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Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, October 29, 2003
Wellness a gift Rhodes
gives to those in need
PARTY TIME - Illinois Valley Senior Center
will host a Halloween party for members and their
guests on Friday, Oct. 31 at 4:30 p.m. There will be
costume judging, prizes, games and more. Phone 592-
6888 for more information.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN - Blue Moon Books &
Coffee will celebrate Halloween and its second anni-
versary with an open house on Friday, Oct. 31 at 4
p.m. There will be free coffee, cider and other treats.
Musicians Sam Kurz and Gary Trammell will per-
form. Tom Siewert will tell spooky stories. Phone
592-2266 for more information.
PSYCHIC FAIRE - Blue Moon Books & Coffee
in Downtown CJ will hold its first Psychic Faire on
Saturday, Nov. 1 beginning at 10 a.m. Specialists in
psychometry, medical astrology, tarot card readings,
Mayan oracle readings and more are scheduled. For
more information phone 592-2266.
CALL FOR HELP - I.V. Little League needs
volunteers to help restore the baseball field at Jubilee
Park on Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 1-2. For times
and more information phone Janet Ewing, 592-4389.
UP ALL NIGHT - The 2004 Grad Night Party
planning meeting will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 4 at 6
p.m. in the I.V. High School cafetorium. The car wash
scheduled for Nov. 8 will be discussed. Parents of
seniors are encouraged to attend. Phone Janie Pope at
592-2116 for more information.
TEMPEST IN A TEAPOT - Celtic music will
be performed during a Takilma Community Bldg.
fund-raiser to benefit the community kitchen on Fri-
day, Nov. 7 at 8 p.m. There is a fee. For more infor-
mation phone 592-2214.
AUCTION ACTION - Items are coming in for
the annual I.V. Chamber of Commerce auction on Fri-
day, Nov. 7 in Wild River Brewing & Pizza Co. in CJ.
There will be a mixer with wine and beer tasting be-
ginning at 6 p.m., with the auction at 7. Items include
a huge stuffed bear from Evergreen Federal Bank, and
a 1988 Dodge Colt station wagon, as well as many
gift certificates and items of merchandise. It’s the big-
gest fund-raiser of the year for the chamber, and the
public can attend and take advantage of the bargains
that always result. For more info, phone 592-3326.
NOTEPAD - Rogue Community College will
host the ninth annual Oregon Diversity Institute (ODI)
Conference on Nov. 13-14 at the college’s Redwood
Campus in Grants Pass. A $10,000 grant from Wash-
ington Mutual bank and $1,000 from the Jackson
Foundation will help underwrite the cost of the
event...A $20,000 grant from the Roseburg-based
Cow Creek Umpqua Indian Foundation will be used
to buy books and videos on addiction diagnosis, treat-
ment and recovery and to establish an addictions re-
source library at RCC, said Lynda Kettler, director of
RCC Library Services.
Look for the colorful fall sports page
featuring Illinois Valley High School
teams and squads
in next week’s issue
of the ‘Illinois Valley News’
The Takilma Community Building
presents
Celtic Rock
Friday, November 7th at 8 p.m.
Dance all night!
A benefit for our community kitchen.
$8 to $15 sliding scale
Dinner at 7 p.m.
separate price
Takilma Community Building 9367 Takilma Road
Info: Kate Dwyer 592-2214
By BRITT FAIRCHILD
Staff Writer
For Morning Dove
Rhodes, life is a journey
toward healing.
The Cave Junction
artist strives to help others
help themselves, no matter
their ethnicity, background
or personal challenges.
The nonprofit organi-
zation Native America
Inc., which Rhodes estab-
lished in 1997, is a main
function of that goal.
“I used to say (I was a)
native helping natives,”
said Rhodes, who is part
Cherokee and part Irish.
“But most of all I am a
native helping others.”
As president of the
organization, Rhodes said
its creation was a lifelong
vision.
The primary purpose
is to help support and pro-
mote Native American art,
culture and events through
a number of projects in-
cluding Native America
Online, an Internet site that
lists pow-wows, native art
shows, markets and other
related events in the
United States, Canada and
Alaska, an online gallery
featuring the work of Na-
tive American artists, and
various products for sale.
Rhodes, who moved to
Illinois Valley in the 1970s
on her own search for
wellness, discovered that
making things with her
hands helped her as well.
She refers to her hand-
made jewelry, paintings
and other creations under
the name, “Riverwhere.”
As the October fea-
tured artist at Rising Suns
in Downtown CJ, Rhodes’
work will be on display at
BeBe’s Art for Everyone
in November.
Since its inception,
Native America Online has
not only been well-
received, but honored. In
1998, Smithsonian Institu-
tion chose the gallery to
list its calendar of events.
Smithsonian also nomi-
nated the gallery for a hu-
manitarian award.
“The gallery is the
artists that share the same
vision. They believe in
what I believe in,” Rhodes
said.
Rhodes follows the
spiritual beliefs of Wiconi
International President
Richard Twiss of the
Rosebud Lakota and Sioux
tribes, who established his
First Nations Christianity
ministry in 1997.
She also teaches others
the wellness programs she
learned while working
with tribes in Saskatche-
wan, Canada.
“We believe that well-
ness is a gift,” she said. “I
do not have a family, as I
was abandoned: Therefore
they are my family and
what they have taught me I
JCCCF funds
available for
asset-builders
The Josephine County
Commission for Children
and Families (JCCCF) is
offering minigrants for
asset-building activities in
Josephine County.
The FOCUS on Assets
Teen Council, a youth
committee of the commis-
sion, has requests for pro-
ject proposals that put de-
velopmental assets into
action. The minigrants are
for small group, school,
neighborhood, or individ-
ual activities that further
asset building. To request
an application phone
JCCCF at (541) 474-5234.
give it away and it comes
back to me by others giv-
ing to me.”
Rhodes said her teach-
ings are not based on com-
plicated rules, but simple
principles.
“Respect your elders.
Find people that (by their
behavior) you respect. Lis-
ten and learn, never stop.
It’s the best medicine in
the world,” Rhodes said.
“(And) control your-
self. I’ve had people say to
me, ‘Well, what’s that sup-
posed to mean?’ I said,
‘Don’t take more than you
should or you’re going to
get the consequences.’
Clean up your own mess.”
Rhodes teaches these
principles, which ulti-
mately create what she
refers to as “the circle of
completion” in her work at
abuse, alcohol and tribal
centers and with individu-
als. She noted she also
plans to work with Illinois
Valley Safe House Alli-
ance.
The lessons are more
difficult for some to learn
than others. That is where
the role of “art, dance, mu-
sic, whistling, bicycling,
throwing bread crumbs to
seagulls,” whatever the
medium becomes so pow-
Morning Dove Rhodes
erful.
“When you are in the
mode of giving out, you
are more receptive to re-
ceive in, she said, espe-
cially if it’s a indirect fo-
cus on you per se. During
that time your creative
side, all of your body, it
goes into an upswing.
“I tease people, I say,
‘You will do this and you
will do that and you will
do this, but when will you
do it?’ That’s part of well-
ness is wherever it fits that
is good,” Rhodes said.
To contact Rhodes,
send an inquiry with a self-
addressed, stamped enve-
lope to 9331 Takilma
Road, Cave Junction, OR
97523.
For more information
about Native America Inc.,
g
o
t
o
www.nativeamericainc.co
m.
“Whatever days I have
left of my life, every step
that I take, I will try every
single day to make the
world a better place,” Rho-
des said.
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Your location or mine - Phone for details - (541) 596-2038