Ball joins Shakespeare festival in Native outreach role
Chee-la dee-la ha~Amber Ball waa
‘vm-nvsh-shi’! Dakubetede, Shasta,
Modocni-Klamath and I am a citizen of
the Confederated Tribes of Siletz.
I am a University of Oregon alumnus
with a bachelor’s degree in theatre arts
and Native American studies. I am proud
to announce that I am the new Native/
Indigenous audience development associ-
ate for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in
Ashland, Ore. I will specialize in Native/
Indigenous community outreach and also
ensuring relationships with our federally
recognized nine Tribes of Oregon.
My goals are to share the wonders of
theatre arts with all generations and to
inspire our youth to find their passions
in life. I am beyond thrilled to be join-
ing OSF for this upcoming 2019 season
because The 1491s’ world-premiere play
Between Two Knees will be staged here in
Southern Oregon.
Thank you to everyone who has sup-
ported me in my journey.
I chose Brown for many reasons but
one of the biggest was the open-curricu-
lum. It has allowed me to build my own
learning experience, giving me the power
and agency to take courses I loved in Eth-
nic Studies, while simultaneously earning
a Political Science degree to become a
powerful political voice to change the
world for Indian Country.
By Savanna Rilatos for Brown Uni-
versity’s Facebook page; originally
posted Oct. 24, 2018
When I was choosing a college, I
knew I had to choose somewhere that
was worth leaving my Native commu-
nity, my Tribe and my people for four
years. Picking up and moving from my
reservation that I lived on for 18 years,
disconnecting from my culture and prac-
tices that I was raised under and leaving
my entire family back in Oregon, 2,600
miles away, was the hardest decision I’ve
ever had to make, but I’m glad that I did.
Shu’ ‘aa-shi nun-la, I am thanking
to you all!
Attending a school as great as Brown
has also given me a platform to be a role
model for our Tribal kids back home in my
1,200-person rural town, showing them
that anything that they set their minds to
is possible.
Being Native and homesick is so
much more than just being homesick.
I’ve missed two years and counting of
Nee-Dosh ceremonies, Run to the Rouges
(where we run back to our homelands) and
Restoration Pow-Wows (celebrating our
restoration). I haven’t been able to hug my
family through many tragedies.
I also have deep connections to my
homeland, my ancestors walked amongst
it, our traditional foods grow there and it
Courtesy photo
Amber Ball
is so much more than just a place in which
I live - I miss it often.
Being at Brown, learning from some
of the best professors in the world and
studying amongst such accomplished and
incredible people is truly a blessing that
I wouldn’t change for the world, but to do
so I have to sacrifice bits and pieces of
who I am and disconnect from my ways
of life daily.
With that being said, what has really
kept me at Brown is the overwhelming
support and resources that I’ve been given
here, like a voucher to fix my broken lap-
top, a plane ticket home to visit my sick
Grandpa and financial help to get neces-
sary health testing done.
There are so many different people
looking out for me and making sure that
I have what I need to thrive, emotionally,
physically and spiritually. These things
have been so integral to my experience at
Brown and my capacity to succeed, push
through my identity struggles and triumph
over my hardships.
On top of that, even across the United
States, I am able to find little bits and
pieces of home all over this campus, like
within Native and Indigenous Studies at
Brown, the Brown Center for Students
of Color, the Ethnic Studies Department
and Natives at Brown.
When I’m in the kitchen of our
Native house making stew and frybread
with my Indigenous friends, cracking
jokes and laughing hysterically, I feel
closer to home than ever and realize that
Brown is where I am supposed to be.
And during our Indigenous Peoples
Day celebration, where we gather to
honor the Indigenous peoples of this land
and reject a colonial holiday that cel-
ebrates the genocide of my people, I am
reminded of just how special of a place I
am at and the power that I hold to continue
shaping this university into a better place
for me and people just like me.
Shu’-’aa-shi nin-la (thank you)
Savanna Rilatos ’20, Confederated
Tribes of Siletz Indians
Concentration: Ethnic Studies and
Political Science
#Whybrown #brownuniversity
Healthy winter holiday strategies to cope with food temptations
By Nancy Ludwig, Dietitian
As part of my role as a consultant
nutritionist to Siletz Tribal Head Start, I
offer information for families. This seg-
ment focuses on how we handle the “extra
eating” that tends to happen in the winter
when we experience more darkness, more
time inside and for many, more parties
and events.
December is often a time when
people eat more sugar from cookies, cakes
and candies in the name of celebration.
December is also a time when people often
put on extra weight from the extra calories.
I believe it is important to enjoy our
food, but ideally my goal is to encourage
people to enjoy nourishing foods. With this
in mind, I encourage you to think about
what habits you want to have this winter
and how you want to cope with temptations.
In setting the stage for success, it is
important to reflect, anticipate, be con-
scious of and learn while truly celebrating
with gratitude.
Reflect: What is important to you
around holidays and parties? Is food the
focus? Is there any mindless or compul-
sive eating going on? What traditions are
meaningful and healthy; which ones can
be modified? What examples do you want
to set for your children?
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Anticipate: Make a plan in advance.
When the event includes food, offer to
bring something you will feel good about
eating and serving to children. If the food
feels important but isn’t healthy, plan to
be satisfied with a reasonable portion
and savor every bite. If the food is not
important, change it and insert a new food
or behavior.
Be careful about beverages and the
sugar they contain. You may need to bring
your own beverages. Vegetables are your
friends – be discriminating with dips.
Be conscious and learn: Be mindful
in the moment now. Each day we make more
than 200 food-related decisions – 90 per-
cent of them we aren’t even aware of (from
Mindless Eating by Brian Wansink, Ph.D.).
I believe that “each” bite or sip con-
tributes to the overall impact on our health.
Habits are mindless behaviors. When we
form better habits through awareness, we
can move from “mindless overeating” to
“mindless better eating”. Like it or not,
adults are role models for children and
eating behaviors continue in generations
if not changed.
Celebrate with Gratitude: Remem-
ber what you are celebrating. Cherish
friends and family, enjoy meaningful
conversations and remember to feel good
about the incremental changes you make
(and model for your children). Gratitude
December 2018
goes a long way in improving how well
we receive our food to support our health.
carob, cocoa powder or cinnamon. Winter
snowballs can be created with coconut.
Make Your Own Fruit and Nut Bars
½ cup dates, pitted
½ cup dried apricots and/or cranberries,
dried, sweetened w/apple juice
½ cup pumpkin seeds, raw or roasted
1/3 cup sunflower seeds, raw or roasted
2 tablespoons sesame seeds, raw or
roasted
Step 1: Figure out what ingredients
you like and put them all together. Chop
the entire mixture up in the food processor.
Step 2: Roll the dough into a ball and
then place the dough between 2 sheets of
wax paper and roll it flat (a thin bar is a
seemingly bigger portion with less of a
sugar load).
Step 3: Cut it into bars or festive
shapes with cookie cutters and store them
in rigid airtight containers. They last at
room temperature for several days and
they last for up to several months in the
refrigerator.
The trick is that whatever amount
of dried fruit you choose, use about the
same volume of nuts/seeds or less. Dates
(specifically Medjool) offer the best
consistency. If the fruit, nuts or seeds are
very dry, you may need to add up to 1
teaspoon of water to the dough in order
to form a ball.
Festive Fruit and Seed Shapes
These bars contain no nuts and can
be rolled or flattened to create festive
and crafty snacks with a cookie cutter.
Sprinkle or roll in shredded coconut,
Sugar Cookie Bar
Some say these cashew bars taste like
sugar cookies
1 cup dates, pitted
1 cup cashews
Winter Rainbow Bar
These flavors and colors are reminis-
cent of Christmas.
½ cup dates, pitted
½ cup cranberries, dried and sweetened
1 cup pistachio nuts
Siletz Tribal Head Start offers my
time at no cost to you to support family
nutrition over the telephone. If you have
questions or nutrition concerns about
your Head Start child, please contact your
teacher and ask to speak to the nutritionist.