Portland Observer
Indian program meets special needs of Urban Indian
by M a rth a A n d erao n
Theo hands are gnarled
and wrinkled, but steady aa
they thread the tiny beads
whirh form the intrirate
designs on morrasins, belts
and jarketa.
Their eyes
still keen, have seen many
ramp fires and their eart
have heard sweet words ol
promise that proved to be
only mouthings of a forked
tongue.
Hut. still they
hope....this group of senior
Ameriran Indians working
at their Center, located at
011 North Tillamook. Many
are fifty five or over and all
are from some reservation
where they were supposed
to have been given the
opportunity of an eduration.
This meant being yanked
from th e ir homes and
rarted off to "Boarding
srhools" many miles from
their homes where they
were laught washing and
ironing and how to wait on
tables
They also learned
some English, enough to
get by. At the end of their
slay this eduration had
e ith e r
inspired
an in
feriority romplex for “In
dianness" or a romplete
hatred of the white man's
ways. They also found the
skills they had acquired
were insufficient to main
tain a decent standard of
living.
Employers offered
room snd board with the
promise ol small renumera
tion. The future was bleak,
they had heard the old ones
talk of the Trail of Tears
and the many broken trea
ties. Now they understood.
In the ensuing years no
adequate training programs
were introduced for the
Indians on or off the reser
vation. Statistics presented
by the National Council on
Indian Opportunity in 1970
showed some s ta rtlin g
farts:
• Ten percent, over age
fourteen had no srh<»oling at
In N A R A (National Alroholir Rehab.h
tation Association) «»Hire assoriated with
pened once the Indian's
buffalo were killed so wan
lonly, and he was made the
first welfare recipient, con
fined in many areas, to
surroundings reminiscent to
concentration ramps.
Two
things are mouthed to cover
the guilt of these deeds.
One, the Indian ia lazy.
They are all rich from the
sale of land
The W arm Springs In
diana have proven this to
the l 'rban Program. Daria M. DeCoteau
and Jo5,,',‘ Nelson confer with Prank
M artin
message to Congress July
8th. 1970 asking that they
consider the measures he
was proposing in regards to
the Indian people. Greedy
in te re s ts sabotaged the
program forcing open re
bellion.
Level
headed
leaders of both sides sal
vaged and started imple
menting portions of the
Program.
In the last two years
drastic changes have or
all
• Nearly 00 perrent had
leas than an eighth grade
education.
• Between 5 0 4 0 perrent
of all
In d ian
ch ild re n
dropped out of school.
• Among young Indians
the suicide rate was three
times the national average
and five to seven times the
average for boarding school
students.
• Those living in remote
regions had the additional
burden of a language bar
rier to overcome as there
are
some 300
separate
languages spoken
within
the lndain Nation.
Their average income in
1970 was $150
And their
estim ated unem ploym ent
rate was 40 perrent.
In
1973 the total Indian popu
lation was approximately
792. with 500,000 on various
re se rva tio n s
and
w ith
800,000 having moved to
cities
Why are these
statistics relevant?
They
merely show what hap
Mary Mitchell. LPN; explains problem to Tom Rogers.
Consultant and T eri Cross, Chairman.
be an eroneous conception.
Kah nee ta is a living mon
ument to their ability and
wise management.
Not
only are they providing
work for their own people
they are helping to sustain
the economy of the entire
county and the state.
All
along Indian leaders from
all over the United States
have been trying to tell
Washington if they were
given a fair chance such
things as this could be
accomplished by their peo
pie in their own way. Time
brought people willing to
lis ten ,
even
P re s id e n t
Nixon who delivered
a
DR. JEFFREY BRADY Says:
DO Not
Pul
Off Needed Dental (a r e "
Enjo\ Dental Health N ow and
Im prove Your A ppearance
(O M I IN Al
VOUR (O N V IN IIN U
OPIN SATURDAY MOINlhC
•
NO APP0INIM1NI N il DIO
•
(O M P IIII (OOP!RATION
ON A ll OINIAI
iNSlil ANU Pl ANS
•
(O A tPiiii oiniai s m i t h
u n io n or co m ra nv o in t a i in s u r s n c i
C O V IR A G I AC C IPTIO O N t o u t
n i i o i o ointistrt
Po» » I » • •
A », * P o » b n S ho p l o t
M O U R V W * . l d o , i * J O o m lo S p m
Sot S JO o in 16 I p m
D R . JEFFREY B R A D Y , D E N T IS T
rurred.
Here in Oregon.
Indians appeared before the
city council, church groups,
and women's clubs to plead
their cause directly to the
people.
These were edu
rated,
aggressive
young
Indians attempting to erase
the myth and stereotype
shadowing th e ir people,
forever.
They intend to
sieze
the
moment
and
return a degree of stability
to lives fraught with in
security and trauma. Those
w ho s p e a rh e a d e d th is
M o v e m e n t w e re Jo h n
Spence, a Gros
Ventre
Sioux: Pete Asher, a Tlin
git; Patrick Borounda an
Apache; and Ixtwell Curley,
a (Juinalt. Each contributed
their own special expertise
This time their plea did
not fall on deaf ears. Since
November of 1973 sizeable
sums have been granted to
the Office of Urban Indian
Affairs, located at 2365
Northwest Westover Road,
to mainla.n programs and
administer assistance to the
5.000 Indians within the
Portland metropolitan area
The
entire
program
is
administered by Indians,
with Charles Johnson, an
lm ipat Eskimo as director
Programs are designed to
assist them in such areas as
health, welfare, housing, job
referral and alcoholism. Vo
cational training in such
fields as welding and auto
motives are being stressed,
with General Electric offer
ing supportive assistance
An attempt will be made to
extend some services to
other inland and coastal
areas of the state.
The
Office has a full time staff
of four persons and 166
trainees.
T he A m erican In d ian
Center at 611 North T illa
mook is an entirely dif
ferent project, dedicated to
the preservation of Indian
customs and culture. They
receive no funds from city
or fe d e ra l govern m en t.
Since
1959 under
the
leadership of president, Bud
Butcher they have produced
their Rose Festival Pow
Wow at East Delta Park.
They have developed a
viable program aimed at
bringing two cultures closer
together, thru their dis
plays and sales of Indian
arts and crafts.
On their
agenda are plans to build a
museum which would house
Indian artifacts from all the
tribes of the Northwest
Legal Aid branches
offer special services
The Eastside Branch of
Legal
Aid
Service
has
moved to a new location at
1515 Southeast 122nd Ave
nue. and the staff of that
office
is specializing
in
consumer law affecting low
income residents of Multnir
mah County.
The Consumer la w Office
is one of four specialty units
created by Legal Aid in
recent re o rg a n iza tio n ef
forts which saw the closure
of the Southeast Branch at
2005 Southeast Hawthorne
Boulevard.
The staff of
that office has been ab
sorbed by the remaining
units, whirh handle one
major area of civil law each.
The offices, and some of
the types of cases each
deals with are listed below:
Consumer
l-aw
Office,
(re p o s s e s s io n , g a rn is h
ments,
liens,
collections,
e t c .) ,
1515 S o u th e a s t
122nd, Telephone: 255 6590
Administrative l-aw Of
fice, (Veterans'
benefits.
welfare, fixxl stamps. Social
Security, Supplemental Se
curity Income, etc.), 517
N o rth e a s t K illin g s w o rth ,
Telephone: 288 6746
Housing
Law
O ffice,
(utility
terminations and
deposits, evictions, security
deposits,
public
housing,
foreclosures, e tc .), 1100
Board of Trade Building,
310 Southwest Fourth Ave
nue, Telephone: 224 4086.
Family Law Office, (di
vorce. annulment, custody,
child support, adoptions,
etc.), 717 Board of Trade
Building.
310
Southwest
Fourth Avenue, Telephone:
226 7991.
Legal
Aid does
not
handle criminal matters; it
is a federally funded pro
gram charged with assisting
people who have civil prob
lems but who cannot afford
to have an attorney.
A p p o in tm en ts are re
quired, unless an emer
gency situation exists.
SLMUR BUILDING
S SA
3rd A M o ' r
1
' P , ''lu r id
O 'P i j u "
T u k e f l e v u t o ' to Z p , i I lo o ’ 3 ' d S ’ I n h u m
P ho ne: 2 2 8 - 7 5 4 5
’ ifp
in
lik e «1 Mchool o f glrtdiatom , w here m en live and fig h t
m o th e r
locating it
within
easy
access to Portland so it
could become a permanent
tourist attraction.
Their
Encampment
at
Delta Park has attracted
large crowds. Over thirty
different tribes comprise
the Tepee Village, coming
from
as far
away
as
Northern Canada, Montana.
Oklahoma, and North and
South Dakota.
Joining
them are Indians
from
Yakima. Washington, Ne
vada and those from all
over Oregon.
The drums
beat as in the old days
before the buffalo hunt and
the young braves fierce, tall
and proud in their buck
skins dance the
rituals
handed down from genera
tion to generation. This is
their heritage
their past.
They share this despite the
heartache and abuse they
have received.
And from
the proceeds of this pageant
they will alleviate poverty
striken conditions among
non reservation Indians in
the Portland metropolitan
area.
These Indians have
not been dancing for sheer
pleasure.
It's to help
others. I t shows a unified
attempt to help themselves.
But there is much to do.
This is the Nation that
welcomed the white man to
his shores. I t is the year of
the Bi-Centennial. It's the
Century that man went to
the moon and the one also
that 452,000 Cubans found
homes in this country along
with
50,357
Hungarians.
They're still counting the
Vietnamese. If all this can
be accomplished it might be
the
year
an
American
Indian Center, the finest in
the United States, could be
started in Oregon.
by J.M . Gate*
Participation, represents
tion, prevention ol blight,
more responsible allocation
of finance m irror past and
present.
Vacant buildings
and boarded windows are
visiable symptons of urban
blight. The twenties reflect
an urban consciousness and
awareness generated
by
P a t r ic k
G eddes,
th e
acknowledged founder ol
the Regional Survey Move
ment.
In
Robert
W.
Bruere's summary of the
shifting urban pattern and
inadequate planning of the
1920's, he states:
....the free, healthful life
of the citizens is the only
reason
for
the
city's
existence. To this the life
of in d ivid u al ind u stries
must be subordinated as
the life of individual organs
in the body is subordinated
in the normal life of the
whole man.
A 1924 issue of The
Survey reports the follow
ing dismay over eroding
community relationships:
Not much more than a
century ago, the neighbor
hood was synonymous with
community, a natural divi
sion of social life; it was a
unit in religion, race, tradi-
'ion. politics. Today the old
neighborhood has passed
away
and
neighborliness
had disappeared....
A different kiqd ol neigh
borhood had emerged then.
A different kind of emerg
ing neighborhood, in any
period of history, is one of
the by products of living. It
is the responsibility of a
concerned citizenry to as
sure that the neighborhood
changes for the better. The
following excerts from the
poem “Devastation" relate
Marian Anderson in 1939,
after she was refused the
use of Constitution Hall.
T h e to u r also visits
a n o th e r m o n u m e n t to
A b raham
Lincoln.
the
Freedom Memorial Statue,
which depicts the former
President standing by a
slave as he breaks from his
chains. Funds, design, and
execution of the statue
were all the result of Black
effort, culminating in the
unveiling in 1876.
In another part of this
park there is a monument
of M ary McLeod Bethune,
Black educator and humani
tarian.
The daughter ol
slaves, Mrs. Bethune's life
accomplishments included:
the opening of a Negro
girls' school, serving as an
advisor to four U.S. Presi
dents. and founding the
National Council of Negro
Women.
Other points along the
tour include Howard Uni
versity, the M artin Luther
King, Jr. Memorial Library,
the Museum of African A rt,
and the Frederick Douglass
National Shrine. The tour
concludes at one of the
c i t y ' s B la c k o p e r a t e d
restaurants.
Eastern’s tour highlight
ing the contributions of
Black people to America's
foundations is just one of
many Bicentennial tours the
airline offers.
Further
information can be obtaine«
through a travel agent or
by calling Eastern Airlines.
today's need for account
ability:
Progress
people erasers:
Cruel but not understood
H u rt and
happiness
of
generations
smashed in a building raze
for freeways and a motor
craze
or better housing some say
confused in a maze
of land use haze --
And now the rubble,
human scavengers clear
scrap
with visions ol progress
and indifference to people
who have thus become
anonymous question marks
Acts of man, cruel surprises
not different from merciless
cyclones
Belfries and church steeples
erased by dislocation --
Returning visitors can't find
the place they lived
or tracks of streetcars and
trains
that used to ring with
vitality
What • happened
to
the
randy stores stocked
i*ith suckers and jaw
breakers, licorice and
bubble gum?
Was it here? Was it there?
Nostalgic recollections
of walls filled with infinite
secrets -
front porch spectator to
the world:
people to and from work
deliveries of milk and bread
happy conversations,
grief of those who mourn
Sweethearts and proposals.
plans, dreams
Monuments of toil and
perserverence,
Mortgage payments fulfilled
Tortured memories of
heartless chaos.
Shocked pensioners fail to
reconcile
the Bill of Rights and
Eninent Domain,
fruitless hearings and
inadequate lawsuits -
Lonely emptiness
By permission from Rele
vance and Reality by J.M.
Gates (Sandy: St. Paul’s
Press, Copyright (c) 1937),
pp. 14 15.
PEPI’S BOTTLE SHOP
Let Pepi's Bottle Shop be your headquarters for cham
pagne. wines, mixers . . . at the lowest prices in town
Lloyd Center -- Next to the
Liquor Store. Pepi's one and
only store. Open 9:30 a.m.
to 9:00 p.m. daily. Sundays:
Noon to 4:00 p.m.
281-2731
J o e J o sep h
Your Com m unity
Insurance M a n
3 9 3 3 N.E. Union
2 8 2 -3 6 8 0
THE ROYAL ESQUIRE CLUB
Invites you to its
ANNIVERSARY DANCE
August 3rd, 6-10 p.m
Music: Babe Williams
1708 N. E. Alberta
A D M IS S IO N FREE
SHOP
lENOW'S
FO R
B R A N D S you know
V A R IE T IE S you likt
SIZES you w a n t
SI
M U . . .
1
A I « • 8 u «n vA
1 » J.’ nd A N |
C t .» ...
1 N l#p > h «,«t el C *e»i
• a » V M i* P la ie
l | ) M «’ S I D . , c
■ » « Il
Th« Friendliest
Stores In Town|
Since 1908
•
M IM S IR
1 t e *< «
1 1« «Í A
a t
N 1
M, ,,....
H e n to -k
»♦♦h A S<
Ì l » d A W e x I
L .b e Ox a - q o
■
» » R
A
O» U N IT tO GROCIRS
ROZELL'S
ROZELL'S FIRST ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
July 16 through August 15, 1975
^pnnrrm niTTrm ni » n rrrrrrm n n n ry
COUPON
A N N IV E R S A R Y D ISC O U N T
Notice
The Metropolitan Arts
Commission, funded by the
City and the County is
soliciting community input
for art in public places.
There is a possibility that
funds will be available for
art in public places within
the community.
A meeting will be held on
August 5th at 7:30 p.m. in
the C ity
H all Council
Chambers. 1220 S.W. Fifth
Avenue.
Page 3
TOS ¿A Q SIO A
Bicentennial tour
views Black history
A m erican Blacks who
made major -- but fre
q u e n tly lit t le known
contributions to the de
velopment of the country
are featured in an Eastern
Airlines Bicentennial tour of
Washington. D.C.
A Black cultural program,
in conjunction with Soul
Journey Tours, is the high
light ol a seven day, six-
night package that includes
use of a car with unlimited
mileage.
Accommodations
are at a selection of eighty-
five Holiday Inns in Dela
ware, Maryland. Pennsyl
vania, Virginia, and the
District of Columbia, and
one or two children under
twelve may share a room
with their parents at no
extra charge. A guidebook
is included with the tour
and covers major attrac
tions in the region and
provides numerous discount
coupons.
Price of the
package is $135.90 per
person, double occupancy.
In Washington, the Black
Cultural tour starts every
Saturday morning at 10:00
a.m.
Its first stop is at
Benjamin Banneker Circle,
named in honor of the Black
m athem atician who was
part of the team of three
men
who designed
the
physical layout of the Dis
trict of Columbia in the late
1700s.
Guides, referred to as
“historians" on this tour,
not only explain the signifi
cance of specifically Black
monuments, but also ex
plain the contributions of
Black people to other parts
of the nation's capital. They
in fo r m
v is ito r s ,
fo r
example, that the Tidal
Basin bridge and sea wall
were designed by a Black
engineer, Archie A. Alex
ander.
And the Lincoln
Memorial,* which almost al
ways has an atmosphere of
hushed awe, was the back
drop for a concert by
Thursday, July 31. 1975
r'or purchases of:
50c through $1.49
$1.50 through $4.49
o $4.50 and above
o
Discounts:
5c
10c
15c
> F E A T U R IN G : Fast food items plus
¡ Bar B Q ribs, chicken and beef sandwiches
Phone 283 5559
Hours: 10 a.m.-11 p.m. Sun. Thurs.
10 a.m. 12 midnight, Fri. A Sat.
5949
N.E. Union at Ainsworth