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