. Mediterranean
people added generous amounts of olive
oil and lemon juice to their greens.
Most of the bitter greens were cooked
before dressings were added. Bitterness
varies with season, so taste them before
you commit them to recipes.
One of the most studied bitter greens
is dandelion. Some people have strong
feelings about this weed.
Herbalists celebrate plants for the
benefits they bring to us – whether they
are studied for the chemical constituents
or the folklore (which is just another
way to communicate the benefits). The
whole plant can be used as a food and
a medicine.
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Siletz News
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The roots, leaves and entire plant can
be harvested any time of year. The leaves
serve as an extremely nutritious spring
potherb and salad green.
Dandelion leaves are bitter. They also
are sources of important vitamins and min-
erals, such as vitamins A & C, thiamine,
riboflavin, niacin, calcium, phosphorus
iron, sodium, potassium, zinc, magnesium,
manganese, boron and copper. They work
as a diuretic without depleting potassium.
The roots can be roasted and served as
a rich, brown coffee substitute. The plant
seems to be good for just about everyone
and everything that ails. As a liver tonic,
it increases bile flow and if used regularly,
may reduce chronic liver problems like
bile stones.
Dandelion may reduce high blood
cholesterol. The flowers are antiseptic
and perhaps antinarcotic. Chinese and
Japanese research indicates that dandelion
tea helps various cancers (i.e. breast), to
reduce plaque and to be anti-inflammatory
for joint aches, etc.
Dandelion is a Euro-Asian native plant,
found worldwide as a common weed in dis-
turbed ground. Always be careful not to har-
vest close to roadsides and heavy industrial
areas. Be careful of lawn poisons as well.
The Latin name is taraxacum officinale.
My teacher, Cascade, taught through
the oral tradition. She wrote class materi-
als and taught around the world, but never
published a book because she was one of
those humble healers who continued to
evolve as she incorporated new learning.
She entered the spirit world last year. I
know her stories and teachings will live on.
References
Cascade Anderson Geller, 2000-
2004, class notes
Edible Wild Plants, Wild Foods from
Dirt to Plate, John Kallas, Ph.D. First
Edition, 2010, published by Gibbs Smith,
Layton, Utah
April 2014
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and a report is posted annually on the
Tribal website.
Our program works with parents and
extended family members to help
them understand the importance of
supporting their child’s lifelong learn-
ing and success. This includes the
importance of family relationships,
keeping children up to date on health
and dental care, promoting early lit-
eracy skills, regular on-time school
attendance and staying involved in
their child’s learning.
New this year: We are developing a
system to measure the progress of
parents toward meeting Parent and
Family Engagement goals.
Our new Head Start applications will
be available in April. If you have a child
who will be 3 or 4 by Sept. 1, please call
800-922-1399 or 541-444-2532 and ask
for Head Start so we can send one to you.
Head Start Raffle
Head Start parents have been busy
collecting raffle items for our annual
Head Start Raffle. This fundraiser helps
Horta/Chorta (Greek
dandelion greens)
Not only do I harvest my own dan-
delion greens, I’ve also purchased them
at the farmers market. One of the ways
Cascade suggested to eat them was
steam several big handfuls of greens
until tender. Use leaves whole or, if
desired, chopped.
Put on a plate and drizzle olive or
other tasty oil (butter is good too), a
splash of fresh lemon juice, a touch of
salt. Serve warm or cool.
Cascade liked them with a good flat
or loaf bread to sop up the juice. Drink
the steam juice.
Dandelion Green Fritters
2 cups fresh dandelion greens, chopped
2 eggs
4 tablespoons almond meal/flour
2 tablespoons coconut flour
To taste – garlic powder and salt
(optional, I used ¼ teaspoon each)
2 tablespoons oil for frying
Boil greens for 10 minutes and
drain well (saving the pot liquor for
drinking or reheating because of its
high vitamin and mineral content).
Make a batter with 2 eggs, almond
and coconut flour, garlic and salt that
is thick enough to stick to the greens.
Heat oil in a frying pan. Dip each
piece of dandelion in batter. Fry both
sides and serve.
support expenditures that are not covered
by program dollars, such as scholarships
for class pictures, entrance fees for class
field trips, family fun night activities and
swimming lessons.
Our donated grand prizes include:
1. Gift certificate for one night’s stay
for two in a suite at Chinook Winds
Casino Resort Hotel (maximum value
of $204.75), plus a gift certificate for
dinner for two at the Rogue River
Steakhouse ($75 value) and lastly, a
gift certificate for two for a perfor-
mance in the Showroom by the Sea.
2. Gift certificate for one 18-hole round
of golf for two with a cart at Chinook
Winds Golf Resort (maximum value
$138).
3. A beautiful drum handcrafted and
donated by Tribal Council member
Bud Lane (see photo).
Parents are selling tickets and they
will have a full list of all the exciting raffle
items. The drawing will be held by the
Policy Council on May 17, 2014.
Dandelion Pesto
2 cloves garlic, fresh peeled (amount
needed varies with your taste)
½ cup hazelnuts or other nut or seed
2 cups cleaned fresh dandelion leaves
(for interest, try a pinch of fresh
rosemary)
½ cup olive oil, extra virgin (or
other oil)
2 teaspoons lemon juice (this helps
cut the bitterness as would dried
tomatoes)
½ teaspoon salt
Blanch bitter greens in water.
Use blender or food processor.
Start with garlic; blend until finely
minced. Add nuts or seeds; grind with
garlic. Add the blanched dandelion
greens; continue to chop.
As the mixture is chopping, pour
in the oil. Stop when the consistency is
appropriate. The oil protects the herbs
from discoloring, as well as providing
flavor and consistency.
Remove from blender, enjoy.
Adjust flavorings if needed, including
herbs.
Please let me know what you
think of these recipes. Siletz Tribal
Head Start offers my time at no cost
to you to support family nutrition
over the telephone. Please contact me
(503-588-5446) if you have nutrition
concerns about your Head Start child.