Image provided by: The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs; Warm Springs, OR
About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (April 7, 1978)
PAGE 2 APRIL 7, 1978 H ea d S ta rt-D a y ca re T ra iler • . . In what is a loving, warm and home-like atmosphere, 28 three to five year old children attend HeadStart-Day Care in the fairly new, double-wide trail er behind the Day Care Center. Children begin arriving at 7:30. Their day begins with free activity time prior to breakfast every day. This free time can be used to color, draw, use scissors and do puzzles. At 8:30, break fast is served. All m eals and snacks are prepared in conjunction with D istrict Nutritionist Ching Ye Lee at the PHS Clinic. All are well balanced and appetizing. Many new foods that are not often served at home are intro duced to the children. There are two . ead teach ers, two teacher’s aides and one cook-housekeeper working at the trailer. Because of lack of space the children are separated into two groups. One group consists of three and four year olds and their head teacher is Marie Tom, the aide is Leann Yallup. Nancy Holliday and Geraldine Frank head up the other class of four and five year olds. Rose Mary Smith, a veteran cook, prepares the meals and tidies up after each meal and snack, sometimes getting assistance from the children. The teachers are all very patient with the children, allow ing them to express their feel ings constructively, observing actions quietly and stepping in only when children begin to fight and get unduly physical. Spank ing is not used as a means of discipline. The HeadStart-Day Care daily schedule is exactly like HeadStart except the activities A Full-Day Learning Center For Young People are more detailed because their day is eight hours long. Unlike HeadStart, a rest-time is provid ed every afternoon followed by a snack and more free time. In late 1975 and early 1976, State regulations and require ments changed. Small children could no longer be allowed to spend any length of time on the second floor of the Day Care building. And because there was no space available for the three to five year olds, a real need was perceived for extra facilities to house the children. Indian Migrant Program used to fund Warm Springs HeadStart and Day Care pro grams through Migrant Indian Coalition, but IMP decided two Ollie Smith furnished the Head Start-Day Care doll house contracts were unnecessary and thus combined contracts that during her free time while the other class played outside. The two formerly went to the MIC with classes alternate their indoor and outdoor activities because of CDS Photo the regular HeadStart contract limited space. in Warm Springs, to provide day care services to children in the blocks and doing other activities allowing the children to better three to five year old range. planned for the time that the coordinate the leg muscles. Children really enjoy their Since HeadStart-Day Care is other class is outside using the funded like a HeadStart pro playground. If weather is bad, HeadStart-Day Care experienc gram , and is not allowed to the basement of the Day Care es. There are very few tearful charge for services, there is no building is set up with climbing goodbyes when parents leave charge for the care of children bars, horses, trikes and hopity them in their class rooms. The hops. What are hopity hops, you kids like and respect the teach in that age bracket. Again because of lack of ask? They are big balls with ers and the teachers return that space, one class spends time handles on them and when sat same feeling through careful inside doing a rt work, using and jumped on; ,they bounce, supervision and individual atten tion given each child daily. In M emoriam: B la n ch e And A lec T ohet Learning numbers and letters is fun at the Head Start-Day Care trailer as Joelden Surface demonstrated. CDS Photo S p lly a y T ym oo SPILYAŸ TYMOO, STAFF Sid Miller Managing Editor Assistant Editor Sandy Rangila Photographic Specialist/W riter Cynthia Stowell Donna Behrend R eporter/Photographer Trainees Priscilla Squiemphen Roger Stwyer FOUNDED IN MARCH 1976 Published by-weekly by the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon. Warm Springs, Oregon 97761. Any written material to the Spllyay Tymoo should be addressed to: Spilyay Tymoo P.O. Box 735 Warm Springs, Oregon 97761 Phone 553-1644 or 553-1161 Ext. 274 Subscription Rate 66.00 per year. by David and Kathrine French Last year, the community lost one of its leaders, Blanche Tohet, as it had lost her hus band, Alec, in 1966. Her memor ial service was held on March 25; this is thus a time to write about the two of them, who worked together for so many years. Mrs. Tohet was born in 1899 and was raised in a traditional m anner. In turn, she raised a family that has taken its place in new activities as. the reservation has changed. Still, her family — and all of us who knew her — benefited from her knowledge of traditional Indian ways. She was one of those who made the Root F east and the Berry F east successful year after year. Her activities involv ed much hard work, and they extended from the digging of the first roots and the picking of the berries to the end of the cere monial period. Keeping things going was not always easy. One year, the drummers at the Root Feast did not come into the longhouse when the food was ready. She decided not to wait any longer, took a drum, and began a song by herself. Soon, the drummers came in and continued the sing ing. Blanche was a woman of great personal dignity. In addi tion, she was especially friendly and cheerful. She had a good sense of humor and told stories about her childhood that showed this. She told serious stories as well and willingly shared her knowledge of language and cus toms. With Alec and Blanche gone, it might seem that this is the end of a historical period. Yet, their children learned respect for In dian ways and, together with others, having been continuing them. Alec Tohet was born in 1901; he was the son of a well-known .‘‘Indian doctor.” Although he knew Washington figures like Congressman A1 Ullman and was sometimes a leader in tribal m atters, he was also a m ajor religious leader. He was quiet as a person unless the circumstanc es called for activity. He could be an orator, but he could also be just quietly helpful. When the two of us first visited a Berry Feast in 1950, it was not clear to us how things were planned and financed. We talked with Alec, who was then a m ajor organizer of such cere monies; He mentioned the help and support of others and then said, “Well, we get along some how. You know, if a White man tried to run this, he’d go broke.” Alec understood those things one does simply because they are worth doing. He would ex plain the meaning of Indian ways, and he put them into practice throughout his life. He lived like those of a century ago who have been called Indian prophets. BLANCHE AND ALEC TOHET (Photo Courtesy of Prunie Williams)
