Image provided by: Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians; Siletz, OR
About Siletz news. (Siletz, Oregon) 1983-1989 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 1, 1987)
PAGE 2 - SILETZ, OREGON, AUGUST, 1987 W O O D C U TT IN G PARTY TRIBUTE TO THE INDIAN WOMAN I am woman — A Native American Woman In the beginning from Holy Supreme Power's Love, life unfolded A breath of purity and innocence Unto the land of beauty To a life of sun-daylight beauty Among the berry ravines, the, sage brushes On the meadow of blue bonnets Where the grass is green, she played And she hoed too in the garden plots The maize and squash plants She grew into womanhood With hair like a raven and maize silk She became a mother She loves, she cares, she cries She is strong and inspirational She has a life in her thoughts and dreams Man cannot have pow er He cannot be chief and leader Man cannot have life without woman Woman holds the basket o f harvest Juanita Blue Spruce To The Editor: I just received my copy of the Siletz News. I’m glad to see Siletz has a “Just Say No”'club. But I;m concerned to see that it appears to be only for children. The club is a great idea, but I feel we should start with parents. Parents should “Just Say No” first + before they expect their children to do the sam e. So many p aren ts d rill into th eir children’s heads statement by staying away from drugs and alcohol myself. I don’t expect them to say “no” unless I do. Don’t we owe that much to our children.. What our children grow up to be is a reflection of the ex ample set by us as parents! Do your children a favor + “Just Say No!” So they’ll do the same. Cindy Hill Honolulu, Hawaii The Tribal Council will be holding a woodcutting party on September 12,1987, begin ning at 9:00 a.m. on Govern ment Hill. Volunteers are needed to assist the Council in cutting, splitting, stacking and loading wood. The wood is for elders, h andicapped and trib al members in need but who are unable to get their own. Anyone in these categories is encouraged to bring their truck. Anyone able to volun teer use of their truck to transport wood, please call T ina a t 444-2533 or 1-800-922-1399. Volunteers Needed The Siletz Tribal Council is requesting volunteers to sit on an ad hoc Committee to discuss Honorary Member ship or Adoption in the Siletz Tribe. Anyone interested in sitting on this ad hoc Com mittee should contact Tina Jones, Council Secretary, a t 444-2533 or 1-800-922-1399 by August 30th. Schoolyard Bullying MOTHER, YOUR SPIRIT LIVES IN US You walked upon this earth, rich and fruitful with great quiet pride, laying clear trails and paths The snow of the Winter. The rain of the Summer. Washed the earth and purified it, leaving your fo o t prints for all to follow, Mother, wisest o f guides, best o f protector, hardw ork ing patient woman, slow to anger, always with a forgiving heart. Many talents you have to offer, your desire to teach all who listen and care. Let your beauty o f smiling face remain with us, en couraging us to go on with lifetime tasks. Your long black hair like soft rain flows, in which a feather is tied, gentle breeze fluffing it. Fragile feelings hiding in my heart quietly yearning to touch you and to be touched by you, Mother. Through your preserverance our culture lives on. We look to you to find strength, comfort, added pride and dignity in our racial background as well as recognition for our beliefs. Let us not talk of hard times, o f sad times, o f separa tions, o f frightening devisions and wars. These are made of time and space. L et us speak o f how it is with you now and with our people, of what is in your heart, in your eyes. Those eyes shining bravely have witnessed many changes and endless growth. Honest as the homeward flight o f birds. Let us understand what it is you speak without words, o f how it was with the Old, o f lasting things you have preserved for our people, for all creatures of the universe, and in all your loving gifts we often fail to see and say, Thank You, Mother. Let future women be responsive to hold steadfast to all these traditions and cultural values. To let them live on without fail eternally from genera tion to generation. Women of this earth you are the Great Ones, we praise you, we honor you, this is your deserved glory. Lucy Yepa-Lowden Jem ez Pueblo, NM Children Learn What They Live I f a child lives with criticism, He learns tocondemn. I f a child lives with hostility, He learns to fight. I f a child lives with ridicule, He learns to be shy. I f a child lives with shame, He learns to feel guilty. I f a child lives with tolerance, He learns to be patient. I f a child lives with encouragement, He learns confidence. I f a child lives with praise, He learns to appreciate. I f a child lives with fairness, He learns justice. I f a child lives with security, He learns to have faith. I f a child lives with approval, He learns to like himself. I f a child lives with acceptance, and friendship, He learns to fin d love in the world. D orothy Law N olte By J o h n H ildebrand N o w aday (The fo llo w in g article w a s taken fro m the O regonian) A fifth-grader in San Francisco, complaining of daily, harassment by bullies, joined his m other/ in filing a $351,000 lawsuit against school officials for allegedly fail ing to protect him. In Missouri, a seventh-grader who had endured several years’ hazing by rural schoolmates sud denly drew a gun from his duffel bag, shot another boy, then killed himself. Schoolyard bullying, though often ignored by adults, results in misery for many students and in destructive violence for an increasingly well-publicized few. Many teachers and parents still hesitate to intervene in the more routine cases of bullying, in the belief that rough-and- tumble encounters are an inevitable part of growing up. But more and more authorities on child behavior are con cluding that such behavior is potentially destructive and ought to be curbed, especially in schools. “We tend oftentimes to regard bullying as the price you pay for living in certain areas,” said Ronald Stephens, executive director of the National School Safety Center, a federally funded project aimed at reducing school crime. “ If you settle in New York, you almost ex pect to be bullied.” Stephens, a former education professor, cites the San francisco and Missouri cases as evidence of the need to guarantee students’ security against hazing. “There are only three groups of people we require to be someplace -I- prisoners, mental patients and students,” he said. “Prisoners and mental patients have rights. The on ly ones who don’t are kids. A lot of times we put up with treatm ent of kids that we’d never tolerate for adults.” To heighten public awareness of the issue, a recent conference on the problem of bullying was held a t Har vard University, under sponsorship of the School Safety Center. One highlight of the two day session was a presen tation by Dan Olweus, a Scandinavian researcher who has found that characteristics of bullies and their victims do not always match public perceptions. Much of Olweus’ work has been done in Norway , where the government has received international attention for its 4-year-old cam paign against school bullying. Contrary to popular belief, Olweus said, schoolchildren who are fat or who wear glasses are no more likely than classmates to be targets of bullying. Victims, he said, tend to be singled out because of traits that are psychological rather than physical: extreme passivity or sensitivity to criticism, a feeling that they are failures. Nor are students necessarily more vulnerable in cities than elsewhere, Olweus contended. As evidence, he cited data from nearly 400 Scandinavian schools indicating that victims of bullying are found in roughly equal proportions in both urban and non-urban communities. About 10 per cent of all schoolchildren are victimized, added Olweus, who is spending the current year as a visiting researcher at S ta u ~ .^ i^ r e ity . Conditions in Scandinavian cities, which are relatively small and homogeneous, are not entirely comparable to those in the United States. But in this country, too, there seems to be ample evidence that bullying is more than an urban problem. New York’s suburbs for example, are marred by per vasive school haziftg, according to Nathaniel Floyd, another conférence participant. As a school psychologist in W estchester County, Floyd said he observed widespread intimidation of students in hallways between class periods. Particularly disturbing, Floyd said, was the failure of school staff tq do much in the way of stopping such behavior, even when they are assigned to hall patrols. Disregard for young victims’ is not the only reason that adults ignore student aggression. Another reason, accor ding to Olweus, is that adults often fail to understand the nature of bullies. Frequently, bullies areregarded rather sympathetically, as insecure youths driven, to aggression by a sense of academic failure. But Olweus^ research sug gest the reverse:' that children’s disruptive behavior is likely to result in poor grades. While bullies often suffer from parental neglect, that experience produces cruelty more often than anxiety. Efforts to curb bullies are small in scale compared to recent campaigns in some other countries. Most notable is Norway, which was so jolted in 1962 by the suicides of two young hazing victims that it launched a nationwide effort to end such abuse. With advice from Olweus, booklets with practical suggestions for dealing with bullies were sent to schools throughout the country, and smaller folders were distributed to parents as well. One approach, urged by Olweus, is for teachers to hold class meetings on the subject of bullying. Teachers, he said, should ensure that all students know that such behavior is unacceptable and will result in punishments such as isolation or loss of priveleges. When hazing oc curs, he added, teachers or principals should arrange meetings between bullies, victims and parents, to discuss ways of avoiding further confrontation. The message, according to Olweus, is simply this: “We will not tolerate bullying in our schooland will see to it that it comes to an end.” ■ If your child has this problem in his/her school take this article (or send) to the school officials,, the principal, the school board also,. With a short letter that you will not tolerate this kind of behavior to your child anymore. Try to go through channels to get your problem resolved but If yo u d o no t get satisfactio n then go to the to p i This kind of behayior leaves a lasting impression with children who go through it. Our children will have enough problems growing-up without having this kind of burden added on. A a a
