JUNE 16, 1978 PAGE 5
Cll/IMX OF INDIAN STUDIES COURSE
TEACHERS FACE INDIAN STUDENTS AND PARENTS
As a climax to a ten-week
Indian Studies course, District
509-J faculty and staff were
invited to Warm Springs to meet
Indian students and parents face
to face in a panel discussion —
an effort to spark communica
tion at a “gut level” , according
to'coordinator Marie Calica..
Welcoming cheers rose from
the participating Warm Springs
parents, staffers and committee
members at the appearance of
many unfamiliar faces on this
side of the river, But one teacher
remarked later, “I ’d never been
invited down here before.”
The special session
was
-scheduled into the regular Joint
Education meeting
June 7.
Chairman Mike Clements com
mended the effort as a worth
while “confrontation” even if
there were no “concrete re
sults.”
“The water has to be gap
ped,” said Clements, and’ the
solution to problems must come
from both sides of the river.
One student said she had
never had the opportunity to
express herself so openly to
teachers, while another student
felt that everything had been
said before.
With time to respond to only
a handful of the many questions
prepared ahead of time by tea
chers, three students, three par
ents and two staff people addres
sed such major concerns as poor
attendance, dropping out, cur
riculum needs, and growing up
Indian.
Teachers soon learned that
opinions and attitudes are as
varied among Indian students
and parents as they are in any
community and that there is no
“formula” for working with
them.
Student panel
m em ber
Roger Stwyer noted that even
so, teachers were getting just
part of the picture by hearing
only from students who failed to
graduate or had dropped out.
Attendance: A crisis at home
The “crisis point” in at
tendance, defined variously by
panel members, was generally
laid at the parents’ feet, with a
plea from students for more
concern and guidance from par
ents.
Recognizing the impact of
home life on school perform
ance, Liz Woody, who dropped
out in her,senior year, suggested
that parents become more in
volved with their students’ cur
riculum and activities. Don’t
“give up” on your kids by
allowing unlimited freedom, she
said. The “crisis point” can
change from one missed day of
school to weeks of skipping
unless parents provide encour
agement, said Woody .
Parent Arlene Boileau noted
that a parent’s expectations
should be more clearly defined
while
Marilyn
Lawrence,
mother of several school age
children, admitted that “Indians
don’t communicate well with
their children.”
Peers were also seen to have
a powerful influence on atten
dance. and successful perform
ance. Watching friends fail can
reduce a student’s expectations
of herself, said Woody.
Calendar of Events
JUNE
16-18
23-25
23-25
23- 27
23
24- 25
24-25
30
June
June
June
June
27
29
30
30
-Orange County Powwow, Los Angeles, Calif.
-Pi-Ume-Shaw Powwow, Warm Springs, Oregon,
-Reno, Nevada, Powwow.
-Fort Washakie, Wyoming, Powwow.
-Summer Recreation Program field trip to Mt. Scott
Community Center in Portland.
-WSIRA approved Rodeo, Warm Springs rodeo grounds,
1 p.m. daily.
-Sixth Annual Fried Bread Open Golf Tournament,
Kah-Nee-Ta Golf Course
-Summer Recreation Program field trip to Blue Lake.
- July 1 - Culture Camp at Peters Pasture, first session
- July 5 - Flathead Res. Flathead, Montana, Powwow.
- July 4 - Navajo Res. Powwow, Navajo, Arizona
- July 4 - Northern Cheyenne, Montana, Powwow.
PI-UME-SHA
IS UPON US
Anticipating a large turnout
again this year, Warm Springs
is. in the midst of preparations
for the ninth annual Pi-Ume-Sha
June 23, 24 and 25. Numerous
dance divisions and categories
are featured this year and the
special attraction will be a South
western dance and drumming
group performing non-competi
tive traditional tribal dances.
The powwow will begin with
the corppation of Pi-Ume-Sha
Queen on Friday evening. Rosa
lie Polk, Eydie Switzler, Collee
Seelatsee and Mona Jim are
selling tickets at one dollar
each, hoping to sell the most and
be crowned queen. These tickets
are for the raffle drawing on
Sunday afternooii.
Registration deadline for the
competitive dancing is just prior
to the Grand Entry at 7:00 p.m.
on Friday evening. Fancy, War,
Round and Team Dancing are
just a few of the different dance
categories for all persons in
different age groups. And, as he
has done for the past five years,
Nathan “Eight Ball” Jim will
serve as “MC” again this year.
The Pi-Ume-Sha committee
is requesting that the local
people “open their hearts and
homes to feed visitors and treat
them as we would want to be
treated.” Also, the local people
are requested to bring their own
tepee poles so that there will be
more available for the visitors.
In addition, tribal members are
asked not to cut the poles up for
tents and sheds.
Special privilege tax per
mits can be acquired for $25.00
from the vital statistics depart
ment between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.
daily or from the police depart
ment after hours and on week
ends. Also, each vendor is re
quired by the committee to
donate $15.00, either in goods or
cash.
Stick games have been a
favorite attraction at all Pi-
Ume-Sha powwows. The regi
stration fee is $35.00 per team
and the registration closes for
the games at the hegimaing of
Students and parents agreed
that intervention by school staff
should come earlier, before the
crisis point is reached. It was
felt that Indian support staff
could be even more effective in
this area if allowed to fulfill
their actual job descriptions...
fered several suggestions.
Beefing up the curriculum in
the areas of language, fine arts,
behavioral science and vocation
al education would be a start.
Boileàu, who also works in the
Tribal Group Home, described
the many talents “locked up
Prejudice and misunderstanding inside” Indian kids, that with
in school
caring and encouragement can
In-school problems center be drawn out. Indian kids seem
on racial conflicts and mis to be especially talented in
understandings, said students working with
their hands,
who agreed that stereotypes are creative writing, drama and
too often the basis for inter music, she observed.
action. Stwyer suggested that
Stwyer and Woody offered
prejudice results from the spe themselves as classic examples
cial status enjoyed by Indians of gifted students who became
through federal programs and bored with school and failed to
tribal benefits. Woody, who at graduate. “ I would like to see
tended grade school in Madras, graduation requirements chang
felt that M adras students have ed,” said Stwyer, who noted that
no insight into life and values in school
wasn’t
challenging
Warm Springs and Indian stu enough.
There was some disagree
dents grow up one-sided, relying
too heavily on physical prowess. ment about the proper place for
Parents on the panel had cultural training. While some
trouble understanding the racial students and parents felt that if
problems their kids face. “When should be built into the school
I went to school we were ac curriculum, others maintained
cepted,” said Mrs. Lawrence, that cultural awareness can and
bemused. But she added later should be developed at home.
The exhcange of students by
that parents often contribute to
busing was suggested by Fabian
their children’s prejudice.
Teachers also contribute to Sutterlee, parent and chairman
the failure of Indian students, of the Title IV P art A Parent
said panel members. As author Committee, as a method of in
ity figures, teachers are not apt creasing understanding and in
to consider the individuality and suring fair treatm ent of stu
rights of each student, making dents. Woody added that busing
would arouse concern among the
him “feel sm all,” said Woody.
parents of Madras
students
Improving the school system
When asked how the school about the quality of education in
system might be improved to Warm Springs.
“There should be more pro
better meet Indian students’
needs, students and parents of- grams to bring the communities
together,” Woody had
said
earlier. “Even though we’re
fourteen miles apart and there’s
a river between us we have
economic ties and educational
ties.”
The Indian Studies Course,
sponsored by Oregon State Uni
versity and utilizing local re
sources, was one such effort
made to bridge the gap. Faculty
and staff were exposed to Indian
history, government and culture
by such tribal officials and
employees as Mike Clements
(Planning and Education) , Rudy
Clements (Municipal Branch),
Bob Macy (WSFPI), Irene Wells
(Tribal Court) and Jeff Sanders
(Tribal Police),
Teachers responded favor
ably to having their knowledge
of’ the reservation broadened,
referring to the
“common
ground” they now had for com
munication with Indian students.
“But I still can’t get the kids
into my classes to teach them ,”
said one teacher.
Future courses should build
in more interaction between the
communities, said
teachers,
pointing to the panel discussion
as good open communication
that might eventually lead to the
“nitty gritty” of real change
Realizing that formulas for
working with Indian students
don’t exist, teachers are never
theless still grasping for “teach
ing tools” and left with “un
answered questions.”
Their lingering
question,
“Where a re Indian students go
ing and how can the schools help
them?” still begs an answer.
W hat’s H a p p en in g
Instructors Course To Be Held
An Indian Language Instruc
tors course is being offered by
Central Oregon Community Col
lege and the Cultural-Heritage
department of the Confederated
Tribes of Warm Springs July
10-21 at the Warm Springs Com
munity Center.
The course is being taught
by Dell and Virginia Hymes and
it is their goal to solicit and
identify potential instructors —
people who can already speak
and understand Sahaptin. An
other of their goals is to teach
instructors to read and write in
Sahaptin. The last of their goals
is to develop curriculum to be
used in the school and com
munity.
The course is free of charge,
and Nathan Jim would be the
person to contact if you are
interested.
Topics would include; Basic
Linguistic Theories, Indian Pho
nics and Alphabet, Translation
Techniques, Language Teaching
i Techniques, Research and In
terview prodecures, Oral Teach
ing, G rammar, Contrast Analy
ses between English and Indian,
and How Children and Adults
Learn Languages.
CULTURE CAMP, NY-MU-MAH
Applications are now being
accepted at Nathan Jim ’s office
in the Community Center for
Culture Camp. Scheduled to run
June 27 through July 1 for ages
8-11, and July 7-14 for ages 12-15,
the camp will be held at Peter’s
Pasture, High Country, U.S.A.,
according to Nathan Jim , Cul
tural-Heritage Director.
Each session is limited to 50
children from the Warm Springs
community. A fee of $20 must
accompany the
applications
the competition at 1:00 p.m.
Saturday afternoon. The purse is
bigger than ever with first,
second and third prizes being
$800, $500 and $300 respectively.
Registration can be made by
calling Wilson Wewa, Jr. at
553-1459.
The Warm Springs Bravet-
tes are sponsoring a Hungry
Indian Breakfast both Saturday
and Sunday morning from 6
a.m. to 9 a.m. Cost is. $2.00 for
adults and $1.50 for children.
The breakfast will be served at
the Community Center in the
Social Hall.
The dancing schedule is as
follows?’ '
;
along with health and medical
forms filled out by the doctor.
The participants will be
staying in tepees and learning
handcrafts such as; basket mak
ing, beadwork, hide tanning,
Indian language, religion, fea-
thercraft, outdoor
cooking,
sweating, and others. Local re
source people will be teaching
these subjects.
Camp Ny-Mu-Mah will he
held at He-He July 10-20 for
ages 11 12 and July 24 through
August 4 for ages 13-14. Only,
10-15 slots will be open for Warm1
Springs youths each session.!
Applications are available at the!
Community Center. A total of 80
kjds will attend each session.
Camp Ny-Mu-Mah is mainly
a cultural and sports camp with
some career development. Thé
kids will be staying in tepees
while attending camp.
The camp is sponsored by
the American Indian Lawyers
Training Program.
PI-UME-SHA SCHEDULE
FRIDAY JUNE 23, 1978 GRAND ENTRY 7:00 P.M.
Little Girls Round Dance (six years and under)
Little Boys War Dance (six years and under)
Little Girls Round Dance (seven to 11 years)
Little Boys War Dance (seven to 11 years)
SATURDAY JUNE 24, 1978 GRAND ENTRY 1:00 P.M.
Afternoon Session
Teen Girls Round Dance (12 to 16 years)
Teen boys War Dance (12 to 16 years)
“Kussa” Round Dance (50 years and over)
OF Warriors War Dance (50 years and over)
SATURDAY JUNE 24, 1978 GRAND ENTRY 7:00 P.M.
Evening Session
Women’s Team Round Dance (17 years and over)
Individual Mens Straight Dance (17 years and over)
SUNDAY JUNE 25, 1978 GRAND ENTRY 2:00 P.M.
Women’s Individual GRACEFUL War Dance (17 years and over)
Men’s Individual FANCY.. War Dance (17 years and over)