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About Siletz news / (Siletz, OR) 199?-current | View Entire Issue (May 1, 2017)
Lynda Timeus: College experience changes her life By Diane Rodriquez Lynda Timeus, 67, is the first person in her family to go to college. And she did it at age 55. Lynda has been married to her hus- band, Harvey, for 45 years and they live in Brookings, Ore. They have three children – Clint, Jay and Sarah, plus 8 grandchildren. Her parents are Elmer and Geri (deceased) Jordan. Her grandma on her dad’s side, May Van Pelt Jordan, is where her Chetco and Tututni ancestry comes from. Lynda’s gratitude for and excitement about her college experience at Southwest Oregon Community College is evident in talking to her. “I received education funding (for tuition and books) and was a straight-A student. I got 70 credits in 2005-06 … the classes I completed helped me as director of the Indian Education Program (in the Brookings-Harbor School District),” she said. “I can’t reiterate how much speaking, human services and psychology classes helped me grow as a person and I used that information on my job.” Unfortunately, Lynda had to leave col- lege following a cancer diagnosis in 2007, which led to two years of chemotherapy. But she kept working – and kept using what she learned in those college classes. “I can’t tell you how thankful I was that the Tribe trusted me and helped me with book fees and tuition. I can attribute my success to learning, being willing to reinvent myself and a willingness to work with others,” Lynda said. “I gained so much confidence in myself from the college experience and learned to trust myself and know that I had a lot to share. I had as much to share, and it was as important, as those people who had gone to college and become teachers. I had as much to share with those Native children that I worked with and I wanted to make a difference in their lives.” Although you might not sense it when she talks about her schooling and her work in the Indian Education Program, Lynda says she’s a quiet person. But she wants people to know “that I’m extremely proud to be Native American. I learned so much from my father and my other older relatives. I’m thankful I can share some of those things with my children and grandchildren. And I was also able to share with the children I worked with through my job.” Lynda has been giving to others espe- cially through her job at the school just by sharing about who she is. “I’ve shared a part of who I am and what I know and what my family taught me,” she said. “Growing up in a large family, you learn to be kinder, more compassionate and more caring. I think I took a lot of that into my work. Just by who I am, I share that I’m proud to be Native American.” Lynda says the most pivotal moment of her life was when she started college and “realized that I could be my own per- son, that I had a right to my own opinions. For more information about the Siletz Tribal language program, please visit siletzlanguage.org. When I was growing up, children should be seen and not heard. I always thought I didn’t have a right to really voice how I felt or what I thought. But I finally, in college, had one professor and in work- ing with her, I really did find myself, the true me that really was worth something, that I could offer some- thing as long as I didn’t hurt anybody else. “I couldn’t be hap- pier now, how com- for table I am with expressing myself. It’s Lynda Timeus a big difference.” File photo 2017 Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians Memorial Day Ceremony May 29, 2017 11 a.m. Government Hill Siletz, Oregon Procession to Veterans Memorial – Honor Guard Drum – West Coast Boys The Lord’s Prayer – Siletz Royalty Welcome – Tribal Council Chairman Delores Pigsley Memorial Day Address – Cynthia DePoe-Soulier Presentation of Flowers Gun Salute – Honor Guard Taps Closing – West Coast Boys Lunch at the Tribal Community Center Provided by the Cultural Heritage Committee – Noon Attention Siletz Contract Health-eligible Tribal members! If you receive Contract Health Services approval to see providers/facilities outside of a Tribal clinic, please be sure to inform them at your visit that you have Contract Health Services as a form of payment. We have seen a number of patients billed for services from their medical/ dental/optical providers because the patient did not inform the office that they have Contract Health Services. If you have primary insurance (through employment, Medicare, Medicaid, etc.), we would be secondary to the primary insurance. If you fail to provide this information to your providers and they don’t bill us in a timely manner, you could be liable for the charges. Please let your providers know that they can submit claims for payment to Siletz Contract Health, P.O. Box 320, Siletz, OR 97380. May 2017 • Siletz News • 11